Hi - I’m currently in the market for some new speaker stands.
I was reading previous posts with interest regarding the merits of high mass or low mass stands, although I have little knowledge on the subject. Do others on here consider the solid steel SS series to be high mass or low mass? They don’t look particularly high mass, especially when filled, as they don’t have a large diameter column, typical on a lot of metal stands. But they do weigh just under 13KG.
Perhaps the SS-6 may work well with speakers that normally prefer both high or low mass? I’ll be changing my speakers in the future, to what is unknown.
There is a video on YT with Solidsteel’s Gaetano Conti demonstrating the SS-7, with some comments from him underneath;
"The welded frame of our SS Speaker Stands is exactly what makes them unique. In this way the amount of vibrations generated by the playing speakers is distributed evenly among the whole structure. By the bottom spikes all those vibrations are dampened. "
"Although we do not provide any fillers for our products, you could try with some metallic sand (or powder) which can be purchased at hardware stores. The only recommendation is: if you decide to fill the stands, then do it for the whole frame, not just for the half of their capability. "
This seems to suggest that filling the SS series stand may not be as mandatory as with other stands. But also that if you do fill with metallic powder, they should be filled 100%, not half or 2/3.
Would be interested in any feedback on these points other owner’s of the SS series (and any pics, they are great looking stands! )
Hi, the Solidsteel SS6 are very good stands and are also very common here in the forum. They are very well made (handmade in Italy) and offer good value for money. If you use the search function at the top and type in ‘Solidsteel SS6’, you will find a whole series of posts in the forum about them. The SS6 are more of an all-rounder, suitable for a wide range of standmount speakers. I can’t see which speakers you are using in your profile. Some manufacturers offer dedicated stands that have been specially developed for these speakers. Exceptions are also some speakers for which open frame stands or wooden stands are recommended (e.g. Harbeth/Graham). If you can try the SS6 at home, that’s probably best (my dealer lent them to me in advance for testing). In my experience, filling the stands is of great advantage. In the forum, many people use Atabites as filling material with success. Because this was not available in Switzerland, I used (dried) aquarium sand from the pet shop. However, the filling should not take up more than 2/3 of the volume to avoid overdamping. I would recommend doing a hearing test after filling two-thirds of the way, as the filling is difficult to remove. You will need a small funnel and some patience when filling, because the openings at the bottom of the SS6 are quite small. Another recommended optimisation is to use Isoacoustics Gaia3 instead of the original spikes (Click here). This means another small investment, but it has paid off for me (on parquet flooring). The Solidsteel Stands are also available in three heights (SS5/SS6/SS7) depending on the size of the speakers (tweeter as close to ear level as possible). Furthermore, there are different versions and colours, depending on your taste. Enjoy!
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