Hello Mitch2,
Starsound Technoligies swears by their steel microbearing stuff that they used to use to damp cables
Actually Micro-Bearing Steel was formulated and used in Sistrum Platform™ tube assemblies prior to applying it to cables. Mr. Rick Schultz of High Fidelity Cables was responsible for the micro-bearing steel shield discovery placed in Sonoran Cables back in 2001. Rick is a leading Industry pacesetter in cable design, electronic signal-pass technologies and magnetic wave guide configurations. He holds multiple US Patents for his innovative work involving magnetic conduction.
The micro bearing stuff in #3 may be nothing more than steel blasting shot in a small fancy container - this is about a third of the cost;
Micro-Bearing Steel is manufactured from a specific certified US steel to a precise sizing then cleaned three times and inspected in order to limit slag, clumps, foreign matter, dirt and dust that you will likely find in the twenty-five pound tub of steel blasting shot sold at Home Depot. The costs are much higher to manufacturer our brand compared to standard abrasives and that fancy container you allude to costs $1.25 plus the printed label and labor to fill and ship it.
Steel ball bearings provide an even-grain structure in comparison to other fill materials and are highly conductive for resonance flow. There are air molecules surrounding each bearing so resonance will transfer through the material to ground. Some resonance is also dissipated due to the uniformity of mass and frequency cancelation. If you are filling the stand for high-speed resonance transfer as the primary function, this conductive material and shape is our recommended preference.
The key to function is understanding how much quantity of smaller sized steel shot to use. The vast density of steel shot can become an issue; too much and you will sink (absorb) and/or over damp the live dynamic in a heartbeat leaving you with a dead stand and a deadened sonic result. We rarely fill steel tube speaker stands to the maximum load.
In order to achieve maximum performance from Sistrum Platforms and Star Sound Musical Instrument applications, we require a cleaner higher grade of steel. Micro-Bearing Steel is not for everyone based on cost but one should realize the most important part of any speaker stand formula is...
Physics dictates the functional relationship that marries the speaker to the stand and to the floor.
This is why different stands change the way your speaker sounds. The stand determines the musical capability and sonic performance of the speaker system. Unfortunately the Audio Industry remains in the dark, never comparing, reviewing or educating the public on speaker stand function.
If you are in search of deadening a stand we recommend the use of uneven metal slag, sand, rubber such as Sorbothane®, foams and other primary energy absorbing materials, lead being the most effective and dangerous to health. Your financial investment is going to cost less but so goes the performance of the stand and loudspeaker as well.
Do you what live dynamics or dead harmonics?
We have been modifying and improving other brands of speaker stands making them more reactive to high-speed resonance transfer as the method of vibration management for twenty years. On occasion, mistakes in judgment can be made dependent on the stand design and chemistry makeup, however based from hands-on experience, using a steel bearing the size of a grain of sand is a better solution in comparison to all the other fills and guesswork being used throughout the Industry.
Hope this information helps and thank you for your time,
Robert
Star Sound
