[witchdoctor]

These speaker stands are for monitor speakers and are different from every other stand on the market. To my ears they make as much difference as upgrading your speakers to a much higher quality.
First these stands are for monitors. They are designed so your monitors will sit about 6 inches off the floor. The stands are made from maple, have 3 brass cone shaped points on the bottom. I ordered large carpet piercing cones for mine. Next their are two small brass supports to place the rear of the speaker on to decouple it from the wood. Finally you get a large brass cone called a triple point to place under the front of the speaker. This tilts the speaker back and up.You can adjust the tilt by moving the cone back and forth. The logic is this will time align the tweeter with the woofer. I use them for my 3 front Paradigm Active 40 speakers which are 22" in height.
So how does it sound?
OMG!!! Shocking. First ,strings and acoustic instruments simply soar. Cymbals have air and shimmer like they are floating in the air. Piano hammers drop distinctly. voices have an articulation that is mesmerizing.
Everything stands distinctly and deliciously.You will love the shhhh from a high hat cymbal .
As far as soundstage I normally listen in PL2 in my HT. Stereo with these stands wraps around me so much if I didn't know I would swear the rear speakers are on.Bass has a firm solid tightness that is like a wall.
I have never had such pleasure listening in stereo. I think it's a combination of the isolation from vibrations and the tilt of the speakers.
I can't wait to try HT.
Enjoy,
Doc
System:
HTPC with M-Audiophile Soundcard>GW Labs upsampler>Bolder Cable fully modded Art Di/O Mensa DAC>Sunfire TG3 pre/pro>paradigm Active 40 (3) and  Active 20(2) speakers.
Monster HTPS PLC
Virtual Dynamics PC
Bogdan Audio Interconnects
Bolder digital cables

[TheeeChosenOne]

It's a simple design for being so expensive.

Couldn't someone just go to Home Depot and Parts Express and build themselves something like this.

Better yet, why not marble for less resonance?

Just thoughts.....

[JackStraw]

Neat review, I've thought about slapping together something like these for an old pair of Infinity bookshelf speakers that are collecting dust in the basement. Trick is that I paid ~$200 for those speakers a while back, and Mapleshade wants $280 for this stand set.

Quick question, do the speakers seem steady balancing on the front point, or does it seem a little tipsy?

It's a simple design for being so expensive.

Couldn't someone just go to Home Depot and Parts Express and build themselves something like this.

Better yet, why not marble for less resonance?

Just thoughts.....

I discussed this with a Mapleshade rep on the phone a while back, and he was saying that they've actually seen that marble resonates at a bunch of frequencies. It sounded like hocus pocus to me, but I thought that I'd pitch this out to the crowd for comment. Bottom line is that I'm sure that Mapleshade believes that their maple platform is superior to what one could achieve with marble.

[witchdoctor]

In reply to the quetion about buliding these stands my impression is rippingyour speakers down from your current stands , putting them on the floor with a book propped underneath the front to tilt them up would probably sound better than leaving them on regular stands. This is the way to go in terms of set up with speakers near the floor. Building something similar would be better still. If you have more time than money and enjoy tinkering it will  probably blow away most of what's available.
If the question is are these stands worth the $ the answer is yes.
1) Really thick maple and finished beautifully.
2) The brass cones on the bottom are really big and pointed to really anchor with the floor.
3) I don't know how you would build the brass footers that the rear of the speakers attach to. They are small and cut like an L so the corner edge of the speakers fit snugly in there and separates them from the stand.
4) You could order the triple points.

As to being tipsy the speakers lock into the footers in the rear and the triple point is placed so the three points connect with the stand and the tip of the cone ( which is very pointy) faces up beneath the speaker. My speakers at 22 inches high are tall for monitors and have no problems.
Finally Mapleshade offers a 30 day audition so you have no risk of getting burned( which is what got me past my initial skepticism, thank goodness!)

[TheeeChosenOne]

I discussed this with a Mapleshade rep on the phone a while back, and he was saying that they've actually seen that marble resonates a ...

Pierre at Mapleshade is a pretty opinionated guy.   The last couple of times I talked to him, he makes it sound like he's 2nd guessing God.

Ok, so he doesn't like marble.  How about onyx, granite, petrified wood, etc.

There are so many cheap platform materials available at a rock quarry store, I just don't see the benefit of his stands at that obscene price.

What did Pierre do?  Add pixie dust to them?      

[witchdoctor]

I have to give Pierre credit on this one. I called to order a more expensive stand, the rooted butress model. He was very sincere when he told me this one sounded better. I knew he would make more money on the one I intended to order first, he suggested I get the cheaper one. This is integrity.
I am sure there are many fine sounding materals. I'm sure he could make more money selling marble than maple.I have not compared, but with a 30 day audition, you can make your own comparisons.

[JackStraw]

As to being tipsy the speakers lock into the footers in the rear and the triple point is placed so the three points connect with the stand and the tip of the cone ( which is very pointy) faces up beneath the speaker.

This sounds like you've got the cone upside down vs. the picture on Mapleshade's web site. Is that how the instructions read?

