Today's high fidelity audio systems commonly employ bookshelf satellite speakers and separate woofer/sub-woofer components. You can't get optimal performance from a bookshelf speaker in a bookshelf!
When high compliance drivers get into full excursion, they want to move the cabinet back and forth too. The effect of the cabinet being in symphony with the speaker is present, albeit subdued, at lower listening levels. The result is a confused audio image, one that is muddy, blurred and seems poorly defined in space. The subtle cues that provide your ears with a pristine stereo image are damaged by these resonant events.
The simple solution is to get your speakers out of their bookshelves and away from the walls. Then place them on a solid foundation, one that is acoustically dead. The SKYLAN Speaker Stand provides a solid foundation for your speakers, one that will not resonate with the cabinet, but contribute to its acoustical deadness. Every feature of its design considers support for your speakers, support that goes beyond that of a mere speaker stand. It restores the magic to your sound.
SKYLAN stands bring your sound closer to perfection by providing a foundation that is designed for a speaker.
"Some people get totally mixed up about what a pointed foot does. The only reason you have pointed feet on a stand is to penetrate the carpet, and whatever padding, and just barely come into contact with the floor. You do not want the spike biting into the floor so that you get the floor exciting into the stand..." -N. Nolan in Stereophile interview
Skylan stands ship with two sets of feet. One for hardwood floors and one for carpets, as in the images above.
Runs through the centre of the base
Why is this important?
The centre of gravity of most cabinets is to the front of the centreline due to the weight of the drivers. We pre-compensate for this by centering our columns toward the rear of the base plate. This places support for the speaker where it should be: Along the centre of gravity.
The corners on all SKYLAN products are rounded. We insist on rounding the corners for several reasons.
SKYLAN's unique design employs a threaded rod (Tie Rod) that runs down the centre of each post and mates with top and bottom plates. The rod serves more than the obvious purpose of holding the stand together. It is also a transmission line, taking vibrations from the top plate to the bottom plate.
The mass load surrounds the rod damping vibration down its length.
Wood fuel pellets are the dry medium we now recommend. A Chinese study characterized them acoustically in a bid to remotely measure temperature. We have reposted the paper HERE.
Wood fuel pellets are available everywhere, cheap and effective acoustic sponges, sold under a variety of brand names around the world.
Every Skylan product is manufactured with skill and devotion to quality and consistency.
"I don't know whether the difference would be as great with speakers other the Harbeths (or similar designs such as Spendor) but for anyone who has paid the price for a pair of Harbeths and is purchasing your stands, these should be a mandatory!"
Check out this excellent review by Gary Beard who describes his experience with Omega speakers on Skylan stands.
"The stands are very well made. The assembly instructions are clear, and they went together without a hitch. The packaging is solid, and Skylan provides little extras like a wrench to tighten the nuts and two paper funnels with brass tips facilitate filling the stands with sand. The stands include adjustable screw-in spikes as well as soft feet. One of the things I like most is the use of high-friction neoprene decoupling pads on the top plate."
The Skylan 24-inch two-column stands for the Omega Super 3 are packaged brilliantly in 3 layers. I have to say that Noel's stands are some of the most professionally packed and well-engineered audio products I have encountered. -Jeff Day
This extremely well written review is accompanied with great pictures (and observations) while assembling a pair of Skylan stands.
You tell from these photographs just how handsome the completed stands turned out to be. You cannot really see the textured, black finish, nor can you lean on the stands and see just how rock solid they are, and how well they couple to the floor. But I will tell you that this is a product that just embodies the concept of “pride of ownership.” Noel Nolan clearly cares a lot about his products, and they fairly exude quality from top to bottom.
"Noel has also come up with what he calls the Q-Brick. This is a small decoupling device - a puck, really - layered with several different materials (he's not saying exactly which) that fit inside the four recessed holes in each stand's top plate. "The idea is to sit [it] atop the flanged inserts where the connecting rods are attached. This gives a direct transmission line from the bottom of each speaker to the base of each stand." - Sam Tellig (2012)
"The sound difference is INCREDIBLE. Not subtle at all. ... The Skylans provide a much bigger difference including deeper bass, as well as fuller and more three dimensional midrange."
"Listening to the newly tweaked Skylans (adding Q-bricks) I forgot to be analytical. I spent several hours listening to music and forgot to pay attention. That is very high praise! ... So I believe the Q-bricks make the system more articulate and improve the overall frequency balance. It isn't subtle, it's global."
