gbmcleod
I have Stillpoints SS and Ultra Mini Risers as well as Nordost’s Sort Kones, but suspect the Townshend will be magical, based on isolation down to 3hZ.
>>>>>>The capability to acheive 3 Hz isolation has been around like forever, since Townshend’s Seismic Sink and Vibraplane and Bright Star more than 20 years ago. It’s not that difficult to achieve 3 Hz in the vertical, all you need is three air bladders. Even a simple steel spring isolation system can provide 3 Hz performance. It’s a better trick to acheive 3 Hz in other directions such as those in the horizontal plane. But three air bladders are too stiff laterally to offer much if any horizontal isolation. And they don’t offer any rotational isolation either. So, it was a big challenge to not only break the 3 Hz barrier and to acheive more than one or two directions of isolation.
The reason sub 3 Hz performance is important is because the peak energy of Earth crust motion and some other seismic type vibration producers is between 0 Hz and 3 Hz. An isolation device with 3 Hz resonant frequency won’t actually begin to isolate until the frequency of vibration is around 5 or 6 Hz, and even then isolation effectiveness is rather poor, not becoming robust until around 20 Hz and above. So, the lower resonant frequency the better the isolation will be for all frequencies. There have been several sub Hertz isolation platforms over the years including some active designs. My Nimbus sub Hertz Platform was the first audiophile isolation device to isolate in all 6 directions AND to provide resonant frequencies as low as 0.5 Hz. Minus K is a negative stiffness design with all manner of columns and springs inside that gets down below 1 Hz. There are others, too.
As for the Townshend Pods, I hate to judge before all the facts are in but they appear to be essentially mechanical springs. You know, like the ones I’ve have for isolation applications for more than 16 years. Like the ones that debuted at CES in 2001. And the Townshend pods appear eerily similar to the Super Stiff Springs I sell for heavy loads like subwoofers and really big turntables, etc. (I also opine that damping springs is probably not a very good idea. That’s the problem with a lot of air springs and air bladders - the rubber material overdamps and constrains ease of motion, hurting the isolation effectiveness.)
No matter how much you have in the end you would have had even more if you had started out with more in the beginning.
