Paul White indulges in a spot of woodwork therapy, and comes away with two very cost‑effective speaker stands.
Those of you who read my articles on monitoring and studio construction will already know that it's better to mount your monitors a little way behind your mixer, rather than on the meter bridge, simply because it reduces the severity of reflections from the console's surface. So, when it came to redesigning my own studio, I thought I'd better get some stands to put behind my console, so as not to get caught with my early reflections down! This turned out to be easier said than done, as I couldn't find any one‑metre high speaker stands anywhere, and even the smaller ones seemed rather expensive. So, in the true spirit of Blue Peter bravado, I decided to make my own. As the result was inexpensive, relatively simple to make, and above all didn't subsequently collapse, I felt obliged to pass on the design details — just in case any of you are in a similar predicament.
Woodn't It Be Nice?
Apart from the flat platform at the top of the stands, which can be made from 0.75‑inch ply or pine, the rest of the structure is built from planed wooden battens, nominally 1.5 x 3 inches, although in the interests of international harmony, I've dimensioned the diagram in millimetres. As you can see from the illustrations, the stands follow a simple Z‑shape, the base being in the form of a 'T', to provide a three‑point contact with the floor. In order to get the base to stand properly on less than perfectly even surfaces, it helps to fix small feet, or hi‑fi spikes, near the ends of the legs.
A Saw Point
As any 12‑year old can tell you, working out the cutting angles is a matter of simple trigonometry, but as I've forgotten just about everything I knew when I was 12, especially the simple trigonometry, I opted to cut out a paper rectangle representing the height and depth of the finished stand, and used this as a template against which to mark the cutting angles. The angles will vary, depending on the height of your stand, so I've omitted them from my diagram. The only fancy tool I used was a variable angle mitre saw (17 quid from Texas), but even this is a bit of a luxury — any half‑decent saw along with a drill and screwdriver is about all you will need.
A Perfect Finish
Once the two base pieces, the two uprights, and the top piece have been cut, they should be assembled by applying PVA wood glue, and then screwing with at least two screws per joint. Once the screws are in place, stand the thing upright to check that everything is where it should be, and once the glue has dried (in an hour or so), the top platform can be fixed using glue and a couple of screws. After a light sandpapering, followed by a liberal coat of antique Briwax, you have an instant pair of stripped‑pine speaker stands.
The finished stands have actually turned out to be very strong, and should be able to support any near‑ or midfield monitors without a problem. I used a sheet of Spectra Dynamics' polymer (see SOS October 1995) to isolate the speakers from the stands, but if you want to take the cheap option, you can always use dense foam rubber, or lumps of Blu‑Tak. The stands certainly look very nice — my only disappointment is that being situated behind my mixer, they're almost totally invisible!