Isoacoustics Orea vs Townshend Seismic Pod on Components


I installed a set of Isoacoustics Gaia 2s on my speakers about a month ago and was extremely pleased with them. I'm now curious about the Oreas.

My components are currently placed on a good rack with Finite Elemente Cerabase footers at the bottom of the rack. I was wondering if individual isolators such as the Orea or Seismic Pod placed under components can further improve sound quality. I've read contradictory comments about the Orea. Some say they brought an appreciable difference when placed under components such as DAC or amplifiers. Some say they bring nothing to the sound, zero difference.

I would appreciate experiences on the Isoacoustics Orea or the Townshend Seismic Pod, or the comparison between the two products. The Oreas look better than the Pods to me although the latter may be costlier.
ryder

This is the result of adding the Podiums to the speakers, the Nobsound to the subs, getting the room modes as mitigated as possible. I had to get the crossover a little lower and increase the volume on the subs, which increased the energy in the room thus the decay has increased as well but still under/near-lower audible range. 

No room treatment at all so far.

 

Here is the SPL before and after. I still need to tame a little the 200Hz+ by selecting different tubes, and adding a little more energy below 200Hz. 

Although I do not like to add my opinion, but it is my room, system and  ears I am pretty impressed with I was able to achieve; especially if I consider that the house is made of wood sticks, plaster walls, suspended wood floors and vaulted wood ceilings. In other words a magnificent resonator :) 

 

No doubt there is a difference but I only use the Oreas under my components and not my speakers so I really can't relate. 

My JBL 4319 monitors sit on Deer Creek metal stands, just like the ones that JBL sells for their L100 reissue. They're made by a local artist who makes metal sculptures and are of a heavy gauge and filled with some sound deadening foam injected filling.

They sit flat on the carpet and use only felt pads between it and the speakers. 

There's no way I'd use springs of any sort to balance something like that where the speaker leans back. They do not stand straight up. That, and I don't believe that a speaker should move at all when playing music as it would smear the focus of the image at the listening position.

Components are one thing, speakers are another matter.

All the best,
Nonoise

I have my speakers on springs.  The change in the sound was a revelation.  One of those things that I wish I could go back in time 3 decades and tell myself to put my speakers on springs.  Rubber components dampen, springs isolate.  The most profound effect I found by putting my speakers on springs was reducing speaker cabinet resonance.  Using an accelerometer on the speaker cabinet and the speakers coupled to the floor with spikes- like they have been for decades, I tap on the speaker cabinet  with a steel ball and I can see the speaker cabinet ring for over 2 seconds.  Now I put my speakers on springs sized to have a 3 Hz resonance so that the speakers are isolated from the floor.  I can hit the floor with the steel ball and no vibration is detected on the speaker cabinet.  And then I tap on the speaker cabinet and I see a short pulse and the ringing decays nearly in an instant.  No more interaction between the speaker and the floor.  The sound?  Amazing.  More clarity, sharper focus of images and the bass is clearer and deeper.  Yeah, I really want to go back in time and tell myself to wise up and use springs.

Also, the speakers do not move when playing music.  Verified with the accelerometer.  The cones do not have enough mass to move the speakers.  And even if the speakers moved, it would be at 3 Hz so no impact to the music.

I bought springs from McMaster Carr sized for my speakers and put them under wood platforms.  I also tried Nobsounds on my speakers.  They work too but not as well.  Also confirmed with the accelerometer.  When I tapped on the speaker cabinet supported by Nobsounds with a steel ball the cabinet vibrations took about 1 second to decay.  The music sounded better than with the speakers on spikes but not as good as on my wood platforms with the large springs.

Can you post the link to the springs you bought? 

I know that they will not be the same for my speakers but I could use them for reference.