Thanks HappyListener. Could you briefly describe the sonic effects and were there any downsides? Specifically did you notice any loss of transient attack? I know that the speakers wobble on these platforms, which is obviously part of the design, and intuitively I can’t help but feel that things like bass slam are bound to be compromised. As you are experiencing these ‘in the field’ as it were your impressions would be most valuable.
There are other threads were people have shared their impressions about Isoacoustics Gaia , Townsend podiums and Chord silent mounts.
As said above I use Finite Elemente cerabases under my speakers. It was a big improvement in clarity, cleaner bass, more open soundstage and free flowing sound.
I have a floating wood floor over concrete and one of the benefits of the podiums is that they remove a lot of the floor interaction, especially with bass, which when tidied up assists in making the vocal & mids less contaminated i.e. adding clarity.
I didn’t notice any reduction in attack - in fact I think it may have gone the other way.
You can only try these things and see (listen 
) IMO.
Thanks for that. The Herbie’s gliders had a similar effect though I suspect much less refined (as per the price differential!) but they also had unwanted side effects.
Having already pushed the boat out I’m reluctant to spend over another £2K and I’m not convinced that it’s the right thing to do for my particular speakers. I’ve already wasted the money on the Herbie’s although these have now been given a nice home beneath my wife’s Nord speakers which she uses with her professional Nord keyboard so all is not lost.
Thanks for sharing frenchrooster and happy listening.
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Townsend podiums
Can’t recommend them enough
Good on carpet aswell👍
I would be very surprised if the Townsend Podiums were anything less than excellent given the number of very positive reviews in the hi-fi press, as well as the enthusiastic endorsements here.
The main issue for me is the price. For a suitable size pair for my speakers I’m looking at in excess of £2000. That’s half the cost of the speakers! My gut feeling is that it just shouldn’t be necessary to spend such a colossal amount in order to achieve the results I’m after.
Also I’m not entirely convinced that they will pull the sound in quite the right direction. I’m sure there will be gains, but I’m concerned that they may also rob the speakers of some of their personality in the process. The voicing of the Forte III’s is not exactly run-of-the-mill. They have a very specific and unusual character and I now just have the feeling that any sort of isolation device will modify this in an unwanted way for me.
The experiment with the Herbie’s gliders has troubled me. Rather like Quad ESL 57’s or LS3/5a’s, these speakers are what they are, warts and all. To attempt to modify their performance in any way carries a real risk of throwing out the baby with the bathwater IMO. If I did try the Podiums and didn’t like them I could always return them for a refund, but the problem with things like this is that the true nature of any changes sometimes doesn’t become apparent until living with them for many weeks. By which time it’s too late to send them back, and I simply cannot afford to risk wasting over £2000.
Leave well alone I think.
The actual price of Podiums is often significantly below advertised. Just speak to Sue Townshend to get a true figure !
As for how they change the sound , well i dont think they do. Whatever sound you have now they just improve it in every way. More open , more dynamic , tighter bass with better definition and attack. But really they just allow the speakers to work there best and take the sound to a much more realistic level which is pretty much instantly heard.
Also I couldn’t say i found any downside at all.
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Folkman,
Well I can’t pretend I’m not tempted to at least give them a try. But certainly not at the advertised price. If some kind of deal were in the offing then maybe…
Perhaps I’ll make some tentative enquiries.
As suggested, I think their ex-factory prices are below the listings on the 'site, which are suggested retailer RRPs. Talk to Sue and/or John and see what’s what.
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I hadn’t quite realised how critical spikes and placement were until recently!
The only way to stop the cat knocking the floorstanders over as she jumped on top was to take off the spikes and blutac the speakers to the wood floor. No spikes made a huge difference!
This inevitably changed the sound and muffled it - moving the speakers forward JUST 3cm brought it back to the previous performance thankfully.
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Well I’ve been doing a lot of listening today and some very serious soul-searching. The fact is that I’ve reached ‘stick or twist’ time. Either spend, what is to me least, some very serious money indeed on the Townsened Podiums or just leave well alone.
The Herbie’s Gliders have given me a glimpse of what is possible, and it’s very desirable, but they are not the answer. They have what is to me unacceptable downsides. Not a fault of the Herbie’s Gliders at all and I suspect they may be superb under many speakers, but not mine.
The perfectionist in me says ‘Oh sod it, just spend the money and be done with it!’. But then I think to myself how many times have I thought that. How many times have I spent large sums of money to improve the system whilst thinking ‘this will be the last time - no more!’ I know that the reality is that the final time I spend big money on the system will only ever be when I’ve already spent it - in the past. Convincing myself that spending more money will be the last time is delusional.
Nothing really needs improving. The system sounds superb. Could it be improved? Of course, no question, but that’s hardly the point.
So I’ve decided to quit chasing the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow and hold on to my money. Not an easy decision to make. I’m sure many here will have experienced similar situations. The urge to ‘push the boat out’ that little bit more can be a powerful one, especially when one is aware of the potential rewards. But I just found myself utterly lost in the music today and thoroughly enjoying myself, so really there can’t be a whole lot more to gain in terms of enjoyment.
Can there? (rhetorical question!)
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