Sonos Beam Mount for Apple Studio Display (height-adjustable stand)

Sonos Beam Mount for Apple Studio Display (height-adjustable stand)

A one-piece bracket that hooks into the cable slot of the Apple Studio Display's tilt- and height-adjustable stand and holds a Sonos Beam (Gen 1) right below the display. No screws, no glue, nothing to drill: the hook clamps onto the stand arm, a brace rests against the arm below it, and the Beam simply sits on the shelf.

Optional: a version with a dovetail groove under the shelf for add-ons, such as the included holder for the Spotify Car Thing, or your own designs.

Features

• Hook mount: a tongue and lip reach through the slot in the stand arm and clamp onto the 10 mm wall. A collar sits in the slot's front chamfer and centers the bracket.

• Cable routing: the Beam's HDMI and power cables go straight back through an 18.5 mm wide cable slot in the hook and out behind the stand. The round Sonos power plug (18 mm) fits through.

• Add-on groove (optional): the groove version has a dovetail groove on the underside of the brace. Add-ons slide in from the left and can be moved sideways. A Car Thing holder and a plain dovetail key for your own add-ons are included. With the default height, a tunnel guides a USB-C cable from the groove into the cable slot.

• Customizable in OpenSCAD: height, groove and support tower (see below).

Fits

• Apple Studio Display with the tilt- and height-adjustable stand. I only had this stand; other stands are not checked.

• Sonos Beam Gen 1 (651 × 66 × 101 mm). I haven't checked the Gen 2.

• Spotify Car Thing (with the groove version and the holder).

All slot dimensions were measured on my stand with printed gauges: slot width 41.2 mm at the narrowest point, 10 mm wall, 8.2 mm deep front chamfer. If your print is too tight or too loose, print the fit test first (see below).

Also needed: a 90° HDMI angle adapter. To connect the HDMI cable to the Beam without problems, you need a 90° HDMI adapter (male to female), for example this one on Amazon.

Height – please read

With the default settings shelf_drop = 0), the top of the Beam ends up about 210 mm above the desk. The bottom edge of the display sits at about 215 mm when it's in its highest position, so the display can no longer be lowered with the Beam in place.

If you want to keep some of the height adjustment, lower the shelf with shelf_drop in the Customizer. Each mm lower gives the display 1 mm more travel:

Files

All ready-made files use shelf_drop = 0.

Printing

Bracket and fit test

• Print lying on its side, in the orientation of the files.

• Material: PETG. Settings: 0.2 mm layers, 5 perimeters, 30 % gyroid, no brim.

• Supports only under the hook. The 3MF projects already contain a support enforcer there, and all other supports are off. If you use the STL in another slicer, add supports from the build plate under the hook only.

• Approximate print time on a Prusa Core One with a 0.4 HF nozzle: bracket 9 h / 295 g, groove version 10.5 h / 311 g, fit test 1 h 50 min / 46 g.

• A thin layer of adhesive (e.g. 3DLac) on the plate helps keep the tall part in place.

Car Thing holder and dovetail key

• Print them as in the file (holder standing, key on its base plate), no supports.

Installation

1. Remove the Beam and unplug the cables.

2. Thread the plugs through the cable slot from behind. The round Sonos power plug goes first. Pull them out through the window at the front of the bracket.

3. Lift the bracket about 18 mm, push the hook through the slot in the stand arm from the front and lower it. The lip slides down behind the arm and clamps onto it.

4. Plug the cables into the Beam and place it on the shelf.

5. Groove version: slide the Car Thing holder or your own add-on into the groove from the open side.

Customizer (OpenSCAD)

To render the Car Thing holder, download the STL of the original Desk Stand for Spotify Car Thing and save it as carthing-stand.stl next to beam-mount.scad. The bracket itself renders without it.

Open beam-mount.scad and go to Window → Customizer:

• part: what is shown or exported (preview with dummies of arm, Beam and display, bracket, Car Thing holder, fit test, dovetail key).

• shelf_drop: how much lower the Beam sits (0–60 mm, see the table above).

• dt_mode: add-on groove: none (default), open on both sides, open on the left, or open on the right.

• dt_key_len: length of the dovetail key.

• cslot_w: width of the cable slot (default 18.5 mm, enough for the Sonos power plug).

• support_tower: off = slicer supports under the hook (as in the files here). On = a built-in support tower that is connected to the bracket by breakaway tabs, for printing without any slicer supports.

Press F6 to render, then export as STL.

If the hook is too tight or too loose in your slot, adjust lip_clamp (clamp fit at the lip) and gap (clearance of the tongue) at the top of the hidden parameters in the SCAD file.

Designing your own add-ons

The groove is meant for add-ons: anything that should hang under the shelf, like the Car Thing holder. The easiest start is dovetail-key-40mm.stl (or part = Dovetail key in the SCAD file): put your design on top of its base plate, or let it grow out of the plate.

The groove:

• Profile: dovetail, 12 mm wide at the opening, 18 mm wide at the base, 6 mm deep.

• Where: on the slanted underside of the brace, which rises toward the front at about 24° from horizontal.

• Length: open on the left (seen from the front) and straight for about 128 mm. Then it closes with a tapered end, about 52 mm right of center.

The key:

• Fit: 0.25 mm smaller per side than the groove. It slides easily and still sits firmly.

• Base plate: 30 mm wide and 6 mm thick, with a 0.25 mm gap to the brace surface.

Credits

The Car Thing holder is a remix of Desk Stand for Spotify Car Thing by cawris, licensed under CC BY 4.0. The holder uses the original stand unchanged and adds the dovetail key. The original file is not included here, please get it from the original model page.