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Best Studio Monitor Stands Reviewed
In the ideal world, your studio would be empty, except for your equipment which would float in thin air, avoiding contact with any surfaces which could add vibration and distort your sound. Unfortunately, this is out of the question.
Your studio has probably already got a desk, and other recording studio furniture, as well as some comfortable seating for those long days editing, and all of your essential equipment.
Next, you need the best monitor stands so you can raise the bar on your recording and mixing.
After taking the time to install the best equipment for your needs, you don’t want to ruin everything with lacklustre or makeshift stands which could increase your monitor’s bass frequency, loading the sound.
Poor quality studio stands, without the appropriate sonic isolation and decoupling can interfere with the results massively, leaving you without that clean sound that you have been working so hard to achieve.
They can also be hard to use, difficult to move, impossible to adjust to suit your needs, and hard to work with. The wrong stands can be bulky and get in your way, fiddly and uncomfortable to work with.
Studio monitor stands might not seem like a big deal in comparison to the rest of the equipment that you use in your studio, but get it wrong, and you can find that they have a big impact on the crispness of your results. Get it right, however, and your studio stands can make your life easier, your sound cleaner, and your studio neater.
There’s a lot to consider when it comes to investing in studio speaker stands, and the price can vary massively. So, we’ve put together a look at some of the features and advantages of five of the best speaker stands on the market today.
Take a look at our favorite Studio Monitor Stands:
Top Studio Monitor Stands Comparison Chart
Best Studio Monitor Stands
1. Ultimate Support MS-90/45B Column Studio Monitor Stand
Ultimate Support MS-90/45B Monitor Stand
As well as a three-chamber design, allowing for a fully floating setup, this monitor floor stand offers four-stage decoupling, allowing your speakers to sound clearer, and eliminating any blurriness or interference.
The 35” or 45” set heights are handy, but not adjustable. However, it’s the top of the range mechanical platform, working to isolate the speaker and give you very fine angle control which stands out on this speaker stand.
The spiked feet offer further isolation, with a minimal footprint to reduce vibrations from the floor. But, don’t worry, rubber feet are included to protect any wooden floors that you may have in your studio.
The Ultimate Support MS-90 is sturdy, modern, sophisticated and well-thought-out. It’s a great addition to your recording studio furniture whether you are working at home or in a professional studio.
- Demo 45" Studio Monit Std
- Blk (pr)
2. IsoAcoustics Aperta Series Isolation Studio Speaker Stands
IsoAcoustics Aperta Series Isolation Speaker Stands
These monitor stands provide impressive isolation and excellent decoupling, to keep your sound clean and tidy. Their setup allows them to keep energy in alignment with the speaker drivers for wonderful clarity and exquisite sound focus.
Offering an impressive 6.5 degree tilt adjustment, you will be able to alter the placement of your speakers for optimal results, focusing your speakers to ear level. The position isolation helps to eliminate sound transference from supporting surfaces, giving crisper results. Patented isolators then manage the energy efficiently during decoupling to reduce vibrations and eliminate sounds from other rooms or areas in your studio.
Smear, as a result of artefacts replicated in both channels and perceived to be in the middle, is reduced by the IsoAcoustic isolators, which enables them to transmit a more natural sound and an improved stereo image.
Coupled with quality speakers and a great ear, these stereo stands can offer an amazing improvement in sound, giving you greater clarity and transforming your sound. They are well-built, long-lasting, and clear up any grain while adding extra definition.
- SCULPTED ALUMINUM ACOUSTIC ISOLATION STANDS: 6.1” (155mm) Wide x 7.5” (190mm) Depth x 3” (76mm) Height. 35 lbs weight capacity. Black Color. Package includes 2 Stands.
- TILT ADJUSTMENT: Offering tilt adjustment of up to 6.5 degrees, the Aperta stands will help you to optimize the placement of your speakers and dial-in the perfect tilt angle to focus your tweeters to ear level.
- PATENTED ISOACOUSTICS ISOLATION: Tested at the National Research Council of Canada (NRC). The IsoAcoustics award winning design provides superior isolation performance.
