Boy, Oh Boy! Towshend!

@sokogear
I will look into Symposium for rack component isolation for sure. I just need to get my thoughts together on the Townshend isolators first. But I think I have.
Speaker bars with pods under my Mezzo Utopia's and isolation corners under my Sound Anchors rack(thanks tvad). That knocks vibrations to everything down to 3Hz. Just need individual component isolation next.

My left Rowland Model 12 monoblock amp behind my left Mezzo and near my sub is on its own Sound Anchors amp stand with spikes. The amp and the connected separate power supply are both made of solid, machined alumunum. 30 pounds each. Do they need isolation? If so, I could remove the stand spikes and put each stand leg bottom on a Pod? That would be half the price of 4 isolation corners. I don't think amps vibrate on their own, do they?
Isolation platters under the turntables I'm not sure what to do there. Because of the dimensions of my 2 t.t.'s and their dustcovers, they may be the last thing I do.

Thanks to everyone who help me coalesce my pathway. Almost there.

If you have the budget for it I think you will find Pods make a big difference under the amp. My Melody is on a 150lb slab of granite, which in turn is on BDR Cones, and it has BDR Round Things screwed into both sides of the chassis, and the whole thing is on a BDR Shelf. Pretty darn good I thought. Then I replaced one set of Cones with Nobsound. This was a lot better. Then I upgraded from Nobsound to Pods. This was hugely better! 

So even though already on a lot of really good vibration control the Pods still made a really nice improvement. 

Went through pretty much the same course of upgrades with my phono stage and motor controller, with pretty much the same results. They were all extensively tweaked out and in good shape yet Pods made them all even better.  

I don't think amps vibrate on their own, do they?

They do. Everything does.

@steakster - wow- you know a hell of a lot more than me about Symposium. My thoughts with my speakers on Segues are two fold- 1) they get rid of/drain internal speaker noise while providing some isolation, and 2, I did not want my speakers being unstable in any way as they are tall and thin. I don’t want them to float like my components do. Peter had to custom size my Segues to have about 2-21/2 “ around the bottom to add stability.

Not sure what you mean by air borne vibrations. The internal vibrations of components are drained by roller blocks or platforms as are external vibrations from the floor.

@vinylshadow- glad to hear you will check with Peter at Symposium. IMHO though, the turntable isolation should be addressed first, but as MC says, it’s and and and and and......you can never correct noise emanating from the source. That noise just gets magnified down the chain.

As far as turntable isolation, is there any difference or betterment between a Symposium Platform and a Townshend platform? Whatever I put under my Basis turntable will also have the separate belt motor on it. The belt motor for my Vertere MG-1 is built into the table.

@millercarbon For my model 12 monoblock amp that is on a Sound Anchors rack w/spikes on discs, behind a Mezzo speaker and near my sub, put pods directly under my amps and power supplies on the top of the stand? Or take off the spikes and put 4 pods, 1 below each leg of the stand.

Then I guess what to put under my Rogue Ares Magnum tube phono drive.

Would anything be necessary under my Vertere MG-1 motor drive that sends the 33/45 signal to my Vertere MG-1 turntables motor? The box is so light I could probably center it over 1 pod. Maybe 2 to be safe. And 2 under my Rogue phono drive as it is sort of light as well?

The main benefit or theory is to allow the component to move on its own, in other words in isolation. A lot of vibration is generated within the component itself. Even with amps. With Pods under the rack the amp excites the rack, which while isolated from the floor is still going to vibrate thanks to the amp, and feed this right back into the amp. Pods directly under the amp will better isolate the amp.

Symposium Iso uses a conical spring damped with foam, similar to Townshend spring damped with an air valve. The Townshend design seems more elegant to me but the proof is in the pudding and I’ve not tried Symposium to know for sure exactly in what ways they differ.

Understood. So placing the isolator under the amp is best.
As far as the Rogue tube phono stage and Vertere motor drive, they will be set close to each other in a rack shelf. Seems like the most economical thing for both is to put both on a Symposium Segue ISO platform. And a consideration is, that platter will be what separates both components from my Classe SSP-800 processor/DAC in the rack space below them. So the ISO platter will block any vibration etc from the Classe, if that does in fact happen.

Although come to think of it, a Townshend platter would likely work as well provided the pods can be centered on the racks steel bars; whereas the ISO platter is flat across the bottom and will certainly sit on the bars.

I was hoping to put isolation under the Classe but there is only 3/16" of available space above the top of it.

The space is much greater than 3/16". The true available space is from the shelf it sits on to the actual chassis bottom. Most components are on factory feet that are at least 1/2" high. So it gets tight but you really probably have about half an inch available. This is probably just enough for some Nobsound springs. I mean just the springs. Not the whole setup with the footer holding the springs, just the bare springs alone. 

Best part about this is, won't cost you one thin dime. Get your Nobsound springs for the motor or whatever, you will have some springs left over after setting them up for that load. Take the leftover springs, squeeze them down and put them one at a time under the Classe. Start with one in each corner, just keep adding until the thing starts to float. Could be wrong but I bet there is just enough room for this to work. Don't cost nothin' but time. What have you got to lose? 😉

@vinylshadow - see what Peter at Symposium says about the amps. I have my amp and phono stage on Roller Block Jrs because they drain and isolate. He calls everything vibration control, because that is what you are doing in either situation.

Since my components only weigh 11 and 29 pounds respectively, the Jrs, work and I only need 3 of them each. 3 points define a plane and will provide stability. 

Now, just to muddy (no pun intended) the waters, as MC says, there is always more you can do. You can put a platform under or on top of the roller blocks, depending on the situation (under for turntables and amps, on top of for speakers) to add additional treatment. It is not black and white, and you can go all the way up to platforms that are the most effective that cost > $2K. There are even levels within the roller block types by changing the bearings. They have increasing levels of purity and performance. I think all his roller blocks now are being delivered with the mid level ones made of Tungsten Carbide, and you can get what he calls super balls that have purity down to the millionths of the particles. Even the Tungsten ones feel incredible solid and perfectly spherical.

To give you an extreme example, a friend of mine (who happened to introduce me to Peter) got a very expensive turntable and he asked Peter for the ideal treatment for it in his situation. He has the big Roller Blocks with the super balls on top of a Segue platform sitting on top of a Segue Iso platform. In my mind, severe overkill, audible difference with each additional treatment, perhaps, worth the 5-6 times the cost of just roller block jrs with the tungsten carbide, not in my mind. But Peter calls that set up perfect, and that's what my friend was aiming for. I don't know how many thousands he has spent on vibration control with Symposium and Townshend (probably 1/2 of what my TOTAL stereo investment is), but he tells me he wishes he could do more, but is limited by the vertical space where his components are placed. Everyone (except maybe Mike Lavigne) has space, spouse who limited my acoustical treatment options, or financial limitations. As Clint Eastwood says, "A man has to know his limitations".

Bottom line, ask Peter for his opinion for best bang for the buck for everything you want to do and he'll ask you questions about the environment. Then he will give you options and recommendations and his best combo deal and save you some money shipping it all together. However, as he told me, most people start with one thing, are pleasantly surprised and keep going on and on. He told me one guy yelled at him because he had to keep buying. That why he even sells bearing upgrades from basic to Tungsten carbide to super balls. You can go nuts with this stuff, but as long as you can appreciate and afford the improvements, go for it. I went from turntable to speakers to phono stage to amp. Power conditioner is the only thing that doesn't float on my wood credenza (wood is best for vibration drainage under a platform or roller blocks) or wall shelf for my turntable. I don't want to have that floating because I use it to put records on when sorting them and when the components move when I touch them,I see the wires move in the back and it makes my OCD tendencies flare up, even though they stabilize almost instantaneously. Seeing all those power cords moving would drive me nuts. Plus, some wires are very precariously positioned in the back and moving them in some cases can make my speaker cables move and hit the floor. A big no-no.

Good luck and enjoy the dramatic improvements.

I have a question for someone knowledgeable about the Townsend Corners for rack isolation. I was told by a dealer that if I bought the corners for my rack, I wouldn’t need to upgrade my twenty plus year old Target rack. He stated the Corners would be all that I needed. For those who have tried the Townsend Corners would you agree or disagree with this comment? Also my Target rack only has three legs, so would this matter at all?

@sidog1460

I can help. I just ordered the Seismic isolation corners(and speaker podiums, turntable platform and pods) from John at Townshend.
I wouldn't think the 3 legs would matter...You can email John at Townshend if you want. He is so helpful.

Your dealer is correct. The isolation corners will "float" your rack and isolate your components and your rack from external vibrations down to 3Hz. That would be adequate to stop right there for many people.
However, I am taking it one step further in that I will be placing pods under all components(and my sub) to isolate all individual components from internal vibrations.

