Sand filling Premier S-series speaker stand, How?

Unless you really need the extra weight (e.g., for stability, perlite is as good or better than either sand or lead for damping vibrations and it weighs a _lot_ less. During a recent move I removed the sand in my Vienna Acoustics Mozarts and replaced it with perlite. Big improvement!

I hate sand. Lead shot is much less messy and won't leak out of any cracks-no bags needed. Try K-mart or a gun store.

Hi again Uwloian, Yes, any Home Depot, Lowes, and even hardware stores carry sand. Playbox sand is very good because it usually has been washed (less dust).

The best coated lead shot that I know of can be purchased at a local dive shop. Coated shot is often used in ballast bags. It is simply a wax coating applied over the actual lead shot in order to avoid direct skin contact. Lead is nasty stuff.

Also, you may want to consider circumventing your dealer completely and contacting Paradigm directly. Ask to speak with one of the design engineers or a tech consultant regarding usage of stand fillers. After purchasing my speakers, I contacted Energy directly and spoke with an extremely insightful engineer. Not only did he suggest what substance to use, but he also suggested how much to actually fill the stands.

I used tall kitchen garbage bags to act as a "bladder".

Best of luck, Ed.

Thanks Ed for your info. I'll take a look at the micro bearing. Do you know where people usually get the sand or lead shot from? Home Depot??

My dealer isn't exactly quick in answering my questions, very frustrating. I appreciate your help!

Uwloian, I am not using the Paradigm stands, but I am using Energy dedicated stands on my Veritas 2.2s.

I filled my stands by pushing plastic bags into the stands first, then filling the bags. It is basically the same concept as a bladder. You will avoid any interaction between the metal stand and the sand, ie: moisture retention causing oxidation inside the stand. There will also be no reason at that point to block any fill holes as all of the sand is retained within the bags.

Adding sand, or any filler will increase the mass of the stand, reducing possible doppler effect of the speaker. Doppler effect is an actual change in any given frequency due to relative motion of the source of said frequency generator. ie: speaker cones.

Also, the actual filler being used is also a somewhat controversial subject. Some feel that sand will dull the actual sound of the speaker as it tends to absorb too much vibration from the speaker. But that's a whole subject in itself. Star Sound Technologies offers a product called Micro Bearing that some people rave about. (click on link below). Lead shot is another option. Although, if you opt to use lead shot, you may want to consider coated lead shot which reduces lead toxicity.

My suggestion? Contact the manufacturer, and ask them what they feel is the most beneficial filler to be used. Nothing like getting input directly from the people who designed the speakers.

http://www.audiopoints.com/

Happy Listening, Ed.