speaker stand damping

[rgpit]

I have a pair of MoFi SourcePoint 10ME's along with their matching metal stands. The stands ring like a bell and I want to dampen the ringing. My first thought was sand however I'm also thinking of expanding urethane foam sealer. Has anyone else tried using foam. The stands are already very heavy and don't need mass loading.

 

[ryanosaur]

I have a pair of MoFi SourcePoint 10ME's along with their matching metal stands. The stands ring like a bell and I want to dampen the ringing. My first thought was sand however I'm also thinking of expanding urethane foam sealer. Has anyone else tried using foam. The stands are already very heavy and don't need mass loading.

Kiln Dried sand, though adding mass, also dampens quite effectively.

I'm unfamiliar with this stand... but I wouldn’t do something you couldn't undo. If the foam doesn't do the trick, you gotta live with it.

 

[sam_adams]

The stands are already very heavy and don't need mass loading.

Since you're not concerned with mass but only damping, there are two things you could use. A low viscosity epoxy such as System 3's Rotfix or Sikaflex +. Both are relatively expensive, but can be found in local home centers or they can be ordered online. The Rotfix epoxy is easy to work with and is a lower odor product compared to the Sikaflex.

The drawback to the epoxy is that it has to be mixed in small quantities as it can generate quite a bit of heat as it begins to cure. Sikaflex has to be applied in small pours like the epoxy as it will take a long time to cure if you try to fill the entire leg of the stand with it. That can be mitigated somewhat with the use of some of those closed cell foam sealing rods that are used to fill cracks in concrete. Both product pours will take at least twenty-four hours to cure properly.

 

[MAB]

I have a pair of MoFi SourcePoint 10ME's along with their matching metal stands. The stands ring like a bell and I want to dampen the ringing. My first thought was sand however I'm also thinking of expanding urethane foam sealer. Has anyone else tried using foam. The stands are already very heavy and don't need mass loading.

I have a pair of hollow steel stands. They audibly rung when tapped, so I filled them with sand. I used a bag of premium 'audiophile grade' sand that I got years ago in sales, been in the back of a storage cabinet for years. The sand is pretty normal, but is coated in a paraffin-like substance. Here are the results:

Post in thread 'Springs Under My Speakers: What's Happening?'

Jul 22, 2023

I stumbled on this post searching to see if I should buy filler for my stands. I really enjoyed your (OP) post and your viewpoints as well as the positive portions of the debate going back and forth. I didn't enjoy some people, that in my opinion, seemed condescending to you and think you handled it well. You stated in the begining that you(OP) were not going to take measurements that some people want and that you enjoy the listening tests after making tweeks, some people in this thread ignore this and insist you do things their way or else you're crazy and delusional without posting...

• MAB

• 

The stands seemed noticeably less resonant after adding the sand. However, no significant difference in reproduced sound. Perhaps a few tiny bumps at 900, 2600. etc. But more likely run to run variability: think of things like me not getting the speakers back into position to within a mm, a car driving down our street, or a gust of wind during one of the measurements. Not surprising though, speaker cabinets don't transmit much vibration, despite what people often say.

In other words, don't do anything too involved, and don't expect veils to be lifted.

 

[Groove01]

I have a pair of MoFi SourcePoint 10ME's along with their matching metal stands. The stands ring like a bell and I want to dampen the ringing. My first thought was sand however I'm also thinking of expanding urethane foam sealer. Has anyone else tried using foam. The stands are already very heavy and don't need mass loading.

I have Sound Anchor stands and they came filled with some kind of “proprietary sound dampening” material. Whatever they use, it is a grey/black very fine granular material and left a bit of residue.(it seemed kind of metallic)

The stands weigh a literal sh*t ton and are pretty well dead, zero ringing. IIRC they are close to 70-75 pds filled. I didn’t really want to spend the $$ on sound anchors, but they are the only readily available stands for my speakers (which also weigh like 110pds each, so I needed something really sturdy)

I think the foam sealer might be tough get a complete fill and doesn’t have much density IIRC. That spray foam is also a PIA to use, sticks to everything, and is hard to clean up. I’d use sand or something similar IMHO.

 

[Chrispy]

I have a pair of MoFi SourcePoint 10ME's along with their matching metal stands. The stands ring like a bell and I want to dampen the ringing. My first thought was sand however I'm also thinking of expanding urethane foam sealer. Has anyone else tried using foam. The stands are already very heavy and don't need mass loading.

Got measurements between different stands for the ringing?

 

[sam_adams]

If you wish to use a granular-type medium to fill the stands, S-110 Steel Blasting Shot Media is the best choice.

 

[pablolie]

Some prefer damping, some prefer solid attachment. Some do both.
Another area where measurements aren't conclusive or even pursued.
My bookshelf speakers are kinda super glued to their solid stands. Which in turn are blue tacked to the floor.

 

[DVDdoug]

Maybe stuff them with fiberglass insulation (or "speaker stuffing").

It's unlikely that music is making them "ring". You could attach a bell to a speaker box and it's not going to ring by itself...

 

[Chrispy]

Hard to know what you need to do from here but the sand sounds like a best first try to me. Maybe just some bluetac between speaker and stand could do it?

 

[amper42]

Would wrapping the stand in some type of cloth material dampen the ringing better than sand filling?

 

[Chrispy]

Would wrapping the stand in some type of cloth material dampen the ringing better than sand filling?

Unless the stand was particularly poor can't imagine that.

 

[ryanosaur]

It's unlikely that music is making them "ring". You could attach a bell to a speaker box and it's not going to ring by itself...

This: I agree that Speakers are likely not generating enough energy to require damping the stands. To me it about lowering the center of gravity more than anything else.
But the proverbial cat is on the loose and ringing in stands is always a concern now.

I use a pad between my Speakers and the top plate. Somebody above mentioned Museum Putty. Perhaps there is a case to be made for damping if Speakers are mechanically attached to the stand rather than floating on an intermediary substance.

In either case, regardless of the weight of the stand, I would still strongly advise counterbalancing the stand by filling it no more than about 2/3 the height of the stand. This is just about simple physics and what can happen if you place a heavy object on top of a narrow pedestal.