Decision time for new speaker stands for my Sierra's! (Opinions request)

[rifmon]

Hello all!

Cutting to the chase here in case you don't want or need to read all my detailed considerations. I am deciding between the following; Pangea Audio LS300 (26" or 30") vs the Sanus Steel Foundations Mark IV (28"). Does anyone have experience with ether or both? Which is the more stable better built product for the Sierra Speakers?


Details
I am switching from my TP-24's to something slightly taller. I feel my speakers are very secure on the TP-24's but I can see over the tops of my Sierra 1's even when slouched on the couch. I measured the height of the 24's and they are not a true 24 inches, they are more like 22 1/2 inches. This could be due to the spikes into the carpet.

The other reason for my change is ascetics. I bought my 1's used and the TP-24's were part of the deal. I never really liked the "tower" look and there is a slight amount of top corner damage caused by the shipping. I wish to change to metal stands that are higher and make my Sierra's look like bookshelf speakers rather than tower speakers.

My budget is $150.00 so I narrowed down to 2;Pangea Audio LS300 or the Sanus Steel Foundations Mark IV. My wife likes the triple column look of the Pangea. BTW, I plan to get either from AUDIO ADVISOR vs Amazon.

If I go with the Pangea, it'll be the 28 inches. If I go with the Sanus, my choice would be the 26 inches or the 32 inches which might be too high making my Sierra's a tad too unstable. (I noticed that Sanus rates their 26 inches for 35 LB speakers but their 30 inches are rated for 25 lb speakers.) That tells me I'd be better off with the 26 inches but I question, with the spikes into the carpets, will it be only a net height of 24 1/2 inches?

Any opinions will be much appreciated. I will be upgrading to the 2's relatively soon.

Thanks!

[Mag_Neato]

I have the 26" Sanus stands you referenced. They do a great job. I did not find it necessary to fill them with sand, they are fine out of the box. The wide footprint keeps them very stable.

I guess it comes down to what your significant other likes as well so choose wisely!

[natetg57]

Hello all!

Cutting to the chase here in case you don't want or need to read all my detailed considerations. I am deciding between the following; Pangea Audio LS300 (26" or 30") vs the Sanus Steel Foundations Mark IV (28"). Does anyone have experience with ether or both? Which is the more stable better built product for the Sierra Speakers?


Details
I am switching from my TP-24's to something slightly taller. I feel my speakers are very secure on the TP-24's but I can see over the tops of my Sierra 1's even when slouched on the couch. I measured the height of the 24's and they are not a true 24 inches, they are more like 22 1/2 inches. This could be due to the spikes into the carpet.

The other reason for my change is ascetics. I bought my 1's used and the TP-24's were part of the deal. I never really liked the "tower" look and there is a slight amount of top corner damage caused by the shipping. I wish to change to metal stands that are higher and make my Sierra's look like bookshelf speakers rather than tower speakers.

My budget is $150.00 so I narrowed down to 2;Pangea Audio LS300 or the Sanus Steel Foundations Mark IV. My wife likes the triple column look of the Pangea. BTW, I plan to get either from AUDIO ADVISOR vs Amazon.

If I go with the Pangea, it'll be the 28 inches. If I go with the Sanus, my choice would be the 26 inches or the 32 inches which might be too high making my Sierra's a tad too unstable. (I noticed that Sanus rates their 26 inches for 35 LB speakers but their 30 inches are rated for 25 lb speakers.) That tells me I'd be better off with the 26 inches but I question, with the spikes into the carpets, will it be only a net height of 24 1/2 inches?

Any opinions will be much appreciated. I will be upgrading to the 2's relatively soon.

Thanks!

The other adjustment can be to raise the front of the stand so that the speakers are angled up towards your ears. So maybe the Sanus 26" would work that way if the front is raised and the back spikes are lowed most of the way.

[rifmon]

Thanks for the replies. This afternoon I called Audio Advisor who sells both and asked them about those two models. The person didn’t hesitate to tell me the Pangea was the better of the two. He joked and said he’d be glad to take an extra $50.00 from me for the Sanus. Haha. He told me the three posts on the Pangea make it a very stable stand. My wife liked the astetics af the Pangea more than the Sanus.

I guess since they have a good return policy I may throw the dice on the Pangea.

If I go with them I’ll report back on how I like them or don’t like them.

Good experience talking with Audra Advisor people btw.

[natetg57]

Thanks for the replies. This afternoon I called Audio Advisor who sells both and asked them about those two models. The person didn’t hesitate to tell me the Pangea was the better of the two. He joked and said he’d be glad to take an extra $50.00 from me for the Sanus. Haha. He told me the three posts on the Pangea make it a very stable stand. My wife liked the astetics af the Pangea more than the Sanus.

I guess since they have a good return policy I may throw the dice on the Pangea.

If I go with them I’ll report back on how I like them or don’t like them.

Good experience talking with Audra Advisor people btw.

That seems like a good move. I didn't realize the Pangea's were cheaper than Sanus. I think you'll like the height as well

[Mag_Neato]

Thanks for the replies. This afternoon I called Audio Advisor who sells both and asked them about those two models. The person didn’t hesitate to tell me the Pangea was the better of the two. He joked and said he’d be glad to take an extra $50.00 from me for the Sanus. Haha. He told me the three posts on the Pangea make it a very stable stand. My wife liked the astetics af the Pangea more than the Sanus.

I guess since they have a good return policy I may throw the dice on the Pangea.

If I go with them I’ll report back on how I like them or don’t like them.

Good experience talking with Audra Advisor people btw.

One person's opinion, but I'm sure both will work equally as well. Go with what you like best.

