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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
mains OP
170 posts
 
hi toddveronne
i have tried soft squidgy feet from various manufacturers under electronics and have always found they soften the dynamics with over blown bass , i then tried the opposite with cardas golden cubes they made the sound to dead and distant i didn't like them at all, if budget is tight clearlight audio RDC cones and bases worked great for me , i didnt hear no negatives just an increase in musical details , i purchased the 20x 1.2 cones with the bases for around 30gbp  i use them under everything now , but i would definitely start with your loudspeakers first , they are designed to go under speakers as well the results under the speakers are not comparable to podiums but for the money they were the best cones i found, theres a company in the uk called music works they are selling a cone made out of peek or something like that rumor is they are very effective but i have had no first hand experience and the rdc cones are a little cheaper and i have heard the results  which are quite good 
folkfreak's avatar
folkfreak
1,349 posts
 
@toddverrone. You ask about what to expect from spring isolating your speakers if on a concrete slab? This is exactly the situation I am in, albeit the ground here in NW Portland is quite soft and transmits seismic vibration all too well.

Isolating your speakers on something like the seismic podiums will radically change the way you perceive bass. You will no longer feel bass transmitted via the floor and at first you may perceive this as a diminution in bass but at least in my setup the bass transmitted directly to you is better defined with greater clarity in subtle details and also greater differentiation between shades of tone and timbre. There’s a fuller description of my experience here
https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/speaker-isolation-experience-with-townshend-seismic-isolation...

Seperately i I suspect you may find a different effect from roller balls. I have these under all my stands and the effect is more to tighten things up, much like adding herbies dampers to tubes. Oddly when I put apex footers under my power amps it seemed as if the volume level dropped - this is usually a sign of a reduction in the noise floor so I think that’s what the balls do, they help remove vibration manifest as noise. The podiums are quite different in effect

mains OP
170 posts
 
hi
please check Emporium hifi in the uk for ex demo bargain prices on townshend audio seismic podiums i have no link to this company im from the uk and this is where i purchased mine , size 3 with 50kg weight limit on each platform its very important to check the weight of your speakers and the footprint for the right size i hope this will helps
toddverrone's avatar
toddverrone
840 posts
 
Thanks guys, great info.

Yeah, I'm a budget minded guy and find it hard to spend $400 on roller bearing units when my pair of monoblock amps cost $600..

@folkfreak I find your analysis interesting, however I don't perceive my bass coming from the floor.. i may have to try spring isolation for my speakers. Springs are cheap. However I'd need a spiked podium for the springs to rest on, as I'd imagine a spring/carpet interface is non optimal. Also, here in NW Arkansas, we do not have a problem with squishy ground, heavy industry or large transportation hubs, so I'm a bit more sceptical of the benefits, hence my desire to do it on the cheap.
bar81
791 posts
 
@jhills Thanks for sharing your knowledge.  As you opined, on a tile on concrete solid floor, I have had the best success for my speakers from spiking to the floor.  I have found that spikes do also matter - the Audio Points I am currently using are better than the stock spikes included with my speakers.
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