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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
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
10,254 posts
 

No Kenny, I just learned of the IsoAcoustic company and their line of speaker bases, the GAIA, and now Iso-Pucks (sold individually for $30 apiece, and intended for components, not speakers) . The Pucks were just introduced last month at an industry event, and haven't made it to retail stores or online sellers yet, as far as I can tell. Guitar Center is an IsoAcoustics dealer! I buy some of my drum gear there, and they discount about a third off retail prices. I'm waiting for the Pucks to show up, to have a look at them.

Like I said previously, it remains to be seen (or rather, heard ;-) how the IsoAcoustics products compare to the Townshend. The Seismic products very cleverly address vibrations coming at both speakers and components from below---Max is quite a mechanical engineer!

geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
bdp24
Like I said previously, it remains to be seen (or rather, heard ;-) how the IsoAcoustics products compare to the Townshend. The Seismic products very cleverly address vibrations coming at both speakers and components from below---Max is quite a mechanical engineer!

Any mass-on-spring system operates as a two-way low pass filter. That’s why placing simple springs under speakers accomplishes the same thing. It’s also why you sometimes see air springs used as motor mounts in automobiles. The air springs prevent the vibrations from the motor from migrating to the chassis. That’s how my Super Stiff Springs work for subwoofers now that you mention it. What actually makes the Townshend thingies clever is being able to support high center of mass speakers without tipping over. It's the same problem I had 20 years ago supporting 40 lb on a single rather floppy air spring.

kennythekey
593 posts
 
John,

As I mentioned before, I have no room for the bars with the pods extending out past the footprint of my speakers. However, this sounds like good information for others who have greater flexibility in their setup.
Kenny



bdp24's avatar
bdp24
10,254 posts
 

Kenny, maybe you could place the Townshend Seismic Bars front-to-back on your speakers, rather than side-to-side.

Here's a question involving spring isolators, specifically with turntables using springs to isolate their floating platform (onto which are mounted the platter and tonearm) from their base/plinth (attached to which is the motor): with a table such as the VPI HW-19 (one of which I just acquired), which came from the factory with a spring under each corner of the floating platform, my concern is with adding another set of springs under the base, the folly of which I mentioned earlier in this thread. So what is a boy to do? I have no such apprehension at the idea of placing a set of roller bearings under the tables base, however, even with the tables springs in place.

Replacing the four springs of the HW-19 with various isolators (such as the SIMS Navcom pucks) was common years ago, to what effect I don't know. Any comments or suggestions welcome!---Eric.

kennythekey
593 posts
 

Eric, I could if I moved my large rug back away from the front of my speakers, but the bars still cause the wobble effect that I'm trying to avoid with my speakers in the walkways.

Regarding your VPI, I believe with their HW-19 Jr. model they used sorbothane instead of springs?

Kenny

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