How cheap can speaker stands go? I just need two for the rear speakers of a 5.1 system (PC speakers).

On another thought, how do you guys deal with the rear speaker problem?

Very. The main purpose of a speaker stand is to put the speaker in rigid contact with an immovable object (the floor) this is why they have carpet piercing spike on the bottom. The reason for this is Newton's laws of motion, moving a force applied to the cone by a voice coil also causes a force trying to shift the box in the opposite direction. You are trying to stop the box moving. The heavier the speaker stand the better, which is why most speaker stands are hollow and the manufacturers tell you to mass load them with sand bags or lead shot.

You can achieve exactly the same effect putting the speakers on a heavy bit of furniture with a bit of blutak at each corner between the speaker and the surface.

Raising them to the same height as your ears is not a bad idea either

The moving mass' inertia and the opposing mass involved here, is not an issue practically speaking. It is actually best to place the speakers on a system that prevent rigid contact, as many floors and even some stands are resonant - thus excited by the energy transmitted via this route. For a bookshelf speaker on a stand, I recommend using a high quality medium stiff cushion foam such as a latex based foam(which will last basically forever), or at least an Evlon type foam. Normal cushion foams(low density urethane/polyurethanes) are pretty much garbage; they will settle/squish in a relative short time and lose their desirable properties.

Now, since the high grade foams I mentioned are not really common at all, and have to be special ordered(PIA), the easiest thing to use, and more stabile physically, is to use some 1/2" - 1 " squares(one each corner of speaker bottom - secured to bottom of speaker with bluetack or similar, and in turn, the bottom of the square will also be secured to the stand with bluetack or similar) cut from the 'standing mats' such as you can buy at Wal-Mart. These are thick cushion mats designed to reduce back stress when standing on a hard surface. Wal-Mart sells these for about 10-13 dollars each. It is made from a semi-dense foam, that will not the best in quality, will last a significant amount of time, and provide an effective decoupling mechanism that can be secured for physical stability.

-Chris

Quickest stands I ever made were two 2X4s (of chosen height), four squares of plywood, two lengths of 5/16 threaded rod and four nylock nuts.

Put a quick channel up the back of each 2X4 with a table saw or router. Recess holes in the middle of each plywood square. Slap'em together. Semigloss or flat black rattlecan. Less than half hour tops if materials are on hand. I was suprised at how nice they came out.

Otherwise, for about thirty bucks a pair there are some interesting finds at Hobby Lobby (or similar). There is quite a variety of made-in-china decorative welded iron stands (for flowers/knicknacks/pottery/figleafed greek statuary, etc) scattered around the store. They end up being suprisingly nice little speaker stands.

Does mounting matter when it comes to surround speakers? I have my rear surrounds hanging on nails (which are nailed into a support for the floor above.) I suppose my setup allows them to move a bit. Does this matter?

That's an interesting recommendation. How well do you think neoprene rubber foam would last? Those cheap "wetsuit" mouse mats, cut up and glued on would have the properties you say are desirable. Are they too dense? Do you think they would crush over time?