Where to buy lead shot

JBM, what was the difference you noticed? Has anyone else tried filling their stands with lead vs. sand vs. lead/sand? I'm especially interested in comparisons involving filled equipment racks instead of stands, too? Any appreciable difference there or is density and stability more important with racks?

Thanks for all the great ideas. I was only able to find one store in the Dallas area that carried a substantial amount (i.e. bags) of shot, the smallest being 10gu. It was a pretty good distance however and paying for shipping from another destination seems like a little more $$$ than I would want to justify. I decided to create a mix of gravel and sand. Standard fare at Home Depot - sterilized childrens play sand @ $2.50/50lb bag and a 50 lb bag of gravel for about $3.00. I used 150# total or 75# per side. I finished up late last night, after feeling like a hourglass - I'll probably require traction for about a week!! I'll follow-up and let you all know how it worked out. Thanks again for all support and responses! You guys are great!

I have had both sand and lead shot filled stands. I think the lead works better both because of its greater mass and because it seems to soak up resonance. Shot I took out of some stands that were located near a subwoofer actually appeared to have deformed.

Here's where I will be getting my lead- www.welcocastings.com.(a Canadian lead manufacturer/distributor- they will ship around the world) I am actually going to do the ultimate- a 'hot lead pour' into my speaker stands. Welco can do this, they actually mix 3% antimony (an impurity) into the hot lead- the antimony helps avoid shrinkage from a lead-only pour. I can't even imagine how heavy the stands will be after that!! Sounds like a rather exotic solution, but hey, why not?- you just can't beat lead for resonance dampening- good luck! Oh- btw- Welco also sells individual pieces of lead- I am going to pick up a couple of their 'diving weights' (lead with a rubber coating) for use on top of an outboard power supply, with Isobearings under the power supply- it works!!

Thanks for that website Sutts it may come in handy in the future. I went ahead and used the sand and pea-gravel mix, about 60lbs per side. The stands are filled about 2/3 full. I should mention the "stands" are cubed wooden enclosures - I couldn't find a speaker stand with a wide enough footprint. They rest upon Mod Squad Tip Toes that by now have found their tips through the carpet and pad to the foundation (my wife loves that -HeHe). The first thing I noticed was a much more focused sound stage and a tighter bass. Unfortunately, I also lost a lost of mid/low bass. I use a subwoofer crossed over @ 85Hz (non-adjustable on this Velodyne model). It main speakers seem to have dropped a little "power" at around 100Hz, before the sub picks up. While I may have grown accustomed to the coloration my prior stands (end tables) helped create with my speaker, I don't know that I like it. Guess I'll have to give it more time and play with it. Ain't this a fine hobby fellas? It's always something!!!