@sokogear
Due to space limitations in rack spaces under my Rogue tube phono stage, Classe processor and 1 of my Model 12 monoblock amps I'm going to get 3 5/8" Svelte Shelves, as pods are too tall.....

I could fit taller shelves under the phono stage and monoblock but the Svelte Shelf looks like it will do the job well.

I saw a review for the Rogue Audio Ares Magnum and the reviewer had a Symposium Ultra under the Rogue. But it was from 2003 and the Svelte Shelf might be new and improved and the way to go now?

@vinylshadow - I would talk to Peter at Symposium. He takes the time to understand the exact application and make a recommendation. He is very honest and actually told me his solution couldn’t help my turntable because it was so light unless I put counterweights on top of the plinth of my turntable, which would not have worked for me.

when I decided to treat my speakers, phono stage and amp, I went with Symposium, with a stealth segue for the speakers and roller blocks for the amps. I noticed the amount of improvement most with the turntable, next with the speakers and lastly with the amps. He was much less expensive than Townshend pods for the amps (they wouldn’t have fit under my phono stage anyhow) and for the bars Townshend proposed under the speakers (and that would have also raised the height of the drivers which I didn’t want to do). So there is logical reasons for each decision. Both companies make excellent products and in most cases, both will do a very nice job, just make sure it fits your applications and budget. You can always add more to these treatments from Symposium- not so much with Townshend.

I like Symposium’s accessibility since I live in the US and can reach Peter easily via telephone. Talking to Max Townshend is not as easy as he is experimenting/developing in the lab more it seems. He has created a wide variety of products over the years, all excellent from what I have read. Peter has been laser focused on isolation/vibration control since 1992.

I just put the spring footers under my Thiel speakers again (like the Nobsound, but a different brand which has the springs actually fixed, not loose).

Absolutely stunning, yet again, in many ways.  The changes it registers among the entire frequency range is just amazing.  It's like the "noise floor" of the speaker has gone down I can effortlessly hear the most minute details.  All sorts of tracks sound different because I realize I'm hearing now audible subtle reverbs that weren't there before.

Saxophone tracks become all the more real sounding, where I can hear that familiar clicking/ tapping of the keys (from when I played sax...my dad played sax too).  The texture of the reed all the more evident.

And the high frequencies and air seemed to have gone through the roof.Chimes, drum cymbals now have an utterly pure realism, of the type I was often seeking.  It's just crazy.

As I have mentioned before, my main gripe with the spring footers has been a subtraction of "feel" and impact to the sound. I really seek a sense of density to the presentation of my system, so any losses there can be annoying.  Which is why the footers eventually tend to come back off. 


But the more I'm listening the more I'm liking, and getting addicted to things I can hear only with the footers on.   And yes I've lost some solidity to the sound, but there still is some nice impact.
This, yet again, tells me I will be springing for the "real deal" Townshend speaker bars, at some point.

If you like what you're hearing now Townshend will be a revelation. Everything you are hearing now, only due to the damping you will get back some of the slam impact feel, probably a bit more extension, and find an amazing improvement in being able to differentiate the characteristic tone and timbre of each instrument. Sax in particular is wonderful, the full body of the horn combined with the reedy zing of the mouthpiece is rendered so much more correct it is hard to believe. Clarinet, violins, horns, ditto.   

I have a fair amount of that kind of music and find myself far more drawn to it now than ever before, something I am sure is due to everything sounding so much more like what it really is. Satchmo Plays King Oliver now, holy smokes!  

Podiums are the best, probably because the platform is so well engineered. This is evident even during unpacking, when you will notice the constrained layer damped material is dense and extremely dead. But they are all based on fundamentally the same technology and components- the air damped bellows spring pod - and so a lot has to do with the specific application. The 8 hours time diff is a hassle but it might be worth a call to Townshend to talk with John Hannant. He knows this stuff inside out and has been a huge help to me, and others here as well.

That's very encouraging millercarbon.
The thing is I had recently tweaked my speaker/listening position and had arrived at a new level of awe-inspiring imaging and solidity to the sound.   As I said, any steps backwards are hard to swallow.   But I can imaging giving up a bit to get some of that delicious transparency and detail I'm hearing.

