Boy, Oh Boy! Towshend!

I Took Audio Technica AT 616 to a friends who was contemplating the use of Townsend Plinths under his Floor Standing Speakers.

The affect on the presenttion was quite noticeable and as said the Bass had become tighter and the notes more defined.

My friend then went on to trial Townsend Sleds and now has a Plinth for the Speakers.

I have taken my ESL Speakers out of use and have been using Floor Standing Speakers for approx' 6 Months.

I have worked through permutations of Isolation, Starting with Spikes only and through to Two Teirs of Sub Plinth, trying out different materials for a Teir.
The AT 616 were introduced at teh stage of using a Sub Plinth and through the comparisons undertaken have proved their value and have a taken up a permanent place upun a Two Teir Sub Plinth assembly.

The last trial in my mind that can be done is a upward facing spike between speaker and AT 616. 
No rush for this one to be carried out.

The Top of the Speakers each have Metal Weights rested on them with 1/8" Cork Pads as Separaters.
The Weights were increased in increments upto 12lb (6Kg).
The initial addition of a  5lb Weight and the movement of it around the Top of the Speaker found a position that added a noticeable 'if small' improvement to the detailing.
Adding weight when the seating position for the weight was discovered, was perceived as underpining the improvement to the detail retrievel that was already noticed.
I have a personnal listening room so aesthetics are not too important,
weights added to the Top of Cabinet are in my view worthwhile as a invesigation.
Whether it is as ubiquiitous at producing the good impressions suspension footers can make will require further feedback from other Speaker Owners to confirm. 

As for Electrostatics not needing the benefits of Supension Isolation.
Within my local HiFI Group .
There was a investigation to try and find Isolation Footers that work offering a comaparable impression to my SolidTech 'Feet of Silence' and Audio Technica  'AT- 616'.

The lesser value choices were experiened up to IsoAcoustic Gaia Models.
The Gaia's got the vote for use under TT's and a set og Gaia's eventually ended up under a group members Quad 2912 Electrostatic Speakers.

I am due to listen to these speakers on the upcoming weekend, it will be my the first time in almost a year listening to this system. 
 

@rixthetrick 
                    I've been making variuos types of Isolation available to be used by Audio Minded friends for a good period of time.
It was the AT 616's used on a friends speakers that sealed the idea of his acquiring Towsend Skids and shorly after Towsend Plinths.

It is my loan of Solid Tech Feet of Silence that was the motivation for another group of friends to attempt to find a Footer that offered a similar effect. 
That is how the GAIA's become used within the group as the progressive search led to these and they are highly rated.
The use of these under the Electrostatics is an extension of the investigations, and the results from the time of the trials are reported as being a noticeable improvement.
I am to visit the Speaker Owner tomorrow, I will make further inquiries about the effects.
SolidTech 'FOS' are great footers and I have seen very impressed peaple as well as myself when used under a TT.
One friend built his own Sub Plinth using the design concept, sort of like a SME TT Hybrid design.
I know it was also upgraded as a design so that a attachment point for the O Rings could be used to add additional rings, to allow exta weight to be supported if need be.
                        
                   
 

From My Experience and these following comments are from a personnal view point.
Not using a Turntable Support as an example, as there are major benefits to be discovered from using permutations of Isolation/Support under one.

A Isolation Placed Under a Shelf/Sub Plinth on a Rack has not changed anything to the point it is recognised as a noticeable improvement.
From recollection the use of the Isolation might alter the perception of the way the device is presenting, but this could also be imaginary.
Using the same type of Isolation that has been used under a Shelve/Sub Plinth and used as footer separating a Device from the Shelve/Sub Plinth Material has shown more meaningful and noticeable changes to a Devices performance.
A delivery can be perceived as ranging from Bass is Light Footed to Bass is Heavy Footed, depending on the Footer Material and Design.
I try and keep these types of footers not too complicated as design and a affirdable to source material.
When a Footer is discovered that is seemingly adding a value to a device being used, I will then use this footer under the Shelve/ Sub Plinth as a measure of a self satisfaction, whether needed or not.

I have trialed with different Shelves/Sub Plinth Materials and MDF has not been a preferred material.
I also trial with Tiers of materials to produce a Shelve/Sub Plinth and MDF has not found its way as go to material in these permutations either. 
It has been a long time since MDF has been trialed so I can't quite recollect why it was not desired, but any material that I perceive as
Bass Heavy Footed is rejected by myself, as this in my mind is smearing the details and suppressing the Mid's to Highs of the frequency range.

Most of my Shelves/Sub Plinths have a Granite in use as one of the Tiers.
Different Densities of Foam are regularly used as well and a Cork Pad that will usually be found as separater of the the materials from the Supporting Frame and be used under a device as the footer. 

