Alternatives to sand and lead shot for speaker stands

[eighthcircuit]

Sand is too messy and lead shot is kind of expensive. I was wondering whether aquarium gravel would work as well. I'd like it cause its cheap and not messy like sand. I'm just unsure whether it would be inferior to sand or shot. Any recommendations?

[Woochifer]

Some people have used kitty litter to fill their speaker stands (unused of course). Pretty much anything that can mass load and make the hollow columns more intert will do the job. Aquarium gravel should work as well because it will also lower the center of gravity on the speaker stands.

[Jimmy C]

...definitely not as cheap as Playsand... lol. I happen to have a Betta fish (Harry) that I bought the green/blue gravel. It's about $2 or $3/lb. I bought an 80lb. bag of Playsand for a five. I almost didn't even wanna carry it to the car...

Any Home Depot/lumber yard/whatever will have it. Jimmy thinks it's the best way to fill speaker stands despite the weight...

[N. Abstentia]

I use aquarium gravel, I don't remember how much it was but it was cheap. Unlike sand there is zero mess and it doesn't leak out of the seams in the stands.

[iano]

If you are using any sort of gravel make sure it is completely and utterly moisture free before you mass load it!

I tried using some on a previous pair of stands I had years ago and 12 months on, the stand gave way due to rust.

[eighthcircuit]

I use aquarium gravel, I don't remember how much it was but it was cheap. Unlike sand there is zero mess and it doesn't leak out of the seams in the stands.

Do you know roughly how much aquarium gravel i need to fill up two 24" stands?

[N. Abstentia]

Sorry I don't even remember how much I used in my 4 pillar stands, it's been about 8 years now :)

[MikeyBC]

I like the aquarium gravel idea better than the kitty litter...kitty litter is made to absorb moisture and must be porous (sp?) and less dense to do so.

[eighthcircuit]

Well i got the aquarium gravel, but each stand would only take about 4 lbs of gravel. I filled both stands completely using less than 8 lbs of gravel! I guess this stuff doesn't have a good weight to size ratio compared to sand or shot. Is this small amound of added weight pointless? Or does the fact that now the stands aren't completely hollow make a difference?

[pelly3s]

I've always used sand, but i seal the base of the stand with silicone and then line the stand with a plastic bag so no sand leaks out