The stands are pretty nice given its price. Although it's not made from solid wood, the stands are very sturdy and can hold surround speakers that are quite large. I'm using them to hold up Klipsch RS-7 speakers, which are 22" wide, and the stands do not wobble or tilt. I only dislike the design of the gap between the two vertical panels which does not adequately hide speaker wire very well. Thicker speaker wire likes to push against the front of the unit where the gap is. I ended up taping the wire to the back panel. For those that are interested, each box contains TWO stands (one pair). I made the mistake of buying two boxes since I couldn't find any information on how many each box contained. SANUS SYSTEMS BF-24B Wood Speaker Stands
Briefly:
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I ordered these stands to hold a pair of satellite speakers on a 7.1 setup and I am currently using them but the few design flaws have created major problems and, while I am using them now, I would not order them today, knowing what I know now.
But, here it is, what I hope is an objective review.
Packaging:
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They were delivered in a nice box. All parts were packed tight and secure with all wooden panels well protected against scratches.
Assembly:
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It shouldn't take longer than 30 minutes. It basically consists on attaching the 2 pillars to the base and then adding the top to the assembly. It's 8 screws per stand. A Phillips screwdriver is needed.
I was impressed how everything fit perfectly. There were no chips, cracks or scratches.
Looks:
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These are surprisingly good-looking if black finish is what you need. To the extent that you can avoid chipping on scratching them, they don't look 'cheap' at all.
The bottom place allows for the speaker wire to come from underneath but there's no groove so, if you are placing the stand on a hard floor, it would destabilize it but carpets should be okay. Plastic wire covers will hide the wires if anyone would ever look 'behind' the speaker.
Design Flaws:
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* BASE*
There is no way you can hide the wire by running it under the base because there is no groove carved in the base for that purpose. If the stand sits on a flat, hard surface such as a wood floor running a wire underneath would destabilize the stand. If the stand sits on a carpet you MIGHT be able to squeeze a thin wire under, if you are using the provided spikes.
* WIRE PATH *
Assuming that you found a way to run the wire under the base, you will find that it's impossible to pass it through the speaker platform hole, unless it's a very thin wire. It was impossible to run a 16 gauge speaker wire through that hole.
* SPEAKER PLATFORM *
If you wire was thin enough to pass through the wall, you will have to deal with the hole being in the center of the platform. The only way you can have the wire going through that hole without destabilizing the speaker is by placing the speaker on its back, facing the ceiling or, if the speakers are small enough, place them on the front half of the platform, possibly destabilizing the stand.
I am currently using these stands in the same way I'd be using a stool to hold the speakers. The wire does not go underneath the base and it does not pass through the holes in the base or the speaker platform. There are no mounting options but I manage to keep the speaker in place with a little Velcro - it works.
Overall:
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Even though the packaging is tight, the assembly is easy and the materials appear to be of good quality I would not order stands of this design again for the reasons I stated above. Therefore, a 2-star rating is warranted because in Amazon's rating system 3 stars mean 'I like it' and I don't.
These are real good value stands. I have slightly heavier than recommended speakers on them and they are solid enough for me. Cable holes dont really allow for larger base speakers as the speaker covers the hole. Assembles easily. Spikes are plastic and not particularly strong but fair for this level of product. Makes a real improvement to sound quality and limits bass transfer through the floor so I'm happy with these.
I read most of the reviews on this set of speaker stands and I almost didn't buy them because of the cracking problem that so many reviewers had when they assembled the stands. I did an exhaustive search for other speaker stands, but I couldn't find anything comparable for anywhere close to the price for the Sanus stands. So I decided to take a chance and buy these.
I'm so glad I did. They work great. They even look decent.
As other reviewers said, the holes in the top plate and the base for the speaker wire are a joke, but I didn't need to use them. It looks just fine anyway.
In order to avoid the cracking problem, I decided to modify the assembly by using a different set of screws. From all the reviews that complained about cracking, it sounded to me like the supplied screws are just too big. So, I just used shorter and thinner screws (just by a little bit). I had no problems whatsoever with the assembly using the smaller screws. Even with the smaller screws, the stand is sturdy and solid. No issues.
Here's the specs on the screws that I used: Textron Drywall Screws, Steel Black Phosphorous, Phillips Bugle Head, Coarse. No. 6 X 1-1/4". Textron #30554.
These screws look just like the screws supplied by Sanus, but as I said, they're just a tad shorter and thinner.
Give it a try!
Update - 12/30/2010
The first pair of stands worked out so well that I bought another pair. I used the smaller screws on these too, and they worked great again. I'm very pleased with these stands. - Speaker Stand - Sanus - Bf-24 - Home Theater'
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