Raising monitors off of your desk?

[AdamWathan]

Any somewhat aesthetically pleasing options you guys can think of for raising monitors off a desk up to ear level? I bought stands for my monitors back in September and just put them together a few weeks ago to discover they are too high, I bought the 42" ones and definitely should've got the 36". I can't return them because it's too late and I think I would rather have my monitors on the desk anyways for space reasons. I was thinking of getting two 4 space wooden racks from Raxxess and putting some gear in there and throwing the monitors on top but they are like $80 a piece which seems excessive for just raising my monitors 10" or so off the surface of the desk...

 

[Ermz]

Soffitmounting is best as it essentially removes boundary effect. The speakers just resonate forwards, making them more efficient to boot.

For those of us not into hardcore construction and acoustics, stands are usually the best option. I got myself some Ultimate Support Stands, filled with sand (would use lead shot next time) and found the clarity increase to be astonishing. Low-mids cleared up and imaging improved. Decoupling the speakers from the desk is a wonderful thing to do.

 

[greyskull]

i gots me some auralex mopads...
helped out sooo much.
none of that one note bass, desk resonating

 

[gorath23]

I use a couple of cinder blocks sprayed black, haha. I'm sure it isn't the best way, or the prettiest, but it seems to work quite well at isolating those low frequencies.

 

[ze kink]

Soffitmounting is best as it essentially removes boundary effect. The speakers just resonate forwards, making them more efficient to boot.

For those of us not into hardcore construction and acoustics, stands are usually the best option. I got myself some Ultimate Support Stands, filled with sand (would use lead shot next time) and found the clarity increase to be astonishing. Low-mids cleared up and imaging improved. Decoupling the speakers from the desk is a wonderful thing to do.

How much does filling the stands with sand help? I got me some adjustable Quick Lok stands some time ago, and found that the improvement was much more clearly audible than I excepted. The reason I'm asking is that I think the stands I have can also be filled with sand, and I want to know if I should do it.

 

[Let it burn...]

i think it's just to make them more stable

 

[Joematthews]

Yeah, more stable, plus it kills internal resonance of the stand (obviously not completely as thats not possible)

Well worth doing considering it costs bugger all.

Joe

 

[Ermz]

Definitely fill them, with lead shot if possible, as it's more effective than sand. Filling them kills their self-resonance and increases their mass, as stated above.

Coupling/Decoupling is a strange thing. The point of the stands is to essentially de-couple the speakers from the floor, but at the same time if your speaker cabinet isn't heavy enough, the cabinet resonance caused by decoupling can actually smear your high-end. That's where you get these recoil stabilizer products, which actually couple to the speaker enclosure, increase its effective mass, and then finally decouple themselves from the surrounding environment! Crazy stuff.

 

[TheDriller]

probaly not ideal but i use 2 argos catalogues under each monitor and also 4 little rubber erasers under each to lift them off of the catalogues.

 

[Metaltastic]

Well as long as you don't have 'em on stands, a pair of Primacoustic Recoil Stabilizers (I have a pair of these, you can get 'em flat and/or larger as well) is a must - they're pricey, but they take the Auralex MoPad idea a step further by having not only foam, but a 1/4" thick piece of laser-cut steel and then an 1/8" thick layer of neoprene, so isolation is definitely superior (and they don't rock back and forth from a lot of bass, as apparently monitors on MoPads can do because they're just foam, or so sayeth Primacoustic product literature)

 

[greyskull]

Well as long as you don't have 'em on stands, a pair of Primacoustic Recoil Stabilizers (I have a pair of these, you can get 'em flat and/or larger as well) is a must - they're pricey, but they take the Auralex MoPad idea a step further by having not only foam, but a 1/4" thick piece of laser-cut steel and then an 1/8" thick layer of neoprene, so isolation is definitely superior (and they don't rock back and forth from a lot of bass, as apparently monitors on MoPads can do because they're just foam, or so sayeth Primacoustic product literature)

cant say ive noticed rocking! but those primacoustic look MINT

 

[Lowberg]

hockey pucks

 

[AdamWathan]

No one has any suggestions on any clever solutions to actually raise the monitors to ear level I guess? I already have isolation pads, I'm not talking about decoupling... I just need the speakers at ear level instead of chest level on my desk... Maybe I'll just go blow another $100 on new stands No clue what use I can find for the 42" ones I have now though.

 

[Metaltastic]

cant say ive noticed rocking! but those primacoustic look MINT

Yeah man, I love 'em - here's mine:

Can't wait until I get my Tannoy Reveal 5A's for XMAS so I have some better speakers to put on 'em! And Adam, notice I just used a pair of blocks of wood, which I'm planning on covering with fabric once I get acoustic treatment in that very vacant looking corner (I'll cover 'em with the same fabric as the bass traps) - you could just build yourself some mini-desktop stands and cover 'em with fabric too...

 

[JonWormwood]

Kleenex and lotion.

What's the black box on the right side next to the Onyx?

 

[Metaltastic]

That'd be my Redeye, I use it as a DI cuz it sounds better than the inst. in's on my Onyx - and that lotion is great for chapped knuckles but would not be suitable for...self-abuse, trust me (it has the consistency of honey )

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

That'd be my Redeye, I use it as a DI cuz it sounds better than the inst. in's on my Onyx - and that lotion is great for chapped knuckles but would not be suitable for...self-abuse, trust me (it has the consistency of honey )

Never tried wanking with honey? Dude, you're missing out.

Personally, I would probably go with new stands or a pair of 4U desktop racks. Yeah, they're pricey as hell, but they're really easy to DIY if you get around to it!

 

[Genius Gone Insane]

kleenex and lotion is fucking tight. nice job!

 

[Kazrog]

MoPad user here. Totally essential investment IMO.

 

[Metaltastic]

a pair of 4U desktop racks...they're really easy to DIY if you get around to it!

EXACTLY - a rack is hardly rocket science, you've got a box frame and rack rails for chrissakes! One can be found at home depot, the other can be found here!