@millercarbon Glad you mentioned Satchmo. I've been listening to a lot of music by him lately. I was listening to an interview by one of the guys at Mosaic Records while streaming WWOZ, and learned a little tidbit of information. It seems that you knew you were in with the musicians once they began insulting you. A common insult was to call someone Bucket-mouth or Satchel Mouth, with Louis it just stuck... Satchmo. Now we know!

True about Satchmo. I haven't listened to it since I bought it from Classic Records way back when. I am absolutely overloaded with vinyl I haven't played.

Patience Grasshopper.

prof, Your imaging will be at least as good. The only thing is Podiums add another level to positioning. Each corner has to be free to move side to side as well as up and down. This makes them a little more bother to get everything just right. Once done though getting them perfectly level is a breeze, and they do stay put. 

Also I think the solidity to the sound you are missing, you will probably realize wasn't so much sound as vibrations transmitting through the floor up into your legs and butt. The feeling with springs is different, you feel the bass more in the chest and body. There's also a hardness that goes away, and this too diminishes the sense of solidity.

I think you will probably find however that there is so much greater sense of real instrumental textures that it is easy to adapt. Also it seems to me at any rate that some of the slam that went away with plain springs comes back with Podiums. Not all, it will never be the same, but for me anyway it sure was easy to adapt and prefer. The whole presentation with Podiums just feels so much more right and real.

I have found in my own experience that anytime I change the distance from the bottom of a floor standing speaker to the floor, the sound will change. Increased space usually decreases bass. It can be used to clean up excess bass, but can also have detrimental effects on the sound. I’m a believer in the manufacturer having already done this experiment and like to follow their guidance.

I have found the same with components. Sometimes the stock footers have the overall best sound.  I assume that is how they are tested and voiced. 

My Mezzo speakers currently have Stillpoint cones on a metal disc. I have a feeling that with the Townshend podiums, my speakers will be closer to the tile then they are with the cones/disc.

My podiums should arrive soon so I will measure but I'm guessing they will be 1"+ closer to the floor.

Good feedback!

BTW, you know how we audiophiles like to sit around dreaming about certain gear combinations?

I've had one on my mind for a while: 


Devore O/96 speakers combined with Townshend pods.

The reason is:  I love the big, rich, alive organic sound of those speakers.However, they do sound on some material more boxy than many other speakers.   It leaves me dreaming about what they'd sound like if I constructed a special stand for them, on which to place the Townshend bars or pods, for the speakers to sit on, keeping them the same height as their original Devore stands.

Might it end up pushing them even further to "wow" territory, where they do all those wonderful things, but disappear even more than normal?

OR...it could be it would end up ruining something inherent in their sound.

Dunno.  But the mystery and intrigue has me dreaming....

vinylshadow-  

My podiums should arrive soon so I will measure but I'm guessing they will be 1"+ closer to the floor. 

Podiums have level adjustment both top and Botton. Together you can probably get close to an inch. Or you can do like I did and put a coaster under each corner. You can also put something between the speaker and the Podium platform. There's all kinds of options.

As mentioned, I'll be getting the speaker bars.  Though this will be on a shag rug, so I'm not sure how that will affect things.

On the current footer springs, I'm sure some of what I'm hearing is due to decoupling the speakers from the floors.  Though raising the speakers may have also influenced the tonal balance, which does seem more airy and bright sounding, and a bit thinner overall.

@prof

The speaker bars look to be about 1/4" off the floor.

I imagine you could put coasters or plastic furniture sliders under the pods.

prof, One of the guys I'm helping off-line is using them on carpet and told me they were better with something under them. Sorry but it's been some months and I forget who and what. Butcher block, tile, or marble, something like that. He used a slab of it, that I know for sure. Anyway I was a little surprised it made any difference but then a lot of things are like that so I tried anyway and sure enough, better. In my case instead of a slab I used the same BDR Round Things that were under the Moabs before. Only now they are under the Townshend. Picked up even a little bit more dynamics and detail. Hard to believe. Probably furniture coasters would work, and you will prefer them anyway as if the Bars are like Podiums on the bottom they will be a LOT easier to slide and tweak position that way. 

Interesting, I may try a few Herbies sliders underneath the podiums.

ozzy

@millercarbon

Are using the BDR round things under the podium pods?

Your floor is wood though, yes?
I'm on tile which doesn't transmit footsteps or sub/speaker sonic vibrations according to the seismograph app.

