Once more, a non-electronics related post, but definitely DIY. As I currently use floor-standing speakers all around, with the only exception being the center-channel speaker, I’ve placed it on top of the center console in the room (TV is wall mounted). This was easy to do, but far from ideal. This is slightly limiting in using an UST projector which I’ve been thinking about for a while, but also causes acoustic issues. The center console I own was chosen mainly for aesthetic reasons, and is far from ideal as a speaker stand. It isn’t heavy/solid enough, and with the speaker on top of it, can produce some resonances, which would affect the speaker.
I’ve started by looking for something readily available to buy, mainly to save time. However, after realizing there is little selection in the height of stand I was looking for, I’ve decided to build one myself. This post will describe building the stand.
I’ve started by looking online for different stand designs, to get some ideas as to what I’d like it to look like. I liked a few different designs, two of which were Monitor Audio’s PL350 Platinum, and Platinum II stands. I liked different things about each other, so decided to borrow ideas from both, and combined with a few other designs I’ve seen.
First step was to draw it out on a piece of paper, and calculate dimensions. Next was to go buy the main materials. I’ve chosen to use steel (galvanized) for the legs, and MDF (green MDF) for the top and bottom plates. I’ve started with the steel legs, which called for some welding. Luckily I’ve recently had to pick up a basic welder for something else, so this would be a good opportunity to practice some basic welding.
Figure 1 shows the steel legs, after cutting, and welding end plates. Two things (hopefully) stand out in this picture. The first, is the fact I’ve welded steel nuts to the internal side of the end plates, to allow the M10 screws to hold the top and bottom plates to the legs. The second, is that my welding skill are far from ideal. Thankfully, these welds aren’t visible once assembled, and mechanically they are more than strong enough for this.
Next I moved to the top and bottom plates. The top plate is quite simple rectangular shape, while the bottom plate is far from it. As I did with the previous speakers stands I’ve built, I started by drawing free handed on a 6mm thick piece of MDF. Then cut it out slightly oversize with a jigsaw, and finally sanding it down to size to smooth out the shape. I choose to create this stencil for half the plate, and then duplicate it to get two identical sides.
Once the stencil was ready, I’ve used that to copy over (with the router/trimmer) to 2 full thickness (17mm) MDF plates. I had to make to of these as I wanted the bottom plate to be twice as thick as the top plate.
Next step was to glue the bottom plates, and mark and drill holes for the mounting screws (counter-sunk) as well as for the metal inserts with M8 thread for the adjustable metal spikes I plan to add. A round over was added to the edges with the trimmer as well.
Next I had to send it all down to make sure its all ready to be painted. I’ve used a small roller to apply the primer, and a spray can for the top color coat. Primer is important in this case, to make sure the top coat stick well to both the steel and the MDF, and has a similar look on both. MDF specifically must be treated before color, otherwise, the edges will look quite different than the top/bottom of the plates. This has to do with the material finish. In the past I’ve occasionally used wood-glue to treat the edges (as with the previous stands), but primer can do better.
I chose a “Charcoal” color for the stand. I’ve used it in the past for a few pieces of furniture around the house, as well as the center console the holds the HT gear.
Finally, after letting it dry it was time to put it all together, and place the THX-365C on top of it.
In case the costs are of any interest to anyone. Steel + MDF was about 15$ each. Primer + top coat color, are about 25$ (and plenty of primer left for other projects). The screws/nuts were about 10$. The metal spikes would depend on the type chosen, I’ve ordered a few different types to be able to try them out in person, so spent more than needed. However, the type I chose to use were 22$ for the set. So overall cost is roughly 85$. Clearly the monetary cost not high, and time is what this stand has cost me most.
I think the overall result turned out quite nice, and significantly more stable than it was on the console behind it. After filling the metal legs with sand for extra weight and damping, the stand now weights 14kg, quite heavy for its limited dimensions.