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Re: DIY speaker stands- Solid MDF or sand filled?

Not much experience so take my comments with caution.

I tend to have a theoretical preference for the light and rigid school, or at least the view that you shouldn't add mass simply for the sake of adding mass. I would prefer light stands so I probably wouldn't choose either of your 2 options, the solid MDF or the sand filled box, as my first option. Having said that, I use a pair of Dynaudio stands with my Dyn Contour 1.3 SEs and those stands are heavier than any stands I would have made had I gone the DIY route and the Dyns sound great on them. I'd expect that since I'd expect Dynaudio to make stands to suit their own speakers. My stands are an old Dynaudio design which can't be filled so I haven't been able to experiment with them.

That raises the question of what Brian Cheney recommends for his speakers, and whether they prefer lighter or heavier stands. I don't think there's a single answer that suits all speakers. From comments and reviews, it appears to me that some speakers sound better on lighter stands and some on heavier. I did notice differences in the sound of my previous speakers when I played around with the stands I was using with them and while I found that sand or lead shot definitely added to bass weight, I found in the end that I preferred the sound with the stand cavity filled with compressed polyester batting to damp ringing, even though that added virtually no mass at all. I lost a little bass weight that way but I thought I got a flatter and more extended bass response that was a little more tuneful as well.

For a really light stand design that would be considerably lighter than any of your 2 suggestions, I'd use a single vertical piece for the 'beard' with another vertical piece behind it at right angles so, in plan view, the 2 pieces looked like a "T". Put a plate on the top and bottom of that and still use spikes. You could damp the stand by adding something like Dynamat to one side of each piece where it was basically out of sight.

I'd start of by finding out what Brian Cheney recommends and go from there. That may mean making stands which can be filled and it may not. If I was going to go with solid wood, I'd probably try to alternate the MDF layers with something else just to break up the resonance pattern of the stand, though that would make them a bit more expensive to build.

David Aiken


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  • Re: DIY speaker stands- Solid MDF or sand filled? - David Aiken 13:06:19 03/10/07 (0)


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