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View Full Version : How can I reinforce 340M stands?



BGHD
06-09-2005, 10:36 PM
OK, I've got the sand (50 lbs in each) in the stands as everyone recommended. I came across a thread about this before but can't find it, but how are you all reinforcing the stand's connection to the speaker? The threaded pressboard-like connector seems to only keep it from tilting forward off the stand but doesn't prevent twisting or from falling any other direction. The other thread mentioned some earthquake putty. Anyone using that or any other method? Can I swap the pressboard thingy with a metal bracket? Trying to reinforce the thing from the curious little ones.

jeffinsalida
06-11-2005, 07:46 PM
This is one of the last questions I need answered before I odrer. I saw a special on Discovery about super strong glues but that seems a bit overkill. Anyone did something that worked?

metalaaron
06-12-2005, 11:39 AM
put all of your DVDs on top of them. whoever sees that will know, if i knock that over, i will have to pick all of that up. ;)

BradJudy
06-12-2005, 12:43 PM
While I don't own them, I think the best would be a combination of blu-tak/earthquake putty and replacing the press-board with a metal plate. They shouldn't budge at all with that combination.

metalaaron
06-12-2005, 01:17 PM
yep, what Brad said. i believe lowes, sears, and home depot carry it. i've thought about replacing my felt tabs with this, but i've never had a scare of a 340 tipping over. sounds like it would be nice to have perforated strips of this available. i would also stop in a hobby shop because they have all sorts of adhesive there.

Lou-the-dog
06-12-2005, 06:20 PM
Can I swap the pressboard thingy with a metal bracket? Trying to reinforce the thing from the curious little ones.

Yes, I understand your situation as I have 5 kids, 1 dog, 1 cat AND a hamster running around in this house (well I guess the hamster is in a cage). Sometimes I wish the kids were in the cage instead. :D Anyhow I used plexiglass to fashion an attachment to the stand. Sturdy and looks kinda cool. Metal would work nicely too. I do not use any putty but really should the way the stands get bounced sometimes.

Edit; I should note that my stands are NOT the 340 stands from Ascend. I built my own but I patterned them (aprox) after the Ascend stands. I do not really know what the attachment on the Ascend stands look like so maybe my attachment version won't work.

Randy

BGHD
06-13-2005, 02:31 PM
Having just had a 5+ earthquake in the SoCal area this weekend, made me think even more about this issue, so thanks for the responses. I thought of 2 things immediately when the earthquake hit: 1) baby/family; 2) my speakers. At least my priorities are in check, right.

A permanent adhesive probably wouldn't be a good idea, for obvious reasons. I'll try some things out (probably just some of the putty & maybe a homemade flat piece of sheetmetal as a bracket) and report back. Isn't it nice to have such a simple lighthearted thread (i.e. compared to the other ones going on)?

tjennings
09-18-2005, 05:41 AM
What did you end up using now that it has been a few months?

What has worked well for me are sheets of sorbothane cut into small squares - put these between the speaker and the stand and the speaker isn't going anyplace due to vibration. The sorbothane is very sticky, yet peels off cleanly when you do need to separate the components. I used to have a problem with my speakers moving around - they just sat on top of the stands - after using the sorbothane, they haven't budged in a couple of years. Outstanding product.

This is where I got my sheets of sorbothane:
http://scientificsonline.com/Product.asp_Q_pn_E_3037000

I have three 340's on order, should receive them in a few weeks, and the sorbothane is what I'm planning on putting between the stands and the speakers.

BGHD
09-18-2005, 01:12 PM
What did you end up using now that it has been a few months?

Nothing. Still just using the included adhesive foam discs. The sorbothane looks like a good option though. Will have to investigate.

I recently bought an open box AVR that had the remote still tethered to it. The adhesive was super strong, but with twist, came off nice and clean. Anyone know what's the adhesive used in the coiled black security tethers used in B&Ms to connect remotes or other electronics to some base? Just trying to think of other ideas.

tjennings
09-19-2005, 09:37 AM
Sorbothane is one of the best vibration dampers going... my speakers use to make the stands move around on my short carpeting (no spikes). After putting the sorbothane between the speakers and the stands, they haven't budged. And it is very sticky. So it would be FAR superior to the supplied foam discs, it takes quite a bit of effort to separate the speaker from the stand with it between them. I even stuck leftover small sheets of it to the top / sides of my receiver and dvd player to supress vibration... it has stuck to the sides of them for a few years now. Cool stuff! :-)

BGHD
09-22-2005, 05:40 PM
tjennings,

How large a square piece or pieces of sorbothane did you use per speaker? Just trying to figure out how much of the stuff would I need for each 340M. Is the stuff reusable, or is the adhesive only good for one application?

bghd

tjennings
09-22-2005, 06:27 PM
It comes in a 12" X 12" sheet for only $19, so that is MORE than enough for several speakers. I think I used perhaps five 1.5 X 1.5" squares per speaker... one small piece at each corner and on in the middle. Maybe they were more like 1 square inch each. I think I bought 2 sheets and used the extra for the sides of the dvd player, receiver, etc. to soak up vibration. I fashioned a base / platter for the dvd player out of black ceramic tile from Lowes, and put some sorbothane squares between them for vibration damping.

Think of it as a real sticky rubber. It peels off cleanly, but it certainly has bite. Incredible stuff. For 19 bucks you can't go wrong... your speakers won't budge with this stuff between it and the stands.

Here is some additional info on sorbothane http://www.sorbothane.com/PDF/sor_faq.pdf

BGHD
11-06-2005, 07:23 PM
Bought a sheet per your reco, but from Franklin Scientific's ebay store for a couple bucks cheaper. Same S/H charge as their online site. Just search "sorbothane" in eBay. Thanks for the tip. I'm sure it'll work better than the supplied foam thingys that came w/ my 340 stands, esp here in earthquake country.

TomK
11-09-2005, 11:05 AM
I've used velcro strips to hold down studio monitors to the stands. But I like the idea of the sorbothane. I just did not know where to get anything like that. Thanks for the info!

Tom

BGHD
11-17-2005, 11:05 AM
Finally got around to using the stuff. Received from Edmund Scientific via eBay in a timely manner. I know it's probably overkill, but used six 2" squares per speaker. Came in a 12" x 12" sheet, so used a half sheet for both speakers. Doesn't exactly "attach" the speaker to the stand like velcro might, but definitely adds more stability over the included foam pads and rear support and doesn't leave any adhesive residue. Works for me. Thanks for the tip tjennings.

tjennings
11-17-2005, 01:51 PM
Great, you're welcome! I got my 340's about 4 weeks ago and put five 1.5" (or so) squares between each speaker / stand.

I also used three groups of two-strip-thick between my HDTV and the 340c

http://carolynjennings.com/family-Tom-HT-22Oct2005-340cGrillOff.htm

to provide extra damping.

KPFury
12-28-2005, 11:13 PM
It's that easy to remove w/ no marks, stains, or damage done to the finish of the speakers?

tjennings
12-29-2005, 06:17 AM
Yes - it is a tacky rubber-like material.

BGHD
12-30-2005, 09:20 PM
It's that easy to remove w/ no marks, stains, or damage done to the finish of the speakers?
Yes. Although it works exactly great w/ my matte black Ascends, it'd work even better on glossy surfaces. Stronger almost velcro-like bond.

bryanb
02-16-2006, 10:44 PM
Resurrecting this thread.

I just received my sheet of sorbothane from Edmund Scientific today, and I've been having a bear of a time making it "sticky." I've followed the directions provided on http://www.sorbothane.com/PDF/sor_adh.pdf, trying both the "mild detergent, rinse, and air dry" method and rubbing it with alcohol (both ethyl and isopropyl) to activate the adhesive, but I get nothin'. Actually, I can manage to get two pieces of sorbothane to adhere to each other mildly well, but they won't stick to any other surface. I've searched the 'Net for any and all tips/tricks on using the stuff, but I'm coming up empty.

It seems like the forum members haven't had any problem getting the sorbothane to "work" for them. Anything you'd like to pass on that I may have missed in my efforts so far? I'm trying to add a bit of extra security for my 340M Classics on the TP-24 pedestals - I have a toddler who takes particular pleasure in touching/tipping Daddy's speakers :( and, while he hasn't managed to rock these ones yet (thanks to the 50 lbs. of sand inside each pedestal), I'd like a bit of extra insurance on my investment. :)

Thanks for your help!

BGHD
02-18-2006, 06:43 AM
Sounds odd. I have the exact same setup and bought the same stuff from the same company. Did the sheet come wrapped in plastic sheeting to protect it from dust? Pretty much out of the box, it's pretty sticky. But, like I said before, it doesn't work as well w/ the matte finish of the Ascend as it does w/ a glossy surface. Maybe you got a bum sheet? You did remove the plastic sheeting, right? :D

Maybe you might be better off with the Blu-tak stuff that others seem to recommend and use the sorbothane for damping the feet of your equipment like tjennings does.

bryanb
02-18-2006, 11:29 AM
Yes, it did come wrapped in the protective plastic sheet, and it sticks to it merely "okay." The surface of the sorbothane itself feels rather gummy and not sticky at all, however. Is that normal? The impression I've been getting from other posters is that it is (or should be) incredibly sticky and requires a moderate level of exertion to remove. I'm finding the comparison to Velcro rather tenuous right now. I think I will use it for vibration damping, though. Just a bit disappointed in its adhesive properties at the moment.

tjennings
02-18-2006, 09:06 PM
I used my old sorb that I bought a couple of years ago and used between my old speakers / stands, and it was still plenty sticky... it takes significant effort to pull my 340's from the stands with the sorb squares between them. Perhaps you diminished the tackiness by using the alcohol etc. on it? :confused: Not sure, or maybe you did get a bum sheet of it. As I said somehwere here, it hung on the sides of my receiver and dvd player for 2 years without ever falling off. I'd classify that as pretty tacky / sticky. Maybe you'd be better off with something else.

BGHD
02-19-2006, 07:31 AM
Yes, it did come wrapped in the protective plastic sheet, and it sticks to it merely "okay." The surface of the sorbothane itself feels rather gummy and not sticky at all, however. Is that normal? The impression I've been getting from other posters is that it is (or should be) incredibly sticky and requires a moderate level of exertion to remove. I'm finding the comparison to Velcro rather tenuous right now. I think I will use it for vibration damping, though. Just a bit disappointed in its adhesive properties at the moment.
I think your expectations were too high. I don't think anyone said it's as strong a bond as Velcro, just better than the included foam disks that came w/ the stands. Maybe you might be happier w/ some Velcro strips or Blu-tak?

BGHD
06-22-2006, 05:30 PM
Reconsider using sorbothane sheets to reinforce your 340s to the stands. As I was prepping my 340s for upgrades to SEs, I noticed the 2 inch sorbothane squares caused puckering/bubbling & delamination at the point of contact. Luckily only the stands were affected (not the speakers, go figure) and are not visible, so not a biggie. Must be some sort of residue that affects the adhesive. I'm definitely going back to the supplied foam pads.

tjennings
12-19-2006, 07:38 PM
I just upgraded my 340 main classics to the SE's. I had to PRY the the classics from the base the sorbothane held them so tightly - and absolutely no bubbling / delamination to either the stand or the speaker after 14 months. Maybe the 'old' sorbothane is superior to 'newer' sorbothane? Got me, I just know I love the stuff ! When I buy my rear corner 340 SE surrounds in the Spring with my income tax return, I'll buy a new sheet of sorbothane from ES and give it a try to see if it has the same tackiness or not. Stay tuned. ;) Actually, someone mentioned the word "gummy" and that is a better term for how they feel / work.

BGHD
12-20-2006, 10:43 PM
I just upgraded my 340 main classics to the SE's. I had to PRY the the classics from the base the sorbothane held them so tightly - and absolutely no bubbling / delamination to either the stand or the speaker after 14 months. Maybe the 'old' sorbothane is superior to 'newer' sorbothane? Got me, I just know I love the stuff ! When I buy my rear corner 340 SE surrounds in the Spring with my income tax return, I'll buy a new sheet of sorbothane from ES and give it a try to see if it has the same tackiness or not. Stay tuned. ;) Actually, someone mentioned the word "gummy" and that is a better term for how they feel / work.
Glad to hear yours are ok. Yeah, on the right surface (esp if smooth), sorbothane is very "gummy".