Filling speaker stands: sand, lead, steel, rice. Full, half, etc?

@meiatflask thank you very much for the response. I decided to just leave it alone and yes, the sand was damp... I dried them out but only for an hour under the sun, filled the tubes with the half wet half dried sand.. I shaked the stands this morning and surely i could hear the sound of sand moving inside. Probably wouldn't worry too much about it now

As a metallurgical engineer who has spent much of the past 40 years looking at corroded metal,  yes, wet sand will cause steel to rust.  (I assume the stand/tubes are steel.)  ideally, you want to dry the sand out. Practically, this can’t happen unless you remove the sand. Theoretically, you could bake the sand filled tubes or put them in a lab vacuum, but neither of these is realistic.  Partly because the moisture would have to escape through the holes- and with small holes and slots of sand that is many inches away from the holes it would take along time for the entire sand to dry out.

fortunately, indoors under controlled environment- the rust process will be very slow, taking years to produce a light rust skin on the inside, and probably decades to affect the structure/thickness of the tubes,  and the sound would only be affected if there was serious thinning of the walls.  If the inside of the tubes was painted (which is doubtful unless they dip paint the tubes rather than spray them), rust will be much slower, so slow you can ignore it.  Adding a rust preventative (wd40) to the sand could help, but only if you could shake it up enough to coat the entire inside, which seems impossible, so not worth the effort.
So, assuming the sand was “damp” and not dripping wet, you should not have a problem.   If it were me, I would just not worry.  Perhaps start off your listening with Neil Young’s Rust Never Sleeps.

As long as there is no wave action, you should be fine. One could or could have drilled a bigger hole.

Hi i recently purchased a pair of speaker stand, bought it for like 35$. I filled the speaker stand as soon as i received them. I filled them with sand but they were a bit wet.. The hole was very small and i spent about 2 hours filling the steel tubes (4 of them, 2 for each stand) my question is.. Can they damage the stands? if yes, what should i do to prevent the rust? It's close to impossible to take out the sand because like i said, the hole where the sand went in was very tiny. Thanks to anyone who responds 

I like filling mine with meatloaf. 

It yields a more organic sound. 

Promote that person!

But if sound still no transparent, take two shots the Stolichnay

> Chicken Fry rice is always improve the sound.

Especially if your system needs a little extra "sizzle".

don t forget Stolichnay , after two shot , sound always improve and get 
more transparent

Obviously a super big advantage to fried rice, spam, grapes, pecans, and other delicious 😋 foods that are not too hard, not too soft, is you can eat them if they don’t sound good.

Chicken Fry rice is always improve the sound.

How did it sound? Lol. For those who admire sand or rice solutions, I suggest taking a gander at super smooth and super spherical glass microspheres, the operation of which is rather quite superior to non symmetrical sand and rice. These little babies are not cheap, what price glory?

I don't have any advice, but do have a story about lead and learning something about physics :-)  Not long after I bought KEF 103/3's back in the late 80's, I had the special speaker stands that come with them filled with melted lead by a local factory I knew.  What I did not anticipate was that as the lead cooled it expanded - like water in a bottle in a freezer.  Uh oh.  Without quickly putting heavy duty metal straps around the outsides of the stands, they would have split wide open.  In the end it worked out, and the vertical part of each stand is like a solid lead column surrounded by the wood of the stand.  Heavy for sure, and a roommate a few years later somehow ran into one a broke his big toe.

Being retired with lots of time on my hands, I've been playing around more with the mixture and have added more lead weights and have filled the last 1/4 with eggs crates, cotton, really packed down.

The Dynaudio stand 6 have TackAudio footers on the bottom with Alto_ Extemo Lyd II mounted on top of the stand with the S25 sitting on top of the Lyd II.

I have also made sure that each stand weight is exactly the same ( 30 kilos,) along with being perfectly level and both the same height. With the Dynaudio S25,s being 44 1/2 from floor to the top of the speaker.

Speakers must be a mirror of each other for optimal imagine, stage ect. The speakers from the tweeter to the front wall 69 inches, 53 1/4 side walls to tweeter. Total weight with speaker and stand is 44.2 kilos.

All this has added up to a larger life like soundstage, tighter bass and excellent imaging along with all the other audiophile bla bla bla.

Im a tweaker, what can I say.

For me, stone dust (Home Depot) is the most dense, heavy-as-hell filler.

Imagine a 3' by 2' bag of sand. I would estimate the equivalent size in stone dust to be roughly twice as heavy, at least that's what it feels like. This stuff is so dense, it feels like you are lifting a frigging stone of the same size. 