After various Permutations of Materials to used to support my Mono Block Amp's.
I have produced a Sub Plinth, that consists of a Material used under Laboritory Floors to absorb Micro Vibrations, this is Multi Tiered and has produced two Piers to a Height of 500mm.
Sitting on the Pier Material is a Granite Lintel that weighs in at 250Kg (550lb)
Seated on the Granite Lintel that Bridges onto the Two Piers is a Layer of Hard Foam which offers a resistance to being compressed, as well as a Layer of a Highly Compressed Foam Board which has structural. properties.
The diffference of the perception of the Amp's presentation when lifted from the Floor on a Sub Plinth to the seating on the Granite is immeasurable, it was a instant WOW!.
The fine tuning with the Foams as the final tiers in the permutation was more of the obsessive personality than essential, but the Foam Board is my go to material as much as Granite in a Sub Plinth that has additional tiers.

My Hifi Racks Rigid Frames and all the Shelves are with a Granite as a minimum sitting on a Cork Pad.
This Rack was a few years ago seated onto a Purpose Produced Sub Plinth Support.
Again this added treatment was perceived to have produced a small improvement, but most importantly it gave a reassurance and future endevours are starting from the best base. 

Starting the experimentation is the key, finding a material of permutation of materials that are perceived as a time well spent and a noticeable improvement over the previous used will be the reward.  

    

@rixthetrick
I am home from todays social get together with Friends meeting and HiFi at the centre.
I made a mistake about the Electrostatics, the Footers are not the Gaia model but the IsoAcoustic Pods.
The Gaias are under the SP10R.
My HiFi Racks are now seated on a 1100mm X 750mm X 12mm (43" x 29" x 1/2") Steel Plate.
The Base Plate has Two Footers of Granite 1000mm x 100mm x 150mm (39x4x6), with a Hard Foam Board and a Rubber to separate the steel from the granite.
This is the only place I have used Steel Plate on the System.
I know of a German Forum Member who has access to extremely expensive HiFi Devices and he uses 40mm Thick Stainless Steel Plinths under his SUT’s.
The Anti Vibration Material is a Industial Material and I was given it by the Company Installing it.
The Manager informed me it is regularly installed by them when sensitve equipment is to be used in rooms, in this case Laboratories.
I took a selection of Slabs, ranging from 100mm, 75mm and 30mm.
I used these from a Single layer and built up to the 500mm.
As said as soon as the Amp’s were supported the improvement was quite noticeable.
The 500mm Height was produced as the Amp’s started to look a little more attractive when elevated and at near eye level.
I will get the Brand name of the Product as the Company that uses it are
still met regularly.

What is quite important and a factor to put into the to discussion is a persons sensitivities to a unclean Bass Note.
By Unclean I mean my perception of unclean.
A Note that is not fast and is quick to decay and does not seem to be coloured, but a Bass Note that has a overpowering presence and lingers, at times not seeming to decay and finish as a note, but blend into the next.  

Again I speak from my own personnal experiences gathered over the years.
I am Bass Sensitive and I live with this as a inherent part of my make up.
If I am at a live music event, the quality of the Bass from a PA can detract my attention from every thing else.
I ’from pre covid times’ find when I am at a live event, especially where there are multiple stages and Bands to be heard, my preference is to select the Bands that have a very tight bass line and clean decay and not the ones with a boom and very smeared decay that dominates the music presentation.
The more the Bass is becoming Bass and Dub the more I lose sight of the other areas of a performance.
My mind accepts the antithesis of Bass and Dub as a category of being the most honest.

In a HiFi system, the Clean Bass Note and clean decay is the most welcome and again in my mind the most honest rendition.

I listen to many systems and have just began to be able to enjoy this activity once more.
I have learnt through this undertaking that an individual has their very unique tolerance for different frequencies being produced.
A good friend is Valve Amp and Horn Speaker orientated, I know just how unattractive the Bass is to myself through this system, and I have always been drawn from other attributes as the Bass has been a detractor and pulled a lot of my focus from sharing in the pleasure to be had from the whole of the frequency range.

I took a pair of Quad ESL 57’s to this home and put these on in place of the Horn Speakers.
To my ears the wonderful Upper Mid’s and Highs were a perfect marriage for the Valve Amp’s.
The Bass was lean and airy, which decayed with noticeable shimmering, that ot me was a sheer delight at times.
The Systems owner was quite keen to end the demonstration and get back to the Horns.

It really is a Personnal perspective and very individual, as to how much presence a frequency should have in a presentation.
In a nutshell ’ Horses for Courses’. 

My previous posts have all been relative to building structures to support equipment to move toward a Bass that satisfies myself only.
Another set of ears might just revere in the colouration offered from the system if there was a deconstruction of my supports being demonstrated.

It was good to see a Foam used as Construction Layer for Isolation on the Symposium Products.
I have been using various foams with different compressive strengths for multiple years, these are the most impressive Materials I have used to date as a layer in a construction of materials to produce a support plinth.

I have a Pre Amp seatd directely onto a aerated highly compressible foam, to a point load the foam offers almost Zero Resistence to compressing.
This support lets the Pre' deliver a very clean and detailed presentation.
To date adding any other materials, to be used in combination with the Aerated Foam will show a smearing of the finest details.
If a air flow is not needed to enter the casing from the underside and the unlevel seating of device is not too off putting, this method is worth a investigation.