Strange, in that I have found Gaias help tighten bass (and improve imaging a bit) on every speaker tried (I have them now on B&W 804D3s on floorboards and Neat Xplorers on concrete). There are other threads on this, but most agree that Gaias work brilliantly. I can’t think of any reason why they would not work well with ATCs.
Your comments may remind us all that comments here can never replace a bit of critical listening with your own ears and on your own room and system.
Oh I agree Nick.
I thought that it was a given that they would work - and work superbly.
However that wasn’t the case. I suspect it might have been the ATC metal stand for the 50A and a mismatch
with the Gaia and/or my floor.
I’m open to trying them again - this time with my ATCSCM 100ASLT.
The tower cabinet may be a better foundation for the Gaia to work optimally, I don’t know.
Can’t hurt to try again I guess.
The point I was trying to make was if the gentleman wasn’t quite sold on the 50 active Classic, to spike them instead and see if that leads to a more pleasing outcome.
It did for me.
It depends surely on the Gaia version used, I tried 50 ASL with Gaia 2 (max 54 kg) and it was better without, surely because the Gaia were nearly overloaded, it is maybe another story with the Gaia 1 version.
54kg is right at the limit for Gaia 2s, as you say. If my house could take SCM50ASLTs, I’d try them with Gaia 1s.
The gentleman reference gave me a chuckle. Not being sold on the 50As is not the issue, they are great speakers, it’s the room interaction, I think maybe they are maybe too much. I hadn’t given much thought to the Gaia feet, I’ve used them with various speakers successfully, and at 49Kg a speaker I’ll leave that to the guys coming out to change them over. I wouldn’t say that the Gaias are sucking the life out the speakers but will give it a try the other way.
I’d try them a bit more away from the side walls (not sure how far you have them from the back wall).
If you can’t do that, toe them in as much as you can - without having soundstage issues - as both options can ease the bass overload a bit as well.
The back wall is fine I think, about 1.5M but can increase, the side walls are the issue, only 0.5M and difficult to increase, will play around with toe in to see if it makes much of a difference.
This.
I had GAIA II’s under my 40A’s and they worked great there. Then I upgraded to 50ASL and just moved the GAIAs under the 50’s. It just didn’t sound right to me. I switched to spikes and spikeshoes and the result was much better. Later on I also added 3cm thick granite slabs beneath the spikes. Anyway, I realised that the II’s aren’t enough for the 50ASL, the weight limit is too close. Later on I borrowed GAIA I’s from my dealer and they actually worked very well with the 50ASL’s, but not well enough for the price.
Recently I found second hand Stack Audio Auva 50’s and fit them under my 50ASL’s. They work great with slightly different approach than GAIA’s. Auva’s combine the best qualities of coupling (immediacy and punchiness) and decoupling (bigger and more holographic soundstage and deeper bass) IMO.
Not a cheap option but the Townshend Podiums make a very positive impact on my 40a’s
I will be trying active 50’s this week but as mentioned before think my room maybe a constraint hence trying the active 20’s too.
Good luck with the 50s, are you trying the special edition 20s or the towers ?
The Towers, the special editions in blue are cool looking but I hadn’t really considered them, not sure why but probably assumed the floor stander would give a better sound.
Is there a view of towers or the special edition 20’s performance wise?
Gary
They should sound very similar, towers just have stands ”integrated”. Same goes for 50ASL vs 50ASLT etc.
Thanks Patu, I’ll report back how I get on!
Gary
I have only heard the limited edition 20SE at a dealer ATC day, I demoed the 20 towers when I bought the 40s.
Can’t imagine how one could buy 20s after hearing the 50s. I have both of them actives and wow, 50s forever!
AlphaAudio (a Dutch review site) reviewed the IsoAcoustic Gaia’s with SCM40A and they said they work well on almost all speakers but not on the ATC’s. They said it was because the atc’s are a closed system and actually need coupling instead of decoupling in order to perform best.
Interesting
Thanks for sharing
So what the coupling means in this case?
Spikes are best for coupling.
Ok then I don’t need to change something in my setup
