Speaker Isolation -- Experience with Townshend Seismic Isolation Podiums


Over the past several months the new Townshend Seismic Isolation Podiums have been receiving some interesting and positive press. Living as I do in both an earthquake zone (Pacific NW) and in a busy urban setting with a lot of rumble from construction and passing vehicles I thought these could be worth exploring for my setup. As I was not able to find a US distributor I purchase direct from the UK (via Analogue Seduction, highly recommended). I placed an online order, with follow up to confirm the size and weight of my speakers and about six weeks later they turned up on my doorstep (the platforms are made to order with loading on the cells specific to the weight of your speakers)

The Isolation Podiums are basically four load cells attached to a robust platform onto which you stand your speakers. While not cheap ($2500 for the size I needed) they are very well designed and easy to use. For example I was concerned about being able to move my 275lb Magico Q3s up onto the platforms -- actually it was easy as the platform at 20mm is lower than the speaker spikes so it was simply a matter of unscrewing each spike and shuffling the speaker across. Once onto the platforms fine leveling was easily possible by adjusting each load cell. All in all the podium system is very well designed and works exactly as intended.

But how does it sound? With several days listening experience I cannot recommend this product too highly for anyone who wants to hear the best from their speakers. My room is custom designed with a concrete slab floor so a solid surface but of course subject to external vibration. Prior to the podiums I'd been enjoying deep and dynamic bass but had occasionally felt that the sound became congested in more dynamic and complex material. With the podiums all of this clears up. First impression may be of less bass but as is typically the case this was a result of a reduction in boom and smear and instead more of the open sound of real bass (think of a bass drum as being more "whoof" than "thump" after the initial leading edge - too often the sense of large volumes of air being displaced is lost. In addition I became much more aware of all the rhythmic leading edge detail in bass guitar passages, all the little cues the bassist is putting in. Furthermore it became much easier to resolve bass alongside other instruments. Example in point "Bye Bye Blackbird" by Nancy Harms (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yd4tQrndlFw). This opens with deep full bass which is a first test but then quickly becomes quite a crowded and in many systems overloaded mix. With the podium in place all of the instruments became much easier to separate and what had been a congested and even edgy mix became clear.

One final and unexpected change is how you can now more easily hear the recording venue. Listening at the start of recordings the sound of the room itself is a very low level mix of rumbles which (when it's present on the recording) is all too easy to lose -- the podiums help uncover this detail and create a much greater sense of real instruments in space. All in all I'd recommend you give these a try and no need to believe in voodoo to buy in to this tweak.
128x128folkfreak
@rcprince re tweeter height you make a fair point but as the Townshend podiums are designed to be used without any other sort of spike or footer (i.e. You have the bottom of the speaker flat on the podium base) the added height is offset by the elimination of the existing spikes etc
Thanks for the answers, the podiums are apparently a little different than the cradles.  Never used Stillpoints, though I had tried other various isolation/coupling devices under my prior speakers before settling on the Speaker Cradles, which made the biggest positive difference by far.  I now have the Nola Micro References on their stands with their pointed feet on the cradles, and found that I had to raise my listening position a little to get the best integration with the tweeters (it's best to have your ears level with those ribbons, I've found). The older platforms seem to work pretty well with those pointed feet, they may act as a drain for any energy coming from the stand.  Haven't tried it without the feet, just too old and lazy to take everything apart.
Thanks @folkfreak and @rcprince for the help with your experience with the Townshend.  I got a pair of podiums from nick at emporium here through Audiogon.  Will post here about my experience after I receive and install them.  I expect the results will be good.
hi,
check out Audiogon for sale lists for discounted Townshend Audio podiums and other Townshend Audio products 
Hi Nick At Emporium is a great guy to deal with he stocks all the Townshend Audio products at great prices Podiums, Pods, Super Tweeters that is were i get my Townshend Audio products in the UK 
You will love the podiums, so easy to set up, measure where your speakers are then move the speakers out the way, place the podiums in there place, you can level by twisting the bottom discs if your floor is not flat, then simply place your speakers onto the podiums,

At the corner of each Podium  use the top knobs on the load cells to raise and level your speakers you just simply twist one way for up and one way for down its clearly marked and so easy to twist, its very important to check the platform is completely off the floor by about 1-2 cm is ok, once speaker is leveled and the platform is not touching any part of the floor give the speaker a little push so you can witness the speaker slightly rock then it will go back to original position, congratulations your speakers are now acoustically isolated from there environment,

Be prepared to witness your speakers vanish and what will appear is a big holographic musically satisfying 3D picture i will say no more and wait for your own description if you need any help or advice please feel free to contact me i will be glad to help, if you cannot afford Podiums go for the speaker bars to experience Seismic Speaker Isolation all you need is the weight of each speaker and the footprint regards john