Boy, Oh Boy! Towshend!


OK, I have elevated my belief in isolation.  For the first time I feel I have entered the Hi Fidelity zone.  About 3 weeks ago I purchased the Townshend Speaker Bars.  My muddy bass cleaned up, I have better imaging, clarity, precision, speed and focus.  My buddy who is not not into HiFi but has followed my adventures, was blown away.  He said, "OK, now I get why you do this."  Best money spent! 

Denon DL160 (re-tipped by Soundsmith) > Thorens TD150 > McIntosh 8900 > ALK Extreme Slope in Klipsch Belles.  Just another step in the long journey, but a Giant Step for my enjoyment.  My system took a large enough step forward that I am drawn into listening to all of my 2K plus albums again just to enjoy them in a new way. Great people to deal with too, even with Brexit messing things up.  Highly recommended!
I am not associated with them in any way, just want to pass it on.
128x128edgyhassle
@vinylshadow - see what Peter at Symposium says about the amps. I have my amp and phono stage on Roller Block Jrs because they drain and isolate. He calls everything vibration control, because that is what you are doing in either situation.

Since my components only weigh 11 and 29 pounds respectively, the Jrs, work and I only need 3 of them each. 3 points define a plane and will provide stability. 

Now, just to muddy (no pun intended) the waters, as MC says, there is always more you can do. You can put a platform under or on top of the roller blocks, depending on the situation (under for turntables and amps, on top of for speakers) to add additional treatment. It is not black and white, and you can go all the way up to platforms that are the most effective that cost > $2K. There are even levels within the roller block types by changing the bearings. They have increasing levels of purity and performance. I think all his roller blocks now are being delivered with the mid level ones made of Tungsten Carbide, and you can get what he calls super balls that have purity down to the millionths of the particles. Even the Tungsten ones feel incredible solid and perfectly spherical.

To give you an extreme example, a friend of mine (who happened to introduce me to Peter) got a very expensive turntable and he asked Peter for the ideal treatment for it in his situation. He has the big Roller Blocks with the super balls on top of a Segue platform sitting on top of a Segue Iso platform. In my mind, severe overkill, audible difference with each additional treatment, perhaps, worth the 5-6 times the cost of just roller block jrs with the tungsten carbide, not in my mind. But Peter calls that set up perfect, and that's what my friend was aiming for. I don't know how many thousands he has spent on vibration control with Symposium and Townshend (probably 1/2 of what my TOTAL stereo investment is), but he tells me he wishes he could do more, but is limited by the vertical space where his components are placed. Everyone (except maybe Mike Lavigne) has space, spouse who limited my acoustical treatment options, or financial limitations. As Clint Eastwood says, "A man has to know his limitations".

Bottom line, ask Peter for his opinion for best bang for the buck for everything you want to do and he'll ask you questions about the environment. Then he will give you options and recommendations and his best combo deal and save you some money shipping it all together. However, as he told me, most people start with one thing, are pleasantly surprised and keep going on and on. He told me one guy yelled at him because he had to keep buying. That why he even sells bearing upgrades from basic to Tungsten carbide to super balls. You can go nuts with this stuff, but as long as you can appreciate and afford the improvements, go for it. I went from turntable to speakers to phono stage to amp. Power conditioner is the only thing that doesn't float on my wood credenza (wood is best for vibration drainage under a platform or roller blocks) or wall shelf for my turntable. I don't want to have that floating because I use it to put records on when sorting them and when the components move when I touch them,I see the wires move in the back and it makes my OCD tendencies flare up, even though they stabilize almost instantaneously. Seeing all those power cords moving would drive me nuts. Plus, some wires are very precariously positioned in the back and moving them in some cases can make my speaker cables move and hit the floor. A big no-no.

Good luck and enjoy the dramatic improvements.
I have a question for someone knowledgeable about the Townsend Corners for rack isolation. I was told by a dealer that if I bought the corners for my rack, I wouldn’t need to upgrade my twenty plus year old Target rack. He stated the Corners would be all that I needed. For those who have tried the Townsend Corners would you agree or disagree with this comment? Also my Target rack only has three legs, so would this matter at all?
@sidog1460

I can help. I just ordered the Seismic isolation corners(and speaker podiums, turntable platform and pods) from John at Townshend.
I wouldn't think the 3 legs would matter...You can email John at Townshend if you want. He is so helpful.

Your dealer is correct. The isolation corners will "float" your rack and isolate your components and your rack from external vibrations down to 3Hz. That would be adequate to stop right there for many people.
However, I am taking it one step further in that I will be placing pods under all components(and my sub) to isolate all individual components from internal vibrations.


@sokogear
Due to space limitations in rack spaces under my Rogue tube phono stage, Classe processor and 1 of my Model 12 monoblock amps I'm going to get 3 5/8" Svelte Shelves, as pods are too tall.....

I could fit taller shelves under the phono stage and monoblock but the Svelte Shelf looks like it will do the job well.

I saw a review for the Rogue Audio Ares Magnum and the reviewer had a Symposium Ultra under the Rogue. But it was from 2003 and the Svelte Shelf might be new and improved and the way to go now?

@vinylshadow - I would talk to Peter at Symposium. He takes the time to understand the exact application and make a recommendation. He is very honest and actually told me his solution couldn’t help my turntable because it was so light unless I put counterweights on top of the plinth of my turntable, which would not have worked for me.

when I decided to treat my speakers, phono stage and amp, I went with Symposium, with a stealth segue for the speakers and roller blocks for the amps. I noticed the amount of improvement most with the turntable, next with the speakers and lastly with the amps. He was much less expensive than Townshend pods for the amps (they wouldn’t have fit under my phono stage anyhow) and for the bars Townshend proposed under the speakers (and that would have also raised the height of the drivers which I didn’t want to do). So there is logical reasons for each decision. Both companies make excellent products and in most cases, both will do a very nice job, just make sure it fits your applications and budget. You can always add more to these treatments from Symposium- not so much with Townshend.

I like Symposium’s accessibility since I live in the US and can reach Peter easily via telephone. Talking to Max Townshend is not as easy as he is experimenting/developing in the lab more it seems. He has created a wide variety of products over the years, all excellent from what I have read. Peter has been laser focused on isolation/vibration control since 1992.
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