Absolutely they can; some stands are necessary for some standmount speakers to sound their best. I had those kinds of stands for Harbeths, but I sold both Harbeths and their stands as they were not giving me the kind of sound I prefer....
Do different speaker stands can really make a big sound improvement?
I am looking for stands for my new Harbeth P3ESR XD speakers and wonder how much improvement one can actually hear between close to a $1000 stands and a $100 one filled with sand?