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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
toddverrone's avatar
toddverrone
840 posts
 
What are people's experiences with carpet? I'm reading that some of you put platforms directly on top of carpet, then put speakers on that while others, myself included, spike through the carpet..

I know what the answer will be: try it yourself and see. Ha! But experiences with the difference between the two would be appreciated
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Sorry, don’t like felt or carpet as they interfere with the rapid transmission of energy out of the system and/or interfere with the spring action of Mass on Spring Isolators. Two springy systems things in series is like a car with two sets of shocks in series on each wheel rolling down the road. It would be a *very* bumpy ride. I eschew soft, springy materials in favor of extremely hard and stiff materials. If you have carpets best to use a hole punch to punch through the carpet so the tips of cones will penetrate all the way to the floor. As I said before I always use cones with isolation stands. If I use springs by themselves I do not insert anything between the springs and the component or between the springs and the floor or rack (if someone is determined to have a rack). To summarize, you want to isolate and ground the component.

geoff kait
machina dynamica
home of Cryo Baby Promethean Mini Isolators

mains OP
170 posts
 
hi geoff
i took your advise and put the RDC cones between floor and granite slab , then the seismic isolation platform and component straight on top.I will try my final durama between component and isolation platform under my cd player and cdp psu .
Thanks for all your advise and expert explanations.
i have no paypal but i like the idea of the various size pebbles , in the corners and on the interconnects is there anything for my speaker terminals please.
My soundlab dynastats bass boxes and equipment chassis do not vibrate at all now on the seismic podiums and platforms , but i still fill vibration at the speaker terminals and equipment cable connection points.My issue now is control the vibration in or on the connecting interconnects and speaker cables , do you sell any reasonably priced speaker cable lifts or products to stop my cables vibrating .
My system is sounding really amazing now i have used isolation im glad i went down the seismic isolation route , but i do find your site very interesting regards john



folkfreak's avatar
folkfreak
1,349 posts
 
@mains -- the paragraphs and punctation really help! The last post is so much easier to read, thanks for doing that -- you'll also get better responses so keep it up
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Damping the speaker connectors is a bit of a sticky wicket since even if one were successful damping the connectors all of the internal wiring and crossover components would still be subject to the vibration produced by the cabinet resonance and the back wave of the speaker drivers. On the other hand something can possibly be gained by elevating or suspending all speaker cables and power cords. In the old days Tekna Sonic dampers could be used on speaker cabinets but they ceased to be available some time ago, unfortunately.

You also should ensure that interconnects or speaker cables or power cords do not pull on components on isolation stands as that would hurt the isolation effectiveness since that pull would constrain the top plate of the thing from moving with ease.

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