Advice on stand mounting, please


For the past 13 years or so I've been using a pair of Musical Fidelity MC-4 "large bookshelf" speakers (am I the only person in the world with these Martin Colloms-designed beauties??), screwed to the top of a pair of 18" lead shot filled steel stands. Now, a pair of Tyler Acoustics Reference Monitors are on their way to me and I've just ordered some 24" high steel, sand/lead shot fill-able stands for them. I'd like to avoid screwing the new speakers to the new stands, but I wonder if there's a sonic penalty involved in not coupling them securely. What do you guys think? What's the best interface to use between the stand's steel mounting plate and the speakers?...felt pads, sorbothane, spikes, something else? Also, do you prefer sand or lead shot to fill the stands? Many thanks.
pendragn
I use 20 lbs. of steel shot in each of my Lovans. I bought the shot through an ammunition dealer. Also, since I'm an artist I've been using 4 pieces of kneaded erasers under each speaker to good effect. The kneaded erasers come in flat squares that can be cut or molded into any shape like Silly Putty. I just roll em up into little gray snotballs and place them under the 4 corners of my speakers. The weight of the speakers compress the balls into flattened discs. It works pretty good for me. A cheap home fix. Also, they don't mark up the cabinet finish one bit.
I use a product called Stick-Tack with my Totem 1s. Its the same as Blu-Tack but you can buy it at any hardware store and its just $1.99. Works great.
Pendragn, there have been more than a few posts regarding the various possibilities for filling stands. Try : Sand or Shot? in the search box.
Blu-Tack is an adhesive putty that works quite well, it makes a strong bond but won't wreck the finish of the speaker. I'd prefer lead shot to fill the stands mainly because it is less messy. Hope this helps.