StudioTech SP-36 Speaker Stand Review

SP Series

I am constantly changing out surround speakers, and my permanent setup in my theater (mounts that hang from under a shelf across the rear wall of the room) is not easy to swap out, so to me the answer for testing was a set of 36" speaker stands in the rear and/or sides of the room. For these I chose StudioTech's SP series, which is a single pillar, all steel model, offered in 24", 30" and 36" sizes.

The SP-36's arrived in a nondescript cardboard box, packed with styrofoam and wrapped in plastic. The design is simple, and therefore so are the contents of the box - top plates, pillars, bottom plates, hex screws (and tool), gold-colored carpet spikes, small plastic discs to protect your hardwood floor from the spikes, rubber bumpers for the speaker platform, and wire clips to help you with cable management.

One screw connects each plate - the base plate on bottom and speaker stand on top. Everything threaded together perfectly. I then screwed the spikes to the bottom of the base plate and affixed the self-stick bumpers to the platform on top. Five minutes per stand and you are good to go. The stands are treated and finished with a durable black powder coat finish.

Although assembly was very simple and straightforward, I did find a few things worth making note of. When I was assembling the second stand, I noticed that the steel pillar has a seam. It is barely noticeable, but if you look closely you will see it. With that being the case, I was sure to position it facing the rear of the stand before tightening things down. I went back to the first stand, and sure enough, the seam was there, but not facing the rear, so I loosened the screws on the top and bottom and adjusted it, then tightened things up a bit. I also found that laying the stand on a flat surface such as a table made lining up the top and bottom plates a snap.

This is a beefy, solid stand that could easily support the biggest of bookshelf speakers - each stand is rated to hold a speaker up to 50 lbs., and I believe it. The top of each pillar has a hole that allows you to fill it with lead shot or sand for further dampening and stability. The top plate measures 6" x 6", and the base measures 9" x 10".

Ultra Series

It is odd to me that you don't see many dedicated single stands made for center channel speakers - I have always ended up using two stands pulled together.

I was also in need of a center channel speaker stand, so I requested a pair of US-24's from StudioTech's Ultra series. The Ultra's combine a pair of 2" x 2" steel pillars (which can also be filled with sand or shot) with hardwood veneer panels for a furniture appearance. I chose black ash, but they are also offered in a rosewood or cherry finish. You can order a wood sample kit for $5 if you are unsure which finish to choose.

Assembly is similar to the SP's, with the Ultra's there are two screws per plate, and the plates are a bit larger. The speaker platform measures 8" deep by 7" wide, and the base plate measures 10" x 12". The spikes are not as large as those on the SP series, but the Ultra's come with rubber-nubbed feet that you can use for hardwood or tile floors if you choose, which I did because I am.

After moving them into my theater, I immediately noticed that for many small to medium sized center channel speakers, just one of the Ultra's oriented wide would work just fine, but since I had a large center channel speaker at the time of this writing, I used both to make sure it was stable.

Conclusion

The Ultra's look nice with the wood trim, and are very stable. They are priced a bit higher than the SP's, but the choice really comes down aesthetics. Both styles are rock solid, and look great. It is up to you decide which will be right for your application. Both sets of stands come with a lifetime warranty.

(StudioTech offers free shipping on these products)