Well of course the stuff you can get for free is no good. They want you to buy their product. I have sand in the legs of my rack, and under my CD player. My system sounds great!
Filling A Tubular Metal Rack?
I have a tubular metal rack which consists of four hollow cylindrical steel uprights, sixteen hollow rectangular cross supports and is coupled to a carpet over concrete floor on four threaded spikes. My components sit on MDF shelves and are coupled to these shelves with brass cones and spikes. Up until recently I have had the rack filled completely with sand. I was advised on this forum to remove the sand from the rack as sand acts as a damping device and therefore kills dynamics. With the equipment in use on the unfilled rack I have introduced a metallic ring to the sound, loosened up the bass and diminished top end detail. It was suggested to me that I use a material such as Systrum's Micro-steel Bearing fill instead. I investigated this product on Systrum's website and I quote from their website...
"Steel is positioned as a primary conductor of resonance within our science and product designs. NO SAND, NO LEAD and NO RUBBER products, as these substances come from the "absorbent materials" group. It remains a fact that sand, lead and rubber materials are a solution to treat the negative effects of resonance and vibrations. However, these materials absorb dynamics and micro-dynamics when used with audio and acoustical equipment. They literally soak up and destroy the energies that make the musical presentation exhilarating.
Maintaining and increasing Dynamics within the presentation is a primary goal of all Audio and Videophiles. This raw energy creates the overall excitement and pleasure related to human emotion while listening to a recorded process or live-presentation. If you currently own a stand that can be mass loaded or are using sand and/or lead as the primary fill material, we highly recommend replacing the absorbent material with Micro-Bearing Conductive Steel."
The problem I have is a) the Systrum products are unavailable in my country (New Zealand. b)Systrum sells this product for US$40 a quart and I require approximately 15 quarts to fill this rack. Given the exchange rate and cost of freight, importing this product would be extraordinarily expensive. Approximately NZ$900 not including freight! This is clearly an unrealistic proposition.
I am hoping that somebody may be able to suggest a more readily obtainable and cost effective alternative. Thanks in advance for your help.
"Steel is positioned as a primary conductor of resonance within our science and product designs. NO SAND, NO LEAD and NO RUBBER products, as these substances come from the "absorbent materials" group. It remains a fact that sand, lead and rubber materials are a solution to treat the negative effects of resonance and vibrations. However, these materials absorb dynamics and micro-dynamics when used with audio and acoustical equipment. They literally soak up and destroy the energies that make the musical presentation exhilarating.
Maintaining and increasing Dynamics within the presentation is a primary goal of all Audio and Videophiles. This raw energy creates the overall excitement and pleasure related to human emotion while listening to a recorded process or live-presentation. If you currently own a stand that can be mass loaded or are using sand and/or lead as the primary fill material, we highly recommend replacing the absorbent material with Micro-Bearing Conductive Steel."
The problem I have is a) the Systrum products are unavailable in my country (New Zealand. b)Systrum sells this product for US$40 a quart and I require approximately 15 quarts to fill this rack. Given the exchange rate and cost of freight, importing this product would be extraordinarily expensive. Approximately NZ$900 not including freight! This is clearly an unrealistic proposition.
I am hoping that somebody may be able to suggest a more readily obtainable and cost effective alternative. Thanks in advance for your help.