IsoAcoustics GAIA


I have IsoAcoustics GAIA II isolators installed on my Sonus faber Liuto floorstander speakers on hardwood floor. I expected some improvement and I got it. Bass is cleaned up and tightened. Stage became more clear because isolators removed a curtain made by unfocused, scattered bass. Floor and sofa vibrations almost disappeared completely. And... WAF is good. GAIAs passed my wife's inspection. Is there anybody with some experience regarding those isolators?

128x128tbiocic

@baylinor : "Isolation is key, not coupling." As I understand it, the choice here has to do with the type of floor you have. If it's suspended wood, the floor becomes an uncontrolled resonator. It that case, you want to isolate the speakers' vibrations from entering the floor. If, however, you have a concrete slab floor, spikes are a better idea in order to keep the speaker enclosure from moving at all. Ideally, one wants the speaker cones only to move. But every action produces a reaction, so motion of the cones will be communicated to the cabinet, which then moves in the opposite direction, the result of which will be a slightly muddied sound on transients.

@fpomposo : I also have found sorbothane superior to GAIAs. I tried GAIAs, borrowed from a friend. Got some of the improvements others describe here, but so expensive. Then I found a company that sells various sizes and densities of sorbothane on eBay. Got round feet with threads that screw into the speaker's spike receptacles. All the improvements the GAIA made, and more: tighter and better defined bass, deeper and wider soundstage, better separation between instruments—in general, a clearer, more transparent presentation. Now, however, the tall speakers wobble a bit at the touch, as if they were on Townshend platforms. 

@snilf 

I strongly disagree with your assumption. Isolation is better than coupling regardless of the floor material. My experience tells me that in spades. My house of stereo is built purely for listening to music and features a concrete floor and foundation 4" thick with crisscross rebars every square foot. So solid it is. Yet isolating the speakers is far superior for sound than coupling to floor with spikes.

And soborthane is in no way superior to Gaias. And I used to strictly go with soborthane to isolate. I guess we do not have anywhere the same experiences. Whatever works for you...

Long time Isoacoustics dealer, they work extraordinarily well, never found them to not make a noticeable improvement in every loudspeaker tried.

 

the pucks under components help but not as much as the critical mass footers

this forum shows a much more enlightened group then many of the face book groups where these guys mock tweaks that they have never tried.

In audio you need to experiment and a well tweaked system can create a much more realistic approximation of a live musical event

tweeks which work:

power conditioners, power cords.

shakti stones on top of your breaker box,

footers

furutech ncf cable lifters

acoustic system resonators

novum resonators 

shakti hallographs 

 

Dave and Troy

audio Intellect N

 

Sometime back, I installed isometrics on my PMC Fact 12 floorstanders, and heard an immediate improvement to the base and better synergy with all frequencies. My floor is concrete slab on grade with short hair carpet and pad, so I used the spikes. Great overall improvement at a modest cost.