First impressions of the Isoacoustic Gaia 1’s

Now this is just my opinion, but I think part of the Podiums effectiveness is due to the fact they they are connected to a very stable and rigid steel platform. They work together as one unit.

I don't think the pods by themselves would be as effective. Again, just my opinion.

ozzy

There IS that consideration, @ozzy. The Sound Anchor speaker stands I bolted the Townshend Pods onto are even more stiff and rigid (and filled with sand) than is the thin sheet of steel used in the Podium and Platform. For lighter components (phono and line stages) I don't think the lack of a platform is consequential, but that is just a hunch.

With my Townshend Rock turntable, I set the table on a Torlyte shelf (who's old enough to remember Torlyte? ;-), the shelf on a set of four Pods. The final incarnation of the Rock (the Mk.7) incorporated a set of Pods into its' structure, using the Pods as the tables' suspension.

For those with enough $, sure, spring (ha ;-) for the Podium/Platform. Me, I gotta do it on the cheap. For the price of a single set of Podiums, one can get three sets of Pods.

@ozzy 

The Reference 5’s have a heavy steel plate bolted to the bottom with small bumps where the spikes screw in. If I got the Townsend Platforms, would I remove my steel plate and sit it on their steel plate?  Does the Townsend platform screw into the holes formerly used by the spikes?

Thanks.

JD

@curtousjim: No, the Townshend Podium does not screw into the holes of ANY loudspeaker or it's bottom plate. The Podium is just a metal plate with Pods bolted onto it. If you want to keep the Reference 5's bottom plate (I would), just install a set of Pods in place of stock spikes. You COULD remove the stock plate and set the now-baseless speaker on the Podium, but why?

The "magic" of the Townshend Seismic products is in the Pod itself, not in the Podium or Platform plate they are bolted onto. The Podium and Platform models are offered for loudspeakers which don't have a bottom plate or base; yours already do. As I said above, I bolted Pods onto the bases Sound Anchors makes for my loudspeaker, in place of the stock spikes.

if you think the ISO acoustic Gaia sound good then you should try the Townshend podiums, they're much better at speaker isolation but they cost three times as much as the iso acoustic but well worth it.