Best Fill For Speaker Stands

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by mwheelerk, Jul 27, 2012.

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  1. mwheelerk

    mwheelerk Sorry, I can't talk now, I'm listening to music... Thread Starter

    Location:
    Gilbert Arizona
    What do you think is the best fill for speaker stands? The thing I used about 6 years ago was Lovan's Black Gold which was great. It was very dry, flowed almost like liquid through a funnel (which I needed at the time) but it is very pricey at $30+ a bottle (about the size of a gallon bottle) and I can't get it locally. At 11lbs a bottle and needing at least 3 bottles I am looking for other options.

    Are there any particularly sands or other materials available at Home Depot or elsewhere you can recommend. I would like it to be relatively clean (not lead shot), very dry, and have the ability to compact, basically not leave gaps.

    Thanks
     
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  2. murga

    murga Forum Resident

    Location:
    croatia
    quartz sand.just make sure it is dry.
     
  3. mwheelerk

    mwheelerk Sorry, I can't talk now, I'm listening to music... Thread Starter

    Location:
    Gilbert Arizona
    I have had a previous experience with drying sand in years past. It almost worked until she caught me taking it out of the oven in her baking pans. I never understood why she divorced me. :angel:
     
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  4. ElizabethH

    ElizabethH Forum Resident

    Location:
    SE Wisconsin,USA
    When I had B&W 805S speakers i added regular playbox sand from a hardware store.
    Drying it is important though.
    I used a worn skillet (do NOT use a high quality pan)
    Stove top, just cooked the sand, stirred it some until dry.
    Worked fine.
    When adding, vibrate the stands to compact the sand.
    I also filled all the structure of my component stands and still use those...
    Sand is cheap. easy no doownside.
    Lead is expensive, very toxic, dangerous, and then what to do when selling? and disposing?
    Pure quartz is fine, just more expensive than common play sand.
    Clay? metal bits? stone?
     
  5. TeacFan

    TeacFan Forum Resident In Memoriam

    Location:
    Arcadia, Ca.
    Yep..Playground sand from Home Depot. I used an old CLEAN cat box to dry the stuff out. (keep Tabby away!) Took a few days w/ box shaking. I did not realize how moisturized it was straight from the bag. Worked fine.
     
  6. Radiotron

    Radiotron Tube Designer

    Location:
    Montreal, Canada
    Kitty litter. Easy to find.
     
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  7. Chris Schoen

    Chris Schoen Rock 'n Roll !!!

    Location:
    Maryland, U.S.A.
    Pea gravel works good.
     
  8. rcspkramp

    rcspkramp Forum Resident

    Location:
    Vancouver, WA USA
    Gravitationally compacted cosmic dust works best.
     
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  9. mwheelerk

    mwheelerk Sorry, I can't talk now, I'm listening to music... Thread Starter

    Location:
    Gilbert Arizona
    I saw online, silica sand used for smoking receptacles. I may check that out. I am still interested in what others use though.
     
  10. Balthazar

    Balthazar Forum Resident

    I used clay kitty litter for my Skyan stands, as recommended by the manufacturer.
     
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  11. dbz

    dbz Bolinhead.

    Location:
    Live At Leeds (UK)
    kryptonite
     
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  12. Josquin des Prez

    Josquin des Prez I have spoken!

    Location:
    U.S.
    +1

    I did this for my Dynaudio Stand4. When I went to sell the speakers and stands, after a year the sand poured out freely and dry. There was not a hint of moldy or musty smell in the stand downtubes.
     
  13. timind

    timind phorum rezident

    My Soliloquy 5.0 stands are filled with Kitty Litter. Very easy to pour but do it outside as it is a bit dusty while pouring.
    My other set of stands were filled with a mixture of sand and lead shot years ago.
    No difference in sound that I can detect.
     
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  14. ElizabethH

    ElizabethH Forum Resident

    Location:
    SE Wisconsin,USA
    Problem with THAT stuff is if any black holes still laying aroung in it.
    IF the tiny black holes are left in. plenty of trouble down the road as they suck up the rest of the dust.. Then all you got are stands witn black holes in them...:love:
     
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  15. ChrisWiggles

    ChrisWiggles Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    I filled my Dynaudio Stand 4s with play sand I got at the hardware store. It was dry in the bag. I did it outside and shook them, whapped em really good to get the sand to settle, which it did quite a bit.
     
  16. Yep. Kitty litter is the secret ingredient in many an audiphile's speaker stand.
     
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  17. mwheelerk

    mwheelerk Sorry, I can't talk now, I'm listening to music... Thread Starter

    Location:
    Gilbert Arizona
    This is actually for my new Dynaudio Focus 110A speakers but my stands are Solid Tech that match my AV rack. The opening at the top of the posts will make it much easier to fill that the previous Sanus stands I had which had to be force fed with a funnel.
     
  18. ChrisWiggles

    ChrisWiggles Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    ^ Yeah I recall the opening in the Dynaudio Stand 4s is very small as well, since there's a welded top plate that covers up most of the tube openings, I had to make a really small funnel and practice my patience!
     
  19. Josquin des Prez

    Josquin des Prez I have spoken!

    Location:
    U.S.
    I would never use lead shot. It's a health hazard, seriously.
     
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  20. talkradio

    talkradio Faded Primadonna

    Location:
    Cologne, Germany
    CDs...
     

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  21. KT88

    KT88 Senior Member

    Play sand from Kmart or Lowe's.
    -Bill
     
  22. mwheelerk

    mwheelerk Sorry, I can't talk now, I'm listening to music... Thread Starter

    Location:
    Gilbert Arizona
    Reading the email notification of your post before seeing your post I thought you might be suggesting grinding up old CDs into small poly pellets. :laugh:

    I am off to Home Depot to see what I can find.
     
  23. Bubbamike

    Bubbamike Forum Resident

    I've never understood why one would use lead shot over steel shot. Anyway my Skylans are filled with Kitty Litter, it took 30 pounds to fill them. Alan Shaw and myself are very happy with it.
     
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  24. tribby2001

    tribby2001 Forum Resident

    Simple, lead shot is 32% denser/heavier in mass than steel. It's safe as long as you don't eat it, you wear gloves and wash your hands after handling.

    I just order extra #9 Shot
    [​IMG]
    after first filling my shells of course.
     
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  25. Josquin des Prez

    Josquin des Prez I have spoken!

    Location:
    U.S.
    Hope you don't have kids or animals, because its poisonous.
     
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