Filling floor standers with sand/rice/cat litter

[mightyquin]

Hi, I picked up a pair of Diamond 8.3 floorstanders. They have bungs in the back to fill with ballast although the instructions that came with them don't mention it, and the guy I bought them off said he'd always just used them as they are.

Bass is a tad boomy which I think would be improved if I fill them but I'm unsure what you are meant to do. Surely if you just pour sand or rice in there there's a risk that it could get up to the speakers if they were moved, turned up etc., or is the chamber fully separate from the speaker section?

I've read that some push a bin liner in and then fill that, or fill small bags and push them in the hole.

What's the best way to go about this?

If you put solid stuff in them you are reducing the volume of the enclosure, which probably won't have the desired effect. Perhaps some acoustic spongy material? I actually own a pair of 803s but even compared with B&W 601 I found the bass and treble to be pretty poor quality. They are now in position as the biggest office computer speakers you are ever likely to come across.

It appears to be a sealed chamber so doesn't matter what goes in it it's not going to reduce the volume. There is only a limited number of things that are going to fit in a 1.5" hole...... 🙂

Wool, as suggested, isn't going to make any difference either. If anything the chamber is simply there so you can add stability it would seem.

So basically they are standmounters. That explains it. Not impressed.

No they are not, try research. It sometimes pays before commenting on this forum. ;-)

I own them!!! If the lower part doesn't form part of the acoustic chamber, which it apparently does not, they are the same thing as having a standmounter on wooden stands!!!

If you do have the same speakers you will note that the 'chamber' for ballast is down near the bottom of the cabinet. There's still more cabinet real estate than the stand mount boxes.

Get a pair of 8.2's and compare.

 

[shadders]

Hi,

I purchased Target Speaker Stands in 1983, and they came with sand to fill the rectangular pillars, and a sticker to seal them. It used to be standard practice, but I assume that cost cutting means that manufacturers do not include.

Regards,

Shadders.