vlfaudio Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 Hi folks, got a rig in a tiny venue where it's just not practical to use tripods. Have been looking at these and wondered if anyone had used them and would care to comment on their stability. Boxes we're using are 12" and horn and less than 25 kilos, so well within the rated weight.Reckon they would be useful for some of the retail demonstration work we get as well if they're stable enough for use in high traffic areas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sam.spoons Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 K&M make good kit but why is space restricted? I'd be worried if people were likely to bump into them as stability would be about the same as tripods set up to a 450mm diameter (I'd hope the extra weight of the base would go some way to compensate for the circular rather than triangular footprint). Why not try your tripods set for a 450mm dis and see how easy they are to knock over? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
top-cat Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 Don't recall where I got them, but I had some extendable speaker poles which were 48mm diameter at the bottom and 35mm on the top part. So you could put them in a tank trap and add stage weights as normal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heapsy Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 We've got some of these as the aesthetics of them are much more pleasing than a tripod when you are trying to do a discreet corporate show. I use the them with d&b T10s on top at full height and don't have any concerns about them topping over. The bases really are quite heavy. However it should be noted that the maximum height is lower than a normal tripod stand. Fine if your audience is sitting down for the presentation but not so great if it's a cocktail party and everyone is milling around.Another helpful feature is that that when the pole unscrews from the base it uses an M20 thread which can screw direct into the d&b subs - two uses for the price of one... Hope that helps, Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mackerr Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 K&M make good kit but why is space restricted? I'd be worried if people were likely to bump into them as stability would be about the same as tripods set up to a 450mm diameter (I'd hope the extra weight of the base would go some way to compensate for the circular rather than triangular footprint). Why not try your tripods set for a 450mm dis and see how easy they are to knock over? A tripod with the legs extended to match the diameter of a round base will tip easier because the chord between any pair of the legs will represent a shorter distance from the center. That said, these do not look that stable to me. With a base a little under 18" in diameter and a total weight of a little over 22lbs, and a maximum height of 5.8', I wouldn't want to put much weight at the top of these, no matter what the spec says. Here in the US we if we can't use a tripod we generally use a 22" in diameter 50lbs boom base with iron pipe screwed into it. They are plentiful in lighting shops and are a lot more stable that that stand. The pipe length is not adjustable however, good thing lighting shops have it lots of different lengths. Mac Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sam.spoons Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 K&M make good kit but why is space restricted? I'd be worried if people were likely to bump into them as stability would be about the same as tripods set up to a 450mm diameter (I'd hope the extra weight of the base would go some way to compensate for the circular rather than triangular footprint). Why not try your tripods set for a 450mm dis and see how easy they are to knock over? A tripod with the legs extended to match the diameter of a round base will tip easier because the chord between any pair of the legs will represent a shorter distance from the center. That said, these do not look that stable to me. With a base a little under 18" in diameter and a total weight of a little over 22lbs, and a maximum height of 5.8', I wouldn't want to put much weight at the top of these, no matter what the spec says. Here in the US we if we can't use a tripod we generally use a 22" in diameter 50lbs boom base with iron pipe screwed into it. They are plentiful in lighting shops and are a lot more stable that that stand. The pipe length is not adjustable however, good thing lighting shops have it lots of different lengths. Mac Good point, I didn't think that one through, the legs need to be extended to around 750mm to give a topple diameter (i.e. the short side of a 3:4:5 triangle with the short side being the 450mm) similar to the stand in question. Without looking at the numbers I had guessed the difference between the spread of the legs and the shorter 'topple dia' was closer http://www.blue-room.org.uk/public/style_emoticons/default/huh.gif Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkPAman Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 Good point, I didn't think that one through, the legs need to be extended to around 750mm to give a topple diameter (i.e. the short side of a 3:4:5 triangle with the short side being the 450mm) similar to the stand in question. Without looking at the numbers I had guessed the difference between the spread of the legs and the shorter 'topple dia' was closer http://www.blue-room.org.uk/public/style_emoticons/default/huh.gif It's 780mm from leg to leg if you want to experiment. Circular bases are often more stable the they look. Or more accurately, I suppose - tripods are often less stable than they look. Due to the wonders of geometry, a tripod needs to have its legs placed on a circle of double the diameter of a circular base to have the same shortest dimensions. Then the circular base probably has centre of mass advantages too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vlfaudio Posted March 5, 2014 Author Share Posted March 5, 2014 We've got some of these as the aesthetics of them are much more pleasing than a tripod when you are trying to do a discreet corporate show. I use the them with d&b T10s on top at full height and don't have any concerns about them topping over. The bases really are quite heavy. However it should be noted that the maximum height is lower than a normal tripod stand. Fine if your audience is sitting down for the presentation but not so great if it's a cocktail party and everyone is milling around.Another helpful feature is that that when the pole unscrews from the base it uses an M20 thread which can screw direct into the d&b subs - two uses for the price of one... Hope that helps, Mark It does, thanks. A little more info on the space. Venue is a bar with a roughly triangular stage across one corner. Stage has the bar "hatch" where the staff come in and out immediately to the left, and booth seating to the right. It's a temporary music venue for a local arts festival.Rig is a 2K system from KX Audio, subs with tops on poles normally, but impossible to use this way without losing seating capacity on one side, and access for bar staff on the other. First gig ended up stacking 2 bins and a top on the bar side, forward from the bar to allow access to stage and bar, and a top load strapped to it's flight case on stage on the other side. This worked well enough, but the client is keen to improve sight lines and PA coverage to include people standing in front of the bar,Subs can go along the front of the stage easily enough, but need something with a small footprint for either side hence looking at the K & M's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkPAman Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h59/markpaman/TripodVRoundbase_zps0cef344d.jpg Here you go ..... Notice how much less there is to trip over with a round base Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 Just a thought but if stability was a worry, it'd be easy to get your local metal basher to make up a disc to drop over the main column to add extra weight to the base. I reckon a disc 40cm dia and 1cm thick would add another 10kg to the base. Paint it black and no-one would know it's there. It'd not cost much either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart91 Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 Would it be worth investigating if you can screw into the floor? If it's manky old floorboards, a few screw holes will make no difference and will help stability enormously. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alistermorton Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 Or more accurately, I suppose - tripods are often less stable than they look. Indeed so. Their biggest advantage is not needing to be placed on a perfectly flat and level surface to achieve that stability. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave m Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 scour the free adds for loose free weights and open the hole a bit.slip them over? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sam.spoons Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h59/markpaman/TripodVRoundbase_zps0cef344d.jpg Here you go ..... Notice how much less there is to trip over with a round base Brilliant. I tried to do the sums but quickly lost the will to live http://www.blue-room.org.uk/public/style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonathanhill Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 I reckon I would put a couple of stage weights on the circular base, if I couldn't screw it to the floor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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