Are 522D owners more than satisfied with the i29 stands for their speakers? (Do you use another brand of stand?) And do you use the cable management tube? (Should I be worried about damaging cable when inserting it into the tube?) Thanks, Doug

Doug,

Yes, I am more than satisfied with my stands.  They are very stable (I am using the spikes for my carpet).  There should be more than enough room for your speaker cable.  Trying to remember when I put mine together, I might have had to run the cable before putting on one or both of the flat platform pieces.  I do remember stopping and taking it apart for that reason.

Doug, I am also more than satisfied with my i29 stands as well.  They support the speakers well and are very stable.  Our cat made the leap from the back of the couch to the top of the 522 and only rocked the stand (I was sure it was going to tip).  I am using the spikes into a berber carpet with 8lb pad.  The cable management system is very nice, although I agree that it is a bit of a trick to get the cable fed through.  Mine were fully assembled when I fed my cable, but I still managed.

Well, I bought the i29 stands. I taped up the bottom speaker cable holes and placed a plastic bag within each stand column. (The bags were packing material for the columns.) Then, I filled each bag within each stand with 6 pounds of silica sand. (The bags were used as linings to prevent contact with possible moisture from the sand.) I also used the 10 inch Cable Wrapz rubber ties to secure my speaker cables to the stands. So far, so good.

Doug has a great idea.  Filling stands with sand can prevent unwanted resonance (the stands "singing along" with the speakers) and help them couple better with the subfloor. 

I've found that the sand box sand from Toys 'R' Us is the best because it is totally dry.

I think the stands are decent and a great price compared to a lot of stands.  If you put the sand in bags it seems like you could run the cable first and then drop in the bags so you could still use the cable management feature.  I wish the nut was welded on to the two way stud that holds the base on and screws into the speaker.  After I tightened it down it kept backing off when I was trying to screw the speaker on.  Also I think a washer should be included.  If I remember right the little nut almost fits right through the hole on the top plate.  I am starting to think the big tube looks a little bulky though.  I think I like the kind that have two or three thin posts.