Stylish and durable, these 36 inch tall stands for bookshelf speakers can help create a powerful and well balanced soundstage.
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Speaker stands can be a great way to not only display your larger and bookshelf speakers or change up the aesthetics around your entertainment system or computer room, but the best speaker stands can also help improve your maximum sound quality by restricting vibrations and improving on how audio travels around your room.
Not only can you easily adjust the direction of a speaker stands to better suit your needs, but you can also ensure most speakers are at the suggested height for the best listening experience. Depending on the speaker, some stands need to be around 20-30 inches tall in order for the speaker to be at the optimum height for most seated listening.
In addition, the best speaker stands can be a very effective way to get a better sound quality return on deep bass tones. Due to the vibrations of the bass in enclosed speakers, some of the depth of sound may be lost if the speaker is sitting on an average table.
With one of the best speaker stands in your home, you can isolate the vibrations and minimize how they transfer from the speaker to the desk by isolation pads most stands will include. This gives you a much better deep bass and low tone return on all types of music, movie audio, podcasts, and gaming.
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Comparison of the Best Speaker Stands
| Best Quality Speaker StandsSee On Amazon |  | Rockville 2 RHTSC | See On Amazon |
| Highly Effective Speaker StandsSee On Amazon |  | Perlegear Universal Stands with Cable Management | See On Amazon |
| Best Style Speaker StandsSee On Amazon |  | Q Acoustics Concept 20 Stylish Speaker Stands | See On Amazon |
| Best for Small and Lightweight SpeakersSee On Amazon |  | Sanus Adjustable Height Speaker Stand for Small Speakers | See On Amazon |
| Best for Heavier or Larger SpeakersSee On Amazon |  | Edifier S3000PRO Hollowed Speaker Stands | See On Amazon |
Reviews of the Best Speaker Stands
Made from high quality materials and created to be a stylish aesthetic to your entertainment area instead of just a plain and boring looking speaker stand, this set of two wooden speaker stands from Rockville can be exactly what you need near your stereo, TV, or computer.
Standing 36 inches tall and made from manufactured wood coated in furniture grade interior paint, you can enjoy this sturdy speaker stand for many years to come without having to worry about the paint chipping, peeling, or cracking over time.
When it comes to performance, you will love the minimal resonance and vibrations passed down through these speaker stands, thanks in part to the rubber feet and durable isolation pads. This small touch can make a huge difference in the acoustical performance you experience.
Each stand is able to hold up to 60 pounds, which makes them perfect for heavier speakers. The weighted base plate can keep the speakers sturdy and prevent tipping, even if you accidentally bump into your desk or table.
Simple yet highly effective for a wide range of speaker styles, sizes, and shapes to give you a great vibration-free listening experience.
Measuring in at just under 8 by 8 inches for the top plate, these speaker stands are excellent for holding a wide range of speaker brands and sizes. With almost universal compatibility, you can use these stands around your gaming computer or console, with a stereo system, for live musical instruments, and more.
These speakers can be suitable for desktop or floor placement as they have a height of 27 inches. This not only gives you a wide range of choice in where you place them, but means they can also be a great option for localized surround sound system use behind your seating area.
The stability is pretty good for these narrow and tall speaker stands, but for heavier speakers reaching the 22 pound max capacity, you may need to add extra weight to the bottom to prevent tipping. However, the almost 12 inch base plate does a great job of adding stability even on carpeted floors.
The stands do include two different sets of feet. One is made from rubber and is great for use on hard floors or desktops. They prevent skidding and also help absorb vibrations to give a clear and resonant return on your sound. The other set is metal and is much more suited for carpeted floors or placement on a shock absorbing pad on a desktop.
An extremely stylish pair of stands that allow your system to sound its very best while also adding to the overall aesthetics of the room.
The best speaker stands are not just a useful addition to your gaming area, home cinema, or stereo system, but they are also a great way to add a touch of style and extra decor to the room. Made to be an eye-catching piece of furniture, these Q Acoustics speaker stands are definitely something that will catch your eye.
Made from a high gloss multi-layer lacquered manufactured wood cabinet in black and white two tone paint. The cabinet includes the Q Acoustics gelcore construction to help eliminate resonance and vibrations so your audio comes through clearly on every layer.
The glass wings or outriggers at the base help add incredible stability for speakers hitting the maximum weight limit, and with a height reaching just over 24 inches, these stands can work on the floor or a desktop to get your speakers into the perfect height range for the best delivery of sound.
A simple yet effective stand to let your small speakers sound vibrant and rhythmical in any small space.
If you have no need for heavy duty speaker stands, but still want to get the best sound performance from your small and lightweight bookshelf speakers, look no further than the Sanus brand adjustable height speaker stands.
These stands are made from heavy gauge steel to offer years of extreme durability and long lasting use. They are made to hold speakers up to 4 pounds in weight and work exceptionally well with various brands including Bose, Sony, Samsung, JBL and more.
The stands are fully adjustable to a height of 28 inches to 38 inches giving you full control over where you want your speakers to rest. This means you can thoroughly enjoy directional sound for enjoying movies, gaming, or listening to your favorite songs.
