John Darko
H&M’s ‘Pedestal’ slots nicely into our self-imposed brief to find everyman furniture that would accommodate hi-fi hardware. Our recent video on ‘Hifi Furniture for Normies’ covered three items that could house the electronics that drive our loudspeakers. Today, we consider the loudspeakers themselves. Or rather, upon what we sit them.
Most ‘hi-fi’ speaker stands are designed to lift the loudspeaker 60cm or 70cm from the floor to put the tweeter at ear height. The slim, tall Pedestal – intended by H&M for plants or ornaments – measures 67cm high. That’s pretty much spot-on for most listeners.
Better still, the Pedestal’s 21.6cm square top plate is large enough to accommodate the majority of pint-sized 2-way standmount loudspeakers. For example; KEF’s LS50 measures 20cm across and 28cm deep; the Q Concerto Meta (review here) measures 21cm across and 32cm deep; and the 6″ ELAC Debut 3.0 measures 20cm across and 30cm deep. A 5cm overhang at the front and back would mitigate any depth mismatch but I would pay attention to the speaker’s weight as the Pedestal puts only 6.3kg on the scales.
Anyone looking to more closely match the speaker’s dimensions to the Pedestal’s top plate (!) should consider the Pro-Ject Speaker Box 5 S2 (review here) which puts 16m across the front and 21.5cm front to back.
However, unlike common-or-garden speaker stands, the H&M Pedestal isn’t made of metal. It’s made of MDF, which the H&M website explains as follows:
“MDF (Medium Density Fibreboard) is a material made from soft or hard wood that is processed into fibres and then mixed with binding agents and wax. After a printing process, the fibres are turned into boards with smooth, knot-free surfaces.”
That won’t satisfy those convinced that a loudspeaker stand’s materials influence the loudspeaker’s sound but H&M’s Pedestal pulls us away from the traditional black metal aesthetic with a choice of Light Beige and Light Matte Yellow finishes.
Best of all, the Pedestal sells for €60 each (or €120/pair), which is quite a bit cheaper than the majority of ‘hi-fi’ speaker stands.
Further information: H&M
