Historically loudspeaker stands fell into two opposite camps: Heavy rigid metal stands, or open-frame metal type stands with minimal mass

During a visit to the TOKYO tube show in 2018, Rogers presented the NEW Classic 15 Ohm LS3/5a on wooden stands, which sounded natural, organic with less apparent “noise”. The usual audiophile adjectives of space, depth sprang to mind.

Back in the UK, research started into different types of stand materials

After extensive research, it was evident that a wooden stand resulted in a more even tonal balance and an enhanced sense of musical ease. Further research into different densities and types of wood suggested that impregnated plywood (under the trade name Panzerholz) offered the ideal combination of mass, rigidity and vibrational damping.

Panzerholz

An extremely-hard, multi-laminated material in sheet form, Panzerholz is manufactured from beech veneers and synthetic resins under high pressure and heat. The resulting panel has metal-like hardness and stiffness. Sitting mid-way between high-mass and the open frame type stands the Panzerholz stand has the optimum ratio of mass to damping. So unlike a metal stand vibrations are dispersed without any additional sonic ringing.

Construction of the stand is based on a single upright for maximum front to back rigidity

Due to the strength of the material, the top plate and base plates are bolted directly into the tapped upright. An elegant solution with the minimum visual impact, the Reference LS3/5a stand extracts the maximum sonic performance possible from the LS3/5a speaker system. Stainless steel M8 spikes provide substantial coupling to the floor while the top plate fixing is via cork discs.

So how do they perform?

In a word “Holographic” draining the vibration from the speaker cabinet while providing a rigid platform enables the LS3/5a to reach new heights in tonality, texture and spectral decay. They reveal a wealth of inner detail, free from false emphasis.

Availability

Available to order now (speakers not included)

Specifications

• Base plate: 210 wide x 290 deep

• Top plate: 190 wide x 160 deep

• Height: including base and top plate 610 mm excluding spikes

• Weight: 4.3 Kg each ex spikes