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skoplowitz
Contributor I
February 3, 2016
Question

Play5 (2nd Gen) - Recommendation on Speaker Stands?

I am a current Play5 user of the 1st generation speakers. I recently mounted them on some Flexson speaker stands and I am delighted with the product. I know Flexson has a new stand for the 2nd gen. Play5 but I can't find them in the U.S. (California to be exact). I would take a recommendation on other options or...if you know of a local reseller that deals in Flexson.
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    Kumar
    June 20, 2016
    From a purely sound quality perspective, speakers can even be kept on a pile of books, if the pile is high enough and correctly placed. However, to many people, aesthetics matter and often a lack of aesthetics will have a bearing on perceived sound quality. Rightly or wrongly.
    Kumar
    June 20, 2016
    if you put them on other stands, they will be extremely unstable. They also look weird since the top of the stands on which the speakers sits are bigger than the base of the speakers. An expensive and unsatisfactory fix. Trust me, I have tried.

    Further to my preceding post, the quote above is why I will now hesitate to recommend a 5 pair to an audiophile with an eye for detail.
    John B
    June 20, 2016
    Whether they will be unstable or not depends on the stands. I've had stands that you filled with sand and that a bull elephant would have struggled to knock over. How big the plate is depends on the speaker stand (although I admit that most will be bigger than the P:5's vertical footprint). There are certainly aesthetic considerations but those are very subjective. For example, I think the Flexson stands themselves are rather ugly, while others will no doubt think differently.

    Speaking purely personally, I could not now go back to Play:1s for my "serious" music listening, having experienced gen2 P:5s.
    John B
    June 20, 2016
    I would acknowledge @Heilbron's point about the Play:5s having a higher centre of gravity than conventional speakers though.

    I think the conclusion is that there is no ideal stand for the P:5s out there at the moment. I would still take my current compromise (P:5s on small but stable and heavy lamp tables, Trueplay'd), over P:1s on Flexson stands. I am happy for others to think differently.
    tega77
    Lyricist II
    January 6, 2017
    I also used the Bose stand (http://www.crutchfield.com/p_018FS01/Bose-FS-01-bookshelf-speaker-floor-stands.html) and they actually feel very nice and stable. I got a 3/4" drill bit and was able to drill the hole in the back large enough to get the power cord through, so that made them look very clean in my opinion. Not a perfect solution, but the best I have come up with so far. If you try drilling the hole bigger, get someone who is good with a drill to help you and remember to wear eye protection. It can be easy for the drill to catch - don't want anyone to get hurt. But I do think it's worth hiding the wires.
      Heilbron
      Lyricist II
      January 6, 2017
      Flexson has listened. They have now brought out a vertical stand. http://www.flexson.com/by-sonos-product/sonos-play-5-all/play-5-floor-desk-stands/flexson-floor-stand-for-sonos-play-5-vertical-version. I haven't seen them, but knowing how thoughtful their design is generally, I would assume that they will be stable.
      tega77
      Lyricist II
      January 6, 2017
      Ya - only problem is if you look at their website they are always "out of stock" - no idea when these truly will be available. Same for the horizontal. I've checked them for quite a while and always the same "out of stock" status. Crutchfield stopped selling their horizontal version as well - I imagine because they couldn't get any new product.
      biffta
      biffta
      Headliner I
      January 6, 2017
      Amazon?
      tega77
      Lyricist II
      January 6, 2017
      There aren't any of the vertical on amazon and for horizontal there are a couple used white ones, and one new black one, for the lovely price of $558 + $34 shipping... They just aren't really available right now - hopefully Flexson eventually starts manufacturing them again. My guess is they had a quality issue or some other reason, but the sources for new ones have dried up, even from Flexson directly.
      https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B0189D3CQI/ref=dp_olp_new_mbc?ie=UTF8&condition=new
      adrianm
      Contributor I
      January 7, 2017
      Sonos,

      Please design and make your own speaker stands.
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