N2x DIY speaker stands

brother love · « **on:** 23 Dec 2010, 03:11 pm »

Well I've got the next 1-1/2 wks. off for the holidays, so I thought I would take the opportunity to build some better speaker stands for my N2x's vs. cheap temporary stands in use.

I've bought all the materials to make the TNT-Audio stubby DIY sand filled versions: http://www.tnt-audio.com/clinica/stubby_e.html

Per input from Danny in post below ... Recliner ear level distance to floor is 36", so maintaining same centerline of N2x Neo 3 PDR results in a 26" h stand.

N2x DIY speaker 26” h stands Bill of Material:

Lowe’s -

(1) 11-1/2” x 48” x 1” red oak bull nose stair tread $24: (4) cut pieces- bases 10-1/2” w x 11-1/2” d, pedestals 6-1/2” w x 9-1/2” d

(1) 3” dia. x 10 ft. lg. PVC-DWV Sch 40 pipe $9: (2) cut pieces- 23” lg. ea.

3/8” dia. x 6 ft. lg. all thread rod $6: (2) cut pieces 25-7/8” lg. ea. ; (6) hex nuts, lockwashers, flat washers $3

(1) can Valspar satin black spray paint $4

(1) quart can Minwax polyshades 1 step antique walnut stain/ urethane satin $12 (note: 1/2 pint actually used)

50 lb. bag playground sand $4

Parts Express -

(2) sets of 4 speaker toe spikes: 3/8 in. x 1 in. lg incl.. 13/16” dp. inserts $9

Total incl. tax & shipping: $80 (costs could be reduced $10- $15 if shop around for best prices, use 4 ft. length of thinner wall PVC, if 1/2 pint of stain & urethane is used or if bases/ pedestals are spray painted)

Pedestal & base w/ 7/16" dia. holes for 3/8" dia. all-thread rod & +1" dia. x 3/4" dp. holes for countersunk flat washers, lockwashers & nuts

All-thread rod bolted to bases. PVC columns cut-to-length & spray painted:

1st coat of stain/ urethane:

Scrap pieces of 5/8" dia. x 23" lg. PVC glued to inside of columns, notched at top for internal speaker wire routing, inner hole at base to feed wire underneath w/ 1" spikes for clearance:

After glue/ sealant applied to bottom of PVC column, stand was tightened down for uniform seal. Sand is applied inside column, tamped down w/ end of broom handle. Several times pedestal was reattached & stand was tamped down to further settle sand. Note: do NOT tamp down stand without pedestal attached as weight of sand will break glue seal! :

After column is fully filled w/ sand, glue/ sealant applied before pedestal is bolted on top:

Completed stand sans toe spikes (shipment not received from Parts Express):

N2x speaker & DIY stand. New stand weighs in at 16-1/2 lbs. ! [for comparison ... existing Sanus stand weighs 5-1/4 lbs. ]

Front shot of DIY speaker stand:

skeeter99 · « **Reply #1 on:** 23 Dec 2010, 03:48 pm »

Cool! Looking forward to watching your build. I just bookmarked it for myself to possibly try out later

Danny Richie · « **Reply #2 on:** 23 Dec 2010, 05:54 pm »

You'll want to keep the tweeter at ear level when seated.

Also a sand filled (heavy) center and base with some good floor spikes will work really well.

brother love · « **Reply #3 on:** 27 Dec 2010, 08:53 pm »

1st post updated to reflect progress to date.

3rd coat of stain/ urethane has been applied to bases & pedestals today, so tomorrow & I glue/ seal columns to bases for sand filling.

skeeter99 · « **Reply #4 on:** 27 Dec 2010, 09:21 pm »

Quote from: brother love on 27 Dec 2010, 08:53 pm

1st post updated to reflect progress to date.

3rd coat of stain/ urethane has been applied to bases & pedestals today, so tomorrow & I glue/ seal columns to bases for sand filling.

They're looking great! I'm gonna have to give this a try

brother love · « **Reply #5 on:** 27 Dec 2010, 11:12 pm »

Quote from: skeeter99 on 27 Dec 2010, 09:21 pm

They're looking great! I'm gonna have to give this a try

Thanks, I'm getting there slowly but surely.

