First impressions of the Isoacoustic Gaia 1’s


On my KEF Reference 5’s.

While I normally hear little to no change with “Tweaks”, I installed them Saturday evening and found immediate spatial differences. Just about every album sounded more open. I told my wife, who helped me install the Gaia’s,  that if I wasn’t wowed, I’d send them back.

The room has wall to wall carpet and pad on the floor and when  I first received the Reference 5’s, they sounded flat. I put small hardwood flooring samples under them and it helped a little.  I then put a small slab of granite under each of them and they became much nicer to listen to. I was quite surprised at the change. 
The Gaia 1’s are sitting on the granite as well and so far, I’m very happy. 

It’s only been a few days, but I’m pretty sure they are “hear” to stay.

Anyone else have similar experience’s with speaker. Isolation?

JD

128x128curiousjim

@ronboco

I guess if there is a negative to decouple the positive must out weigh it.

That’s a good way to say it. So many advancements in engineering (and life) are still tradeoffs, but with an overall net gain.

I’m not certain what the best solution might be for your basement with carpet over concrete. My home theater space has tile floors (for now), and my HiFi space has wood floors. In both cases, I felt decoupling the sub and speakers made a big improvement. While one way of describing the the effect of decoupling is that the bass "dropped off noticeably," I would also add that in my experience, the bass still pressurized the room the same and the sound became dramatically more transparent. When coupled, my walls and floor where activated, and the sound was very muddy as a result. While plenty of people in car audio and at concerts seem to want to "feel" the bass, I would argue that lots of resolution and imaging was lost in my case and that the sound became higher quality on net in my rooms. A concrete slab might be different though.

@classdstreamer 

I agree that the footers were a positive move SQ wise. The subs are also decoupled with the OREA footers. I’ll probably give something a try in the basement as well. 
 

Regards 

Ron 

@ronboco 

If you’re interested, Isoacoustics have their Gaia Titan series. Not sure of all the specifics, but I know they can fit your 220# speakers. Oh, and the carpet spikes they sell are designed for the floor you have(carpet on concrete).

All the best.

JD

@curiousjim 

Thank you for the tip. I will definitely check them out. Those Ref 5s are great speakers! Enjoy!

Ron 

I am a fan. I have Gaia II on Joseph Audio Perspective2 and Yamaha NS-5000.  I use Gaia I on my PSAudio FR-20.  When I buy new speakers, I automatically purchase isoacoustic gaias.