- EXCITING THE SUPPORTING SURFACE: The isolators manage the energy of the speaker to reduce vibrations resonating through the supporting surface to eliminate dissonant sounds in the listening area.
- REDUCES INTERNAL REFLECTIONS: IsoAcoustics isolator reduces internal reflections to eliminate smear. The result is an improved stereo image of natural spatial sound.
3. Ultimate Support MS-100B Adjustable Angle Column Studio Monitor Stand
Ultimate Support MS-100B Studio Monitor Stand
Like the MS-90, the MS-100B offers an exceptional three-column central stand. The three chambers are effectively separated into routing cables, auto cables and ballast. Made from conductive aluminium, these separate chambers shield and protect your cables, reducing noise and interference between them. The ballast chamber allows for a fully floating system, reducing vibrations and interference from surfaces even further.
You’ll find the same impressive spiked feet to minimise floor contact and the same 4 part decoupling. But, ball feet are now optional for easier movement.
These top of the line studio speaker stands offer a patented platform, to allow for small adjustments and tilts, isolating your speakers further with fantastic flexibility, resulting in a far cleaner sound.
These elegant stands are available in cool red, or sophisticated black, at either 36 or 45 inches tall. They are a big upgrade, offering far superior support and strength. A must for professional studios with a need for more control and a greater than average vibration and contact reduction.
- Easily Adjust the Angle and Axis of Your Monitors
- Sonic Isolation and Decoupling
- Three Channels for Cable and Weight Management
- Ultimate Support Design
4. K&M-26740 Studio Monitor Stand
K&M-26740 Studio Monitor Stand
The base plate, which is super-heavy, means that this stand (which comes single, not as a pair) is exceptionally stable. It’s a fantastically well-built stand, which is a popular choice for many professional studios.
The large, extra-wide top plate allows for much larger monitors, perfect for professional setups or larger home studios. The connector plates offer a simple direct attachment to many monitors, and at twice the weight of most other stands, this product offers fantastic stability.
While it may seem like a more basic design, without all of the bells and whistles of some of the other options, its weight and size mean that this is one of the strongest stands on the market.
It’s this strength which offers crisper, cleaner sounds and reduces interruptions from contact surfaces and other sources. For anyone in need of an affordable set of studio monitor stands that offer effective performance, K&M studio monitor stands are worthy of consideration.
- Bearing Plate - 9.646 x 8.071"
- Height adjustable from 37.402 to 56.299"
- Locking screw and safety pin height adjustment
- Round cast-iron base
- Direct attachment of monitors with 3/8" threaded joint (thread length 0.472") possible
5. Pyle Studio Speaker Stand
Pyle Studio Monitor Stand
It’s also one of the most cost-effective stands on the market, with a pair retailing for around $44.
Its a simple, and yet effective design, with a triangular base for support and stability and a large square platform for mounting speakers. The central column is telescopic and adjustable between 26”- 52’’, allowing for optimal positioning in relation to the rest of the studio set up and your ear.
The square mounting platform is 2mm thick with a non-slip pad for easy and stable mounting, and the stand has an impressive 90lb weight capacity. This top tray can be removed, for use with speakers with an alternative pole mount.
Mounting is completely hassle-free, and the design is pleasing to the eye, fitting in with most home studios effectively.
- SONOS SPEAKER COMPATIBLE: Pyle designed a pair of speaker stand according to the shape, aesthetics and black coat finish color of the Sonos speaker play 1. It works with both the SONOS PLAY 1 and PLAY 3 speakers in any orientation
- HEIGHT ADJUSTMENT: It features a telescoping center column that is adjustable ranging from 26''- 52'' inch high and secure it with a sturdy pin. The rugged and durable metal construction assures structural stability
- SQUARE PLATFORM: The SONOS speakers can be easily place at the 9'' inches square platform with 2mm thick and non-slip pad. It has 90 lbs weight capacity for each speaker stand. Perfect for any home theater space
- THREE-POINT TRIANGLE BASE: It has equal 18''x 18'' x 18'' base plate to support solidity and safety of the Sonos speaker. It also has floor spikes with an equal heavy weight distribution makes the base extremely stable and secure
- EASY TO ASSEMBLE: Pyle made sure that these Sonos speaker stands comes with necessary hardware for a hassle free assembly and mounting. More importantly, the company included an assembling manual for clear and precise preferences to use the stands
Top Studio Monitor Stands Features To Consider
Stands don’t just help you to minimize contact and reduce vibration. They also give you an easy way to move your speakers away from walls and other surfaces. But before you make a purchase there are some features that can maximize benefits directed toward your final listening and mixing experience.