I probably will have approx. 10 hrs. total time invested after it is all said & done.

Fyi, for those of us who have modest tools and/ or space ... Lowe's offers (2) free cuts & $0.25 for ea. additional cut, so I got (4) cuts & they didn't charge me anything. I ended up making (2) cuts to shorten each pedestal depth, but still it saved me some time & clean-up.

brother love · « **Reply #6 on:** 28 Dec 2010, 04:26 pm »

OK, 1st post now includes pics & comments of final product. These new DIY stands are heavy suckers (16-1/2 lbs. each)!

Waiting on shipment of the toe spikes from Parts Express. Can't wait to audition the fully completed stands...

skeeter99 · « **Reply #7 on:** 28 Dec 2010, 04:47 pm »

Quote from: brother love on 28 Dec 2010, 04:26 pm

OK, 1st post now includes pics & comments of final product. These new DIY stands are heavy suckers (16-1/2 lbs. each)!

Waiting on shipment of the toe spikes from Parts Express. Can't wait to audition the fully completed stands...

Very nice! They look very clean. Those would not be cheap to buy commercially!

Ron · « **Reply #8 on:** 28 Dec 2010, 08:03 pm »

Your new stands look really nice. Good job !

jeffh · « **Reply #9 on:** 28 Dec 2010, 09:52 pm »

I like them

I may have to build some myself.

alanl · « **Reply #10 on:** 29 Dec 2010, 04:53 pm »

Those are some mighty fine lookin speakers...

How are they sounding?

Nice stands, very creative.

brother love · « **Reply #11 on:** 30 Dec 2010, 12:27 am »

Thanks everyone ! I hope to have the toe spikes delivered by this weekend so I can install & listen the N2x's w/ some proper stands to do them further justice.

Quote from: alanl on 29 Dec 2010, 04:53 pm

Those are some mighty fine lookin speakers... How are they sounding?

Nice stands, very creative.

alanl,

You did some fine work on these N2x's.

Do you miss them ? Did you decide on your next speaker project?

alanl · « **Reply #12 on:** 31 Dec 2010, 12:04 am »

I do miss them but it's good to hear that you are happy with them. I haven't started a new set yet and am currently trying to find a replacement midrange for a blown one in my HT speakers. I am building a small sub and satellites but nothing interesting. Do you still need the remaining leather?

brother love · « **Reply #13 on:** 7 Jan 2011, 07:19 pm »

Spikes arrived from Parts Express earlier this week & have been installed (note: it is recommended that spike inserts be installed before filling columns with sand, but in my case holiday delay in shipment impacted my sequencing of tasks).

Speakers & stands were positioned & levelled, w/ some toe-in/ toe-out tweaking.

I have to say that the improvement w/ the stubby DIY sand-filled speaker stands is even better than I expected.

Whether it's television programs, DVD's, or redbook CD's, the consistent improvements are more definition & focus, better separation, tighter bass. The sound seems more rock solid.

In my case, the added 3" of height from exisiting stands to achieve centerline of Neo tweeter to same as ear level at listening position has improved my sitting posture greatly.

skeeter99 · « **Reply #14 on:** 16 Jan 2011, 11:04 pm »

Quote from: brother love on 7 Jan 2011, 07:19 pm

Spikes arrived from Parts Express earlier this week & have been installed (note: it is recommended that spike inserts be installed before filling columns with sand, but in my case holiday delay in shipment impacted my sequencing of tasks).

Speakers & stands were positioned & levelled, w/ some toe-in/ toe-out tweaking.

I have to say that the improvement w/ the stubby DIY sand-filled speaker stands is even better than I expected. Whether it's television programs, DVD's, or redbook CD's, the consistent improvements are more definition & focus, better separation, tighter bass. The sound seems more rock solid.

In my case, the added 3" of height from exisiting stands to achieve centerline of Neo tweeter to same as ear level at listening position has improved my sitting posture greatly.

