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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
has anyone had experiences with magnetic levitation , i keep seeing these products pooping up but notice a bar running threw the middle of the magnets i believe. 
If both top and bottom are still connected how does the product work ?
As long as the effects of the magnets do not interfere with the isolated equipment , seeing a gap between component and solid surface looks very interesting , its just that pole that is going threw the middle makes me think the technique still needs some tweaking 
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 

mains OP
hi
has anyone had experiences with magnetic levitation , i keep seeing these products pooping up but notice a bar running threw the middle of the magnets i believe.
If both top and bottom are still connected how does the product work ?
As long as the effects of the magnets do not interfere with the isolated equipment , seeing a gap between component and solid surface looks very interesting , its just that pole that is going threw the middle makes me think the technique still needs some tweaking.

the issue with magnetic levitation devices of the sort that show up in audiophile systems is that two opposing magnets are used in usually four corners of the mag lev stand. As fate would have it magnets, especially the powerful rare earth type required to lift significant loads, are very slippery in the lateral direction, since there are significant magnetic forces involved that are not all vertical in their vectors as it were. Therefore some mechanism must be employed to prevent the top plate from sliding entirely off the stand and onto the floor.

There are two choices, one is to place "stops" around the stand that prevent the top plate from moving very far (but allowing it to move to some degree, at least until it hits a stop. Since isolation as I said before is defined as the ability to move freely in the direction of interest, in this case the horizontal plane. So, this is one drawback of mag lev. The other way to deal with the issue is to put pins or bars through the middle of the magnets, which accomplishes the same thing but has the same problem. In either case there is a path, albeit a small one, for vibration to be transmitted to the top plate. I built a mag lev stand for my modded Radio Shack CD3400 CD Player which gives you some idea just how long ago that was. Presumably the magnets act like springs, at least to some extent. Springs are better - easier to implement, better isolators, and they sound better IMHO.

mains OP
170 posts
 
Thanks again for a very detailed easy to understand explanation , im glad i did not buy into this magnet idea as my aim was to isolate my hole system , My bank has taken a bit of a whack but it wont but long until im ready for some pebbles . Thanks for all your advice Geoff and to everyone that added very useful experiences to this discussion ,
I have also started a discussion regarding mains conditioners and balanced transformers if anyone can help thank you  
jssmith
324 posts
 
Ethan Winer's tests on speaker isolation products
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Self serving masterpieces of deception.

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