Boy, Oh Boy! Towshend!

@sokogear
Due to space limitations in rack spaces under my Rogue tube phono stage, Classe processor and 1 of my Model 12 monoblock amps I'm going to get 3 5/8" Svelte Shelves, as pods are too tall.....

I could fit taller shelves under the phono stage and monoblock but the Svelte Shelf looks like it will do the job well.

I saw a review for the Rogue Audio Ares Magnum and the reviewer had a Symposium Ultra under the Rogue. But it was from 2003 and the Svelte Shelf might be new and improved and the way to go now?

@vinylshadow - I would talk to Peter at Symposium. He takes the time to understand the exact application and make a recommendation. He is very honest and actually told me his solution couldn’t help my turntable because it was so light unless I put counterweights on top of the plinth of my turntable, which would not have worked for me.

when I decided to treat my speakers, phono stage and amp, I went with Symposium, with a stealth segue for the speakers and roller blocks for the amps. I noticed the amount of improvement most with the turntable, next with the speakers and lastly with the amps. He was much less expensive than Townshend pods for the amps (they wouldn’t have fit under my phono stage anyhow) and for the bars Townshend proposed under the speakers (and that would have also raised the height of the drivers which I didn’t want to do). So there is logical reasons for each decision. Both companies make excellent products and in most cases, both will do a very nice job, just make sure it fits your applications and budget. You can always add more to these treatments from Symposium- not so much with Townshend.

I like Symposium’s accessibility since I live in the US and can reach Peter easily via telephone. Talking to Max Townshend is not as easy as he is experimenting/developing in the lab more it seems. He has created a wide variety of products over the years, all excellent from what I have read. Peter has been laser focused on isolation/vibration control since 1992.

I just put the spring footers under my Thiel speakers again (like the Nobsound, but a different brand which has the springs actually fixed, not loose).

Absolutely stunning, yet again, in many ways.  The changes it registers among the entire frequency range is just amazing.  It's like the "noise floor" of the speaker has gone down I can effortlessly hear the most minute details.  All sorts of tracks sound different because I realize I'm hearing now audible subtle reverbs that weren't there before.

Saxophone tracks become all the more real sounding, where I can hear that familiar clicking/ tapping of the keys (from when I played sax...my dad played sax too).  The texture of the reed all the more evident.

And the high frequencies and air seemed to have gone through the roof.Chimes, drum cymbals now have an utterly pure realism, of the type I was often seeking.  It's just crazy.

As I have mentioned before, my main gripe with the spring footers has been a subtraction of "feel" and impact to the sound. I really seek a sense of density to the presentation of my system, so any losses there can be annoying.  Which is why the footers eventually tend to come back off. 


But the more I'm listening the more I'm liking, and getting addicted to things I can hear only with the footers on.   And yes I've lost some solidity to the sound, but there still is some nice impact.
This, yet again, tells me I will be springing for the "real deal" Townshend speaker bars, at some point.

If you like what you're hearing now Townshend will be a revelation. Everything you are hearing now, only due to the damping you will get back some of the slam impact feel, probably a bit more extension, and find an amazing improvement in being able to differentiate the characteristic tone and timbre of each instrument. Sax in particular is wonderful, the full body of the horn combined with the reedy zing of the mouthpiece is rendered so much more correct it is hard to believe. Clarinet, violins, horns, ditto.   

I have a fair amount of that kind of music and find myself far more drawn to it now than ever before, something I am sure is due to everything sounding so much more like what it really is. Satchmo Plays King Oliver now, holy smokes!  

Podiums are the best, probably because the platform is so well engineered. This is evident even during unpacking, when you will notice the constrained layer damped material is dense and extremely dead. But they are all based on fundamentally the same technology and components- the air damped bellows spring pod - and so a lot has to do with the specific application. The 8 hours time diff is a hassle but it might be worth a call to Townshend to talk with John Hannant. He knows this stuff inside out and has been a huge help to me, and others here as well.

That's very encouraging millercarbon.
The thing is I had recently tweaked my speaker/listening position and had arrived at a new level of awe-inspiring imaging and solidity to the sound.   As I said, any steps backwards are hard to swallow.   But I can imaging giving up a bit to get some of that delicious transparency and detail I'm hearing.