In addition, you will find a concealed wire path so you can keep your cable management clean and out of the way. This is a great option for small speakers with delicate wires as you won’t need to worry about accidentally bending the wire or getting it snagged on anything when moving the speakers from one location to another.
Beautiful and perfectly versatile furniture quality speaker stands that provide a hollowed center for adding extra weight capacity as needed.
Crafted from manufactured wood and given a hollow design, this beautiful and eye-catching furniture style speaker stand pair is great for any room of your home. It fits in exceptionally well to a living room near an entertainment center, and can also work in a private sound studio to help with live music recording and sampling.
Standing 24 inches tall, these speaker stands are great for placement on the floor when you need the perfect directional sound for watching movies, enjoying games, or getting immersed in your music. This height is pretty standard across the board for most speaker stands, and is great for elevating the speaker to ear-height for the best sound transfer.
The hollow design is perfect for anyone that has heavier or larger speakers as the stands can be filled with sand or gravel for excellent counterbalance weight. This makes this stand a perfect choice for larger subwoofers, stereo speakers, and loudspeakers.
On the bottom you’ll find a thick shock absorbing mat which not only helps reduce vibrations but helps protect the stand as well as your floor from friction damage when scooting it from one location to another.
How to Choose the Best Speaker Stands
Construction Material
There are a wide range of sturdy construction materials used for the best speaker stands, but the most common are wood, steel, and glass. In most cases, glass will only be used for accent features and will very rarely be used as the main supporting structure, but some custom and stylized speaker stands will use glass as the main material choice. In most cases, glass should be avoided unless it is used as a minor decorative accent or as supporting wings or outriggers only.
Wood can be found in a wide variety of types as well, but manufactured wood or MDF is the most common and affordable. However, solid wood can be found on higher end speaker stands as well but will be much more difficult to find and much more costly to purchase due to the difficulty of sourcing and working with certain hardwoods.
If you see a wooden speaker stand, chances are it was made with manufactured wood or fiberboard. This extremely common wood is both affordable and durable, yet won’t be as durable or long lasting as solid wood.
Steel is another common material found in some of the best speaker stands, though is usually seen in the more narrow adjustable type speaker stands more than the larger furniture-style speaker stands due to the weight capacity involved.
Steel is extremely durable and affordable, plus it will stand up to abuse for many years. It won’t be prone to dents and dings like certain MDF wood may be, and is great for both large and small speakers. Steel can also act as decorative accents or outriggers for extra stability, and is commonly used as the top and bottom plates on otherwise all-wood speaker stands.
Overall Height
Speaker stands come in a wide range of sizes, and the size you select will depend on your specific needs. For example, some shorter speaker stands are perfect for use on a desktop. These normally range less than 10 inches tall and are made from smaller satellite speakers or tweeters.
It’s common to have these speaker stands on either side of a computer monitor for gaming or audio production as the raised speaker will provide a better transfer of sound to your ears if it is placed at the right height.
For speakers you want to use behind a sofa to get a full surround sound cinematic experience when watching TV shows or movies, you want to look for a stand that is around 25 to 30 inches tall. This will give enough height for the speaker to raise above the back of a sofa or chair, giving you the perfect aim at your ear level to get the best sound experience possible.
Some stands are created to be a single height, while others can be adjustable. Adjustable speaker stands are usually made for smaller and lightweight desktop speakers or tweeters, while set height speaker stands are normally made for larger and heavier speakers.
Take some time to match the size of your speaker with the height of your stand. You definitely don’t want an oversized speaker on top of a very narrow and high stand as this can cause a top heaviness which will encourage tipping and potentially damage your speaker or other nearby equipment in a fall.
Weight Capacity
One of the more important features to consider when searching for a speaker stand is the weight capacity. Since the best speaker stands can come in a wide range of sizes and styles, it makes sense that they can handle a wide range of different weight capacity too.
Some furniture quality speaker stands can handle extremely large and heavy speakers, reaching 60 pounds or more. While other speaker stands are specifically made for the much smaller satellite speakers that are rarely more than 4 pounds.
Before you purchase your speaker stand, make sure the weight capacity rating is where you need it to be. Additionally, keep in mind that for larger speaker stands that are made to hold heavier speakers, the stand itself may be hollow and somewhat light weight when you construct it.
This hollow channel inside the speaker stand is for you to add sand or gravel in order to weigh the stand down. In fact, it’s much more economical to purchase a hollow stand and fill the core with playground sand which you can purchase for a very small price at most home and garden stores.
If your home has children or pets, you may even want to consider adding extra security to the stand by way of wall straps. These will prevent the stand from being tipped over in case a child or pet pulls on the top or leans against the tower. The last thing you need is for your heavy speaker to come crashing down on top of a child or pet.
Top Plate Design
The top plate is where your speaker will sit, and they can come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. Rectangle is the most common shape, with square being a close second, but finding round or oval top plates is not impossible.
Top plates will normally have some form of metal stud or rubber feet to help grip your speaker and keep it in place. Others may have securing screws or other clasps to secure the speaker onto the top plate. This also ensures vibrations from the speaker are sent to the stand where they can dissipate instead of distorting your sound quality.
