Filled Speaker Stands

BaggedLancer

So today I decided to go to the store, grab myself a 50 pounds bag of sand for $4 and get to work filling my Paradigm speaker stands.

Brought the bag home, popped the top plate off the first stand and sand "****" to myself. The hole was probably about 3/8 wide by about a 1/4" wide. I definately didn't have a funnel that would fit in it so I sat there with a solo cup and poured sand into all 4 pillars until it was to the top. And yes, I blocked off the holes where the speaker wires were supposed to go.


First impression:
"Damn, these things suck to move around now"

Second impression:
(after letting the tubes warm up)
"Wow, the difference is noticable."

To my suprise, the music seems to much clearly. It appears that some noise that I was hearing before that I thought was part of the music is completely gone. There isn't much else to say other than for $4 it made an incredible difference, so if you don't have filled stands, give it a try....you can always pour it back out.

shadowofnight

Works great doesnt it I used to use lead shot until it got so expensive

BaggedLancer

shadowofnight wrote: »

Works great doesnt it I used to use lead shot until it got so expensive

For $4 and change, can't really go wrong with this tweak. Sand does make a freakin mess though. I did it in my garage and just ended up sweeping the mess outside.

nms

lol, that's a long time with a solo cup Glad you found a cheap tweak.

treitz3

Weight definitely helps with the sound. I have been known to put my change jar [80-90 lbs.] on my sub before and it tightened up the bass. I have basically two 2-channel rigs that are combined together and when I first did this [putting the bookshelves on the floorstanders], I noticed immediately that the floorstanders tightened up. Other things I have tried to help out with the visual aspect of things is to put a heavy statue of something on top of the speakers, one on each.

I have never put anything inside a stand because the one and only stand I had weighed what seemed to be 120 lbs each and felt solid, but I have heard of great success with this tweak over the years and will continue to add weight to speakers however I can.

Now that the stands are filled, try for **** and giggles to put something heavy on the speakers [no matter what the object is, as it's just a test] and see if you hear any further improvement.

BaggedLancer

Thanks for the tip Treitz....I will see what i can rummage up around here that is small and heavy enough to make it worthwhile on these bookshelf speakers.

markmarc

The $4 bag of sand I spent was the best investment I ever made in my rig. The combination of a quality stand and sand/lead shot will improve your sound far more than switching out your $100 wires to $3000 wires.

BaggedLancer

Absolutely, anyone who hasn't filled there stands should do so immediately.

beardog03

I will try it....

with steel shot though