Sound Anchor Subwoofer Stand for Fathom f113
 

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I received my new Sound Anchor subwoofer stand this afternoon, all 70+ pounds of it. It was packed well, bolted to a plywood base in a heavy cardboard shipping box. After unpacking the stand, I installed the four spikes on the bottom of the stand, placed it where my Fathom had been sitting, and proceeded to wrestle the Fathom up and onto the stand. The Fathom f113 is an awkward monster when trying to move it by yourself. I managed to get it on the stand without any damage to the finish, but it was not easy. (Advil tonight).

After reconnecting the left and right line inputs and power cable, plus a thorough cleaning of hand prints on the subwoofer, and a wipe down of the stand to remove dust, I was now ready for an audition. First up, Brian Bromberg, "Never Give Up". Brian's electric bass on this track is a nice test of bass tone, attack, and extension. My immediate impression of the Fathom being elevated seven inches above the carpet was a new sense of depth and width from the lowest octaves in the sound stage, a more three dimensional image to the bass. My second impression was the volume level of the bass from the Fathom was lower in the new elevated position than at floor level. This was quickly resolved with a slight increase of the Fathom's Master Level control. The Sound Anchor subwoofer stand has made a very nice improvement in the dimensional quality of the lowest octaves, and for this alone it is worth the price.

The quality of construction of the Sound Anchor subwoofer stand is impressive. Every piece has been accurately measured, cut and welded with a high degree of mechanical craftsmanship. The fit and finish is impressive, and the solidity of the finished product is in the Sherman Tank category. No light weight materials were employed in this design. Do not, I repeat, do not stub your toe on this stand. Your toe will lose! A vacuum cleaner will be no match for this serious subwoofer stand, either.

The stand is actually larger than I had anticipated in its front to back measurements. The manner in which the front and rear crossbars were attached leaves these steel members jutting forward and rearward past the actual front to rear dimensions of the subwoofer. This certainly creates a solid foundation, but will take some time for my eyes to adjust to the visual impression. One thing I like about the spikes is they pierce the carpet and embed themselves in the sub-floor creating a vibration free stand. A plus is the spikes keep the stand just at the carpet pile height so no deep carpet impressions will form from its placement.

I can recommend the Sound Anchor subwoofer stand. Ivan and Robert have managed to design and produce an attractive, and highly functional subwoofer stand that compliments the visual beauty of the Fathom subwoofers, and improves the three dimensional quality of the lowest octaves in the sound stage. In my opinion, this stand is a winner for anyone with a JL Audio Fathom subwoofer.

The entire combination of speaker and base is a piece of art. It looks totally right, with rock-solid structure and makes the F113 go from a beautifully finished box to a piece of contemporary furniture. I really like it.:thumbsup:

What Howard said, plus one. It really does look "right". I like it. :yes:

Pete

Howard.......I agree with you. The more I look at the total package the more I like the appearance. It definitely improves the stature of the subwoofer in the room.

Dan, by tomorrow when you see it again you will think how blah it looked all by itself on the floor.

The stands present the "Throne" for the King of Subs. :yes:

Pete.......Thank you. The improvement in bass dimension is a nice treat. I was listening to Dan Seigel earlier, and the acoustic bass was right in the middle of the room and just behind the piano. Very three dimensional presentation.

I think tomorrow I may recalibrate the Fathom to the room. Although I don't think I lost anything by raising the sub, I believe the existing sub curve stored in the Fathom's memory may benefit from new measurements. To my way of thinking, the seven inch elevation achieved by the new subwoofer stand would impact the computed curve in the same manner as if I had moved the sub seven inches one way or the other at floor level. It may or may not prove to be an advantage over what I am hearing right now, but curiosity drives me to see and hear what a new calibration curve might produce with the new subwoofer elevation.

Ivan.......It is true, and I like that concept. It won't take long to grow accustomed to the new look.

Great review as always Dan! :thumbsup:

I feel the same away about the improvement in soundstage and luv the look!

Enjoy!

Mike

Where's your pics Mike? :thumbsup:

I took this previously...
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...but I will try to get some updated ones done...

Nice review Dan :thumbsup:

Dan
Nice review and as you note, your subs do look "finished" setting on the stands.

You forgot to mention that by filling that pitcher you have sitting on top of the subs with skim milk, by the time you finish watching Saving Private Ryan you have a quart of cottage cheese. A real time saver. :thumbsup:

Jim.......Not a bad idea. Perhaps I'll fill it with cream, and see if I can't get a couple of pounds of butter instead. :D

How do they look this morning to you Dan?

Ivan.......By the time I shut the system down last night I was already warmed up to the stand's appearance. I agree with you, the sub stand makes a perfect "Throne" for a beautiful Fathom subwoofer. :thumbsup:

Great review Dan - I have noticed similar improvements in my system as you described with my two stands under my F113s. I also love the way they look on the stands - much better looking than without them :thumbsup:

Did I miss your pics Jeff? :scratch2:

No pics yet Ivan - sorry - will charge the camera battery and post some later today :yes:

OK, you're forgiven... ;)

Great review Dan. :thumbsup:

Great review Dan.Thanks for the taking the time to post your results. Can't wait for UPS to arrive next week! Good idea about recalibration.I've been moving my two Fathoms back and forth experimenting with corner placement.I'm sure the original calibration is for a different area of the room. Best thing is place them on the stands and run ARO again.

