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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
 
For the believers that spiking your loudspeakers is best for performance please check the Max Townshend you tube video spikes v pods/podiums, you will without doubt decide to ditch them spikes, as been pointed out many times,
the benefits of breaking the acoustic connection between speaker and floor/room is something everybody should experience,
if you are interested in gaining better sound quality from your system isolation is a great place to start,
i found placing my speakers on the Townshend Audio Seismic Podiums gave me the biggest upgrade in sound quality i have ever experienced,
i have purchased Seismic Isolation Platforms for my electronics to increase the performance to a higher level,
I am now experimenting with Shun Mook mpingo discs and enjoying the results that they bring,
But i believe the first place to start with any form of isolation is with the speakers and decoupling or breaking the acoustic connection between speaker and floor/room is the best answer from my own experience.
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Funny you should say that. Because if you had isolated your electronics FIRST rather than the speakers, isolating the speakers would not have provided much of an improvement. Why? Because the *lowest frequency* produced by the speaker cabinets that could be transmitted via the floor to the electronics is above where the effectiveness of isolation for the iso stands under the electronics is achieves 99%. AND because you are isolating the electronics from floor borne seismic vibrations, you know, the ones with frequencies way below whatever the speaker is producing.

schubert
7,386 posts
 
Then why do these British speakers that have thin walls sound so good ?
And yes, Herbie’s Gliders are fantastic .
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 

schubert
Then why do these British speakers that have thin walls sound so good?

nobody said they don’t sound good. But they would sound even better isolated. And they would sound better still if all the electronics were isolated. Have you not been paying attention?

"Everything is relative." A. Einstein
shadorne's avatar
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shadorne
7,477 posts
 
Isolation works to reduce parasitic sympathetic vibrations from floor and walls. For TT and tubes this also helps reduce feedback from floor/wall vibration. Other electronics are not sensitive enough microphonically and do not benefit except some equipment might last longer in an environment with less vibration...

No brainer.

Thin wall speakers can sound good but the thin walls add coloration and often change the timbre of the mid range. In principal this is bad design, however, some really like the sound. Thin wall cheap cabinets are lighter and allow for reduced shipping packaging and lower shipping costs which is of huge benefit to the manufacturer/retailer - and if with some hand waving marketing hype the listeners can be convinced that light weight is technically beneficial (just like a TT) then you can easily understand why there are thin walled light weight designs...
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