Speaker stands and volcanic dust?

A decent speaker stand at a sensible price is hard to come by. A good stand must be well constructed and perform the task of supporting the loudspeaker properly. Ideally, it should also be affordable AND good looking. Lets take a look at the Custom Design UK SQ402 to see how close it comes to fulfilling these criteria. I also test out the Custom Design UK supplied ‘inert filler’. This filler is a black, shiny, granular substance that looks more like it might collect at the base of an active volcano than be supplied as an accessory to a pair of speaker stands.

Custom Design UK manufacture all of their vast range of HiFi furniture in Newcastle in the UK and have been around for sometime. It’s probably best if I just let Paul Morton (the owner/manager) tell the story –

“My Dad loved his HiFi and when we were both made redundant from a local off-shore platform manufacturer we decided to set up our own business manufacturing speaker stands in the garage, back in 1986. Unfortunately my Dad, Fred Morton past away at 42 years old in 1987 which is when Irene (my Mum) and I took control of the business. Since then we have tried to manufacture the best quality HiFi products,
for the best possible price with the service you can only receive from a
family business, and I hope we have done that. 34 years later here we
are. And I still love doing what we do.”

Custom Design have many models of both equipment racks and speaker stands. They use quality European sourced steel and timber to create all of their products. They have been rather successful and now export to nearly 40 countries across the globe.

I have met Paul a number of times at the Munich High End audio show. He is a great bloke, and shows an enthusiasm for the way they do things at Complete Design that you don’t always experience when speaking to manufacturers. The product under review here, the SQ402 is not a Custom Design product I am familiar with. Of course, when the Australian distributor, Alex Stuart of Audiofix asked whether I would like to try a pair, I jumped at the opportunity. With an RRP of $499 a pair, they seemed to be priced keenly for stands made in Europe. Alex also mentioned the filler material and suggested I give that a try to take any potential ‘ring’ out of the steel tube structure.

In my experience all Custom Design UK products are very well packed so they arrive in unmarked condition at their destination. The SQ402 was no exception with all the parts carefully packed in bubble wrap or in quality cardboard. Included is a rudimentary diagram and all the information you need for successful assembly. Also included in the kit of parts is two Allen wrenches to add to your collection. It would be hard to spend more than 30 minutes assembling the stands with only 2 bolts required at the top and 2 at the bottom of each stand. It doesn’t take long for the collection of 2D parts to quickly become a 3D assembly.

Perhaps the only twist on this super simple assembly is the slightly weird ‘inert filler’. The suggestion in the instructions is to use a funnel to enable spill-free results transferring this inert filler from the bag to the 50mm square tube uprights. The funnel I had on hand was not going to cut it as per the picture. There isn’t a particularly large hole in the end of the upright tube to poke a funnel neck into. In the end, I summoned the dexterity to go “funneless” and poured the contents carefully (very carefully) straight from the bag into the end of the tube. Surprisingly little filled spilled this way and I note that what did spill didn’t stain the cream carpet.

Having successfully transferred one bag into the first tube I felt a quick rap test was in order. Wow!! What a change. I was so pleased with the result I didn’t feel anymore was required per tube. I made this quick recording below so you can hear the dramatic difference between a filled and empty upright tube.

Press play for the sound (or lack of sound) of the Custom Design UK Inert Filler.

I then completed the assembly. The plated spikes, chrome dome nuts and upper and lower internal hex fixing screws all went together very easily. The threads in the uprights and base were all neatly cut causing no difficulty with starting or screwing in. I set up the Falcon LS3/5a Gold Badge versions atop them and started listening. A stand this inert (thanks to the black magic filler) and this stiff and light is bound to work. Sure enough, in my opinion, the speakers performed very nearly as well as Falcon’s specific 3/5a stand. Any deficit in performance might be down to the Falcon support weighing 3 times as much and in turn being ultimately more stable.

Appearance-wise, I like them. I’m not an enormous fan of chrome but I can ignore those shiny dome nuts by concentrating on the very high quality powder/texture coat that has been applied to all other parts.

In an ideal world a speaker stand would be: (a) unmovable to enable accurate imaging (b) infinitely stiff making it impossible to resonate (c) infinitely light so as not to absorb energy and perhaps (d) infinitely inert (which it would be if it was all of the above, I think?). This speaker stand scores highly in the above categories. It does a great job of balancing ease of assembly, performance, and good looks with a sensible price.

Are you searching for a value for money stand solution that is made from high quality materials and has a performance design ethic behind it ? I suggest you take a closer look at the Custom Design SQ402. It’s a bit like loudspeaker cables, skimping in this area is perhaps the difference between getting 90% of the sound quality from your loudspeakers versus maybe 99% ! The Custom Design SQ402 offers the vast majority of potential performance from your loudspeakers for dramatically less than some alternatives. Highly recommended!

• For – Obviously well crafted from quality materials
• For – Allows high performance loudspeakers to give their best
• For – Non fussy design doesn’t attract attention to itself
• Against – Chrome domes (nuts covering end of spikes)
• Against – Some Inert filler dust leaks from around joint between upright and base. Not a big issue. Some kind of gasket would solve the issue.
• Dimensions – 600mm high x 165mm wide x 180mm deep (top plate), the base is 220mm wide x 260mm deep.
• Inert Filler comes in bags 160mm wide x 240mm long and weigh approximately 1.5KG
• Manufactured by – Custom Design UK
• Distributed in Australia by – Audiofix
• Tested with – Naim Star driving Falcon LS3/5a Gold Badge connected by Straightwire Symphony cables.

Click on any image above and peruse the gallery for High Resolution images.

Possible Improvements ! – Here are 4 ways to get more from any loudspeaker stand 1. Level the stand and make sure it doesn’t rock by adjusting the spikes. It’s surprising just how how uneven your average floor is. No matter whether its concrete, timber, carpet or ceramic tiles. Adjust your spikes. 2. Don’t use the supplied rubber feet for the top plate. I would use Blutak or a similar product. A small ball at each corner of the speaker will ‘bond’ it to the top of the stand but still be able to be removed (with some effort) later. There is no chance the speaker will ‘wobble’ on top of the stand using this method. An old trick, but I thought it was worth mentioning for new players.

3) “Why not use sand?” I hear you ask, “rather than the relatively expensive (inert filler) volcano micro rubble. Well, sand is sort of nasty stuff… Firstly it will have to be river sand as some from the beach is going to rot out your stands from the inside out. Even river sand though is a pest to pour into the stand and even after that will tend to sneak through the joint at the base of the stand between upright and base. I noted some tiny amount of black dust getting through the gap during this review but sand is worse. Having used both I much prefer Custom’s Inert Filler. 4. Where, is the front of the stand? Does it have a front? Yes it does. The uprights are set slightly to the rear of the base on the basis that the centre of mass of most loudspeakers is towards their front baffle (due mostly to the weight of the drive units bolted to it). Therefore, the slight bias to the rear puts the weight smack over the centre of the base reducing the likelihood of the stand and speaker assembly toppling forward.

How best to enjoy your new stands? Well with a Newcastle Ale of course. It pours with a healthy dense head, tastes a bit like steel actually… Brown steel. Very sessional for a darker beer. The lowish alcohol content helping with the ability to throw a few down in quick succession. Not that we want to do that here… It unfortunately has become incredibly difficult to buy in this country… A solid 4 stars from me (out of 5) for taste and enjoyment while listening to some wobble free music through speakers now located on Newcastle made stands.