Lead shot to fill speaker stands?

goatywoaty

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Anyone know where to get any lead shot to fill speaker stands? I know you can buy it from diving shops, but it looks about £70 for a 30kg tub and thats a bit dear for me!

Ive heard something about you can get lead weights from garages because they remove them from wheels or something like that, anyone know anything about that?

Thanks for any advice guys :)

Kiran
 
I used bird cage grit, dirt cheep and quite heavy. About 50p for a big bag. Have you checked the scrap yard for lead?
 
Not yet, im trying to find out if scrap yards do have lead and what exactly they do with it :) does anyone know if they do get any lead and what they do with it?

Just wondering if I could melt it and put it in the stands, but thats probably more trouble than its worth and probably quite a hazard! :eek:
 
I used river sand from a local builders merchants cheap and heavy, placed in polythene bags that came with my speakers

cheers

rich
 
Hi Rich,

Im just up the road from you in Huddersfield, used to go to school in Hx, and used to live in Hebden Bridge :)

I think I might use sand if I cant get any lead, just fancied the idea of lead as its just about the heaviest thing you can get without to much hassle (he hopes!!! :D )

Ive just bought some atacama se24 from ebay and im waiting for the guy to get back to me about payment details :mad: Hopefully will be soon though, in the meantime im just investigating the possibilites of filling em up! :)
 
there is a few alternatives to lead shot
you can use sharp sand and if you buy it from early learning center it pre-dried so is fine to use in stands
you can also get Atacama stand filler
or custom design inert filler
most should cost less then £70
 
yeah thats the thing, im not really wanting to spend £70, the stands cost that! I would spend upto £30 I think, I think I might go with some kiln dried sand if I cant get any lead...
 
Would the methods listed above be suitable for mass loading the chamber in my Ruark Prologue One R's?

Edit
Even the bird cage grit?

Cause I can get some of that on the way home :)
 
Atacamma do it.
 
goatywoaty said:
Hi Rich,

Im just up the road from you in Huddersfield, used to go to school in Hx, and used to live in Hebden Bridge :)

I think I might use sand if I cant get any lead, just fancied the idea of lead as its just about the heaviest thing you can get without to much hassle (he hopes!!! :D )

Ive just bought some atacama se24 from ebay and im waiting for the guy to get back to me about payment details :mad: Hopefully will be soon though, in the meantime im just investigating the possibilites of filling em up! :)

i live in Friendly just up from Sowerby bridge, and i had the exact same speaker stands, you counld try shale or a bag of small pebbles the type you use for your garden very chap and chearful

take care

regards

richard
 
Jammyb said:
Would the methods listed above be suitable for mass loading the chamber in my Ruark Prologue One R's?

Edit
Even the bird cage grit?

Cause I can get some of that on the way home :)
the sand Atacama atabites and custom filler work very well and really tighten up the bass and focus the sound
but if i had a choice i would go down Atacama or custom design filler as it is a more inert product
 
goatywoaty said:
Not yet, im trying to find out if scrap yards do have lead and what exactly they do with it :) does anyone know if they do get any lead and what they do with it?

Just wondering if I could melt it and put it in the stands, but thats probably more trouble than its worth and probably quite a hazard! :eek:

Melting lead and pouring it can be done, with care.
I've cast a few 14lb weights (for longcase clocks) by poring molten lead into moulds made from exhaust tubing. Lead melts OK in a saucepan over a gas ring.
The problem with pouring molten lead into speaker stands is that the paint will burn off!

Lead flashing (as used by roofers) is reasonably priced. It can be cut into strips, rolled up, and dropped into the stand tubes.

Personally, I just used dried sand.
 
do you know how reasonable the prices are? im liking the idea of melting lead and putting it in the stands though, I could respray the stands if the paint burnt off too :)
 
clockworks said:
Personally, I just used dried sand.

Yep - http://***********/qwloy is what I'm going to use on my new DIY Maple/uPVC stands. 60Kg for £15 including delivery in 48 hours.

Paul. :smashin:
 
I went to B&Q, got a whole bag of builders sand for about a quid. They had some smaller open bags which were dry (didnt think of this when i bought the damn sand!)
 
I just bought some plain builders sand (£1 or so) from B&Q. It was damp in the bag, so I put it on trays & into the oven for 30 mins ... did the job nicely, poured nicely & dead cheap too. If it don't work (and I can't see how it can't!) you've lost nowt.
 
The idea of mass loading a speaker stand is to make it as dead as possible. Loose sand will fill up every mm of space inside a stand better than lumps of metal thus hopefully fully deadening the stand completely. The normal practice of bagging the sand is used when loading wooden speakers to avoid damp and make it removable. With speaker stands there is really no problem if the sand is dry.
 
Mylo said:
bagging the sand is used when loading wooden speakers to avoid damp and make it removable.
Hmmm my Ruarks only have a smallish hole to fill them through, if I buy the kids play type sand will that be best for filling them with?
 
Mylo said:
The idea of mass loading a speaker stand is to make it as dead as possible. Loose sand will fill up every mm of space inside a stand better than lumps of metal thus hopefully fully deadening the stand completely. The normal practice of bagging the sand is used when loading wooden speakers to avoid damp and make it removable. With speaker stands there is really no problem if the sand is dry.
You've perfectly said what I was thinking too :clap:

Also, the sand, filling every nook & cranny, may well end up weighing more than lumps of lead with air gaps. I don't like the idea of pouring molten lead in ... you will be stuck with these stands (literally!) for ever, never mind the risk of messing-up the job.
 
Jammyb said:
Hmmm my Ruarks only have a smallish hole to fill them through, if I buy the kids play type sand will that be best for filling them with?
Yes, just make sure it is dry ... it should pour nicely through a funnel.
 
I have used kiln dried paving sand to fill my floorstanders think it was 3 quid from Wickes .It certainly made a big difference to the sound ,this is the cheapest and most noticeble improvement I have made to my kit.

Regards Martin.:)
 
but what about mixing lead chunks and sand, that would fill every gap :D might try and get some old steel shot from a shotblasting company and mix it with sand :)
 
I would recommend sand that way if you do not like the changes it is easy to swap back.

Another tweak would be to add mass inside the speaker, something like a paving slab is perfect, it lowers the centre of gravity and again is easy to change if the results are not preferred
 
To put the sand in a bag or not?

Any opinions? The sand will be dry so I can’t see why putting it straight in would cause any problems.

Thanks
Josh
 

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