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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I saw several models from Custom Design when I was in England a couple of years ago.  They struck me as extraordinarily well made.
So, just a follow up on the speaker stands I chose. I went with Deer Creek Audio for 20" stands. They were $730 for the stands plus another $110 to drill 8 holes in the bottoms for 8 screw/spikes. Total, then, was $840 because I picked them up, locally. Otherwise, they would have been about $940. Other models are less expensive, so keep in mind there are additional options.

I really like the way they look. I will say they wound up being about $240 more than the the upper level Target stands. I have no comparisons about how they sound with other comparable stands, but I like what I'm hearing.
After months and months with these stands, I'm a very, very happy customer. Love these so much!