Top plates made for larger and heavier speakers will normally have a center hole in place for bolting the speaker of the stand. This ensures there is no way for the larger speaker to vibrate itself off the stand and fall, and also helps to encourage a better transfer of sound through the stand.
Base Plate and Feet
The base plate is one of the features that help with overall stability. If you are going to be placing a 30 pound speaker on top of a tall and narrow stand, you want to ensure the base plate is large or weighted in order to help counterbalance the top heaviness.
The last thing you want is for your speaker to tip over and become damaged, or damage other audio/visual equipment in the room. Additionally, in homes with children and pets, a very stable speaker stand is extremely necessary to prevent accidents from curious little ones.
Most base plates will be later than the top plate, and in almost all cases they will include some form of feet on the bottom as well. These feet can be made of rubber or metal, and which you use will depend on the type of surface the stand will be placed on.
For example, if you will be putting the stand on carpeted floors, using the metal spike-type feet is your better choice. These spikes will reach down through the carpet pile and find extra stability on the subfloor. Additionally, these spike feet will also help prevent vibrations and “shimmying” which some speakers may experience on certain speaker stands.
Rubber feet are for use on desktops and hard flooring such as tile, cement, or wood. These are excellent shock absorbers too, and can be excellent for preventing heavy vibrations and resonance when playing deep bass tones loudly over the speakers.
For even more stability, consider looking for outriggers or wings for the base plate. These extra supports help extend the width of the base plate to give even more counterbalance for heavy or large speakers. Outriggers and wings can be found as stock on some brands, or can be found as third-party options at various retailers.
Cable Management
Cable management may be a huge factor (but not for wireless subwoofers) for some people, and a moot point for others. In general, about half of the speaker stands on the market will have some sort of cable management system options for you to use with your speaker wires.
A cable management system may include something as simple as including zip ties or clips to hold your cables onto the stand, or it could be a more advanced molded or drilled area in the actual construction which you can place your wires and cables into.
If you are specifically looking for larger or bookshelf speaker stands that has some form of cable management, be sure it is adequate for the size of cables and wires you will be using. Some speaker stands, especially those made from steel or other types of metal, may include cable management holes for feeding your speaker wires through – but they may only work for a certain gauge of wire.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do I need a dedicated speaker stand?
You might feel that since you have a perfectly good desk or table to set your larger speakers or bookshelf speakers on, you won’t need a dedicated speaker stand. However, there are some benefits to using a dedicated speaker stand for speakers of all sizes.
The answer is due to vibrations and the laws of physics. When a speaker is sitting on a table, the speaker vibrations can be transferred into the table reducing the overall audio quality. Depending on the type of speaker, the table can end up absorbing a lot of the vibrations preventing them from creating the higher quality sound profile you were promised from the speaker manufacturer.
By using dedicated large or bookshelf speaker stands, you reduce the amount of vibrations that can transfer through the furniture and instead allow them to flow out of the speaker in sound waves which reach your ears. This can help improve the bass and treble sound quality, as well as reduce distortion and reverb on almost every piece of music or game sound you enjoy.
How much should I invest in a speaker stand?
Speaker stands come in a wide range of prices, and there is no perfect price range for everyone. In most cases, a bookshelf speaker stand or smaller stand for tweeters can be very affordable, while larger furniture-quality speaker stands for loudspeakers and stereo system speakers can run into the hundreds of dollars.
Prices will also depend on the brand of speaker stand, as well as the material it was made from. Manufactured wood will be much more affordable than solid hardwoods, for example, but the solid hardwoods may end up lasting for many years while the manufactured wood stands might need to be replaced in a few years.
The general consensus is you will spend around 30% of the price of your speakers on a good stand. If you paid $300 for a nice pair of speakers, you should look for speaker stands around the $90 price range. However, don’t be afraid to adjust this to your needs as even higher or lower cost speaker stands can do their jobs perfectly well.
How do you know when to replace speaker stands?
The job of a versatile speaker stand is to reduce the vibrations that get lost by absorbing them and preventing them from being sent into the table or floor the speaker stand is resting on. A speaker stand that is not doing its job will need to be replaced with a newer speaker stand in order to get the best sound quality from your speakers.
One of the best ways to find out if your speaker stand is still doing their job is to play a louder piece of music that has a strong bass section. When the bass is booming through the speakers, place your hand on the side of the speaker and feel the vibrations.
Then move your hand down to the pillar of the larger or bookshelf speaker stand and compare the vibrations. If you feel the same level or higher level of vibrations on the speaker than you do on the stand, it’s time to replace your stand.
On the other hand, if you feel a high amount of vibrations on the speaker stand which is more than what you felt on the speaker itself, the speaker stand is doing its job perfectly well by absorbing those vibrations before they dissipate into the floor or table.
Conclusion
For the best all around speaker stand, we absolutely love the Edifier S3000PRO Hollowed Speaker Stands. While they are a bit on the larger size, the hollow center and beautiful furniture-like quality makes these stands a striking addition to any home entertainment setup or an essential to your home recording studio.