The way I do it is bluetac (a small pea-sized piece) in mid frame at corners of the stand, and on top of it I put a square of release-paper as originally backed sticky labels. the bluetac spreads to a thin film under the (considerable) weight of the speaker, filling any gaps, while the release paper ensure it doesn’t stick to or mark the veneer. It also avoids the stand sticking to the speaker, which is undesirable with heavy speakers - but perhaps desirable of small/lightweight.
I believe some people are using blutac to form a firm couple between the speakers and stands to prevent the speakers from toppling over. By placing a small piece of paper between the blutac and speakers defeats the purpose. Instead of using blutac and piece of paper, you can consider getting some foam or rubber footers and stick them to the stands. Easier that way and neater.
I used to have blutac between the stands and speakers many years ago but don’t use that anymore as it really destroys the base of the speaker. It’s not a major damage and it doesn’t really matter if it’s cheap budget speakers but it does matter when you treasure the speakers and regard them as a gem especially costly ones.
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Yes, that is to what I was alluding with the final part of my post.As for rubber feet, they of course wouldn’t prevent toppling, but compared to, say, screwed-on stands rubber feet may have a more of an effect on sound than a thin film of blu-tak. BTW I’ve only used that blu-tak approach with very heavy speakers (48kg+), never having had any small standmounts.
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So, after a couple of running in months, time for an update.
Last month I replaced all my power cables to PowerLines along with a WireWorld Matrix EU, as some good second-hand opportunities came up. I can’t really tell if there was any difference comparing to a single Powerline in the SN2, but at least I ran out of upgraditis options 
. And I have a DC1 cable waiting for me in UK to pick up during XMas, so then all cabling is done and dusted.
After that, I decided it’s time to go ahead with finalising the speaker cables. Given the length needed (~5.5m) and the ensuing cost of some options I had in mind (i.e. Tellurium Q Black 2), I narrowed down my options in used NACA5 and Kudos KS-1. No possibility to audition KS-1 really, so I bit the bullet and ordered a pair from Analogue Seduction. It is a deceptively thin cable for what it achieves! My pair arrived with simple gold plated bananas and the wire is connected in the bananas via 2 screws. Hopefully that’s good enough 
.
Anyway, compared to NACA5, KS1 is definitely a step (or two) up in my system and for my taste. There is more focus in the midrange, giving me the final bit of “warmth” that I was missing with the PMCs. The sound is also clearer and it’s easier to notice and follow different instruments and nuances of the singer. At the same time the whole presentation remains coherent and rythmic.
NACA5 in comparison probably remains the king of PRAT, but at a cost of some “grunginess”. It demands all your attention, whereas the KS1 is also OK with being a bit more in the background. I would find myself lowering the volume down with NACA5 after a while, whereas with KS1 I can keep increasing it without any discomfort or fatigue. KS1 even makes my crappy Greek music listenable in a HiFi system 
.
So now everything is in place and I don’t feel the need to tinker anymore*. Just listen and discover as many albums as I can… Stayed up late last night and couldn’t bring myself to bed, which is always a good sign 
.
PS1: *I visited a HiFi shop in the neighborhood for the first time yesterday, and I was drawn to the Artnovion Avalon Flow panels that they had installed all over the place. They look so good and would probably add a bit of diffusion in my room which wouldn’t hurt. But they are damn expensive as all things in this hobby… 
PS2: I also visited a HiFi show in Brussels yesterday and I can’t say that I was impressed by what I heard. The best sounding system was a pair of PMC Fact 12s (what else? ) driven by Esoterica electronics. Also a system with Totem speakers and Chord Electronics was quite nice. The rest was either boring or unlistenable. No Naim in this show. But I didn’t find missing anything when back home, which is also a good thing .
PS3: Maybe time to delete my account from this forum to keep myself safe?
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That looks very nice. I use KS-1 with my PMCs, with Naim plugs at the amplifier end and soldered bananas at the speaker end, which seems to be the optimum way of doing it. Because the Nova is to the right of the right speaker, the Ks-1 is 5.5m for the left speaker, but only 2.75m to the right. I discussed this with the dealer before getting them made up and their view was that having different lengths is better than coiling up a load of spare. The Nova is pretty flexible, and this might not be such a good idea with a ‘proper’ Naim power amp such as a 250.
Why do you think I ended up with KS-1?
I decided to go with straight bananas and equal lengths in order to make the cables easier to sell on the second hand market in case I didn’t like them. But they are definitely not going anywhere!
I suppose I could optimise the plugs in the future, but thankfully I am very happy with how the system has now balanced out with this last change, that I am in no rush to touch anything.
Honestly, I feel that, after 10 years, it’s the first time I really enjoy my HiFi without any niggling doubts. So I owe you a nice bottle of wine/whisky/whatever-is-your-prefered-poison if I ever drop by your neighborhood! 
