I am reading up on isolation for my speakers to replace the spikes. I have seen you tube videos on Townsend Seismic platforms, Isoacoustics Gaia iI and Stack audio AUVA 70. The Townsends may not be aesthetically acceptable.
My floor is concrete with vinyl Karndean type tiles.
What experience do people have of these solutions?
Although I have different speakers to you, and they stand on Gaia 1s on a suspended wooden floor, I found them to be a really worthwhile upgrade over the plain spikes I had previously.
I bought them from AudioT, and, last time I looked, they would supply them on a sale or return basis, so no risk involved.
The thread / pitch calculator on the Isoacoustics website is not guaranteed to be that accurate, so check up on your Titans before you place your order.
I added Gaia’s to my 505’s standing on marble slabs with OEM stands. Definitely a worthwhile upgrade.
ATB, J
I fitted Gaia IIs to my Kudos 606s 4 weeks ago instead of the already-great standard Track Audio spikes and shoes.
The Gaias are staying.
A very worthwhile upgrade for me. Bass, stereo separation, sound stage and vocal clarity all improved. Speaker position unchanged. Hardwood floor over concrete base.
I am also a big fan of Gaias. I have a set for B&W 804 D3s on a sprung wooden floor, and a set for Neat Xplorers on a solid ‘engineered wood’ floor. They do an outstanding job of cleaning up the bass imho.
Good to read each of your positive experiences. I am very tempted to give them a go if I can get on a 30 day return basis.
My other consideration would be the Stack audio AUVA 70s - anyone have experience of these, particularly in comparison with the Gaias?
Do they hold the speaker rigidly or is there slight movement if you try to sway the speakers?
I have the same experience with the Gaia IIs on my Kanta 2s. A very worthwhile investment.
They are designed to allow for slight lateral movement front to back but less from left to right. The movement is cushioned by the effect of the suction to the wooden floor in my room. I have no experience of the equivalent movement on a carpeted floor when using the recommended carpet spikes. I have no worries about the speakers not being isolated and well anchored to the floor.
Thanks @Toon , I am used to my speakers being totally rigid so find it strange to think that they can be moved. It seems to fly in the face of what was the norm for many years.
I think I will have to give these and maybe the AUVA 70s a try.
Hi there, appreciate you have reservations around Townshend platform for cosmetic reasons. I do not have the platforms but do use the speaker bars, these are spring based. The quality of build is outstanding and I have been shocked at just how good these are, like a speaker upgrade. I have often gone direct to Townshend, super service from a small independent company. I also use their super tweeters, these have to be heard to believe and a platform under my CD player, again build quality is fantastic.
Next question, how well do they stick to the floor? Is it easy enough to lift them in order to get a cloth underneath if you wish to reposition them after they have been in place for a while?
Agree with these sentiments. If the cabinet moves, then the drivers move less (than they would have).
With Gaias, a gentle tilt frees them and moving them around is certainly easier than moving something with floor-wrecking or foot-stabbing spikes.
For me , the idea that spikes were great actually came from my treating the floor itself as not moving, whereas in reality the floor was moved by the speaker and that moved the speaker and…you can see the problem.
The easy way to cut through my theorising was to try a set and to listen for myself.
The IsoAcoustics website has some very good videos showing how to move the speakers with the Gaias attached. It’s pretty easy if you follow their instructions. I did exactly as the video suggests and it worked a treat. Once I’d found the optimum position it was job done. No more movement required.
many thanks @NickofWimbledon , I am glad they can be removed easily. The shoes for my sikes need to be prised off with a knife.
How does the principle that the speaker can now move rest with you? I always thought that if not rock solid, movement of the cone could cause movement in the cabinet and surely that would impact (negatively) the sound.
Yes, I certainly need to try them.
yes, build quality seems very good but they are just too big for my situation. I was surprised at how much the speakers moved on the Hans Beekhyusen channel.
You are absolutely right in principle, but it is still important what is moving relative to what. Spikes couple a speaker to a floor and presumably transmit a lot more energy that way than via the music in the air, so making the speakers immobile would have to allow for my bouncy floor and my liberal use of the volume control.
My spiked B&Ws in my room were not immobile at all because they excited the floor on which they sat, so the boxes move, which makes both floor and cone move, which starts the cycle again.
Moving to Gaias made the floor stop acting like a badly designed sub-woofer - you can feel the difference as well as hear it.
The little rubber feet that B&W supply as alternatives to spikes didn’t do that, or wholly prevent movement presumably, and in my house we found them less pleasing than spikes and much less pleasing than Gaias.
I have not heard the Stack or Townshend, but wouldn’t bother hearing either at a dealers or a show - any of these things needs to be judged in situ.
I’m no longer that concerned about having speaker completely rigid on spikes. Seeing how the Mana supports work many years ago made me realise that they are acting as a suspension system. With Mana the more layers you added the greater the effect. Even though each Mana section was spiked they were positioned so that the boards acted like a mini torsion bar. All accept the last one (top one) which was sometimes glass. This seems to allow a very subtle spring to the speaker when pushed at the top. I still use a Mana frame under my DBL’s and they seem to do more or less the things the Townsend stands and Gaia feet do. They certainly add a level of clarity to both bass and high frequencies that’s just less smeared.
Townshend certainly deploy a suspension system with their platforms and supports, I use the speaker bars under my PMC’s, this are far more cost effective than the platform and completely transformed my speakers, like a big upgrade, the super tweeters and a sub have taken the Twenty 26’s to a whole new level. I can’t speak highly enough of Townshend products, exceptional build quality, whilst pricey, the level of improvement make this a relatively cost effective upgrade compared to buying or trading boxes, from a customer service point of view they are everything you would hope for from a small independent company.
