Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Gallery Silicone speaker stands for M5HP

This is an update of my living room layout, and perhaps an example of how I used angled speaker stands to avoid the floor bounce and keep the front loudspeakers on the same horizontal plane.

The living room is 11’ x 16’, but it’s an open layout of 21’ x 25’, so the loudspeakers have to fill an effective volume of ~3300 cu.ft. That was why I went with the M5HP’s when I didn’t have good tower placement options. The sofa is placed away from the wall for better bass tuning.

I despise looking at drivers, and only took off the grills for the photos. Yes, I’m a minimalist. The design style of my interior is Japandi (easier to do than replacing the house’s Tudor revival exterior). And yes, the mismatched wall scroll lengths bother my inner OCD.

The M5HP’s are sitting on Amazon knock-offs of the Audio Engine DS1 silicone speaker stands. You need two stands per speaker, they’re a perfect fit, and elevate the speakers 15º. There’s no issues with stability.

The center is an Angstrom Modular Six, sitting on a pair of Kanto S4 stands elevated 16º. The Modular Six is a good neutral tonal match to the M5HP once I engage the Onkyo’s cinema filter to cut its lifted treble.

The surrounds are the tri-polar Angstrom Suono 100SD’s. I chose to leave them on the floor and behind the end tables because I wanted them hidden, and frankly they sound great in their current location (with the -6dB treble cut switch engaged). These are highly colored speakers, but they’re fine for sound diffusion duties. I can understand the appeal of a wireless surround speaker solution.

The subwoofer is a vintage Mirage PS12/90 I bought new in the mid-90’s. It’s corner placement is perfect, and doesn’t need a second sub to correct any standing wave issues across multiple seating positions.

Underneath is an Onkyo TX-SR393. The goal was to buy a cheap Atmos AVR as a trainer and get some experience with what I really wanted in an AVR or pre-pro + amp. It does everything I want it to do and I’m not seeing a reason to upgrade yet. I listen almost exclusively in Dolby Digital 2 channel music upmixing, it’s easily the best sounding mode and widens the sweet spot to the entire sofa. I turn off the sub when listening from the lounge chair.

My music device is a Chromecast with Google TV that streams my YouTube Premium/Music subscription. There’s also a Switch, Wii U, and Pioneer DVD/PVR. The AccuEQ crossover settings are L/R 40 Hz, C 50 Hz, and LR/RR 100 Hz.

I’ll eventually replace the Modular Six with a VP100 or an M5HP that’s turned on its side. The Angstrom lacks dynamic capability and gets shouty above volume level 60 (roughly 60 dB average listening), the same flaw that my unused Angstrom Omega II 200’s have.

So you are running a 3.1 system? No surrounds? I’ve considered that for my great room. A 2.2 stereo setup ( subs in stereo ) and add a Center channel for tv and movies.

Nice space by the way. I appreciate the simplicity of it. That’s my preference. Not cluttered.

I'm running a 5.1 system, though I use all the modes (5.1, 4.1, 3.1, 2.1, 2.0, 1.1) depending on whether it's music, podcasts, or movies. I do prefer a center channel to anchor dialog and vocals.

If I didn't have a basement suspension ceiling to run the wiring as well as the sunk cost of an existing sub and TV console, I would have went with a wireless sound bar system instead. I wished I could compare my wired system with a such a wireless setup to ease my mind as to which was the better choice. I've learned that the internet isn't a good way to decide these things.

Those are handy.
I have a spare Cambridge Audio receiver here and a pair of speakers in the office i could probably spare for the in-laws house (i heard the tv last night and its really terrible clarity). They don't have much space for audio though so i had two thoughts; put the tv up on the wall and place two speakers under the tv on an existing cabinet (it's only about 3 feet wide or less though), or maybe place speakers on the floor on either side of the cabinet, but then how to angle them upward?
These floor pads might be a solution.