A reappearance of Black Diamond Racing?

"Speak of the Devil and he will appear". Upon going into New Listings this afternoon, I quickly saw a set of four BDR 2-3/4" Pucks, exactly what I have been intent, as previously stated, on obtaining. The asking price was $120 shipped, but my offer of $100 was immediately accepted. My use of the Pucks may be unusual, but part of their beauty is in their versatility.

I have a set of Eminent Technology LFT-8b loudspeakers with dedicated Sound Anchor stands (a bit of a misnomer; it is more a base than a stand), the stand being a 3-point design. Meaning, the stand has threaded holes in three locations for the provided spikes. One location is in the middle of it’s rear side, which sits just behind the back end of the speaker’s woofer enclosure. The other two are at the front end of the two "limbs" which extend out in front of the LFT-8b (picture the front legs of the Egyptian Sphinx, or of your chillin’ dog).

But I decided to replace the spikes (they’re so 20th Century ;-) with Townshend Seismic Pods, for isolation from rather than coupling to the floor. That’s fine, but the Pod isn’t really "happy" on a carpet and it’s padding (neither is the IsoAcoustics GAIA), as it’s bottom plate is just a thin sheet of, I presume, steel. I have a set of four BDR Those Things (2-3/4" square), and it occurred to me they would make a fine base for the Pods. Great, but I have only four, two shy of my needs.

Upon looking for another two Those Things, I discovered the BDR Puck, which is simply a round version of the Thing. And, the Puck is 2-3/4" in diameter, same as the bottom plate of the Pod. Too cool! So of course I decided I had to have the Pucks, a perfect aesthetic match for the Pod. Six would be great, but as the back Pod can’t be seen, four will suffice (my delicate aesthetic sensibilities able to deal with such unsightliness ;-). And I now have them.

Speaking of the Townshend Pod, it is weight rated and available in a bunch of "sizes". Since there are two support points at the front of the SA stand, and only one at the rear, the one at the rear "carries" more weight (the LFT-8b’s mass is centered on the middle of the SA stand), and requires a stiffer spring. For any LFT-8b owner reading this and considering trying a set of Pods, I found two size "C" Pods on the front legs and one "D" on the back side of the stand to balance perfectly. As each size Pod has double the weight capacity of it’s lesser neighbor, that makes sense.

Any LFT-8b owner not wanting to use the Sound Anchor stand (I don’t know why, it’s fantastic!), Townshend also has loudspeaker Podiums and Bars which incorporate the Pods in all four corners. They are considerably more expensive than a set of Pods, but the owner of a pair of Magicos may not care ;-) . As a matter of fact, Audiogon member folkfreak has his Magicos sitting on Townshend Podiums, and love’s ’em. Alas, he is in the process of packing up and leaving Portland, so I most likely won’t again hear a pair of Magicos until my next trip down to L.A. My old pals at Brooks Berdan Ltd. are a Magico dealer. Eminent Technology, too. It was Brooks who turned me on to the ET’s. Music Reference as well.