BTW....I added pads to the front rubber bumpers on the top plate of the stands to give the Sierra-2's a slight backwards tilt. I suppose you could mess with the spikes to get the same effect but I prefer to have the stand level and build off that. Also, I have another pair of stands that have the triangle-tube configuration like the Pangeas.....a pair of old Wood Technology MU-30's: https://www.cnet.com/products/wood-technology-metal-upright-series-mu-30-stand/
I replaced them with the Sanus. They are sturdy, but the footprint is smaller than the Sanus SF-26 and are noticeably less stable. Just an FYI and something to consider.

[rifmon]

Yes I saw that the Sanus’ base was larger and I considered that. Despite the smaller footprint of the Pangea all the reviews I read stated how stable the stand is. I opted for the 28” stands so the Sierras should be the right height. The height, the reviews and the price swayed my desicion. I hope I made the right one!

[Mag_Neato]

No worries.....enjoy!

My Sanus stands are 26" and they replaced 30" ones in order to get the tweeters at ear level based on my chair's seating height. The way I judge their height is with my eyes: If I can look straight ahead and they are in my line of vision then they are ear level as your eyes & ears are basically in line. Very scientific, I know.....LOL!

[N Boros]

The seated ear height needs to be emphasized, as it is probably the most important consideration with speakers of narrow vertical dispersion. For me it was 42 inches. For my wife it is probably 32 inches. This is a huge difference. If she cared at all about audio, I would shoot for the center of the tweeter being about 37 inches off of the floor. She doesn’t care, so I didn’t take it into account.

So for me I want about 42 inches to the center of the tweeter. But wait, since I sometimes recline I need to measure that height too and put the center of the tweeter between those two figures. I’m aware that even with trying to keep within plus or minus 10 or 15 degrees vertically, on the Sierra 2 has very little variation from dead center. But keeping closest to dead center minimizes the variation.

[rifmon]

I'm slouched on the couch and my eyes are level with the top of the Sierra 1 cabinet. Sting up my eye is above the top. So I thing the additional 4 inches will be plenty high if not maybe an inch too high which I think I can live with with the 1's and probably 2's?
My wife also cars not about discriminating sound! haha.

I think the stands are on the way to my address. The only thing that'll make me return them is if there are any noticeable QC defects. I've been reading about cosmetic issues which would be a deal breaker for me. We shall see!

[N Boros]

I'm slouched on the couch and my eyes are level with the top of the Sierra 1 cabinet. Sting up my eye is above the top. So I thing the additional 4 inches will be plenty high if not maybe an inch too high which I think I can live with with the 1's and probably 2's?
My wife also cars not about discriminating sound! haha.

I think the stands are on the way to my address. The only thing that'll make me return them is if there are any noticeable QC defects. I've been reading about cosmetic issues which would be a deal breaker for me. We shall see!

Good luck. I hope that they work out for you.

[rifmon]

Well I got the stands!

They worked out well and I am very pleased with their appearance. The wire management is superior but it will not allow that particular tube with the wire managemt to be filled with sand. Filling two out of three tubes did not make a lot of sense to me so I improvised a work-around. I used the long plastic bags that protected the tubes during shipping to contain the sand. I taped the end of the bag to the end of the speaker wires and fished the wires and bag together to the top of the tube. I then filled the bag with sand, taped it closed and the tied it above the tape. Then I just pushed it down into the tube. So the tube, designated for the wire management, has a decent amount of sand accompanying the wire. Then I filled the other tubes normally. The tubes no longer “sing” when binged! To extra sand security measures, I put Blue Tac on the bottom tube holes where the screws engage. Thus will act as a seal to prevent the fine sand I poured from leaking out of the bottom holes. I do not expect sand ever leaking out of the bottom onto the pedestal!

All in all they look really good. I really love me the tripple pillar look. My wife likes the stands too which is surprising!

They are very sound-deadened, very attractive and the tweeters are ever so slightly above my ear as I’m sliuched in the couch! When I’m sitting up (as I should), the tweeters are war level. They are pretty stable and it would take a set if wrestling children behind the stands to knock them over (it has happened before a long long time ago! Haha)

I’ll try to post pics. My first attempt in doing so indicated that the file size was too big.

[rifmon]

Thought this would be useful to show these stands as an option for the Seirra's.

You can see how I fished the bag with the speaker cable to get sand into that tube. Blue Tac made a good sand-seal for the bottom of all tubes.

Here are the pics! (Not the best but I'm learning!)

Maybe there will be a set of Luna's on these stands!

1608

1609

1610

1611

[davef]

They look great!

[rifmon]

Thanks David!

[jimb]

Well I got the stands!

... The wire management is superior but it will not allow that particular tube with the wire managemt to be filled with sand. Filling two out of three tubes did not make a lot of sense to me so I improvised a work-around. I used the long plastic bags that protected the tubes during shipping to contain the sand. I taped the end of the bag to the end of the speaker wires and fished the wires and bag together to the top of the tube. I then filled the bag with sand, taped it closed and the tied it above the tape. Then I just pushed it down into the tube. So the tube, designated for the wire management, has a decent amount of sand accompanying the wire. Then I filled the other tubes normally. The tubes no longer “sing” when binged! ...

Very cool. Thanks for the report on your sandy solution!

[rifmon]

Very cool. Thanks for the report on your sandy solution!

You're welcome! The stands are now as dead as a doornail! Always glad to share.

[Blingleberry]

I have S2's and the same stands. I was puzzled about how and whether to put sand in them. Using the bag is an interesting option though I'm still not totally clear on how that worked. I put them together a long time ago so I can't quite remember why it was problematic.

Most importantly, do they sound any different?!