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OT: Cheap & Effective Monitor Stands

edited July 2017 in Other

I've been looking for an effective solution for monitor stands without spending more than my monitors themselves cost. One of my buddies saw my iOS studio set up and dug it save for the monitor placement. I knew having monitors flat on a table was not ideal, but had foam pads underneath them so figured it was okay. Well, he convinced me that they still weren't decoupled from my desk and were causing "mid woof and farty bass", his words.

I dig my monitors, some very inexpensive Mackie CR3's, but realize they're not the best. Although they're rated highly, (this is an excellent review that summarizes the excellent value the CR3's
are: http://theproaudiowebblog.com/mackie-cr3-review.html ) the Mackies are my second stage of monitoring after I get the mix in place with my Sony MDR-7506's. I know the Sony's so well but also use the Mackies to double check the mix through monitors just to make sure it translates.

I wanted them on stands to really get the best out of them but at a $100 for the CR3's spending $60 for each stand seemed daft. I racked my brain and after trying phonebooks (which looked like shit) and small boxes (again, shitty) I was in Walmart and ran across a locker shelf that just hit me as perfect. Cheap, the wire construction keeping vibrations out of the equation, did I say cheap; they were a perfect solution. The Walmart examples ended up being too high at 12", so after going through Amazon I found these at 8" high in black, which were 100% perfect for my needs.

They bring the monitors off the desk to be right at the desired heighth, with tweeters right at ear level while seated in the mix position. With the monitors and my big ass head at equal distance in a triangle, the results were ridiculously cool. The monitors already sounded good but now they are stunning. All I need is few bass traps and a few tiles behind the monitors and I'll be set as far as monitoring.

They're available on Amazon and are like $12 a pop or something. To me a great value if you need some monitor stands. The base can fit 11" worth of monitor and they are sturdy, I wouldn't worry about KRK's on them at all. I just wanted to let the community know as monitoring is key to our process, and these bring small nearfields like the CR3's up off the desk to where they should be.

Comments

  • Awww man, those look like a great solution. I so miss mixing with monitors. i need a room!

  • Built these ages ago. Couldn't have been more than $25 in materials.

  • @ecamburn said:
    Built these ages ago. Couldn't have been more than $25 in materials.

    Those are badass. The wood looks really good, if I had an ounce of carpentry skill I would've loved to make something. Very cool.

    @AudioGus Thanks man, I didn't have a room for a studio for a few years & am so glad I have again. I was my wife's guitar teacher, that's how we me, I'm very fortunate to have another musicians support, she gets my crazy ass & didn't bitch at all about the spare room being the music room, she actually insisted.

  • edited July 2017

    @5pinlink said:
    Breeze blocks (not sure what they call them in the US) are the perfect decouplers, last time i looked they were like a fiver each (a while ago)

    Absolutely @5pinlink, they're usually called cinder blocks in the States, I've seen a guy use them as a monitor stand and put a black scarf over each one to make everything look tidy.

  • Nice hack. Do they not rattle on there? Or slide around?

    I went to the local salvage center and bought four old drawers. Put two together per side and then put monitor foam on top. Also put a little piece of wood across each drawer so I have 4 shelves in each side for junk and manuals, etc. Looks like a total mess but works and cost me $20 bucks or so.

  • @syrupcore said:
    Nice hack. Do they not rattle on there? Or slide around?

    I went to the local salvage center and bought four old drawers. Put two together per side and then put monitor foam on top. Also put a little piece of wood across each drawer so I have 4 shelves in each side for junk and manuals, etc. Looks like a total mess but works and cost me $20 bucks or so.

    No rattling & very secure. The picture from Amazon doesn't do them justice, if you look at the desk photo you'll see how the wire gauge used for the shelving is pretty thick, compare to ¼" guitar cable and it isn't too thin. Covered in a bonded plastic skin and with a wide base, I'd be comfortable putting any monitors on them that fit within the 11"-12" square top.

    The ones I saw at Walmart were a bit cheaper, I bought them but found at 12" high the speakers were too high, these 8" jobs from Amazon were perfect heighth and made better.

    I dig your solution too, f*** if it's pretty or not, if it's functional and you get some storage space to boot, good on you man.

  • @ecamburn What, no dovetail joints? Pssh. :wink: Those are the same 'monitor foam' pieces I use on mine. Just turned forward so they angle down a bit for my set up (and drawer height!). I also forgot to mention that I had to put a shim underneath each drawer tower because the drawers still have the faces on them (so the lip from the face protrudes a bit from the actual bottom, er side, panel).

    @JRSIV Sorry, I missed the foam when I looked at yours the first time. Those stands look like the could be used for lots of things if they're strong enough to hold up your monitors. Since the sides are mostly open and they're not too short, they could house a drum machine or mini mixer underneath. Thinking specifically lately about how to get 'tiers' in a small mobile setup based on a single board.

  • @syrupcore said:
    ...Since the sides are mostly open and they're not too short, they could house a drum machine or mini mixer underneath. Thinking specifically lately about how to get 'tiers' in a small mobile setup based on a single board...

    >

    @syrupcore I totally get where your coming from, and yes these "locker shelves" can be used for much more than their intended use.

    I too would like a tiered approach if I had a lot of hardware like synths & drum machines. Another thing I fiund that works pretty well are computer monitor stands/lifts. That's what my Tascam interface & ART Tube MP are on in the picture of my desk. I like having them raised up a bit for better visual feedback and it also gives more room for the iPad, etc on the desk.

    Good luck getting your set up the way you want man...

  • I have a laptop stand that works well for some stuff but is too low to have something below it that you need to manipulate the top of. So it works great for stuff like a USB hub or a rack effect, etc, but you can't work a drum machine or an iPad, for example, without sliding them way out.

    Just did a quick amazon search and didn't find your shelf (on my phone). Would you post a link when you have a minute?

  • @syrupcore Here's the link to the locker shelves on Amazon:

    https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01H2NW7BW/ref=yo_ii_img?ie=UTF8&psc=1

    This is for a 4 pack of them for like $27.00. I got this deal instead of buying one at a time as the price on one is like $15, so for the two you need for monitor stands is over $30 after tax & shipping, so the 4 pack is cheaper.

  • edited July 2017

    Bricks + 4 rubber pads

  • @Mayo said:
    Bricks + 4 rubber pads

    Sounds like a solution to child bed wetting too, :wink:

    I hear you, @5pinlink touched on cinder blocks too but I couldn't find anything around the house & neighborhood and I just never fancied going to Home Depot, etc. The wire shelves almost suspend the monitors, nothing touching, so I'm happy.

  • @JRSIV said:
    @syrupcore Here's the link to the locker shelves on Amazon:

    https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01H2NW7BW/ref=yo_ii_img?ie=UTF8&psc=1

    This is for a 4 pack of them for like $27.00. I got this deal instead of buying one at a time as the price on one is like $15, so for the two you need for monitor stands is over $30 after tax & shipping, so the 4 pack is cheaper.

    I hope you also got the "Expert Setup"! :D

  • Thanks for the link!

  • @anickt lol, yep. $250+ for an independent 'Authorized Amazon Service Tech' to open a box and set a monitor on these. Worth every cent.

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