I just completed recalibrating my Fathom f113 on the new Sound Anchor subwoofer stand. It was well worth the time. What I am hearing now is a subtle, yet distinctive improvement in the richness of timbre below 70 Hz. The deepest bass notes have a more fully textured thickness to their vibrations, a greater sense of being perfectly real. That slight loss of volume I experienced yesterday once the Fathom was elevated on the new sub stand obviously played into the altered response from this new location. Even a new position as slight as a seven inch rise from the sub's old position negated the previous woofer calibration, essentially rendering the older calibration invalid. I still have the Master Level control at a slightly higher gain setting than when the subwoofer was sitting on the floor, but the apparent volume of the sub in relationship to the level of sound coming from the PMC EB1i speakers is spot on. The Fathom is now loading the room better after this new calibration.

I am pleased that I chose not to ignore the necessity of recalibrating the subwoofer once I moved it to the stand. I discovered a subwoofer is no less immune to slight changes in location than are full range speakers. Even though the lowest octaves tend to be omni-directional and less localized, the manner in which a subwoofer interacts with the room boundaries, including its nearness to the floor, is as location sensitive as the left and right channel full ranger speakers. If you have relocated your Fathom, even a small change, I strongly recommend you take the time to recalibrate it. The improved results are worth the time and effort.

Good deal Dan.....enjoy! :thumbsup:

Pete

I have always been a fan of sound anchor products even know they have ignored a few e-mails and phone messages I sent them inquiring about a center speaker stand. I went billy bags because of it and have no regrets. Looks good guys but keeping the cover on and not displaying the JL driver is one way to go........ but why? The surround is awesome looking.

Sounds like these sub stands bring real benefits. Thanks for the write up Dan and Ivan, great job on pushing these to production. :thumbsup:

Lou.......All of my pro monitors (9) in the studio have no grills. It's not that I left them off, they don't come with grills. I enjoy seeing the drivers in the studio environment, but my main system upstairs is in the living room. I choose to leave the grills in place in the living room to maintain a certain aesthetic harmony with the rest of the room's furnishings. The grills also create a certain unspoken boundary that increases the safe distance from hands, arms, legs and feet that might otherwise brush against or even damage drivers. Upstairs its grills on for me.

Thats what I figured that it was more of a safety and WAF kind of thing. I get this sinking feeling every time the kids are over here and I see there are small hand prints on the carbon dustcaps. The tweeter grilles never come off... that's $1000 I would rather not have to come up with once the diamond is poked in. Anyway congrats on the quality stands, I always found it strange that the F113 did not have spikes.

This is pretty much my philosophy as well, (though I have no studio :D).
Every now and then (usually on weekends) I'll take the grilles off my L220's (and sometimes my B460). I do have accent lights in the ceiling to accent my L220's when desired. I only turn those lights on when the grilles are off.

Pete

Pete.......That is really getting into it, when you have accent lighting that is only used when the grills come off. :yeeea:

We're all gonna leave that one alone... right? :p

Awww C'mon guys....you knew what I meant! :D

(Guess I did walk right into that didn't I...:yes:)

Pete

The main sound system has been playing music continuously all afternoon since recalibrating the Fathom subwoofer on its new stand. I am quite impressed with the added dimension to the deep base. I was hoping for some kind of audible improvement from using the sub stand, although not really knowing what to expect. What I am hearing now is a marked improvement over the Fathom's performance sitting at floor level. I did not expect the improvement to be so pleasing. I really like what the stand has done to the subwoofer's presentation and integration in the room.

OK then, Gotham stands are next! :banana:

After Gotham stands, how about doing some F-212 stands? :wave:

Most definitely. :thumbsup:

I just ordered 2 of the Sound Anchor stands for the F113's. They are customizing the size a little to fit in my space at no extra charge - thanks to Ivan and their professional ways of doing business. I would order these bases on looks alone, but with Dan and Ivan's reviews I am also excited about the sonic improvements.
When you think about it, these stands are competitively priced with 4 Ultra Padz or other isolation devices. So, they are a real deal.
Quite a few AA guys have purchased these so are there more reactions? Pics would be especially nice.:yes:
Thanks,
Howard

Pictures!
 

Here are a few pictures of my F113s on the new Sound Anchors stands. I am a couple of days late getting these posted - unfortunately I spent the weekend helping take care of my son who was sick. Now I just need to get caught back up on sleep...

I really do like how the F113s look on the new stands. The sound quality is noticeably improved, even over the Ultra Padz that I was using before. I am thinking the 6" height off of the floor makes the difference. The stands are very well made, solid and heavy, and they definitely aren't going anywhere with the sub sitting on top! Very pleased with the end result - thanks to Sound Anchors and Ivan! :thumbsup:


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Jeff.......Looking good. I wish I had a way to squeeze a second Fathom f113 into my main listening room. I just can't make it work with the space.

Jeff, I like it alot! I think I'll display my Mac book like yours too.

Thank you Ivan
 

Stands delivered on time as expected. Placed them into my system recalibrated the sub with it's ARO and as others have stated an instant sonic improvement to an already great subwoofer!

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