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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
kennythekey
593 posts
 
bdp24 - It makes sense that doubling up on springs would create unstable results. Perhaps, like driving on a washboard surface?

My table is non-suspended and I installed the new spring based feet. I can tell you that my sound is smoother, the background is blacker, and bass is better. However, this did not really do anything for the lurking oscillation that I can reproduce from my subs. My last puzzle piece I will go after is my cartridge. When I get my loaner cartridge to test it may reveal something.
Kenny
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
kennythekey
bdp24 - It makes sense that doubling up on springs would create unstable results. Perhaps, like driving on a washboard surface?

its not like driving on a washboard surface at all. It’s like driving down the road on two sets of shock absorbers that have the same spring rate. The ride would be chaotic and bumpy, but not bumpy like a washboard, bumpy like an aircraft going through heavy turbulence, a series of unpredictable lurches up and down.


kennythekey
593 posts
 
geoffait
The ride would be chaotic and bumpy, but not bumpy like a washboard, bumpy like an aircraft going through heavy turbulence, a series of unpredictable lurches up and down

So, is this why we hear reports of tonearms actually jumping up and down off the record surface?
Kenny
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 

kennythekey
geoffait
The ride would be chaotic and bumpy, but not bumpy like a washboard, bumpy like an aircraft going through heavy turbulence, a series of unpredictable lurches up and down

So, is this why we hear reports of tonearms actually jumping up and down off the record surface?

The reason tonearms jump out of the record groove is because the turntable is not isolated or not isolated sufficiently, or not isolated properly. Then, e.g., when a bus goes by and runs over a manhole cover out front, voila! - the tonearm jumps. It could happen more easily perhaps if someone inadvertently put a spring system under a suspended turntable, that’s true.
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,949 posts
 
Kenny, my table is also non-suspended---a Townshend Rock Elite. Max Townshend incorporated his Seismic Pod into the last version of the Rock (Mk.7, I believe), a quartet of Pods that function as the tables suspension. The Rock Elite has a trio of Sorbothane-like rubber half-spheres on it’s bottom surface for isolation, and I will shortly be replacing them with a trio of the Seismic Pods.
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