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Stands are in the area of marginal or perhaps minimal gains, however they are reputed to make small differences. The main benefit is being able to get the speakers into a decent position in the room, which is hard to do without stands, unless the speakers are floor-standers.
Some like to go for mass (e.g. tubes filled with sand), some like to go for open frames. Rigidity tends to be desirable to both camps.
Whether the Focal stands will be suitable for future speakers depends on what those future speakers are, so it's probably best not to base a purchase on future utility.
Is there much difference between different speaker stands? Is the only difference visual or does SQ vary? Considering getting the dedicated Focal Aria 900 stands for my Focal Aria 906 speakers. Fairly big investment, so just thinking through whether it's worth it, and also whether the stands can be used for different speakers in future, since the platform itself seems relatively small (the speakers are supposed to be screwed into them).