What’s the best material to fill speaker stands?

Hi-Fi Corner
1

Hi all!

Since recently i replaced my KEF LS50 for the KEF R3 and because they’re bigger I needed bigger speaker stands. Paired with the Nova it’s a great system for the apartment i live in.

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The stands are Dynaudio Stand 20 and have one large hollow column, witch can be filled with ‘something’… Dynaudio provided a plasticbag with it so anything is possible.
So what is the best material to fill it with?
Is there a rule with ‘the heavier, the better?

Dry sand : 1,6 kg/dm3
Kitchen salt : 2,15 kg/dm3
Atabites ‘graphite’ : 2,16 kg/dm3
Smal metal discs 3mm : 7,36 kg/dm3
Lead beads 3mm. : 11,3 kg/dm3

I’d love to hear your thoughts about this.
Best,
Michael

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The maker may have a recommendation. And some are expensive (B&W Stand Filler). But personally, I feel that filling with dry sand to 2/3 capacity is always best.

I’ve yet to be convinced anything else works better… other than perhaps going for an open frame stand which avoids the issue altogether but aesthetically isn’t for everyone and some speakers don’t respond well to open frame.

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I don’t have stand-mounts these days, the last set I had was way back & were called ‘Something Solid’, they were filled with dry sand & that was sealed in during manufacture. A year or so back I helped someone fill his - don’t know make but had a hollow tube centre pillar. We used kiln dried sand from a builders merchant into a plastic bag & only enough to fill up to about half way (this makes it heaviest at the bottom) He was happy with the results

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4

Cat Litter. Unused of course. :grinning:
2/3 filled my SE24’s with it. Works as good as anything else I have tried over the years.

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5

You can buy bags of washed sand or grit in garden centres or in any if the large outlets

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6

Atabites in mine. Jolly heavy and inert.

G

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7

There is a wide variety of materials sold as cat litter these days, some of it weighing very little, so it might be worth saying which sort you use.

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Silica sand works well

9

Have you ever caught the cat squating on the speakers? :grinning:

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Yea! The heavy stuff. :grinning:

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Kiln dried sand. As Feeling Zen found, 2/3 full was ideal for Acoustic Energy AE1 stands.

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This was the subject of research I conducted as part of my diploma in acoustics back in the mid 1980’s. Sand was deemed most effective.
However, I rather like the idea of salt, purely because of the smaller grains. My only work would be possible corrosion to the stands.

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Why was the sand more effective?

It seems like filling stands has nothing to do with mass but with dampening them.

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I would have to dig out the thesis, but if I recall it’s about overall mass and how that contributes to dampening. This was assessed by looking at real-time frequency analysis and the amount of vibration in the stands. I also looked at various spikes, stiffness and stands.

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I’ll try to fill them with salt, since the stands came with special plastic bags I’m not afraid for the corrosion part.

Thanks for your inputs.

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You would certainly need to put the salt in a plastic bag or something, it’s sufficiently hygroscopic that it will turn into a more or less solid lump over time, as well as corroding any metal it touches.

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Whats so special about salt ?? never heard of using that before, seems a bit weird, its not that heavy compared to others, attracts moi sure & the gas it emits is corrosive so better make sure that plastic bag is well tight.

Same with cat litter, very light & won’t do much to mass load or stop tube ringing

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18

Salt have a higher density than dry sand

19

Custom Designs inert filler, not cheap but does the job.

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You could try water. That will definitely dampen it.
You could even melt some gelling agent into it so it sets like a jelly. Should add more definition to wobbly basslines.

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