For me, stability is my main concern. I then put a Husky neoprene-like tool-drawer-bottom liner between the top plate and the speaker bottom for protection and grip. The whole thing is pretty tight and solid...

To answer your original question.....Freshwater aquarium gravel (the epoxy coated type) Buy new not someones used stuff..... If that doesn't  work ...set up a aquarium!!!

I used to have my stands ( Dynaudio stand 6 ) filled with Small lead shot, sand and rice, I have since been experimenting with different quantities of lead and have discovered that the more lead, weight /dampening you can fill your stands up ( 3/4) is the limit with the remaining filled with egg crates to further dampen the stands the better imaging, bass including texture and pitch of bass, micro dynamics. I now have the stands filled with different size lead fishing weights, 20 pounds with lead shot, 50 micron aluminium oxide to fill in the gaps and have experienced a huge improvement in the above areas. Highly recommended to experiment with different , heavier, dampening materials to a achieve speaker monitor performance.

Holiday Tip

Cone material, Order of effectiveness/sound quality,
best to worst 

NASA grade ceramic
Cryo’d high carbon steel
aluminum
brass
carbon fiber
lead

Remember, cones are directional so always use them points down.

Noromance- tell me about brass cones. Who makes them, etc? When I think of cones, I think of pointy ends.  Sticking into the wood of the speaker? Educate me.....

Elizabeth is in the house!

Try removing the rubber pad and use brass cones.

I put lead shot in my stands and filled the gaps with sand.

Please reconsider lead: https://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/topics/agents/lead/index.cfm

In a pr of Skylan stands for Harbeth 30.1 a few yrs back.

concrete blocks will be fine to elevate your speakers and will give your living room that "grad. student" aesthetic

paint them with a brush not spray paint to prevent chips & dust

Very small diameter steel shot works well.

Micro-Bearings is the best that I have found for fill however it can get expensive; http://starsoundtechnologies.com/microBearingFill.php

If you chose to use sand, fill a cookie sheet with a layer of sand no more than 3/16" high and bake it in your oven 350 degrees until totally dry, an hour or longer depending upon the type of sand you purchase.

I use lead shot in my stands. Walmart used to sell it in 20lb bags, but not any more. Before you fill your stands with anything, make sure there are no gaps between the top plate/columns, and the base plate/columns. Some cheaper stands aren't built with tight tolerances, and will leak terribly with sand. Make sure there's a tight seal everywhere. I chose lead shot because of it's weight. I filled one of my stands (24" with 4 columns) with shot, and one with sand. The one with shot was a LOT heavier, and MUCH more stable. I ended up filling them 3/4 of the way due to the weight. I stuffed the remaining 1/4 with cotton. Use your own judgement depending on the size of your stands. I hear no audible ring when I knock on them. As far as the danger with lead shot, it's safe as long as you (duh!) don't eat it. Fill your stands outside, wear latex gloves, and use a funnel when slowly pouring it in. If you're paranoid about the dust, you can put a small fan beside you to blow the dust in the opposite direction. Let the stands sit for about 15 minutes so the dust can settle inside the columns. Put the top plate back on and wrestle them back into the house. I used a hand truck to move mine. Sand, rice, or kitty litter is certainly cheaper, but I prefer the lead shot for weight and stability, not to mention it's damping qualities. 

I second bdp's comments about the silica sand and it being dry and sounds better in stands than regular moist sand.  The ultimate for good sound in steel posts, however, is Star Sound's very small metal bearings.  They are about the size of the ink tip in a ball-point pen.  They will make the sound much more like live music with the live-vibe technology.  The drawback is it's expensive--like $59 for a quart of it times a lot.

Do not use kitty litter unless you are in a dry climate all year long. Litter absorbs moisture like a sponge, clumps and expands. You need tight welds to use sand or litter as it will leak out the cracks. Small pebbles or steel shot are my recommendation. 

mes-
you are the first person to mention kitty litter.   What is your set up? And full or half or? Any thoughts on why? KL would be less dense than sand, lead, or any of the other candidates. (Although if it were used, the density would be increased😀)

Lots of folks have explanations for lots of stuff. My advice to people is never try to explain anything. It will only get you into trouble. Everything is arguable!

Kitty Litter. Unscented. And unused.

Have you done a shoot-out; used vs. unused?  ;-)

Kitty Litter. Unscented. And unused.

Of course Alan Shaw is also interested in toe in etc. See hee for his explanation of why the tweeter should be at ear height: http://www.harbeth.co.uk/usergroup/forum/the-harbeth-line-up-m20-m30-m40-1-p3esr-c7es3-shl5/74975-op...

