Lead shot questions

Very good points and ones that I had not thought of at all.

I saw an add here a few days ago for very small stainless steel discs. I suppose the steel wouldn't create dust like lead. At the very least, it wouldn't be as toxic.

If I remember correctly steel weighs approximately 4oz per cubic inch. Discs would be less, since there is some air space, say 20% less. Hmmm, 100 cubic inches for 20Lbs as a guesstimate. That's a fair amount of volume, 4 to 5 percent of my speakers internal volume, certainly enough to have some acoustic effect.

Nonetheless my curiosity is still piqued.

Audiobugged, LOL. You know me well. I certainly dont need anymore rages. The Sound Anchors is a great idea, I am going to look into it immediately. I should have a 4B-SST next week so the amp is going to improve some, hopefully.

Swampwalker, I didnt even think about the steel and the magnets, a potentially sticky situation! I am a diver, and as an experiment I could place my soft bagged lead weights on top. I only have a pair of 5s and 4s (salt/fresh). So each speaker would have 9Lbs on top. Not a lot, but maybe enought to see if this warrants further consideration.

Thanks so much. More thoughts are certainly welcome.

Mboldda1, you are right, I have never heard of a problem, though I do find Elizabeth's logic quite sound (no pun). Keeping it bagged would require woofer removal but still no big deal.

Eldartford, can you elaborate on the misunderstanding? Does the weight get stacked on top of the enclosure? I have read a lot lately about mass loading the Von Schweikert VR-4jrs, is that not internal?

The CO2 is interesting and doable. I have a 20LB CO2 cylinder I use to force carbonate Beer kegs. Though, like most B & Ws, the CDM9s are a ported design. I do have the bung plugs. They are made from foam rubber and with the port low mounted, I feel that over time the gas would leak out. Drilling would NOT be acceptable. I could lay the speaker on its back, fill it via the port, then plug it. Blasting the CO2 in for a while would stir the air and facilitate a high CO2 saturation but it would not completely displace the nitrogen and oxygen.

Tom, I certainly dont want that. I dont really have any complaints about the Bass, this just seemed like an interesting experiment. Chances are, unless something dramatic happens when I place some weight on top, that I will NOT be opening up the speakers to place weight inside. Thanks for you thoughts and experience.

Eldartford, ohh rest assured the Beer gets first dibs on that CO2. Bottling and priming is a huge pain in the, well yunno, and besides you have to have some pressure to get the beer out of the kegs. Clearly this is the most crucial use =).

That port tube goes pretty deep. I could loosen a driver, fill via the port, allow the air to escape through the driver hole, tighten the driver, and plug the port. I will certainly forward my observations to you if I perform that experiment.

Thanks for the further explanation of mass loading. It isnt the first time I have misunderstood or misused audio terminology. Now that you mention it, I recall reading something on mass loading passive radiators with specific weight to achieve the desired results.

Audiobugged, I agree, 9Lbs will just be an experiment, I dont expect much. Rewiring and upgrading the binding post sounds like a great "tweaker" project. Thanks for the great ideas.

Maril, I am not sure but you could try a local sporting goods store. They may have coated shot for reloading shotgun ammo. You can also buy small bags of loose lead shot in heavy duty bags at a dive shop, though expect to pay more for it. I also saw some stainless steel here on A'gon a few weeks ago, try a search if you're interested.