Hi Oneinthepipe
I own a pair of Skylan 24D, which is their 2 pillar 24inch stands. I havent noticed any muting of highs after I filled the pillars with sand. In fact the bass tightened and the highs are very smooth. My speakers are Green Mountain Audio Callistos. In my case I filled the two pillars of each stand unequally to prevent any similar frequency resonance.
Is your base plate exactly measured for your Spendors? Too big or too small, esp too small, can affect the sound though mostly the low frequenices
Best
JB |
Great stands! Great guy to deal with too....I have the 4 Post 20" And filled them 75% full...The do a excellent job at tightening the bass and creating a firm platform for you speakers...Noel also carrries some rubber pads that work very well for the speaker/platform transition..Also could consider using the Herbies Big fat Dots on them too...I did a rehab of an old Pair of KLH 6 and Skylan 4 posters and they look and sound fantastic.......Feel free to e-mail for more info if you feel the need to.. |
I have 18" Skylans for my Harbeth Super HL5s. I used clay-based kitty litter after talking to Noel about it, basically loaded the stands up to the top. My experience is similar to JB's: the bass is very tightly reined in, w/ no boominess, and the treble gained in definition and transparency. I don't think I'd go any less w/ speaker stands, now that I've had the Skylans. |
Thank you for the replies.
The tops are cut the exact dimensions of the Spendors.
The bass is good, but I can't tell about the high end. I really packed the sand in. Maybe that makes a difference, but I don't think it should.
The stands are very well made and very nice looking. Who would have thought that PVC pipe could look so good? |
You might find that if you use something like blu-tak to help make a solid connection between the speaker and stand will help you to get better sound from your speakers. Some speakers come with custom stands designed have you actually screw the stands to the speakers to get that solid connection. I am thinking of Dynaudio and KEF Reference with their dedicated stands. Blu-tak will get very close to the same level of connection without marring or damaging the speaker. |
Could you have possibly altered the speaker positioning which would lead to a change in sound? Did you move the speakers at all when you added sand? Just a thought, try different placement, toe-in. |
I replaced the speakers in exactly the same position. (my wife has never been keen about the blue masking tape on the floor.) I will continue listening to them, but there is definitely a difference. I agree that the low end is better, but I really think that they have lost a little presence in the midrange and top.
They still sound good, and I like the stands. They are infinitely better than the metal stands that I was using.
I don't know whether there is a solid connection between the stands and speakers, but I can feel the low end vibrations in the stands. I have hardwood floors and am not using the carpet spikes. The adjustable feet have flat metal bottoms. |
Try taking some of the sand out. It sounds like you might have them a tad over-damped. Experiment with the 75% filled as previously mentioned. Also, you definitely need spikes or some type of footer to couple the stands to the floor. If using spikes, you'll need special pads for the spikes so you don't ruin the wood floor. You might also try some large Isonode footers or the Herbie's big dots under the speakers. There are a lot of threads on this subject, so you could do a search for more suggestions. Have you asked the Skylan dealer what they recommend? As I recall, wood floors, depending on if they are laid over a concrete base or are suspended, require different set-ups of the speaker stands. here's an older thread you might find of interest:
http://db.audioasylum.com/cgi/m.mpl?forum=tweaks&n=62576&highlight=sand+in+speaker+stands
And another:
http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?cspkr&1156645142&openflup&2&4#2
|
Sherod:
Thank you very much. Those threads are very helpful. The stands came with flat metal feet, about .5 inch in diameter. I think that I will get the Isonode footers and the big dots.
Thank you, everyone. |
That did the trick!
I placed Herbie's small Fat Dots under the speakers (Spendor S3/5), Herbie's self-adhesive grungebusters on the Skylan speaker stands' .5" flat metal feet, and Herbie's self-adhesive grungebuster Extra-Thick Minidots under the audio rack's spikes' floor disks. (I used the self-adhesive grungebusters on the feet because I need to move the speakers when I am not listening to them to prevent my young children from knocking them over.)
The Fat Dots substantially reduced the vibration in the stands. I assume that the grungebusters on the speaker stands' feet also reduced vibration in the floor.
The low end is even tighter than when I loaded the stands with sand, and the mid-range and high end are back.
Excellent! Thank you, thank you, thank you! |
Good going! I'm glad things worked out for you. Enjoy the music. |
Am I missing something here? Isnt the whole point of the sand to make the stand not move at all? The object is to make the speaker perfectly still, so that the drivers move more acurately. I highly doubt filling a stand with sand is going to take away anything. Its only going to improve. Speaker manufactures have said for years, adding weight to floorstanding speakers even makes a better improvement. I think your ears are without a doubt playing tricks on you. Maybe it is something else in your system you changed, even a setting in the prepro if you are using one? |
What should I fill the Skylan Stands with? Thanks.
I spoke to Noel at Skylan and he advised me to use PURINA MAXX kitty litter for my 4-pillar Harbeth SHL5 stands, but I cannot find this litter in the U.S. or online anywhere.
So what should I use? (The above posters mention clay litter or play sand, but I just wanted to ask again. I started a new thread on this before I found this post, by the way.)
And how much litter do I need?
Noel also advised filling the stand up 100%, so any more
experience with how much to use is also welcome.
Thanks in advance. |
Ue kitty litter it sounds better, lol.
Honestly, I cant see that it would make a diference what you use as long as its weight. I would also fill it up completely, despite the weight. The whole point would be to
1. Make them not move a bit
2. Heavy also, so a child cant knock it over |