Not quite. I still use BDR mostly to avoid scratching the Moabs. Whole lot easier to move around with Cones on there. Then also use BDR Round Things UNDER the Podiums. They serve as high tech furniture gliders.  

In any case BDR are not isolation. They are extremely stiff and highly damped, but in no way are they isolation. 

Probably the way John recommends is best. The only way to know for sure though is to try. I asked if it was worth it and my back said, "Sounds real good just the way it is." 

Yes furniture sliders or herbies could be the ticket.  Though one of the advantages of the Townshend design is not raising your speaker up much at all, so as not to change the tonal balance.

prof,
That's why I thought the speakers may need a little more height when using the Townshend's instead of spikes.

ozzy

Ah, I see you were assuming speaker spikes.  Makes sense.

I don't use speaker spikes - speakers sit right on the floor, as I preferred the sound that way.  So I'm looking to keep the speakers as close to the floor as I can to maintain that tonal balance.

I hear ya about your back. I definitely am not looking forward to lifting each 140 pound speakers onto the podiums.

Fortunately I have that inflatable 500 pound air lift bag so that might help me. Although, I may leave the spikes on initially to tip the speakers right side up and slip the podium underneath, then tip the left side up and skid the podium under. Then take all spikes off. Or maybe take the right spikes off and leave the left ones on as a pivot and slide the podium under and over to the left spikes. Hmmm.

Sticking pods under the 4 corners of my 140 pound sub should be easier since they have small spikes that I’ll remove 1 at a time.

I solved the scratching problem with my speakers on the Townshend podiums.  I attached self stick adhesive moving gliders on the bottom of my speakers before I lifted onto the podiums.  Granted my speakers are only 100 lbs. each but they worked like a champ.  They are 1 3/4 inches in diameter and I didn't use the speaker spikes.

That's a great idea.

I have plastic furniture sliders that came with furry elastic "socks" to go over them.

I'll have to figure out a way to incorporate their use!

BTW, for the heck of it I tried the Nobsound-like spring footers under my tube amps.
Zero impact on the sound.  Which makes sense to me.  If they were going to pick up any vibrations it would likely happen if placed in the room with the speakers.  But all my amp/source equipment is in a separate room down the hall from my speakers.

I put a Symposium Segue Stealth Platform under my KEF R500s because the height of the platforms exactly matched the height of the KEF supplied spikes/discs. I did not want to alter the height of the drivers at all, which would definitely change the sound. Townshend would have necessitated that (plus Segues were a good bit less $$).

The sound improvement was immediately noticeable. Much clearer, seemed to clean up sound that was audible but not definable and more precise. They keep the isolation and height the spikes provide because or the multiple layers within the Segues and they transfer the vibration out of the cabinet to my suspended wood floor. Well worth the investment. I could put rollerblocks under them, which would make them float and give some more isolation, but that would raise them, which would change the sound from what KEF intended.

vinylshadow-

Although, I may leave the spikes on initially to tip the speakers right side up and slip the podium underneath, then tip the left side up and skid the podium under. Then take all spikes off. Or maybe take the right spikes off and leave the left ones on as a pivot and slide the podium under and over to the left spikes. Hmmm.

Good luck. You will find the Podiums very hard to move around once loaded. The feet are flat and stick to carpet like crazy. Hardwood, tile, vinyl, no problem. Carpet? Forgetaboutit! 

What worked for me, measure first to know exactly where the speakers are now, then move them and place Podiums exactly where they should be. Adjust as low as they will go.   

Then with cones or gliders or whatever affixed to protect the bottom, tilt the speakers and "walk" them onto the Podiums. Calls for a good sense of balance, but I was able to do this all by myself with 150lb Moabs. Once on the Podiums you can tilt and remove your gliders or whatever if needed. It is nice to have a helper here. 

Usually due to drivers the speakers center of gravity is somewhat forward of dead center. So I like to have the speakers centered left to right but a couple inches to the back. You can however have them perfectly centered, there is easily enough adjustment to get them level either way. Purely a matter of taste. 

Once this is done then I measure again this time to the speaker corners to get them perfectly equidistant and symmetrical, with whatever toe in they had before. This for me was the hardest part, but frankly I am my own worst enemy here being so OCD even a 1/16" of an inch drives me crazy! 

Only once the speakers are where you want them at the base, then start turning knobs to raise them up. I go around giving one full turn at a time to all 4 corners, until they start to float. Then another full turn just to be sure.   

