<\/p>\n

Soundstage! Osiris Speaker Stand Review<\/h1>\n

<\/h2>\n

Marc Mickelson<\/h2>\n

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\n

January 1998<\/p>\n

Osiris Audionics Osiris Speaker Stands<\/h2>\n

Of all the special racks and platforms available for use with your precious audio gear,
\nnone is as important as the stands necessary for so-called bookshelf speakers. Their first
\nfunction is to raise the speakers to an appropriate height–usually placing the tweeter at
\near level–and thus many manufacturers recommend certain stands for use with their
\nspeakers. However, perhaps just as important as the height of the stands is how they
\nsupport the vibrating boxes that sit atop them. In this regard, a speaker stand should act
\nas both rigid foundation and resonance sink, killing or filtering off as many bad vibes as
\npossible. And it is in these last two functions where merely good speaker stands are
\nseparated from the great ones, the improvement in the sound that the speakers produce
\nbeing the ultimate measuring stick.<\/p>\n

Osiris Audionics is a new company that thinks it has
\nthe ideal formula for making the best speaker stands you can buy. Its Osiris stands begin
\nas heavy pieces of steel and end as a heavy and elegant-looking pair of stands. The top
\nand bottom plates are 1\/2″-thick pieces of steel. While the top plate is completely
\nflat with rounded corners, the bottom plate on which the support pillars rest is
\nsemi-pyramidal in shape. Michau Jay Yuen, the president of Osiris Audionics, explained
\nthat this shape was chosen over others because of how it dissipates energy–acting like an
\ninverted cone and ultimately providing greater isolation and resonance transfer for the
\nspeakers. The Osiris stands weigh 40 pounds each, and the two round pillars, 3.5″ in
\ndiameter, that connect top and bottom plates can be filled with sand, lead shot, or a
\ncombination of both to add mass and control resonance. I used sand exclusively and found
\nthat each pillar holds over 10 pounds worth, which makes the stands weigh over 60 pounds
\neach–even more if you use lead shot. Osiris Audionics makes 19-, 24- and 27-inch models
\nof the Osiris stands, and these heights should accommodate a majority of the bookshelf
\nspeakers currently available.<\/p>\n

Osiris Audionics has obviously created the Osiris stands very deliberately, and it
\nseems that they haven’t missed a trick. The stands are solidly built and come with a
\nnumber of accessories that either help make setting the stands up easier or improve their
\nperformance with your speakers. Included are a printed guide that covers setup, a paper
\nfunnel to aid in the sand- or shot-filling process, and even a few black dots that you can
\nput over the fill holes in the top plate once you’re finished. The stands also have the
\nmost substantial and user-friendly spikes I’ve seen–solid brass, 7\/8″ round, 2″
\ntall, and nicely threaded. They screw into and through the bottom plate, making adjustment
\nand leveling an easy task: just slip a quarter into the notch on top of the spike and
\nturn. No fumbling around while you try to twist narrow spikes that sit under<\/i> the
\nheavy stands. Very<\/i> nice.<\/p>\n

In Addition to…<\/b><\/p>\n

The sand-filled Osiris stands, 24″ in height, were used exclusively in my budget
\nreference system along with Merlin TSM
\nspeakers<\/a> (follow-up review coming). I used a CAL DX-2 CD player as well as electronics
\nfrom Mesa, Joule Electra, and Clayton Audio<\/a>.
\nCables were from DH Labs. I used stock power cords (gasp!) most of the time, although I
\ndid experiment very successfully with power cords from JPS Labs and Audio Power Industries<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I used a matched quad of Fun-Tak blobs to couple the Merlins to the stands, but before
\nI even attempted this I leveled the stands to make sure the speaker drivers would fire
\nperfectly straight ahead. Don’t<\/i> take this step for granted–a slight variation in
\nangle at the speakers can lead to a large anomaly in tone at your listening seat, so take
\nthe time to level the stands, and then ensure that the speakers themselves are also
\nleveled once they’re seated on top of the stands. Your ears will thank you.<\/p>\n

The Sound of…<\/b><\/p>\n

Before you ask the question yourself, I’ll ask it for you: how does one evaluate the
\nsound of a pair of speaker stands? A good question, especially when you combine it with
\nthe fact that I had no access to other speaker stands of the same or similar height for
\ndirect comparison. Hmmmm. Well, I’ll say right here that this review is by necessity a
\nwork in progress, but there are a few aural conclusions that I was able to draw. First,
\nthe Osiris stands are incredibly rigid, and this attribute helped couple the Merlin TSMs
\nsolidly to the weight of the stands and, of course, the floor below, reducing the
\nspeakers’ susceptibility to internal and external vibration. This seemed an especially
\neasy conclusion to draw given the midrange of the TSMs, which, like that of the Merlin VSMs<\/a> and VSM-SEs<\/a>, was very impressive. Wonderful
\nclarity and transparency were mixed with just a touch of sweetness. The price of the TSMs
\nand the Osiris stands is $2579, and I don’t know of a pair of speakers in this price range
\nthat equals the way the TSM\/Osiris combination re-creates voices, which just sounded
\ndistinctly there<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Another salient feature of the Osiris stands is their ability to damp unwanted
\nvibration and resonance, keeping these away from the speaker cabinets and thus the
\ndrivers, which have enough to worry about. If I touched the cabinets while the music was
\nplaying, I obviously felt vibration from the sound. If I touched the top plate of the
\nspeaker stands, the vibration was almost nonexistent. But if I touched the sand-filled
\npillars, even near the top plate, there was nothing. Although the sand certainly has a lot
\nto do with this, I can’t help but think that if the pillars were smaller in diameter and
\nthus held less sand, the vibration would have more of a chance at turning the entire stand
\ninto a vibrating mass that would certainly affect the sound of the speakers. It only makes
\nsense.<\/p>\n

All in all, I had nothing to fault with the speakers that would lead me to believe that
\nthe stands were somehow responsible. On the contrary, I always had the sense that the
\nimpressive sound had something to do with the solidity of the Osiris stands.<\/p>\n

In the End…<\/b><\/p>\n

The Osiris speaker stands have been a great success when used with the Merlin TSMs, and
\nI suspect that they won’t disappoint with other speakers as well–the ProAc Response 2s
\nand 1sc models come quickly to mind. The Osiris stands are heavy and incredibly inert, but
\neven so they are surprisingly easy to set up, including the dreaded duty of filling them
\nwith sand or lead shot. And they look like a million bucks, the perfect complement to the
\nuptown Merlin TSMs. I can just see the two of them together in a Manhattan loft, in front
\nof a long wall of pickled-oak bookshelves and flanking a glowing rack of fine ancillary
\nequipment. Ah, the good life.<\/p>\n

Only as other speaker stands show up for evaluation will I know the full measure of the
\nOsiris stands and their contribution to the stellar sound I get with the Merlin TSMs. It’s
\nonly fair, however, to give at least some of the credit at this point to the Osiris
\nstands–their function may be simple but the sound they help produce is complex and
\ninvolving. Perhaps the best way to sum things up is to convey the thoughts of Merlin’s
\nBobby Palkovic, who loves the Osiris stands, believing that they outperform his previous
\nfavorites with the TSMs, the Target R4s (which cost $250 more). There’s opinion and then
\nthere’s truth.<\/p>\n

…Marc Mickelson<\/em><\/p>\n

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