So my SS5’s are at their best not being filled
I’m happy with that as they sound amazing under our 19’s. I did think about filling them a little with kiln dried sand but I will put that off for the time being
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Well said, it does become an obsession 
over time, as we age and our hearing deteriorates can we honestly detect improvements we obsessively buy to improve on what was once a great system 
. When we had normal hearing it sounded sublime, as we age high frequencies disappear so, is expensive hifi going to bring back our ability to hear top end extension I doubt it. Some on here will recommend hearing aids ( fair enough) an electronic device will never replace the human hearing
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May I ask do you know more than the manufacturer and what they know and recommended even though they have gone through extensive research and development
The manufacturer’s advice will be correct they know more about the product than anyone else. However, you’ll always get someone who thinks they know more than them 
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Linn and Naim has never recommended to fill their stands ….
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But then Naim has never made a stand mount speaker with a fillable stand.
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Sounds like the voice of experience…
Yes, it looked so easy to put filler in previous stands without any sort of funnel!
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Thanks omegaman for your advice, much appreciated 
You are absolutely right that the manufacturer knows best. I’ll leave the SS5’s well alone and not fill them as Solidsteel recommended; they have done the tests to see if filling would help and it clearly didn’t so I’m not going to touch them either as they are working perfectly under the ATC 19’s and don’t want to upset what we are hearing at the moment
The only thing planned for the stands is to eventually get em into their final position and add their spikes..that’ll then be speakers, cable and stands totally sorted for us
Actually I found it very interesting chatting to Roberto from Solidsteel, he’s a great chap and very knowledgeable and helpful…..isn’t it great that we can chat to the original manufacture of certain items of our hifi and not only are they extremely helpful they clearly know there product very well and are more than willing to help out; that shows me that they are passionate about their products too
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Not every manufacturer or designer knows best. If I followed the Harbeth designer/owner’s advice, I would not have kept the Harbeth for more than a decade.
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The question of whether to fill or not, that will depend on your own preference. You can put all your faith in the designer’s words, and the stands might be performing at their best without any fill. Nevertheless chances are the sound will likely be different when the stands are partially or fully filled.
I once asked the manufacturer of Marten speakers the same question. The Marten speakers which I own come with their own matching stands. The manufacturer not only recommended to fill the stands but suggested the type of material to use and also recommended isolation footers below the stands.
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Yes you may ask, but in doing so you are falling in what is called an “argument from authority”, one of the classic fallacies of reasoning. You may think you sound clever by stating it, but it only demonstrates a limited comprehension of the topic and an absence of substantial input.
That being said let me ask you, do you believe the manufacturer conducted tests with my particular loudspeakers, employing the same kind of interface between the speakers and stands, as well as the same connection between the stands and the floor, and the same type of flooring? Do you think all those variables are irrelevant?
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You could fill the stands in Naim IBL,SBL and DBL
but not recommended,the same goes with the similar Linn Kan,Sara and Isobarik stands.
I have tried Linn Kan and Sara with filled stands it
is an downgrade,the music gets less fun to listen to.
You’ve not yet fitted the spikes ?
That will also make a notable difference to the presentation!
Ensure they’re fully embedded in the floorboards by applying sufficient pressure to the top plate before installing speaker.
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All manufacturers don’t recommend additional tweaks for their products, saying that they are perfect as such.
linn or Naim streamers say that they don’t need boutique switches or lan cables, Chord or Uptone don’t recommend additional linear ps to their switches, and other say that their stock power cables are good enough.
I am quite sure if you put some Isoacoustics Gaia under the Solidsteel stands, the sound will still improve.
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Thank you for pointing out the Bologna University study on SS6/7 stands (it is also available on the Solidsteel website). It was an exciting read on Sunday morning while listening to Jazz Groove Dreams Stream. I noticed the following in the results:
- SS7 has an additional resonance point at 150Hz. SS6 is more stable and dampens better.
- SS5 was not tested, but its design with shorter legs makes it even more stable: “For this reason, it is expected that the SS-5 model, which has an even shorter structure but was not analyzed for this work, will exhibit even better attenuation levels” (p. 6).
- Regarding filling with sand: "Generally, it has been seen that at low frequencies there are no significant effects and that the attenuation is very similar to the empty frame case. On the contrary, starting from 100 Hz, greater decoupling effects are seen and, in particular, the amplification peak at 150 Hz disappears. In conclusion, by filling the structure with sand we can actually obtain a more accentuated attenuation of the frequency response, in particular at medium-high frequencies. Furthermore, this modification also prevents the formation of possible modes of vibration, that could compromise the correct functioning of the stand (p. 25).
And: “Indeed, the results show that the presence of sand inside the frame helps to attenuate some vibration modes at low frequencies that could interfere with the correct functioning of the object.” (p. 26). - My conclusion: Filling the SS6/7 stands with sand therefore offers measurable advantages (it may be different for SS5). I have not yet read any negative experiences with filling with dry sand (or Atabites) in the forum.
However, filling is a bit tedious because the openings at the bottom of the stands are quite small. I am also not sure whether the filling can be easily removed again.
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“Indeed, the results show that the presence of sand inside the frame helps to attenuate some vibration modes at low frequencies that could interfere with the correct functioning of the object.”
That is saying ”sand… interferes with the correct functioning of the object.” As far as the designer is concerned (and I’m not judging either way), attenuation of those modes is not desirable, as it interferes with the correct functioning of the stand. Attenuation of those modes is a bad thing, not a good thing, according to the paper.
I’m not sure this is good advice for Solidsteel stands as applying too much force to the top plate may cause the balls to dent the underside of the top plate. It’s probably better to push down on the legs or the cross braces.
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Agreed. Sufficient force only to seat the spikes.
Good shout.
The study doesn’t even mention what the “correct functioning of the object” is. There is nothing revealing about this so called paper, it seems to me more like a piece of commissioned advertising than a genuine study. IMO this stand is not a good design, the use of cheap MDF to decouple the top plate from the legs prevents vibrations from being efficiently dissipated through the spikes, leaving energy with no other place to go but bounce back and forth between the speaker cabinet and the top plate, potentially muddying the sound.
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