Hi, I know there are a million and one posts regarding the use of the Gaias but I want to hear from not only those that heard an improvement but those that didn’t hear an improvement, or anyone that thought it made the sound worse. It would also be nice to know what flooring/substrate is under the speaker to see if there is a correlation.
I’d like to try them given all the positive reviews but not sure if I’d maximise their potential.
My flooring is real timber glued to concrete with a silicone/rubber adhesive.
Why not audition a set and decide for yourself? Every environment has its unique characteristics that may or not apply to you. I think most find the Gaia are an improvement.
To answer your question. I love the improvement, and have used them for 5+ years. I have Gaia II supporting Dynaudio Confidence C2 (88 lbs each) in a 2nd floor room with wood floors on a subfloor (not concrete). No carpeting.
This is covered on other threads, here and on a pinker site.
I have a wooden floor glued to concrete in Tassie and a wooden suspended floor in Wimbledon. In both cases, Gaias did exactly the same thing in cleaning up the bass and unmasking detail. The effect was simply bigger with a suspended floor.
In a fairly big survey of user comments, no-one with a suspended floor thought that they gave no improvement. IIRC, 2 people with really thick carpet on concrete thought that that did not help, but no-one thought that they ruined the sound.
On the other hand, some people with some speakers and floors preferred the Townshend option and very few of us have tried the Stack Audio alternative (and those that have all liked them a lot).
I have the Gaia IIs on Kanta 2s on vinyl plank flooring over concrete and find there is a great improvement. If you try them let us know what you think. All the best.
I have used them to dood effect on a suspended wood floor. Currently trying stillpoints and I think they may be even better, a little less warm but much more slam and definition
Hi Mark, I’ve used the Gais on Kudos T606 in two rooms. The first was a carpeted suspended wooden floor with a large cavity beneath it. In that room they tightened up the bass appreciably.
In my current room they are less effective. This room has a poorly constructed chipboard floor attached to battens which are in turn attached to a concrete base. The floor is carpeted. At present I have resorted to the original spikes which sit on screws drilled through to the concrete. There is still inevitably some interaction with the very flexible / loose floor which produces a 45 hz reverberation. The effect is lessened by the spike / screw solution but the Gais had no effect in this case.
As others have said, it really is room dependent. I may well revisit the Gais once we have done something about the floor though.
I personally use Townshend speaker bars (much more cost effective when compared to the platforms) under my PMC’s, I have carpet on traditional floor boards. As others have said, everything just becomes more focused, detailed and expressive, I was shocked by the impact this made. Whether you go this route or the Iso route, for me, to isolate / suspend is far better than pinning your speakers to the floor with spikes which ultimately just increase the vibrations of the floor to your speakers and then of course the overall presentation of your sound.
They are quite effective on my 100yr old and rather saggy suspended wood floor with a large storage room beneath. Bass tightened significantly and the speakers were level for perhaps the first time.
Hi @Mark84, been using them for a couple of years and have found them very beneficial, was one of the first tweaks I made and have used them ever since.
The floor is concrete/screed with fibreboard insulation/underlay and 12mm laminate flooring on top.