So, I recently moved into a new place and I'm not allowed to put holes in the walls to hang my QS8s and as I'm once again a poor college student I can't just run out and buy the Axiom FMSQS to put them on. Any good ideas?

I'm an ok woodworker so I had thought about making my own sort of stands but I wonder if I should be using MDF instead of pine for this or if it even matters.

Use what ever wood you think will be easiest to work with, it is not part of the speaker so resonance is not a big concern.

Acoustically, I agree, it shouldn't matter. If your going to do some nice routed edges, I hate working with MDF and its dust scares me.

Edit:
That should provoke Mark into action any moment now or "Captain Mortise" as he prefers to be called.

Vinyl Spackling is a wonderful thing - as far as repairing holes in walls when you move out?

If you use pine or any other solid wood, just be carefull with the end grains(split out) when you route them, so you should route those ends first for this reason(use a scrap wood backup if needed). MDF is more consistent but as mentioned, you need to be carefull with the dust so use a mask or vacuum while you're routing if possible. You may even find some "ready-made" plaques at one of the B&M stores for a very modest price that may be suitable combined with a wooden frame as a stand. Think of a design like a "hat stand" with a mounting plaque on it but make sure the stand has a stable base since the QS8's are deceptively heavy for their size and will be several feet up in the air.

And if you have kids, I wouldn't recommend less than a forty-pound sand bag on the base!

Naaahh! he could build a wall around the base topped with Barbed Monster Wire.

Well, no kids or pets so no worries there. I figured I'd just chamfer the edges to sorta match the look of the speakers because well it's easy. Either way, it's looking as if all this may have to wait till I go home for christmas as it seems none of my friends out here have woodworking tools that I can borrow.

Walls were made to put holes in. That's why they aren't made of steel!

Wow cant mount them on the walls? You Sure? they are no more damaging than hanging mirrors or pictures? Drywall is much easier to repair than building makeshift speaker stands..... a little mud, 2 hours and some paint....done. Just my 2 cents....

That's my 2 cents as well. If you ask for everyone's 2 cents on this board, you just may have change left over once all the work is done!

Nice one!

That... that... makes sense. (!)

Ok so today I'm leaning towards putting holes in the walls anyway. So... what sort of anchors should I use. I'm thinking the plastic ones that you drive screws into in a size where the plastic part is just slightly smaller than the holes in the brackets and then put a washer on the screw. The other option I think is to find studs and use 3 screws in the center of the bracket.

I just remembered these things came with a manual... I wonder what it says.

Sorta related. I have an Outlaw Audio LFM-1 Plus which is a down firing subwoofer. I have the carpet spikes installed but this place has some pretty deep carpet. I'm wondering if I should put something under it to raise it out of the carpet or possibly put the hard floor discs under the carpet spikes.

Find the studs. You can start with a plug in the wall. The plug is attached to a stud on one side or the other. Studs are generally 16" on center - at least around here. You can measure out with any standard tape measure and get pretty close. To be sure, you can take a drill with a small bit like 1/16 and locate for sure. Not hard, you just have to jump in and do it. When you are ready to leave for good, Spackle the hole and maybe repaint - dependant on your landlord. If he is going to repaint anyway, he will appreciate you patching the holes. Speaking from experience, dude.

Newer homes are getting spec'd with studs on 24" centers out here.

A stud finder works very well for locating studs and no extra holes required

The sub should do fine sitting on the floor. LFE is very hard to cancel but you can certainly try it out with the floor discs or a piece of MDF cut to fit the area of the feet and thus you can reflect the sound waves out/up vs. having them forced into the floor not that I beleive it really matters much. LFE is like a ripple in a puddle of water and it just emminates outward in all directions, but worth a try.

Everything is getting cheaper. I figured he might not have one of those hi tech stud finders - or the magnetic kind either.

I've got a stud finder... the high tech kind and a hammer I don't really trust the stud finder from use in my old apartment but I think the walls there were plaster lath over concrete reinforced with lead coated straw and asbestos since the place was built in the 1940s.

Not to mention they were probably 10" on center back in them days.

