2. speakers
  3. 129108-85809

Has anyone had experiences good or bad with speaker isolation or isolation in general ?

hi
i have been enjoying buying and listening to hifi for some 35 years now and have seen many items come and go.I have also been interested in the audio cable discussions and i agree that cables do make a difference how much of a difference is a very individual, and a system dependent situation. There has been nothing that has got me so excited and improved the sound of my system that has ever made me want to really share it with fellow audiophiles until i started to try various isolation products.With so much choice from affordable to very expensive i found the hole subject very confusing and i did not know where to start. After trying lots of various products all shapes and sizes with very different results i decided to read reviews which is something i do not usually do to get some advise.I read a review on the Townshend audio seismic podiums they are isolation platforms that go under your speakers .This company is very famous for isolation ideas and have been around some 50 years based here in the UK they also had a factory in the USA back in the 1980s. I contacted Nick at Emporium hifi  and he agreed to install a pair for me so i could have a listen. My speakers are sound-lab dynastats which i use in quite a small room but with the adjustments give a nice sound. After installing the podiums we both sat down with jaws hitting the floor these podium things completely transformed the sound of my system to absolute perfection. After all this time trying various products under my equipment i have now isolated my speakers and the sound quality is exactly what i believe we all are chasing, my sound-labs are now transparent no more bass problems i have just got one big 3D sound stage the dynastats are now very open with deeper much better bass everything is perfect. I now believe isolating your loudspeakers is the first port of call i was so impressed by the Townshend audio seismic products i now sell them as i have never come across anything that has given my system such a great upgrade , the sound is the same as before but now its just so much better its playing deeper bass but tighter much more resolution and no boom , the midrange is so much more human sounding realistic and spacious with the top end so refined and perfect , is anyone using podiums and had the same experiences i would love to hear from you thank you john 
mains
melbguy1
1,438 posts
 
I previously owned a pair of Marten Coltrane Alto speakers which came with a stainless steel stand with integrated Black Diamond carbon cones & BD carbon cups. That combination was effective.

My current Magico S5 Mk2’s have outriggers and standard factory stainless spikes & cups, however Magico now offer optional ’S Pods’ which have integrated cones with a constrained layer design using a copper substrate & stainless spike which threads through the cone, thus maintaining Magico’s philosophy of coupling the speaker to the floor. That’s why Stillpoints have had mixed results on Magico speakers as Stillpoints as they’re designed to de-couple the isolated component from the floor.
schubert
7,386 posts
 
SIMPLE, if energy goes down a spike it can go up a spike .
READ Herbies blog on what his gliders do , he knows what he is doing .
toddverrone's avatar
toddverrone
840 posts
 
It's never SIMPLE in this hobby..
mains OP
170 posts
 
its never simple but great fun especially when you find the golden nugget that improves your system even more than you could imagine , i find cables and isolation a very interesting and necessary components, we leave the designing to the designers the results to the reviewers and then theirs the dealers, DIY is a great area to try and save money but in the long run its probably better to leave it to the professionals but which product or idea do you drop your money on , for mains cables i use jps labs for signal cables clearer audio and townshend audio from the UK and isolation i have found my golden nugget in townshend audio they have been designing 50 years they do not believe in aftermarket power cables but agree signal cables are very important as is correct isolation i use there DCT isolda i believe they were the first to use cyro treatment which has been further improved with the f1 fractal cable it makes very interesting reading when you visit there website but then so does every other manufacturer , the most important thing i believe is home auditions and maybe stick with the companies thats been around for decades they must be doing something right, i also like all the furutech products so electrical contact points is another big area for discussion this is looking like i need to start another discussion     
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,846 posts
 
Schubert's pronouncement violates the idea that spikes are mechanical diodes---a one-way street for vibrations. Once one has seen the truth---that spikes provide not isolation but rather coupling, he is ready for real isolation. Watch Max Townshends video for a demonstration of effective decoupling.
More to discover