So did you take any pics of them fully completed with the spikes? I'm curious how they look from the top and how you fastened the spikes to the bases? Also, where did you get the rubber pads you put on the top plate? I used to have tons of them that came with all my speakers from AV123 but I'm all out now and need more for the tops of my stands

For an update, I picked up a 12' x 5-1/4" x 1" piece of Cumaru (Brazilian Teak) yesterday at this great place called Crosscut Hardwoods in downtown Seattle. Normally this stuff is very pricey $10+ per board foot and I got the whole piece for $14.75

Woo hoo! We got the pieces cut down to 4-1/8" wide each x 4' and glued them all together. Right now they're sitting all clamped together getting all nice and hard. Tomorrow we're going to plane them down so they're all perfectly flat. This wood is INCREDIBLY heavy and dense. Its actually one of the hardest woods on the planet.

I'm going to be making the bases 12"x12" and the tops 8"x8" and use 3" PVC for the tubing. These things are going to be VERY heavy! I'm guessing at least 25 lbs each but we'll see once we're all done.

I'll take pics tomorrow when we get it planed down and cut to size. Here's a closeup pic I pulled from the web that shows the grain pattern for this wood, its VERY unique!!

Really looking forward to trying these out with my X-LS Encore's

Scott

brother love · « **Reply #15 on:** 17 Jan 2011, 06:20 pm »

Scott,

I had some Bright Star IsoNode feet (purchased thru Audio Advisor as I recall) from a previous set-up that I used for setting the N2x’s on the speaker stand pedestal. I used (4) per speaker & they sit up approx. ¼” high w/ speakers installed.

If I was starting from scratch, Ace Hardware had some ¼” h tapered rubber pads w/ adhesive on one side ($2.99 for a pack of 16 or so).

I installed the Parts Express toe spikes 1” from corners. 3/8” dia. x 7/8” dp. holes were drilled for inserts & exposed spikes were 1" h:
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=240-725

My bases were 10.5” w x 11.5” d.. In hindsight because of the toe spike locations, 11.5" square bases would have provided a little better side-to-side stability.
So your 12” x 12” bases are a good move…

skeeter99 · « **Reply #16 on:** 17 Jan 2011, 06:45 pm »

Quote from: brother love on 17 Jan 2011, 06:20 pm

Scott,

I had some Bright Star IsoNode feet (purchased thru Audio Advisor as I recall) from a previous set-up that I used for setting the N2x’s on the speaker stand pedestal. I used (4) per speaker & they sit up approx. ¼” high w/ speakers installed.

If I was starting from scratch, Ace Hardware had some ¼” h tapered rubber pads w/ adhesive on one side ($2.99 for a pack of 16 or so).

I installed the Parts Express toe spikes 1” from corners. 3/8” dia. x 7/8” dp. holes were drilled for inserts & exposed spikes were 1" h:
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=240-725

My bases were 10.5” w x 11.5” d.. In hindsight because of the toe spike locations, 11.5" square bases would have provided a little better side-to-side stability.
So your 12” x 12” bases are a good move…

Ahh, I think I may have to make a little trip to Ace

Thanks for the tip!

These are the spikes I'm ordering up today: http://www.parts-express.com/pe/pshowdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=240-660&scqty=2 I think they'll look nice and they come with the disks and rubber for the disks so I can put them on my hardwoods without them making marks or slipping around. I was planning on 1" in from the corners as well so that's good I'm thinking along the right track and with the 12" square base, these should be pretty stable.

Thanks for bringing these to light, its been a fun project already

Scott

skeeter99 · « **Reply #17 on:** 17 Jan 2011, 06:53 pm »

Found out just how hard this stuff is, check out these ratings: http://workshoppages.com/WS/Misc/Wood-Hardness-Chart.pdf

srb · « **Reply #18 on:** 17 Jan 2011, 07:19 pm »

I built my stands with 4" PVC tubing finish in black textured paint. The difference in cost between 3" and 4" tubing is minimal, and the extra inch in diameter gives you ~ 75% more volume and sand-fillable mass.

I used 12" X 12" X 1-3/4" white ash for the base and 8" X 10" X 1-1/4" white ash for the speaker platform.

Steve

brother love · « **Reply #19 on:** 17 Jan 2011, 07:45 pm »

Danny offers a nice, reasonably priced set of spikes that I used on my servo sub, but they are a little taller & website currently shows them out of stock:

http://www.gr-research.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=105

Steve, Those are some seriously beefy stands you got there. Do you need a hand truck to move them?