Thiel Owners

Total cost for my project was just under $200.  Most of that was for the butcher blocks.  The springs didn't cost much and I had to buy a 1.5" diameter Forstner bit- $15.  This project requires a drill press.  
I have been using spikes on my speakers for decades because that is what I always believed was best.  I decided to try out springs just to see if the concept had merit.  I can tell you my head was spinning the moment I hit play with my speakers on springs.  I was amazed at the difference it made.  I'm glad to have the vibration app for the iPad which helps explain why the springs work.  Btw- the app also does FFT (Fast Fourier Transform from the time to frequency domain)  and so I can push down on a speaker and see the 3 Hz resonance on the plot.  Pretty cool.

I'm one of those who hasn't really questioned spikes, since they solve the real problem of cabinet recoil slurring the tweeter output. But this isolation mechanism doesn't seem to unsolve anything  - the speakers aren't free to recoil, simply decoupled from the floor. I had read about Townsend, but generally dismissed it; there's just so much to read and consider and so little time. Their claims seemed aimed at decoupling from seismic movement, and at very high prices, if I recall correctly. The skeptic in me tends to marginalize that formula.

Snbeall - you can get inside the cabinet by removing the woofer. The unbraced areas are fairly small, and many will be unreachable in practical terms. Some later products also provide access via removing the bottom panel. You might consult the Stereophile review of each product to identify where JA found the most egregious resonances. Please let us know what you learn.

Tony - I'll get VibrationAnalysis. Seems like a very direct way to get information in real time.

Happy Halloween - All

As I understand it, the seismic effects of the Townshend products are a byproduct but not really the thrust of the products. It is just a demonstrable, measurable performance of the degree of isolation. The lack of transmittance of vibrations - into as well as reflected from the floor - seems to be more the thrust of their approach. Townshend also addresses the "recoil" effect in his discussions. The Isoacoustics line of products addresses the same recoil issue, albeit with a different approach. May be of interest. Conventional thinking on this may be skewed.

My current setup is hardwood directly glued to urban suspended prestressed concrete slab with resilient footings (mostly to not mar the flooring). The lack of a soundboard beneath the speakers seems to have made a definite difference.