I thought that this picture looked pretty unstable...

[witchdoctor]

The directions say to experiment with placement. The picture is a much smaller speaker than mine. I agree that it doesn't look stable. The other side down sounds great and is more stable.

[mojoman]

Couldn't you make something like this using butcher block cutting board?  I know you can get that in varying thicknesses and it should work well.  You can buy the triple points and add some cone points from Parts Express or somewhere.  The little stablizing bracket in the back might be a problem but you could probably craft something.  I actually considered these stands but they were expensive and I didn't trust my speakers on the floor with my dogs around.  Question, how does simple tilting your speakers "time align" them.  It seems there's more to time alignment then that.

[JackStraw]

The directions say to experiment with placement. The picture is a much smaller speaker than mine. I agree that it doesn't look stable. The other side down sounds great and is more stable.

Neat. Any chance that you could provide dimensions of the maple shelf and some photos of the rear bracket? These stands have really peaked my interest.

[witchdoctor]

First re: time alignment I agree that tilt is not very scientific. Maybe it sounds better because I hear more sound from the tweeter at this angle. The highs have definetly become more airy and distinct.
Re: dimensions, you could find that at the Mapleshade site.
Re: pictures , I lack a digital camera.

[randytsuch]

Hi Witchdoctor,

Thanks for the review.  Now I am thinking about a DIY version too.

Is the brass thing holding the speaker in back a 90 degree brass angle?  Mcmaster.com sells things like this, with up to ¼ inch sides, and up the three feet long.  Is this thing just screwed down to the maple, or is it glues down?

Other than that, it seems like I just need some brass cones for feet, and a big one under the speaker, and I should be set.  I already have two thick pieces of maple, one is under my CDP right now, but I will put them under my speakers to try this out.

If it works out, I may order the real thing.


Randy

[JackStraw]

Re: dimensions, you could find that at the Mapleshade site.
Re: pictures , I lack a digital camera.

I checked the Mapleshade site before asking about dimensions -- all that they list is 2" thick maple. I suppose that the platform just needs to be somewhat larger than the speaker footprint, but I was wondering whether Mapleshade uses their standard size platforms for this.

[witchdoctor]

Re: the footer in the back it is niether screwed nor glued. It simply protrudes from the platform. Since and looseness would add to vibrations it would defeat the purpose. I will examine more closely and see if I can post.
Re: dimensions I will measure later.
These things sound so good I am sure a DIY version will probably be better than conventional stands but lack the truly high end sound these stands produce.
They are easily worth the money and you can return them if they don't work on your speakers.

[JackStraw]

If anyone cares, Mapleshade has significantly expanded their speaker stand offerings... see http://mapleshaderecords.com/tweaks/speakerstands.php for details.

On one hand, I don't like to see the term "time-aligned" thrown around like that... but on the other hand I think there are some neat speaker stand options available there.

[witchdoctor]

I bought the Mapleshade Quadrapier for my surronds. My speakers seemed to disappear, the stands hold my Paradigm Active ADP
which are a di-pole design and are meant to disappear, so that's a good thing!

[Whitese]

Well, I thought that time alignment was just lining up of the drivers' voice coils on a vertical line,,,well, tilting does that,,,but, it changes the dispersion pattern. Some time aligned speakers have the drivers still basically vertical,,,with these stands, now the drivers face up..I wonder if gravity now affects the drivers differently..

Also, How do you protect the finish of the cabinets when leaning against the rear brackets and the front cones,,,I have real wood on my JBL's/

[witchdoctor]

I use wood cabinets and the supports have not damaged them, YMMV.

[Filmpros]

I have these stands and they are miraculous with respect to sonic improvements. The idea is to drain vibrations through the Brass Footers to the Wood Bass and again to the floor. Air dried wood is best for this application. Marble or stone of any kind would not achieve the same effect. It would sound terrible in fact.

I love how people who have not even tried this knock it. Go get a pair and compare it to your way and then write a review.  I can tell you this. In a world full of snake oil I have NEVER found anyone as honest and truthful as Pierre Sprey. Everything he claims is fully demonstrable and always noticeable.

Even his cables, which I was skeptical about despite knowing his products have aways worked in the past, were nothing sort of incredible when I compared them to my already existing WAY overpriced interconnects.

The amount of time Pierre has spent developing his products to perfection and the fact they ACTUALLY work make them a screaming bargain. There is more engineering involved than you think and you should check out Pierre's engineering credentials. He is not just some "know it all" buying a parts from Home Depot and selling them to unsuspecting audiophiles.

Pierre is an honest man running an honest business...which is more than I can say about a lot of other companies these days.

It's a simple design for being so expensive.

Couldn't someone just go to Home Depot and Parts Express and build themselves something like this.

Better yet, why not marble for less resonance?

Just thoughts.....

[Filmpros]

You can use several layers of 2 MIL thick packing tape.  Small squares several layers thick on the back of the speaker will do it. The stands will chew up your speaker on the back...as they did to mine. For some reason, as A TYpe as I am, that does not bother me.

I use wood cabinets and the supports have not damaged them, YMMV.