Gallo Reference 3 DIY stands

KKM · « **on:** 18 Jun 2006, 04:05 am »

Ok, I didn't completely do it myself, had help with Scott at Steinaudio.com who built it and I finished it with some sanding and painting. Raising the speakers brings it to another level by increasing the image height. The sound of the speakers also changed for the better with tighter bass and better instrument delineation. I think that bringing the woofer further off the floor boundary is equivalent to pulling away from the detrimental effects of wall boundaries to a certain extend. I posted some photos on page 59 in the gallery section. For a total of about $130/pr it is well worth the effort.

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?action=gallery;area=browse;album=754

PaulFolbrecht · « **Reply #1 on:** 18 Jun 2006, 04:25 am »

Very nice. I shelled out the $500 for the Bright Star stands. While they do a nice job, upon unboxing them, it was clear they are overpriced by a factor of 2.

Before that I used a total of 4 thin cement blocks from Menard's that went for $.84 each.

Cacophonix · « **Reply #2 on:** 18 Jun 2006, 05:59 am »

Quote from: KKM

Ok, I didn't completely do it myself, had help with Scott at Steinaudio.com who built it and I finished it with some sanding and painting. Raising the speakers brings it to another level by increasing the image height. The sound of the speakers also changed for the better with tighter bass and better instrument delineation. I think that bringing the woofer further off the floor boundary is equivalent to pulling away from the detrimental effects of wall boundaries to a certain extend. I posted some photos on ...

Beautifully finished!!
Can you please give me some tips as to how to paint such stands? The ones that i did (not for gallo, though)came out very badly ... i used the black spray paint from walmart, and it was horrible. I dunno if i didn't prepare the bare MDF stands well or not. Whatever tips you can give will be of great help.

Thanks!

95bcwh · « **Reply #3 on:** 18 Jun 2006, 06:10 am »

Quote from: KKM

Ok, I didn't completely do it myself, had help with Scott at Steinaudio.com who built it and I finished it with some sanding and painting. Raising the speakers brings it to another level by increasing the image height. The sound of the speakers also changed for the better with tighter bass and better instrument delineation. I think that bringing the woofer further off the floor boundary is equivalent to pulling away from the detrimental effects of wall boundaries to a certain extend. I posted some photos on ...

That's beautiful! Next time I should hire you to build me some furnitures!

KKM · « **Reply #4 on:** 18 Jun 2006, 02:20 pm »

Quote from: Cacophonix

Beautifully finished!!
Can you please give me some tips as to how to paint such stands? The ones that i did (not for gallo, though)came out very badly ... i used the black spray paint from walmart, and it was horrible. I dunno if i didn't prepare the bare MDF stands well or not. Whatever tips you can give will be of great help.

Thanks!

Cacophonix,
Preparation is the key here. The photo looks a lot better then seeing it 6" away. This was my first project so I though that putting enough coats of paint would cover anything, not true. While it did to some extent, you really need to use some kind of wood putty to cover the seams and the end cut of the MDF. Then sand to smooth finish. I used one can of primer, then sand, repeating the steps with each coat. Since I didn't use wood putty because I didn't fine out 'till I was into the project, I had to use 4 cans of semi-gloss spray paint. Probably don't need that much if I had prepared it correctly in the first place. Since these sit low on the ground, the flaws aren't noticeable unless you are very close. There are lots of website on how to prep and paint if you Google around.

The nice thing about this is that you can tell Scott what height you want depending on your sitting position. Mines happen to be 6" thick with anohter inch for the feet.

mca · « **Reply #5 on:** 24 Sep 2006, 03:23 pm »

Curious as to how you mated the speaker with the stand so the speaker does not move or slide off?

Why did you use a different spike on the stand instead of using the great spikes Gallo provides?

Great finish job by the way.

KKM · « **Reply #6 on:** 24 Sep 2006, 10:12 pm »

Typically situation I don't think you have to worry about it being knocked off or sliding off since it is fairly heavy, think about all the bookshelf speakers on stands out there there are a lot lighter and higher then these sit. But I live in California, earthquake prone. I did have 4 holes drilled on top of the stands to line up with the spike holes of the Gallo. I got some threaded screw type going from the bottom of the Gallo's through the holes so that they don't get shaken off.

Apparently Gallo uses metric threads so I couldn't find any T-nuts to screw their points into so I opted for those spikes. I think in the long run, it's more stable since they have a wider stance.