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Here is an update following some recent developments (I should really stop visiting this forum because it’s not good for my wallet… )
Anyway, after trying out a couple of things (I will comment on the appropriate topic) and playing some music at pretty loud level (higher than before), the speakers became overly bright once more… I assume it’s either the running in process, or the HiLine started touching somewhere where it shouldn’t… Most likely the first one, even though the speakers have already had 15 weeks of use (not counting actual hours though).
So for now speaker grills are on for the first time and I reverted back to the lavender interconnect. Also fiddling around with the speaker toe-in. Balance in the sound has been restored but let’s see how things will develop in due course.
PS: In the debugging process, I tried out the SN2 without the HiCap DR. Performance was significantly impaired, so the HiCap stays .
PS2: I am using “Hijo de la luna” by Montserrat Caballe to quickly evaluate differences among components. It combines female vocals that can become harsh if there is an issue with the system, a lot of fine details that are easier to observe as the system becomes more revealing, and some deep drums to evaluate PRAT. Quite efficient!
PS3: A few days ago I visited a HiFi show in Brussels and had the chance to play the same song on a pair of Audiovector R3 Arrete, driven a by Exposure 5010 system. It was in a small hotel room with no sound treatment as far as I could tell. So far, the best rendition of the song ever… Some amazing three dimensional staging of the vocals flying around the room… And the source was just a laptop connected to the built-in USB DAC of the Exposure preamp. Really impressive… Thankfully I cannot afford these speakers so I can just forget about it and live a happy life… 
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Why o why am I now reminded of a blonde guy?
Famous last words of course… Ethernet cables updated since then as discussed in a separate topic.
Now onto another fine-tuning point. My dealer wasn’t happy with the corner placement of the rack (and I understand the point of high bass energy in the corners…). So, since I don’t have anything better to do with my life, I relocated everything off to the right side, at a spot which is practically unused most of the time. Current status as follows:
So the room feels lighter and now there is space for two RELs for when the itch arrives 
. The Powerlines are also out of sight and better separated from the rest of the cables.
Cable management also becomes easier. I will need to adjust the routing of some cables if I decide to keep it here permanently, but that’s straightforward.
So all good? Almost yes, but I am worried about the long-term exposure of the rack to the sunlight. The floor in that region is clearly faded vs the part which is covered by the carpet. Any ideas on how to protect it? I was thinking of building some custom furniture on top, but I am pretty sure it will look terrible.
Open to your suggestions!
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I’d put it back where it was. It’s not like you’ve got a turntable and the speakers are hardly bass monsters.
I have more or less the same layout, just one more fraim layer. But same color frame and also near the window. Mine is at the north however, yours probably south?
Have not seen any fading of the black at all but I’m also not that concerned as I really have no other option location wise.
What a lovely place @sihctr !
(the rack looks nice in both positions, indeed no turntable so more flexible)
Keep the 26’s and look to isolate them from your room, I think you will be shocked by the results. I use Townshend Speakers bars but there are other more affordable products such as the ISO acoustics.
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It’s facing north-east, so there is plenty of sun coming in during the summer mornings. The right side of my right first speaker (Dynaudio X36) had clearly faded after a few years.
SWMBO thanks you HH, as she prefers the corner placement by far .
I returned the rack back to the original place, but with a bit more distance from the rear to make cable dressing easier. For some reason the HiLine doesn’t sound nice in the corner, whereas it was more than OK by the windows… In both cases not touching anything… Strange, but back to lavender once more for now.
Many thanks @daddycool ! It’s a nice typical Brussels home, but my HiFi life would have been so much easier if it wasn’t for the deep fireplace in the middle of the living room. Oh well…
What you need is a Nova. Stick it on a coffee table, everyone is happy, and no Hiline required! I think it is a good idea to put it back in the corner, then it doesn’t dominate the room.
You have a lovely room, and I was wondering where you were, based on the view from the window. Brussels is a great city, though people drive like lunatics and the tunnels and underground junctions are a bit scary. We are off to Antwerp next month, which is more manageable.
Looks like a big improvement to me aesthetically as well as SQ. I wouldn’t worry about sunlight. Worst it will do is turn the labels at the back yellow.
going by car to Antwerp, don’t forget to register the car on the LEZ site of the city. Fine not doing is important. And circulation plan inner city changed with no more above ground parking places for non residents in the center part of Antwerp. However fully enjoy the Belgian beer and chocolates.
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I see that coming one day… when I get sick of all this… And then starting again the upgrade process from scratch…
I am Greek, so I can deal with lunatic driving . But the (underground) junctions can be really psychedelic sometimes… I wonder who designed them!
Happy to meet for a beer or two when you are around if the stars align. My OH worships you as a HiFi deity!
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