I am surprised everyone is saying he should be finding studs for QS's? I mounted 4 QS4's in my room and 4 QS8's into my fathers room using drywall anchors. I used the kind of anchors that are threaded and designed to screw into the drywall themselves. They are the plastic white ones that come with the screws for hanging pictures etc... 3 anchors per speaker did the job and no trouble what so ever. Two years and hanging strong.

Dont think you need to find the studs. Place them where they will sound the best not where your studs tell you to place them.

Agreed to a point. Mount the surrounds where they sound best, but as such try to catch a stud if possible. The T-bracket covers a few inches so one should be able to get one screw into some wood somewhere and don't forget that the QS8's are quite forgiving where placement is concerned so as long as you're close, you'll be fine.

If I am hanging a portrait of say....my Mother-in-law, dry wall anchors are plenty good. Something like my prized QS8 speakers, I am going overkill, over-engineer, find a stud rock it down. But, Hey.....that's me.

What did you say your mother-in-law's e-mail address was?

I usually over engineer, but I was perfectly fine with drywall anchors myself.

I am using drywall anchors for one of my M22s in the back room and it is very solid.

and if that paranoid, a dummy chord could be attached.

dummy cord == safety wire connected to a screw on a stud, then to the QS8.

Hahahahaha......they laugheed at the 3rd little pig too....

I thought a Dummy Cord was a 10,000 dollar audiophile power cable.

No, those really work. Don't you know? The magical power cable that filters all evil noise so that you can enjoy true audio bliss.

Forsure they work! If you want proof all you have to do is check out the specs for the new military 'soundwave' canon. It's hooked up by, you guessed it, Monster Cables!!! That is all the proof you'll ever need my friends...




(what? You say the military has a long, sad history of spending 50 times the required amount of money that's needed on frivolous materials with no reguard for common sense or sensible spending??? Hogwash!!!)

That sounds like a Monster Fable.

Possibly, but I wouldn't put it past them. Actually I would, they probably use wires costing 50 times what Monster Cables run. Monster Cables probably aren't even priced high enough for the military. Sad.

I'm sorry it took so long to get back but between the holidays, listening to music on my amazing Axioms and tweaking my SMS-1, I've been busy. Anywho, I hung my QS8s using some minimally intrusive anchors and while they do hang a little funny since the included brackets are a bit floppy they are secure.

Now I have a new problem. I have a 52" wide AV console that my TV and my M22s sit on. Ideally in my new place the M22s should be further apart but that would require stands. I'm seriously considering replacing my 37" LG panel with a lovely new LG 47LH90 (47") which will force me to locate stands of some sort to put the M22s on. I looked at the Axiom stands but they don't fit my decor and also I have my uATX media pc sitting on the floor next to my console. So, I'm looking for some smallish shelves to put my M22s on top of that I can put on either side of the AV console. They'll need to be quite narrow. Less than 16" wide I think. Also, I could use the extra storage for BDs and such that the shelves would afford.

Any suggestions?

Check the classifieds in your area for stands. A can of black spray paint can do wonders. If you want shelves and storage, I would suggest one of those unfinished furniture stores/websites. Look for telephone stand or foot stool or bedside tables then you could stain whatever you buy to match your console. I'm assuming your still a student and wanting to save some money, so you can again go back to classifieds or second hand stores and see if you can find some matching bed side tables. Strip them down, put a little decorative moldings on them to dress it up, and again stain it to match. Just a couple of suggestions.

I needed some speaker stands years ago and found some in the classifieds for $20. I bought a can of black spray paint and a bag of sand to fill the pipes and they are still working great today.

i have the Axiom FMSQS stands i am getting rid of if you are interested we can make a deal.

Well today I was crawling around my sub re-routing a few cables and noticed that the sound from it was somehow being greatly attenuated. After some investigation I found that the carpet is deep and thick enough that the carpet spikes on my sub had worked their way deep into the piles and the sub driver was actually touching the carpet! So, I popped the hard floor discs under the carpet spikes and it sounds MUCH better now. And to think I was considering selling my sub and getting one of the new SVS PC12-Plus.