Sand or shot for speaker stands?

Bmp, I alternate. I pour shot, then sift just enough sand to fill voids that the pellets will not go into. Not every situation will lend itself to this way of addressing the problem, so I will give a lengthy description of a problem solver on a larger project. I have the Soundlab Ultimate Ones, and the construction is such, that the speaker frames are one quarter inch steel pipe (very pretty pipe!) and welded shut at the bottom to a flange that contains the power supply. In this situation, I did not want a "upside down pendulum," that is, a frame where the weight was heavier above the center line than below the center. I had canvas bags made, with Velcro closures, and fitted with brass grommets. At the bottom of the Soundlab frames (pipes) were bags with 100% lead. Then just above those were bags with 75% lead and 25% silica. Then 50% and 50% of each. At the very top of the speaker was 100% silica. I achieved a mix of lead and silica, not unlike you are asking about for a smaller stand. However, the Soundlab is 7 feet tall, and this was a way to control resonances with a predictable mix, where otherwise, it would have been out of control! The grommets I described, were tied through by a long nylon cord. This allowed me to drop each bag and remove it (if necessary) to achieve the mix I wanted. I know this is a long answer, but the idea is that each project may need to be addressed in a creative way to get the proper results. Larger projects could possibly benefit from the idea I came up with for my speaker frames. In my case, pouring directly into this 7 foot long frame made this project completely out of control. Some of you may encounter similar situations, and hope this helps.

Albert, that is most helpful and sure makes sense. I didn't think of the probability of the stand plus the speaker being top heavy, yet something was bugging me and now I know what it is. I will have to wait a few days in order to find a local store that sells shot, and I am looking forward to trying some version of your process. Thanks.

Hi Redkiwi, I set up the stands with the spikes underneath, and heard an immediate improvement. There is a little more air, less of a bloated bass, and slightly better imaging. The difference is definite, but not dramatic. It isn't awesome yet, but getting much closer.