As an instructional designer who’s been recording voiceovers and other projects in my home studio for years, I’ve found that the best studio monitor stands can play an essential role in the setup and performance of your studio.
The right accommodation for your home studio monitors will help you decouple them from unwanted surfaces, and ultimately produce pure sound and enjoyable audio experiences. Studio monitor stands are specifically designed to position the monitors at the ideal height and angle, ensuring that the sound is directed precisely toward the listener’s ears. This placement is crucial for achieving accurate and balanced sound reproduction, which is essential for critical listening, mixing, and producing high-quality audio.
In this article, I’m sharing what I believe are the 7 best studio monitor stands from various budget categories and announcing my top picks (click here to learn about our entire Editorial Process & Methodology for product reviews). This guide has been fully updated for 2024 to bring you the best options currently on the market today.
What are the Best Affordable Monitor Stands?
Here are our picks for the top studio speaker stands worth a look…
1. Ultimate Support MS-90 →
Combining the advantages of both wooden and metal stands, the MS-90
is a game-changing model from Ultimate Support that fits most common application scenarios in a sound recording studio.
What’s great about this set of studio monitor stands?
- 36″ column made of extra-durable 6000 series aluminum
- Nifty internal design featuring three standalone channels: two small ones for audio cables and power cables, and a large one for weighting
- Three rubber feet to provide isolation from the floor
- Four rubber pads to separate monitors from the stand
- Two joints to decouple the bottom and the top
All these characteristics translate into maximum decoupling and reliability with this affordable studio monitor stand set.
Plus, you get the perk of a lifetime warranty: whatever happens, you’re covered.
One downside to these studio monitor stands: the height is non-adjustable here whereas many other stands are. Aside from this drawback, MS-90 is the best choice!
Best for: pro and semi-pro studios, mid-size and larger monitors.
2. SANUS Adjustable Height Speaker Stand →
As the name suggests, the SANUS
studio speaker stand offers full adjustability and a few other perks. Need more details on this studio monitor stand? Here you go:
- Supports satellite speakers up to 3.5 lbs.
- Adjustable height – 28” to 38”
- Heavy-gauge offset steel column with a built-in wire channel
- Top plate, keyhole adapter and L-shaped brackets included
- 5-year warranty from the manufacturer.
It’s cheap and functional! At this budget, you should seriously consider this stand for lightweight speakers.
Best for: home studios, satellite and small bookshelf speakers (JBL, KEF, Sony, and many others)/smaller monitor speakers
3. VideoSecu 2 →
The VideoSecu stand mount
supports a great selection of speakers. It’s easily adjustable, heavy duty and nice to look at.
What are the key features of these studio stands?
- Stylish steel column to support up to 30 lbs weight capacity for quality stereo sound
- Flexible side clamping on the top plate – width from 5.5 to 11 inches
- Adjustable height – from 26.5” to 47”
- Screw-in rubber feet facilitate great isolation on carpet or solid floor
- The top plate can rotate 180 degrees and tilt up to 10 degrees
- Stealthy wire management, ensured stability
Best for: PA systems, club environments, a broad selection of studio monitors including JBL, KEF, Klipsch, Sony, Yamaha, Pioneer, and beyond.
4. Mounting Dream MD5401 →
Mounting Dream MD5401
height-adjustable speaker stands raise the bar for durability. The model has an extendable tube (35.5” to 48”) with 11 lbs capacity per stand.
More details below:
- Various attachment options catering to specific speakers: adapter bar for horizontal holes, vertical hole/keyhole, as well as a round holder for wooden speakers
- Heavy-duty cast iron, black finished steel (supports heavier monitors weighing up to 11lbs/5kg per column)
- Floor-standing design features with a triangle shape base
- Neat cable management solution with cabling hidden out of sight.
All in all, this is a very sturdy and very flexible model that provides full compatibility with a wide spectrum of speakers. In any case, make sure you check the location of the speaker holes before you buy.
Best for: mid-weight acoustic systems, semi-pro, and home applications.
5. VIVO (STAND-SP03B) →
Universal floor speaker stands, this VIVO
pair works great with bookshelf and surround sound speakers.
Let’s look further into the model’s parameters:
- Dimensions: 25” height, 6.25” x 6.25” top shelf, 9.5” x 9.5” base measure
- Smooth compatibility: this stand accommodates most satellite and bookshelf speakers
- Design: high-gauge steel speaker stands (2 columns) in sleek matte black finish
- Spikes: easy carpet placement with smoothly attachable and detachable spikes
- Padded feet: a nifty option for solid floor placement.
In other words, VIVO offers a stylish neutral look, and it’s heavy-duty and easy to assemble. For a pretty low budget, VIVO is as sturdy as it gets. If you prefer to conceal the cords, this may not be the right option though, since there is no cord management.
Best for: home and semi-pro studios, monitors weighing up to 22lbs.
6. Pangea Audio DS400 →
Heavy-duty 32” speaker stands, Pangea
is a high-quality steel model that holds the speaker firmly for best performance.
Here are the features:
- Durable, all-steel
- You can fill all four support piers with sand or steel shot
- Adjustable bottom spikes for better carpet standing
- Four rubberized top pads for speaker isolation
- Supports a bunch of compact speakers as well as larger monitors.
The DS400 utilizes sturdy support piers and provides a rigid base for compact monitors and bookshelf speakers. Stylish, impressive, worth every penny.
Best for: amateur and pro recording studios, large monitors.
Now that you’re familiar with some nice speaker stand options, you might want to supplement your acoustic infrastructure with isolation pads for better decoupling and sound performance. Check out my brief roundup of iso pads, and pick what feels right!
7. DR Pro SMS1BK (36″) →
A wooden model, the DR Pro
is a popular studio monitor stand despite the traditional drawbacks associated with wood.
How does DR stand out?
- The model has a hollowed-out cavity that you can fill with the right material for greater density
- Thus, you can boost acoustic isolation between the monitor and the floor
- Shipped in various versions, e.g. DR Pro Maple Wood.
All this should be taken with a pinch of salt though. Wooden models are far less durable. Plus, they have a larger footprint and you can’t adjust their height.
Best for: smaller studio monitors and speakers
A Final Word on Studio Monitor Stands
Spending hours recording in the studio only to find out that your tracks don’t sound quite right is frustrating.
One of the most common problems is that the speakers aren’t properly positioned.
This can happen for a number of reasons, but one of the most common is that the speaker stands aren’t positioned right.
If your speakers are too low or at the wrong angle, they won’t be aimed at your ear level properly and you won’t be able to hear all the detail in your tracks.
This can lead to subpar recordings that don’t represent your hard work accurately.
That’s why choosing the right speaker monitor stands for your studio is so important. The right stands will place your speakers at the perfect height, so you can hear all the details in your tracks and create a better mix.
With the guide above, you can find great monitor stands that will set you up for success.
Have a question about choosing the right studio monitor stand? Comment below and we’ll help.