DIY speaker stands and grill cloth

[Nick B]

I have SP Tech upgraded 2.1s and the stands they are on are....ugly
They were  a throw away from Bob and I was happy with that    They have a single veneered pillar and MDF top and bottom    I ended up spray painting and it turned out ok    I would like to jazz 'em up a bit and was thinking about new grill cloth and stands. I know, don't use grill cloth, but I don't like the "nekked" look
There isnt much out there re colored grill cloth. Some sites have vintage guitar and radio cloth, but I'm concerned about those affecting the sound too much   I did find this site http://www.speakerworks.com/Burgundy_Speaker_Grill_Cloth_Sample_p/gcbusample.htm
As to the stands. I was thinking of using 2-3" diameter plumbing PVC   ... extremely hard and easy to paint  Would add sand   Not sure though about platforms  Maybe some leftover Corian or fake marble  Then I'd have to figure out how to attach the pillars   
Any thoughts/suggestions would be welcome     Otherwise I have to go retail

[richidoo]

http://www.parts-express.com/cat/grill-cloth-fabric/651

The premium black cloth looks pretty nice.  IMO, the powerful SP waveguide tweeter won't mind a touch of fabric covering. Might attenuate by .5dB at the very top, even less below.

As for the stands, there are a lot available. Audio Advisor has a selection of low cost stands. $130 for a steel pair. Used to be cheaper, but even Made in China doesn't mean what it used to.  But they look nice, steel, sand fillable, if appearance is what you're looking to improve, might be the best bet. I just don't know how good the quality really is. Is it welded or bolted?

I built a pair of stands from plywood. A 6" square column is capped by double layer plywood 12" square on the bottom, the column filled with dry sand and the top is 6 x 8 x 2" thick on-edge laminated ply. They weigh about 20 pounds ea. They probably aren't as good as heavier, rigid steel with spikes, but they are solid no resonance, and very cheap.  If I would do it again, I would use three or four  3" PVC pipes per side, glued to top and bottom plywood caps with PL urethane adhesive, filled half with lead shot on bottom and fill it up with sand.

[sleepyguy24]

Hi

Check out this thread for DIY speaker stands from another forum. Apologies if you saw this thread already.

http://emotivalounge.proboards.com/thread/23445/build-own-speaker-stands

If you have to buy pre-made speaker stands I have experience with Pangea LS-02 speaker stands and they are ok. Filling them with sand was an exercise in patience. The finish of the stands is so so too.

You can also find the B&W STAV-24 speaker stands at the local Best Buy for about $160 I believe. They are better than the Pangea IMO stability wise and they have to be assembled too. Also they are easier than the Pangeas to fill with sand.

Good luck with the search.

[Nick B]

Thanks for the ideas. I hadn't thought of the threaded rod.I think I am leaning toward the pvc tubes and threaded rods with a Corian top and bottom plate. That is..if I can get left over pieces of it locally, hopefully in black. Then I'd simply have to paint the pvc for a very nice look. The AA stands look like the top plates are a bit small. I found Skylan stands and they might work, but are close to $300

[richidoo]

You want the top plate to be smallish so that they are smaller than any speaker you might place there. It's OK as long as it's big enough to hold the speaker stable. Blue Tak helps with that too.

[Nick B]

OK, Rich....but why would it make much of a difference?  The stands I have from Bob at SP Tech have a top plate that is only a few inches smaller than the speakers. The whole thing is a bit unstable and I should have taken it all apart and filled the center tube with sand.
It also occurred to me that I have a friend in Oregon that uses Corian and similar products to fabricate counter tops. I'm sure he'd send me finished top and bottom plates. One final question, those guitar and radio fabrics look kinda cool, but would the coarse weave cause trouble for the tweeter?