
The right speaker stands will make all the difference to your hi-fi by isolating them, leading to tighter bass response and improving the soundstage. They also make sure that your speakers are at the best height for listening.
A: In principle, if not bolting the speaker to the stand, then yes. It's not preferable to have a speaker overhanging the top plate, mainly because it makes the speaker more easily knocked off the stand. Some bookshelf speakers come with a rubber pad on the bottom, its best to have the top plate at least that big, in which case there might be a little overhang. For speakers that come with rubber feet, the top plate must be big enough for all four feet to rest on plate obviously and it would be nice to have some wiggle room.. The only benefit of a speaker overhanging the top plate is appearance, and that's a matter of personal taste.. On the other hand, it can also be unavoidable when a speaker is simply too large for any stand. I had some Bose 301 sitting on much smaller stands for years with never a problem, though they could have easily been knocked off, I was careful to avoid that.