You go by the weight of the speakers, I had Gaia 111’s on my old XD 600’s. They come with an assortment of different threaded adapters. The proper ones were in the box for my XD’s.
Did they help the sound…I think so, but nothing night and day like some claim. You can kind of make them out under the white XD 600’s in this photo.
That was quick! Thank you so much. I remember your guidance from a previous post so thanks again. I will press on and buy some and let the forum know what I think
You brought up an interesting point on uneven compression of individual Gaias supporting a speaker. This would suggest that the load of the speaker is not distributed uniformly to the 4 supporting Gaias, perhaps the front portion of the speaker is heavier than the rear portion (drivers mounted at the front of the cabinet).
In principle, I presume the load will need to be distributed evenly to all supporting Gaia footers as they are rated individually to a certain capacity. I am guessing that it is better to use a Gaia with higher load capacity than one with lower capacity to compensate for uneven loading from the speakers. I think I saw few graphs on the Isoacoustics website which show the optimal loading where the Gaia I, II and III work best, and they recommend going up a level if the supporting load is too close to the maximum load capacity of the Gaia.
Assuming that your Gaias are correctly set up so as the speaker is levelled at the top, the uneven loading that you brought up can be a possibility to the poor result in your system. This would suggest that the speaker is either heavier at the front and lighter at the rear or vice versa, causing the Gaias to be loaded unevenly. If that’s not the case, perhaps the speakers require repositioning in the room. Did you attempt to reposition the speakers after installing the Gaias?
You might want to try contacting Isoacoustics to see what they say. I contacted them through email earlier but did not receive any response from them though.
Hi,
If you Google “Gaia thread calculator” it will take you to Isoacoustics’ page deigned to help you choose the correct model and thread size / pitch.
According to the info there, you need to be ordering Gaia 111, with M8 thread and 1.25 pitch.
Be aware, though, that the data used is not infallible, as, in my own case, the thread pitch was wrong, and I had to obtain the correct information direct from Neat Acoustics.
Thanks for the reply. Yes, I played around with positioning of the speakers, different thread heights - had the gaia’s in place for several weeks, removed, tried again at a later stage etc. I don’t think my speakers are anything out of the ordinary (proac floorstanders) and suspect that the gaia’s just don’t work in my space. Certainly no problems at all without them - was just hoping that they might have brought a little something extra in addition to being a great solution to nasty sharp spikes on the timber floor.
Found one of my earlier posts about the difference Isoacoustic Gaia II made in our system:
Isoacoustic Gaia II under ART Alnico speakers
Best regards, BF
Bass. Much clearer, more pistonic, better defined bass. Less vibration through the floor back to the listening sofas. I can turn the volume up higher before the sound starts to harden.
Imaging. Crikey that’s ridiculously clearer and sharper I hadn’t realised that the imaging was so-so before. Bigger, wider, deeper soundstage, with each instrument sitting in its own stable space. I’m liking this!
Voices and cymbals all much clearer too.
You describe it well. Exact experience with the perceived improvement in the bass. Similarly I can turn the volume up higher and the sound remains clean since resonance has been significantly reduced. All the details in the background are popping up and sounding clearer whilst the treble especially piano is starting to show a glimpse of brilliance, sounding more delicate (same experience as Chris Bell).
I am interested in these…are the speakers wobbly on these feet??? Are they very compliant??
I wouldn’t say “wobbly”, but if you really put your mind to it, you can wobble them very slightly from side to side, but fore and aft, not at all, which is how they’re supposed to be when set up correctly.
They were available on a “no like, no keep, money back” basis from Audio T, though that offer may well have expired.
Every speaker with front mounted drivers - i.e. virtually all with moving coil drivers other than horns - are heavier at the front than back, and so any that are floorstanding as opposed to stand mounted would have uneven front-back load unless the rear feet positioning is more forward than than symetrical with the front feet. (Standmounts may easily be compensated by the positioning of the base relative to the speaker.). How much imbalance is significant?
That’s interesting @dave-marshall I have a pair of Motive SX2’s and was considering a set for them although not sure how the sloping design will effect the loading on the Gaia’s
The sloping design doesn’t adversely affect the function of the Gaia’s, I previously used them on Neat SX1’s and currently on PMC Twenty5 23’s.
They have a habit of working loose over time too so it’s worth retightening them every now and again. Work brilliantly for me with my Gold Note Evos and suspended floor
May I ask roughly how many days? I just readjusted the toe-in angle of the speakers and rotated a footer on one speaker 180 degrees(logo facing rear) after I rechecked the installation on all Gaias.
One footer on a speaker was rotated 180 degrees(logo facing rear) after I rechecked the installation on all Gaias. Fortunately that one footer is located at the rear and not the front so it’s hidden.
Yeah, that’s what I did. I made sure the front ones were facing forward. The rear ones can’t be seen, so I was free how to face them. You should be able to get them set without wobble now. Set three to get the level and then the fourth to remove the wobble.
I would say the settle-in period is mostly due to the Gaia’s conforming to the weight of your speakers and temperature variations. As long as you follow the set-up instructions the settle-in period should not be long (few days?).
I would say this is good advice. This thread peeked my interest and thought I’d check mine and a couple had become slightly loose. All checked and tightened and sound wonderful.
@dave-marshall you may be excused with the weight of your speakers.
Aye, it nearly finished me off, wrestling with them the first time!
I was thrilled with the improvements Gaia III’s brought to my 150lb speakers (home made). OP described it well. I personally heard similar improvements to Proac floor standers and Naim Allae’s, and heard from a friend who reported similar gains using them under Kudos Titans.
Any rattling at attachment would of course reduce sound quality, as Cris Bell has stated.