Do You Need Studio Monitor Stands?
Monitor stands are an expense, and if you’ve spent time and money investing in quality equipment, you may wonder if you really need them? If you’ve got great speakers and a good ear, do you need a stand to reduce vibration? Don’t you already have everything that you need to create a clear, grain and blur-free sound?
Take a look around your studio. If your speakers are sat on or next to a surface, there will be vibration and transference, and it will affect your sound. Poor quality stands, in the same way, will hurt quality. The bass will be loaded, there will be sonic reflections, and your final sound mix may differ.
Why Shouldn’t You Just Use Headphones Instead of Studio Monitors and Stands?
There’s no denying that headphones are an exceptionally useful tool in your studio. They are perfect when you want to pick up on small inaccuracies in your tracks or make very fine tweaks, and you certainly don’t want to throw them out when you get your stand.
But, the sound you get through headphones isn’t clear. It’s oddly artificial, using one ear at a time, and letting your brain connect the dots. When you listen through a speaker, both ears hear every sound. You might prefer headphones or monitors, but if you want full control, both would be ideal.
What to Consider When Purchasing Studio Speaker Stands
There are so many studio monitors stands on the market. They’ve got different features and price points and can vary quite massively.
In truth, when we’re talking about the best speaker stands, there’s no right or wrong option. It’s about what is right for your studio, your needs, and your budget. Below is a look at some of the things to consider when purchasing speaker stands.
Price
The five stands we’ve looked at here range in price from $44 for a pair, to over $400. While the more expensive options tend to offer more features and a more stable design, that doesn’t necessarily mean that they are the best for you.
If you are just setting up your own studio, whether it’s at home or professional, it can be a good idea to experiment with cheaper options first, to find out more about what you need, or what works in your set-up. It might be that a cheaper stand suits you, and you never need to upgrade, especially if you find something sturdy and durable.
Adjustability
Whether you need an adjustable height stand or not, often depends on how you work. If you prefer to mix sitting down, and your ear is always at around the same level, a fixed stand might be all that you need, especially if it’s fixed at a height that suits your chair, and your body.
But, if you are someone that moves around, and likes to work standing some of the time, then a stand with an adjustable height might be preferable.
Stability
Stability, however, is a must. Any movement will increase traction, adding vibration, blurring sounds, increasing the bass and disturbing what you can hear. But, the kind of stability that you need, or have room for, depends on your studio.
While a tripod base can be appealing, if you’ve got a small studio, you might find that it’s hard to get around and that a smaller, triangular base might be better suited.
For extra stability, spiked bases can work well, and balls or wheels can offer extra maneuverability if you are working with hefty speakers.
The upper mounting plate is also an important consideration when we’re talking about stability. You want a non-slip plate, which can support the weight of your monitors comfortably.
Sonic Decoupling
Efficient decoupling offers a very clean and accurate sound. Stands with three separate chambers, can stabilise sonic decoupling, improving sound quality massively.
Suitability
The last thing that you want to do is spend money on a stand, only to find that it isn’t suitable for your specific speakers. Check compatibility before making a purchase.
Appearance
You might have spent a long time creating a studio that looks good, where you feel comfortable, and maybe even where you are happy to welcome clients and other artists. You’ll certainly want your stands to look as sleek as the rest of your space.
Portability
If you move around a lot or like to move within the studio, portability is a must. But, this may not be as big a factor if you are settled into your studio and never tour your equipment.
Conclusion
A studio monitor stand can be a welcome addition to your sound studio. It can improve the quality of your playbacks, and give you far greater control. Fortunately, there are many different stands on the market, and you are bound to be able to find one that suits both your needs and your budget. But, if you chose to invest in one of these five options, you won’t go far wrong.