I went through this mental and Google exercise about a year ago just to add weight for stability, no secret sauce. My first idea was lead shot, but once I saw the price and the fact that is toxic I moved onto steel shot, but again too expensive. Next idea was sand, but a smart person on some forum pointed out it was messy and gave me the the final solution (not the mid century one you are thinking of) pea gravel. Worked great and it is large enough not to make a mess, not as dense as any of the other solutions but cheap and clean.
The issue raised and apparently not understood is why dry sand works better than sand that contains moisture.
Sand is not organic and does not rot.
Sand absorbs more sound/vibration than does concrete. If you tap a piece of concrete or any other solid there are resonant modes. If you wack a bag of dry sand there are no resonant modes.
If you have a problem with dry sand leaking out, it will work as well even if you put it in plastic bags and then stuff the sand filled bags into your voids.
Sand flows from the energy and the rubbing of the small particles absorbs more energy than the loss just from mass damping. That is why dry sand is very good at absorbing vibrations.
The consideration is not just mass or density.
Sand is not organic and does not rot.
Sand absorbs more sound/vibration than does concrete. If you tap a piece of concrete or any other solid there are resonant modes. If you wack a bag of dry sand there are no resonant modes.
If you have a problem with dry sand leaking out, it will work as well even if you put it in plastic bags and then stuff the sand filled bags into your voids.
Sand flows from the energy and the rubbing of the small particles absorbs more energy than the loss just from mass damping. That is why dry sand is very good at absorbing vibrations.
The consideration is not just mass or density.
My earlier post (https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/best-filler-for-speaker-stands.381141/#post-6892292) must have been written in invisible print. Barium sulphate powder is significantly better than dry sand for damping and has triple the weight of sand per volume for added stability. It has the consistency of flour and because the particles are much smaller than even very fine sand particles there are a lot more contact points per volume between individual particles and hence a lot more damping. It shares many properties of dry sand, for example being inert and non toxic (it's used in foods), and because it is a commonly used product bulk barium sulphate is quite cheap.
Barium Sulphate is used for oil well drilling
and is the absolute horrible tasting powder in the fluid they make you drink before a radiograph.
Really weird ,why the heck do they put it in food, it has no value to the human body what so ever.
Mmmm great dinner tonight honey, that oil drilling powder is the best you made so far...LOL
As a carbonate it is extremely toxic, as sulphate your body really wont absorb it.
but as anyone that has had radio graph it just makes you constipated
and makes your poop white for a few days.
Zircon sand is most expensive sand you can get,
so isn't the more expensive it is
the better it sounds for Audio ...LOL
Heck just buy Zircon Flour, which is used for ceramics or glass
and is the absolute horrible tasting powder in the fluid they make you drink before a radiograph.
Really weird ,why the heck do they put it in food, it has no value to the human body what so ever.
Mmmm great dinner tonight honey, that oil drilling powder is the best you made so far...LOL
As a carbonate it is extremely toxic, as sulphate your body really wont absorb it.
but as anyone that has had radio graph it just makes you constipated
and makes your poop white for a few days.
Zircon sand is most expensive sand you can get,
so isn't the more expensive it is
the better it sounds for Audio ...LOL
Heck just buy Zircon Flour, which is used for ceramics or glass
The crystal structure is orthorhombic thus not quite as lossy as sand, but it does better as a mass dampener. So the choice is more a matter of application.
Hey,that's what I used to add dead weight of my subwoofer! (yes, an electroacoustic device). Only problem is the difficult choice between brands...
And also much pricier. Over 10x as much as sand. DIYers are often cheap bastards and when is good, good enuff.
https://psh.ca/products/barium-carbonate
dave
Clay kitter litter, MDF saw, Beyrilium tweeters, toxic baryum carbonate, soldering smells.... lead weigth...
James Bond has a much more sane life than us stupid hobbysts.
James Bond has a much more sane life than us stupid hobbysts.
I agree, your logic makes perfect sense. Why use bookshelf’s if they‘re on 3 foot metal stands anyway. Isn't the idea that they’re for a bookshelf or something similar? That said, a stand with a bookshelf is exactly what I have.
So, you finally admit you can't do a "full range" ? 🙂 Now add a tweeter and they could be great!Like these (just helper woofers, not subs)
dave
I think I might have tried to darken the ports just a little.
The little Fostex 3” does really well up top, but it does not go really low. Adding a tweeter just messes things up.
True “fullrnge” is hard to do. Even most multi-ways don’t get there, some FRs get close (with limitations).
dave
True “fullrnge” is hard to do. Even most multi-ways don’t get there, some FRs get close (with limitations).
dave
My desktops are FE85's Even with some dope on the dust cap to tame the horrific breakup, I eventually added tweeters.
It is all materials science. We have known what we needed in 1950. Just can't build it. I keep searching for that smooth 500 to 5K as a midrange. Not much luck. Most are not efficient enough. The full range ( drivers you know well) tend to be more efficient and easier to use in a 3 way, but not smooth enough in the 3K range where I seem to be overly sensitive. A few years back I tired Mark, Fountek and Fostek. Went back to 6/1 conventional. I keep looking. The TB 4-inch looks promising at least to 4K.
Gad, book-matching on the back?
The closest to full range I know is a large electrostatic. 60 up they can do it well. Not my budget or room space.
It is all materials science. We have known what we needed in 1950. Just can't build it. I keep searching for that smooth 500 to 5K as a midrange. Not much luck. Most are not efficient enough. The full range ( drivers you know well) tend to be more efficient and easier to use in a 3 way, but not smooth enough in the 3K range where I seem to be overly sensitive. A few years back I tired Mark, Fountek and Fostek. Went back to 6/1 conventional. I keep looking. The TB 4-inch looks promising at least to 4K.
Gad, book-matching on the back?
The closest to full range I know is a large electrostatic. 60 up they can do it well. Not my budget or room space.