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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
playpen
162 posts
 
 Toddverrone,I did get my pics up on virtual system save,I hope you can view them,I'm not sure if I got them to post or not,let me know.
toddverrone's avatar
toddverrone
840 posts
 
@playpen holy crunk, those weights are crazy! That was not what I was picturing. I love that they both look like vessels for consuming delicious alcoholic beverages. What better to tune your system with?!

Well done on posting pics. I sure wish this forum let us post them on these threads directly.

Are your speakers sitting on DIY is platforms? Because, if they are, I’d love to see a pic showing the whole setup. You seem to be a tinkerer extraordinaire!
playpen
162 posts
 
  I forgot to mention I also loaded those brass vessels with more brass inside of them.This is the best modification I did with these speakers,and you have to experiment where the best placement should be.
 Yes I made my own speaker platforms out of heavy bowling alley I believe maple 30" by30" by 2" and 4 half " all thread rod nuts top and bottom to thread exact tweeter height on both speakers,just less than a half inch off will degrade sound.I can also tweek out slight angle adjustments by simply adjusting bottom nuts.But I found my platforms also needed reinforced brass under the speakers from floor to the maple.I further tuned up the stands with brass and 10 lb barbell weights on top.Nuts isn't it,well that's what I like to do being retired.I'll take pics of my DIY platforms.
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
The Vibraplane isolation stand employs a 100 lb weight in its design, but not as mass loading, the 100 lb dead weight preloads the air bladders so that lower resonant frequencies of the ISO system can be achieved. My Nimbus sub Hertz ISO platform also employed heavy mass for ballast for the same reason and additionally to lower the center of gravity of the Nimbus so higher loads could be stabilized and isolated. The Nimbus ballast mass was located about 2 feet below the single air spring. Mass loading, by contrast, cannot isolate the object from seismic vibrations since the entire house is moving.
kennythekey
593 posts
 
Playpen,

I too did not have that picture of your dampening solution in my head. The cabinets produce their own sound into the mix by resonating, so it looks like you are dampening this by fine tuning the locations that will give you the best sound?

For my DIY subs with the Isolation Bars, they come with an add-in dampening material called NoRez. It comes in sheets that you cut to size, and that I will add to the inside walls of my subs. The NoRez is backed by a very strong adhesive, so it's a one shot deal when applying. I'm hoping that I will like the sound more after I install it.
Kenny
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