speaker stand - top plate smaller than base of speaker?

hi guys, i'm having trouble finding decent speaker stands. currently my speakers are wall mounted WAYYYYY higher than ear level and tilted down, so i was looking to improve my frontstage.
do any of you know if having a speaker that's larger than the top plate of my speaker stands is dangerous? i plan on placing my monitor 40s on stands - the monitor 40s are 7" by 12" at the base. However, most stands that I'm looking at only come in around 5-7 inches squared to support the speaker. Anyone know if it's ok to use a stand with only 6" by 6" of support area? or if not, what are some decent speaker stands that will fit? i'm looking for something in the sub-$60 range.

I think it comes down to common sense and just trying something out and seeing if it's stable enough for your envrionment (little kids running around = need something more sturdy). If you have stands that are hollow and can be filled, spend a couple bucks and either get lead shot or some sand and fill them up for a huge improvement in stability. I don't have any links right now, but partsexpress has some nice spiked metal stands that can be filled with shot for some decent results. It also depends on where you live - eg. I wouldn't buy from partsexpress because then I'd have to deal with the border issues.

The stands I had also used a dinky little 5" square piece of 1/8" chipboard for a top so I ripped that off and made 3/4" mdf tops that fit perfectly to the bottoms of my speakers. Much more reassuring than plunking down a 30lb speaker onto the ikea specials.

The key to keeping speakers on stands is 'blue tack' or it's equivalent. A couple little dabs of blue tack will hold the speaker very nicely. :) Don't cover the whole surface--it'll be extremely difficult to ever get it off if you do!

Cheers, Jim

so, my speakers right now are positioned so that the bottom of the fronts is about 6.5" high. the rears are 7 - 8 feet high. if i place the fronts on stands, will the soundfield be too uneven? because the rears are at the only spot where i can stick them. also how much will having the fronts at ear level improve my frontsage?

The best place to start is to have the tweeters at ear level. The height of the stands depends on your speakers and what chair you're sitting in. Having the rears 7-8 feet high should work quite well, but for the fronts and center ear level is better. If you want to see what they'll sound like at ear level just sit on the floor or move around until you're there.

In my experience, the best placement is achieved with a nice balance of all aspects. You need to keep height, distance from walls and other objects, distance from the listening area, distance between the speakers and toe in / out all in the main idea. It also depends on the speaker since some are a lot more sensitive to placement than others. Play around until you find something you like even if it means crawling around the room looking for that balance.

michael and jim, thanks for the advice. i'm probably gonna go through with moving the speakers to stands in a couple of weeks, after i'm done with high school :D anyway, i'm just paranoid about using blue tack, which is what i plan on using. if i stick the tack on the bottom of the speaker, will it peel off the finish when i take it off? i don't want to damage the speaker because if i happen to mount these i don't want them to look ugly at the bottom

Blue tack shouldn't harm the finish on your speaker. It's designed for temporary mounting of stuff on painted/finished surfaces--specifically so you don't wreck the surface. If you use a modest amount, you can remove the speaker from the stand (carefully!) w/o damage, then clean off the blue tack. If the surface looks slightly different, clean it w/ something like Scotts Liquid Gold furniture polish.

If you do get scratches on a speaker (or other furniture) you can remediate the damage by several means, either commercial product or home remedy. There was a time when most every speaker had an oiled walnut finish. To reduce the appearance of scratches on oiled walnut, just take a piece of walnut (meat, not shell) and rub on the scratch. (This also demonstrates that nuts are extremely high in fat content!) This works well on similar color wood.

Cheers, Jim