If a speaker stand is mass-loading, how much does it matter what they're made of?


Looking for speaker stands. At this point, I'm not sure of the height of my long term listening chair/couch, so I don't want to break the bank on stands.

Looking over different options (Sanus, Monoprice, Pangea, Skylan) raises a question — if a stand is can be filled (shot, sand, etc.), does it make much difference what it's made from (steel, MDF)? What is that difference, in your experience? (Listening, durability, aesthetics, etc.)

With the above in mind, any opinions on modestly priced stands? Perhaps 20" - 22" high?

(Again, I'm not in the market for expensive stands, right now.)
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Yea, I understand that concern. One would probably want to add mass to the base  plate and use bluetack to bond speaker to top plate. I am going to look into the Skylan stands as I am not familiar. 
i think pangea sells a larger top plate to go with some of their models

i have not had personal experience with pangea stands (audio advisor direct to china copy of target stands) but i have heard two cases i know personally where the quality of the stands ordered was felt to be poor, so ymmv
So I have owned a number of stands in this price range. Skylan is overrated imo. People love or hate the aesthetics but these Solid Steel were actually the best stands I ever used (I have floorstanders now):

https://solidsteel.it/my-product/ss-5-vintage-hi-fi-speaker-stands/

They supported very large and heavy ATC SCM19’s very well. And they look great imo. Available at music direct, crutchfield, upscale, etc. SS-5 is the 20" version. Made in Italy. I got mine from a local dealer for $450 all in.

They are basically a pre-welded steel tripod (no screwing together) with a secure but floating mdf top plate that sits on ball bearings. Attached by an o-ring to the base. It’s a really smart idea.
Because they are tripods they are not tippy. With the weight of the ATC’s they were incredibly stable like a rock. You can fill the tubes if you really want to. Everyone who has ever used them seems to love them (again, aesthetics aside).