|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
108.220.52.112
Opinions/Experiences Please!
Follow Ups:
I'd avoid anything magnetic so exclude steel shot. Lead is better but shot may vibrate in its enclosure so add sand to fill the gaps.
Many years ago I built a pair of original Wharfedale Airedale corner speakers from G A Briggs' design as described in his excellent 1962 "Cabinet Handbook". This was then just about the most expensive and best speaker on the market and featured sand-filled panels and quarry tiles for panel reinforcement.
Times have changed and 15" woofers in 4.5 cu ft enclosures are thankfully things of the distant past. Modern materials and drivers offer much better sound without the need for sand-filled panels, etc. It's fun to experiment with these antiquated ideas but don't expect the thrills you can get from say Avantgarde or any of a dozen alternative modern speakers.
Peter
Sorry, I hadn't read your question carefully. You're asking about speaker stands - different subject. Yes add anything heavy for its volume so sand, steel, lead, mercury, silver, gold, platinum in that order to achieve best base for stand-mount speakers.
Or better still, get a decent pair of floor-mounted speakers. Big speakers are always better than small ones and the extra cost is often mitigated by what people spend on fancy stands - and still without the benefit of proper floor standing speakers!
Aquarium sand works well and doesn't contain any moisture.
nt
Stability and proper coupling are my main concerns.If I was using typical small standmounts that tend to roll off below 80 hz or so I would probably not bother with the use of fill unless my stands were really lightweight ones. Or just for kicks, I'd try kitty litter as fill.
If I was using untypical standmounts with relatively deep bass extension I would probably use the heaviest stands and the heaviest fill I could find. Personally, I would avoid the use of lead shot. Sand, steel shot, or a combination of those two would be my choice.
I don't bother with messy fill any longer. I chucked my hollow lightweight stands years ago in favor of more substantial heavy-gauge steel stands.
I now use SolidSteel SS-6 stands. While the SS-6s are fillable, I don't bother. They have ball bearing contacts and extra-large and pointy spike feet. And they are quite heavy in stock form. Also, my standmounts don't output much below 70 hz. Subwoofers do the deep bass duties.
I also use small, thin squares of sheet sorbothane between speakers and stands for a sticky, vibe-damping interface. So I'm not too worried about audible vibration transfer.
Edits: 09/24/16 09/24/16
I've tried the following:
- Playground sand
- Lead shot
- 50/50 mix of BBs and playground sand
Sand seems to produce a deader sound than shot or a mixture, which might be good or bad depending on your system. You can tune the degree of deadening by varying the amount of sand in the stands.
Lead shot sounds better to me, but the stands can become very heavy and hard to move around.
The 50/50 mix is the best I've tried. I used BBs because I already had a lot of them on hand, but steel shot should produce the same result and be cheaper.
I did not try kitty litter because it seems rather light. I'm sure it would provide damping, but I wanted to mass load the stands too so they couple better to the floor.
I found a source for garden sand in Quarts, not 50lb bags.
I'll check that is DRY for sure.
I think sand will fill completely, where kitty litter, being more coarse wouldn't ( might not ) completely do.
I'm going to skip steel shot.
locally @ a building supply store.
It was inexpensive and, as I selected a bag that was stored inside instead of out on the yard, it was dry.
No hassle/fuss, though I did wear a dampened paper mask when filling the stands outside as the dust from the product is something you don't want to breath in.
If you get mason's sand rather than play sand or tube sand you'll find that it's extremely dry, since the water content of concrete and mortar has to be carefully controlled. It's easily obtained at Menard's.
Does that mean the liquid, hot magma has NOT been completely ruled out?
You used to be able to buy that at Goodmans.
"Once this was all Black Plasma and Imagination" -Michael McClure
I've used sand - problem was finding sand that was really dry - otherwise works well.
Kitty litter - not as dense as sand, the really cheap stuff makes too much dust, avoid the scented variety as mentioned previously.
Lead shot - works best, but often hard to find and expensive. Try a well stocked shooting/reloading store if you have one in your area. Haven't tried steel shot.
Lead shot + sand mix - an audio buddy swears by this mixture. Although I haven't tried it, it does make good sense. Might work well if steel shot is substituted for lead shot.
Second Kitty Litter. Favor it over sand and steel shot. Easy to pour also. Just don't make the same mistake I made and not read the label where it says scented. Listening room smelled like, well, kitty litter for about 3 months. Go unscented. Trust me.
luckily my stands came with plugs, so there was no smell.
I use reptile sand from the pet store.
Jim
http://jimtranr.com
nt
Steel shot is unacceptable, as it might conceivably rattle, thus
causing distracting, extraneous noise. One wouldn't want to be
playing some complex classical piece at high volume levels, only to
hear the shot rattling in the stands, now would one?
Kitty litter might cause local cats to relieve themselves on your
stands, or heaven forbid! - on you speakers!
Sand is, therefore, the only possibility.
nt
I used sand.
The main problem with using sand is DRYING it.
The sand MUST be dry.
Most readily available sand has a lot of moisture in it.
I used a frying pan on the stove top. Many, many pan fulls.
I filled three racks. I used polyurethane sealer to seal the racks.
Sand is also cheaper than steel shot.
Sand can be messy and can leak out of some stands. If you use it, make sure it is play sand from a home improvement store and it is totally dry. Do not use beach sand.
I bought a bag of small pebbles from Home Depot and they worked great.
Fill 'em with liquid hot magma. ;)
Cheers,
Presto
Opus 33 1/3
-nt
Opus 33 1/3
I just bought a pair of TYLER ACOUSTICS LINBROOK SIGNATURE MONITORS and had them make me stands to match the exact dimensions of the speakers. Lead was out right away. Not even sure if you can still buy it. Next up was playground sand, but couldnt find a bag that was at the very least moist, most were very wet. I read somewhere that somebody uses kitty litter. I went to the local farm supply store and found kitty litter made out of clay, VERY heavy and DRY!! It made a huge difference, I was ready to return the speakers, until I tried it. Soundstage and imaging was greatly improved and the speakers lived up to their reputation.
More convenient and less messy than sand or shot. I'm not sure if kitty litter deadens ringing metal as well as sand or shot does, but then I'm not sure that ringing metal is all that audible during playback anyway.
The primary benefit of filling your stands is not the suppression of "ringing" noises, IMO. The primary benefit comes from the extra weight, which in turn enables better (or at least different) coupling between stands and floor.
I have metal stands before, but nothing substantial (such as Target stands), but my stands are made from thick MDF 9" W X 13" deep (see Tyleracoustics for a picture) and I put 50lbs of Kitty Litter in each stand which probably made a more profound difference than if they were steal. It was a pretty big difference than the hollow stands. Thanks for replying.
Sand. It is a bit easier to deal with pouring, etc. When/if you are ever done with it, it is also easier to dispose of. And it is way cheaper too.
As for damping characteristics, I have used both before and I feel like the sand ended up making things more dead and less prone to any ringing.
/
I married the perfect woman. The downside is everything that goes wrong is my fault.
I tried those, and while they were good, I ended up using depleted uranium shells instead. They work even better! Higher density!
;-)
Post a Followup:
FAQ |
Post a Message! |
Forgot Password? |
|
||||||||||||||
|
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors: