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IsoAcoustics GAIA footers: impressions

I have Spatial Audio M4TM speakers which were spiked to the thick carpet in my room.  I got the GAIA footers with the carpet spikes this week and got them installed today.  They are fiddly as hell to install, requiring a narrow needle-nose pliers to cinch down the nuts securely. 

I have been listing to my system for a few hours with them installed and from the get-go, the SQ improvement was readily apparent. There is an enhanced vividness to the music with more pronounced leading edges to musical notes and a more life-like decay to the notes that makes the sound more engaging.  I am very impressed with the SQ improvement which is far from subtle to my ears.  I previously auditioned the SVS footers and they clearly degraded the sound of my system. 

These footers have garnered lots of praise in the audio community and at $680 for them, it was an expensive tweek, but my ears are really happy with revisiting familiar recordings and loving the sound ever more than before.  I am aware in reading reviews that a fair number of folks trying them were not impressed, but Music Direct and others permit a 30-day money-back trial if they don't work in your system.  At any rate, it seems appropriate to share my impressions of them with you folks as they are quite amazing in my system.
whitestix

Showing 1 response by goose

goose
675 posts
 
I have not been 100% pleased with my speaker placement in my room, so yesterday I decided to start over.  I used various math formulas previously and couldn't get a node at about 80-90 Hz to diminish.  I went back to the Wilson set up where you speak and walk from the front wall and side wall to establish the "natural" zone.  My brother is a recording engineer so he was my ears in the listening position while I did the speaking and the speaker moving.  

So this is what I discovered.  My speakers are on a suspended wood floor with carpet that were previously spiked to the floor.  1)  Spikes or no spikes didn't make a difference 2)  Don't assume that having your speakers further into the room will make them sound better.  After tweaking for about an hour with various music, I moved the speakers closer to the front wall and slightly closer to the side walls.  We diminished the mode about 6db according to my phone analyzer app.  Result, they sound significantly better in overall smoothness and transparency.

I was going to purchase the Gaia's but was concerned about the tweeter height and cups needed for the carpet.  Next step will be the Townsend Podiums since I got a "reasonable" deal on them and will report back on further improvements from the floor isolation. 
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