MODEL SS-
6 - SS Series - silver / raw - Speaker Stand - Solidsteel

Hi-Fi Furniture · Speaker Stands

A standmount loudspeaker is only ever as good as the point it stands on. Placed on a sideboard, a shelf or a flimsy generic stand, even an excellent monitor loses precisely what it was built for: precision in the bass, calm in the soundstage, focus in the voices. The Solidsteel SS Series is one Italian workshop's answer to that problem — and one that has remained essentially unchanged since 1992, quite simply because it works.

The SS Series is Solidsteel's historic flagship and one of the best-known stand designs in hi-fi history. Three slender tubular columns, set wider at the base than at the top, carry a top plate that is not bolted rigidly in place but rests mechanically decoupled on three precision steel ball bearings. The frame is hand-brazed with brass — a demanding process long abandoned in volume manufacturing, and one that yields an exceptionally stiff, stress-free structure. The range comprises three heights: SS-5, SS-6 and SS-7. Construction, materials and sonic character are identical across all three — they differ solely in stand height and top plate format.

Solidsteel has been manufacturing in Italy since 1990 — genuinely in its own workshop, not as a badge on bought-in goods. The main frame consists of three vertical steel tubes whose ends terminate in crimped, flattened steel bars. This is no styling flourish: a flattened tube end transfers load into the crossbar across a broad area while suppressing the longitudinal resonance of the tube, which on simply cut and welded tubing typically remains as a ringing tail.

The joints are formed by oxy-acetylene brazing with brass as the filler — every single joint by hand. Brazing introduces far less heat than MIG welding, so the geometry barely distorts and the resulting structure carries no internal stresses. For a stand whose sole job is to remain absolutely motionless, that is a real rather than a cosmetic advantage. The anti-resonant finish that follows is likewise applied by hand.

The top plate is no plain chipboard panel but ennobled MDF with a lacquered finish in matt black, fitted with a rubber O-ring around its edge. It does not sit rigidly on the frame: at the three contact points, high-precision steel ball bearings sit between chassis and plate. These point contacts define an exact three-point support — the only support geometry that stays free of rocking regardless of manufacturing tolerance — while acting as a mechanical barrier to structure-borne vibration travelling up from the floor towards the loudspeaker. Solidsteel has had this effect documented in vibro-acoustic test series; the certificates are publicly available.

A loudspeaker is a force transducer — and every force has an equal and opposite reaction. As the cone accelerates forwards, the cabinet is pushed backwards. If that cabinet stands on a compliant surface, it follows this movement minimally but measurably. Cone excursion then no longer corresponds exactly to the signal: transients smear, low notes lose definition, the image wanders. A stiff, heavy stand prevents precisely this by giving the cabinet a reference to work against.

The second effect runs in the opposite direction: vibration fed back through the floor — from the subwoofer, from the speaker's own bass driver, from a footstep in the next room — re-enters the cabinet and overlays the music signal. The combination of spikes at the floor and ball-bearing decoupling at the top plate interrupts this path at both ends. In practice this shows up as a drier, better-defined bass, a quieter black background and a soundstage that detaches far more clearly from the cabinets. The international press has credited the SS Series with exactly that: more focus, more order, less contribution from the stand itself.

Those who want to go further can use the fillable tubular columns. Dry silica sand, steel shot or purpose-made damping granulate noticeably raise the frame's mass and internal damping and shift its resonance downwards, out of the critical region. Filling material is not supplied — though the stands already perform entirely convincingly when empty; filling is the finishing touch, not a requirement.

The decisive rule of thumb for standmount speakers is this: the tweeter belongs at ear height in the listening position — for most sofas and armchairs, that means between 95 and 110 cm above the floor. Measure the distance from the base of your cabinet to the centre of the tweeter and subtract it from your ear height; the result is your ideal stand height.

The SS-5 at 52.5 cm suits larger monitors from roughly 40 cm cabinet height upwards — it is the only model supplied as standard with the large 190 × 190 mm top plate, giving wider cabinets secure support. The SS-6 at 62.5 cm sits in the middle of the range and is the right answer for the classic 30-to-40 cm bookshelf speaker in the vast majority of living rooms. The SS-7 at 72.5 cm lifts very compact cabinets or nearfield monitors into place — equally so with tall seating, bar stools or studio workstations. SS-6 and SS-7 carry the standard 160 × 160 mm plate.

One important practical point: the top plates within the SS Series are interchangeable. If you later move to a wider cabinet, you simply fit the larger plate rather than replacing the whole stand. A moderate overhang is uncritical in any case, provided the speaker is centred and all its contact points rest on the plate.

The footprint measures 330 × 310 mm on all three models and is deliberately wider than the top plate — giving a highly tip-resistant base, particularly welcome in households with children or pets. The height-adjustable stainless steel spikes are used directly on carpet, piercing the pile down to the structural floor; on parquet, tile or vinyl, the supplied protective floor discs go underneath. Careful levelling pays off: only when all three spikes bear evenly does the structure work as free of play as it was designed to be. To hold the speaker firmly on the plate, a small amount of residue-free removable mounting compound at the cabinet corners is recommended.

Every model is available in matt black and in the Raw Metal finish, where the metal is left bare and merely sealed with clear lacquer. The result is a warm, subtly mottled industrial look with visible brazed joints that works beautifully in rooms with wood, leather and openly displayed equipment. The top plate is finished in matt black in both cases. The price is per pair, with spikes and floor protection discs fully included. Anyone who owns a good pair of standmount speakers buys stands like these exactly once — and keeps them across several generations of loudspeaker.