I'm shopping around for a pair of speaker stands to hold my Quad 11L and I've read conflicting opinions regarding which material is better, so I'm wondering what you guys think? Does it make a noticeable difference?

For what it's worth, I'm looking for something around 30 inches, with a budget of 100-120$, so feel free to shoot recommendations.

It depends on the stand. 'Inert' and 'sturdy' are more important than material.

That said...I like wood, it just feels more inert. In general. But filling a qual stand with sand can make a metal stand pretty inert, too.

I'd get something like this.

Edited October 9, 200916 yr by Dusty Chalk

I've got a pair of these. Filled with sand, you'd better be careful

picking them up.

Target-Hi-Fi MR Series Speaker Stands (pair)#

It depends on the stand. 'Inert' and 'sturdy' are more important than material.

That said...I like wood, it just feels more inert. In general. But filling a qual stand with sand can make a metal stand pretty inert, too.

I'd get something like this.

I recently bought similar stands for my HT system. They wobble a bit. That's not important to me for HT but would be more of a problem for a music system. I recommend a cheap metal stand that you can fill with lead shot. I have those for my speaker system and they are very solid. Of course, each one is filled with 25 lbs of lead shot.

BTW, if you decide to fill with sand, be sure that it is clean sand (i.e. no beach sand, etc.) or you will have new and, uh, interesting odors in your house.

In addition to the odor you should be concerned w/ corrosion of the metal stand if you use beach sand.