There is no doubt that most box type speakers need a little damping as the cabinet resonance is not really good for the sound. So, in addition to a good sounding stand I some effective method of damping cabinet resonance should be explored. Too bad Tekna Sonic Dampers for speakers and subwoofers are no longer available as they were very effective in allowing cabinet vibrational energy to exit the speakers without storing energy, which is an unfortunate side effect of many damping techniques. Also, as I mentioned somewhere last week, large cones act as node Dampers on speaker cabinets a la the “Beaks.” Those Gabon ebony things sometimes work when placed on top of the cabinet, too. Marigo VTS Dots (very small constrained layer Dampers) are effective for damping the internal crossover elements, speaker driver structure, speaker diaphragm, and the cabinet itself.

In addition, I kind of doubt that the ear should always be at tweeter height as it really depends on the actual radiation pattern of the tweeter, the room acoustics, and the location of the listener’s chair. In fact, Pierre Sprey over at Mapleshade is find of saying that the best sound is usually when the listener is sitting on the floor. So, opinions vary. Obviously the speakers should be carefully placed for best results.

The Frog Jump in Water Tweak is based on the concept that ice cold water in bowls on the floor causes the sound waves to bend downward slightly towards the listener so he hears more of the sound. 

willem, surely Mr. Shaw considers room placement, not just height, an important determiner of speaker sound quality. And how about degree of toe-in? I recently finally heard a pair of Magicos in a home (having heard them in showrooms a fair amount), and before listening commenced, I commented on the less-than-"normal" amount of toe-in with which the owner had positioned the speakers---about 15 degrees off straight ahead, I’d guess. He responded that you do NOT want Magicos pointed directly at you, and when we started listening, I heard why! I am much more familiar with planar speaker sound than of speakers with dome tweeters, and many planars need to be heard directly in the line-of-fire of the ESL, m-p, or ribbon tweeter.

Harbeth's designer Alan Shaw argues that the material does not make any sonic difference: Ikea stools will be fine if you like them or if the budget is tight. What matters are two things. First, height: the tweeters should be as close as possible to your ears' level in your normal listening position. Sonically, this is the only relevant variable. Second, stability. This is where loading stands with sand etc comes in if it stabilizes them. You do not want your expensive speakers to be knocked over.

I bought a Solid Steel stand from the U.S. distributor at the Vegas CES in the late 90's. He had applied lead tape to all the metal tubes, in locations that weren't visible---the back of each leg, and the backs and bottoms of the cross-beams.

I have a somewhat related question ... hope the OP won't mind the digression a little bit. If I want to raise the speaker stands by around 6 inches, what is the best route to get there? Should I just get concrete slabs (from Home Depot) and put the stands on top of them? Or is wood better for this purpose? Also, let's say if I do put the speakers on top of another platform (concrete or wood), what's the best way to make the speaker stands more stable? When placed directly on carpet, I can rely on the spikes to provide a good foothold, but how to get similar hold when placed on something other than the carpet?

The speaker stands I just got are filled with a limestone acrylic polymer injection to deaden the sound yet when I strike the metal, I get a single pitched ring no matter where I strike it. It's short in duration but I'm going to get some CLD Tiles and cut a narrow strip to attach to the inside of the upper brace to further deaden things.

It won't be visible with the speaker on the stand so that should be all that needs to be done.

All the best,
Nonoise

I used small round pebbles, available at Home Depot in 50lb. bags. Be sure they are dry before using. They are a lot less messy than shot or sand. Filled stands will not effect the position of the stands and I fill them up all the way as long as the stands don't exceed 24" or so.

I bought several bags of lead shot and was very unhappy with the experience of filling a pair of stands with them.  the dust got all over my hands and arms, and filled the air i was (trying not to) breathe in
during the 30 minute process as well.  My brain cells are already grown and are a done deal, but lead is lead nonetheless.  The stands were heavy as hell afterwards, but i hope that ultra-fine dust
doesn't find its way out of a crevice somewhere on the stands. The vendor did not exactly describe the dust problem on their web site either, so beware of what you buy and how it's supplied.  And lastly,
don't expect to EVER try to reverse the process without a special mask on, double gloves, and a long-sleeved disposable gown.

For dry sand, look for Silica at a building supply yard near you. It is not organic sand, but rather man-made, and is used in sand blasting. It is available in many different grades---the size of each grain---60 being a good one. A 100 lb. bag cost me less than $10.