Speaker Stands Filled With Kitty Litter? TRUE???

Seriously... Sand would be the most economical route, however make sure the sand is 100% dry. Many play type sands are bagged and shipped moist after being exposed to rain. I would prop each bag in an upright position, and cut a slit in each bags top. Opening and allowing it to dry out in a non-humidity area for a few days prior to filling your rustable steel stands.

Lead shot, is not something you really want to play with. Lead dust is even worse! I heard horror stories of fellows that used lead to fill their stands in their listening rooms. Missing the stand, & spilling it all over the carpet. Lead is also non-magnetic, & using a vacuum would agitate the lead dust. I can send you a 16 page EPA brochure on what lead dust can do to a childs still developing mind. So if you have children I would strongly rule out the lead.

So let's talk about the Numero Uno Rule of filling a stand.

1.) No matter what filler is used, if possible due to stand weight, fill stands Outside or in your Garage in case of SPILLS!

A company called Atacama makes a product called "Atabites" which is a high density filler manufactured from steel chippings and designed for the mass loading of speaker stands. This a coarse mix of triangular shaped steel chippings which is a worthy investment to get the best out of the stand and producing better imagery and extra bass control at louder levels of volume. Atabites are available in 19.8lb pour bottles. It is also magnetic so if your funnel slips the Atabites are magnetic for a no loss clean-up. If you cant find Atacama Atabites dealer locally contact me.

Whoops, the StarSound product I was thinking of is steel and not lead. That would be quite nasty if it were lead. Anyway, retail price is $39.99 per quart. No idea of the weight of a quart.

Marco

Steel coated lead shot doesn't have dust to worry about and it flows very easily.

yes, I have my Lovan Jazz speaker stands filled w/ kitty litter (which, as Albert correctly pointed out, is ground clay). the speaker stands are (acoustically) dead to the knuckle rap test. I have my Tannoy DMT-10 monitors sitting on these stands & I find their sound is very good. This is in a bedroom system which is not very discriminating, I have to admit (hence the diff in silica & clay might not show up). clay is a real option for mass-loading speaker stands. I found it to be a better option as the play sand was leaking (over a period of time) from the several places in the stands & creating a mess on the carpet! I found that the ground clay's bigger particles stayed in their intended location better while (still) providing mass-loading. Anyway, FWIW:

Bombaywalla: Thank you for your reponse and your honesty. I appreciate your frank opinions within this thread. I've heard others using it and glad to hear someone coming forward with admitting its use. Kudos!!!