Importance of Good Speaker Stands?

Use sand, and bake. I live by the beach, and when I constructed a DIY platform for my TT, I used fine sand from the beach for the interior. Put it in a large bowl, and mix occasionaly to facilitate drying. Easy as pie.

I use Star Sound and Atabits , both of which I am a dealer for. Both work well but as pointed out aren't cheap. But you don't need that much of them, too much will deaden the sound. I use to use lead and these are better. Someone recommended steel blasting shot as a cheaper alternative, I haven't used it; the Atabits are small steel balls and work well so I would think these should also.

Very important they be 'massive' and lead shot filled, but only if you do not have children. I've had three sets, two Chicago the other Studio Tech. They make all the difference. The tops of all of them are spiked, no pads viber stuff. The bottoms are also spiked. The speakers, all ProAc's sing, sing. sing.

Wow, thanks everyone for your responses. It sounds like it's an worthwhile inexpensive tweak to try. Now, sneaking the sand into the house without my wife finding out will be the tricky part. Truth be told, the vibrapods and cones have made a significant improvement on my CD player and turntable. I did not, however, really notice any difference when placing them between the speaker stand and speakers.

With respect to rounded spikes vs "spiky" spikes (sorry, no other way to describe it), is there an advantage. I figured the spiky spikes were for when your stands were on carpet, and the rounded spikes were for flooring. Elizabeth- I'll give your paper pressure test a try.