Then level front to back and side to side. Leveling is the coolest part, it is a treat to be able to so perfectly level so easily! Especially after all the other hard work!

millercarbon-
I've been thinking about this a bit today. It's going to be tricky. More for the right speaker than the left.

But I know what you're describing. My podiums will be on tile so that may help.

It took my installer and me SO long to get the speakers in the exact right position. So I'm fretting even a teeny tiny change.

My right speaker's left corner is near the back wall and the right corner angled forward of the wall.... Due to the wall, the left rear pod cannot go far enough back so about 4" of the speaker's left corner will be hanging off the podium
I'll have to measure each corner's distance from the wall and take pictures.

I'll have to tip the front of the speaker up and back, remove the spikes and then slip the podium under the front of speaker and slide it back until it hits the rear spikes. That is if the left rear pod doesn't hit the back wall first. Then let the front of the speaker land on the podium.

If there is room to move the podium back further, I'll use my air lift, if it can get in there in the back to prop up the back base just enough to take the back spikes off. Then push the podium back and settle the back down.

The left speaker should be easier as I'll be able to use the air lift to raise the back enough to remove the rear spikes and then slide the podium in place.

I hope it's that easy!
Getting the air lift to lift the 400 pound Sound Anchors rack to slip the Isolation corners under the spikes will be some work.

Well boys I've joined the club!

Just ordered some Townshend Isolation Bars for my speakers.

I'll be using them with my Thiel 2.7 and Joseph Audio Perspective speakers.

The Thiels have a wider body and are very stable, but I am wondering how I'll go about using them with the Joseph speakers, which are a very narrow body design and require the supplied outriggers so they aren't easily tipped over.  I don't know if I'll keep the Josephs on the outriggers while on the bars, or whether there is some prevision in the design of the bars to hold narrow speakers steady?

The thing to keep in mind is that while the speakers appear unstable because they rock easily, this appearance is totally deceptive. They will move easily only a few degrees. Then the springs compress or bottom out enough to stop further tilting. At this point the speaker is no more or less stable than otherwise.

You can prove this to yourself. When setting them up on the Podium first take one and tilt it to the balance point. Then repeat this same balance point test on the Podium. You will find the exact same angle.

I did this myself, "walking" my Moabs onto the Podiums. The angle they have to be tilted in order to fall over is so much greater than what the Podium allows this is a total non-starter.

But, it helps to know this. Mike Lavigne didn’t, and you shoulda seen his reaction when he put his hand on the side of my Moab to feel for cabinet resonance! Expecting rock solid it moved so easily he was startled and tried to stop it falling over. The crowd roared with laughter. I missed it, sad to say. But Rick and the others sure had a good laugh. So no worries.

Thanks millercarbon.  I'm familiar with what you are talking about, having experimented with the other spring footers.   I know the Townshend are stiffer, but the Thiels were stable enough even sitting directly atop those springs.

The Joseph speakers are an entirely different issue though.  I would not trust them normally without the outriggers, as they could easily be tipped over.  Unless there is something in the speaker bars that secures them, it seems very dicey to add even a bit more tippy quality, without the outriggers to help. 

Hey @prof - that's why I had the platforms built about 2" longer and wider than the thin base of my KEF's. Aside from all the other reasons I mentioned, I was too nervous they's tilt over and I wasn't comfortable putting spikes/disks on top of a Townshend floating platform.

Nothing is perfect, but the Symposium Segues can be cut to fit at no extra charge, and should be a nice improvement. Tell Peter your floor type, speaker and environment and he will be honest with you about a recommendation and what to expect.

sokogear,

I'm getting the Townshend product, not the Symposium, so I'm not in conversation with Peter.

The pictures I saw prof it looks like all you would do is remove the spikes, leave the outriggers, and put them on a Podium wide enough for the outriggers. Maybe use a shim in back, same thickness as the outrigger in front. Something like that. 

@prof- I was talking about for the Josephs. As i have mentioned, I have used products from both companies, depending on the need and prices, I am comfortable with both companies.

It seems to me that turntables must be level to even begin setting them up.   ...just wondering if springs can accommodate that adjustment.

Sure. Why not? The only question is how? Townshend accomplish leveling on Podiums by turning a knob, and on Pods by turning the top of the Pod. Either way allows convenient and accurate leveling. My turntables were on Pods, my speakers on Podiums. Both perfectly level.