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Best Isolation Device for Speakers?

Has anyone had a chance to directly compare different speaker isolation tweaks? I am wondering because of the recent thread on the Sistrum stand. I know that many of these things have been discussed in other posts, but there is not alot of direct comparison among them. I suspect that most of these are excellent, so if anyone has some information on their specific sonic impact, that would be helpful. I have a pair of Thiel 7.2s. Some of the ones I am considering:

Aurios Pro
Sistrum Speaker Stand
Mana Speaker Stand
Stillpoints
Audiopoints

Thanks,
Rob
rtn1
theaudiotweak
2,805 posts
 
I recently left the confines of working for a retailer that sold Thiel speakers..I know from experience the Thiel's will improve as much as any speaker I have ever tried either the Audiopoints or the Sistrum platforms on. It is because of the Thiel cabinet mass and density that the improvement will be so large..It is imperative to match the proper size Audiopoint to the respective Thiel product..Again because of their mass and the great amount of excess energy that these very dense cabinets do store..Sistrum Sp101 platforms are what I personally use under my still almost Dunlavy SCIV's..Tom
theaudiotweak
2,805 posts
 
Twl is correct. I too have measured an increase in spl when using the Sistrum of about 1.5 to 2db.. This was measured in the retail showroom with an Audiocontrol RTA..Oh and these are not isolation devices and if you were to try to dampen or isolate the Thiels they would only gain in bloat and blurr.Tom
zargon's avatar
zargon
453 posts
 
This thread is of great interest to me currently. I have recently placed my 5As on a piece of MDF over the carpet on a large second floor listening room over the garage. I did this to help me move them around for purposes of testing. What I discovered is that the speakers had much more life in them on the MDF. The highs were much clearer and the vocals more magical. After listening for a couple of weeks, I put them back on the carpet in exactly the same position and the life was sucked back out.
I had previously believed that the speakers were best off coupled to the floor, and the 5As have cones which I assumed were coupling devices. Now I realize that for reasons I can't explain, the image is much better with a degree of isolation.
Let me also say that the cones may not have penetrated the thick carpet and pad very successfully.
Can anyone help here? Should I be considering a better isolation platform under the speakers? Or should I be cutting through the carpet to let the cones get to the subfloor? Can an of the Systrum technology help? I looked at their stands and I don't think they can mate to the botton of the 5A with its sub opening and grill.
Thanks for any help.
theaudiotweak
2,805 posts
 
You need to call the boys at Starsound about the use of Sistrum with your speakers..You should be able to position the triangle of the Sistrum in a way that will not interfere with the driver on the bottom..They will help a lot. Even the use of Audiopoints 1.5 in will be large..Tom
eldartford
4,262 posts
 
Isolation vs coupling...I won't go there. However, if you want to isolate, nothing is better than suspending the speakers from the ceiling. Chains or wire, and perhaps monofiliament fishing line works. For even better isolation (from the ceiling) you could use bungie cords. Cheap too.

With the boxes floating in space you get acoustic isolation as well as mechanical isolation. IMHO the acoustic part is usually most important.
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