Importance of Good Speaker Stands?


I have a pair of decent speaker stands for my Wharfedale pacific evo 8 bookshelf speakers. Stands sit on on hardwood floor with rounded spikes underneath the base. The speakers themselves sit ontop of vibrapods for some sound dampening.

My question is this: I can, but have not filled my stands with steel shots and/or sand like I've read many do. Will this result in a noticable improvement and if so what does it do to the sound? Also, any recomendations on fill material and where to get it?

Thanks.
dmloring

Showing 2 responses by jax2

Stands can make a significant difference, but it will depend upon how resolving both your speakers and the system is, as well as how discriminating you are as to just how much difference it will make, and how much that is worth to you. One warning I'd give you - those vibrapods tend to leave marks on everything you put on them, especially wood and metal. Those marks are nearly impossible to remove. I learned this the hard way. Cheapest fill material is play sand from your local mega-hardware store that has "mom&pop", who used to own the local hardware store down the street, working for minimum wage as greeters. The sand itself is dirt cheap...no I mean it. Better make sure it doesn't come from China and off-gas some rancid cat-piss smell that melts the tip of your cartridge off. Wait a minute, that's kitty litter filler I'm thinking of. You could probably get some of that Chinese drywall for free and fill your stands with it, but I'd just use the sand. Seriously, filling them can deaden the metallic ringing resonances that may exist and will create a more solid foundation for your speakers with less room to flex. We're talking at levels that we can't exactly measure, but yes, you could potentially hear it. The only way to really find out is to try, which may amount only to a bit of a hassle and sand on your living room floor. If it doesn't work out you've got some nice drainage for a garden bed.

It's late, what can I say. I was very serious about the Vibrapods though.
One further addendum to the PlaySand suggestion - You'll want to make sure that the sand itself is moisture-free (and I don't just mean cat piss). Sometimes the sand comes with moisture included at no cost to you, until you fill your steel stands with it and the moisture causes the insides to rust. I've heard of folks pouring it into a few big pots and sticking it in their oven at low-temp for several hours to bake off any moisture in it. Sometimes you'll just luck out and find a source that sells bone-dry play sand and as long as you keep it from your cat you're good to go and won't need to Bake any sand pies. The alternatives are all more expensive, short of kitty litter which is not quite as dense or heavy as sand. Lead shot is available from gun dealers who sell reloading supplies, but you'll have those tiny balls rolling around your floor for the rest of eternity. They can be a bit annoying when you step on one. Also lead is not the best thing to be handling, or for pets or children to have access to. I don't know if they make shot out of lead anymore though. Anyway, that method definitely will add more weight than sand. More expensive still is metallic powders marketed by the likes of StarSound (who make excellent isolation products, btw), which will add more weight still, but will take weight from your wallet. Pick your poison.