C.A.P and Neil, You both mention the importance of stands. Have you, or anyone else, tried putting the the speaker on stillpoints, or other vibration control device?
Good audio is to a large degree about getting all parts of the chain to provide good energy transfer. E.g -- good electrical energy transfer is the domain of power cords, transformers, IC's, etc. Good mechanical energy transfer is important in phono cartridges, microphones, and speakers.
The job of a loudspeaker (driver) is to convert electrical energy to mechanical energy in the form of a moving cone, dome, ribbon, or diaphragm. The driver then must convert (transduce) its mechanical energy to (sound) wave energy. It's at this step that many of the distortion effects appear. It's the old story -- "how faithful is what comes out, to what went in?"
One important requirement, in order for a speaker's driver(s) to transfer motion to the air as faithfully and forcefully as possible, is to make sure that none of that energy can go elsewhere, instead of moving the air -- for instance rocking the speaker cabinet back and forth! That is where the idea of "mass coupling" (using spikes or cones) came from -- it just means somehow tying the cabinet SO TIGHT to the planet, that all the driver energy is forced into (transferred to) the air; and with at
least the same accuracy that the cone/dome/diaphragm was able to follow the incoming amplifier signal.
So you can imagine my surprise and dismay, when I hear folks discuss/suggest any kind of tweak or device that might compromise the all-important energy transfer -- things that ABSORB the precious energy (Stillpoints, sorbothane pucks, suspension chains
, rollerblocks, etc.) What
really eccentric audionuts do is
lag-bolt the speaker cabinet right to the floor! but cones/spikes are a close second
. And even once the coupling to the floor is accomplisned, that still leaves TOP SWAY which is the natural result of the materials used in the cabinet , the height-to-base ratio of the speaker enclosure, and let's NOT forget the flexing of wooden floors/joists if that's your situation. You can guess that ML speakers are (through no fault of their own ;-) notorious failures in the sway department. All the spikes in the world won't keep the top of the panel from whipping back and forth, adding a nice doppler effect to all those otherwise perfect high frequency electrostatic transients -- what a shame!!
Which brings me to the other, less often mentioned advantage of the stands: bracing! I know the SA stands afford almost perfecly solid bracing for the top of the panel, and I
assume Chris' Arcici replicas do too. Years ago (when my speakers were still on the floor) I did improvise a PVC pipe strut from the top of the panel back to the wall behind them. You'll never really understand the miracle of electrostatic transients until you address this issue. Supposedly ML has solved this problem in the Summit/Vantage/Vista models with their "Airframe" -- using post-tensioned rods insde hollow aluminum extrusions to reduce the tendency of the thin panel to flex!
The one (possible) drawback resulting from getting the CLS's a foot or so off the floor, is that you really need to be roughly 15 feet (or more!) away from them to minimize their new vertical position. I can't do that in my current room (here we go again!) so my listening throne-and-ottoman recently grew some 9" maple legs!
