Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo Should I increase the weight of speaker stand

I am using FMS16 for M22s. Should I increase the weight of the stands to get better bass? Does anyone have the experience?

Axiom is selling FMS Stand Weights. Would it be better than sand filling?

I have never been sure about the science behind heavy stands leading to better bass, although that has not stopped me from building heavier stands recently.

I have not used the FMS weights (my preferences lean towards big hunks of wood) but my impression is that they give you a simple and non-messy solution vs bags of sand tending to leak etc...

Without understanding the science it's hard to say if one would be acoustically better than the other, unfortunately.

One in-between option would be bags of lead shot used for reloading shotgun shells, although the cost is not much less than the FMS weight and you have to at least think about lead exposure.

My QS8's are on FMS QS stands and I do occasionally think about dropping some weights down the tubes just to help with stability on the inevitable day when someone bumps into them at speed.

Thanks Bridgman for always being helpful!

Stability is another concern when my 3 year old daughter is running around the house. It is challenging to fill the sand into FMS tubes which have open bottom. Thinking to find a very durable bag, any idea about that?

There seem to be some specialized sandbags available which might fit, or they might still be too big:

http://snakesandbag.com/

My first thought was finding a bunch of the thin plastic bags you see in the fruit & vegetable area of supermarkets, then putting a small amount of sand in each one and dropping them down the tube.

"Fire in the hole !!"

You probably don't want to come up more than a foot or so (or maybe even less) since only weight down low is going to make the stands less tippy. Steel is a lot denser than sand, so if you are looking at it from a "tippiness" POV rather than "better bass" the Axiom weights suddenly make a *lot* of sense.

Pea gravel might be a better option than sand if you were thinking of going that route.

Dollar store marbles?
Would have to find a way to deal with any rattling...

Now we're talking... dollar store marbles cast into a plastic tube that you insert down the support columns. My first thought was gelatin but I don't think that keeps well.

(although I guess if I was casting stuff in plastic I would go back to lead shot)

There is probably some common-or-garden auto part that is the right diameter, size and weight to drop down the columns.

It would be fun to identify such a part and then track the price as it spikes up

Once upon a time I just used wood screws to secure my stands to the floor and my speakers to the stands.
Still have those stands, and those speakers for that matter.

That means a lot of shopping adventures in the summer:)