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Experience with Townshend Seismic Podiums on Concrete Floor (they're great)

​I have tower speakers on a concrete floor covered with carpet. Recently, I tried out the Townshend Seismic Podium (size 1)  on my Ascend Acoustics Towers (RAAL tweeter) for about 4-5 hours. Here is a brief recounting of my experience.

At first, I set up the podiums and just listened to well known tracks; next, a few days later, I used that same set of tracks to compare, A & B, the speakers on the podium vs. without the podium (but at the same height). A friend with me also compared this A/B setup. We listened to a simple jazz arrangement, a Mozart aria, a rock recording by Chesky, and a country/rock piece. All were well recorded.

The difference made by the podiums are not subtle. In general, it is as if the entire sonic presentation was brought into focus, as if a light veil or layer of dust had been wiped away. It organizes everything; it makes the parts of the whole make sense.

More specifically, these were the effects I noticed: 

Bass was slightly fuller, much cleaner and more distinct; for an electric bass, this meant that rounded notes that previously blurred in a sequence (too legato) become individual notes. String bass notes gained dimensionality and texture; the finger on the string became more real, and the resonance of the large wooden bass got fuller and richer. Rhythm sections were better able to stand out *as* rhythm sections, that is, as musicians who are working together.

As far as midrange and treble go, there was -- as with the bass -- more definition, clarity, detail. They sound more like instruments-in-the-room rather than the presence of instrument appearances. Not much about their tonal character changed, but they became more palpable and more exactly located.

That brings me to the soundstage. The width of the soundstage grew by about 10-14% — 5-7% on each side. It was remarkable. Instruments gained space, separation, and definiteness of location. They didn't sound apart or isolated but just more distinct, separated from other instruments. I imagined this as fidelity to the way the microphone recorded them or as the mixing engineer intended. 

When I ordered the podiums, I made sure to ask for the ability to return them. I was assured that I could return them if I just paid shipping. (No restocking fee.) I was skeptical and wanted an escape clause. I had watched a few videos and was curious about whether Mr. Townshend's scientific claims would translate into audible differences that would be worth the money (the podiums cost about 1/3 of my speakers' cost). 

Well, my skepticism is gone — and it disappeared rather quickly at first, and then after careful comparison. I am keeping the Townshend podiums. Are they better than Isoacoustics footers or other products? I don't know, because I have not compared them. But they're making a huge difference and, should I want to put other speakers on them, they'll fit the others I have, easily. I'm pretty sure I'll never give these up.

 

hilde45

Showing 3 responses by sokogear

sokogear
1,104 posts
 

I have tall, thinnish floor standers sitting on a wood floor suspended over a crawl space. They came with extending arms with spikes/discs and sat on top of the floor. I use Townshend's seismic platform under my turntable with superb results, but the prospect of the Townshends adding instability to my speakers wasn't something I wanted to risk even without kids.

I learned of a great company called Symposium acoustics (on Audiogon) that makes multi layered platforms that can go under anything and also makes roller blocks that serve a similar purpose to podiums. You can also put the platforms on top of the rollerblocks if you want more isolation.

The platforms themselves isolate the speakers while also cleaning up the  speakers' internal vibrations. The owner was honest and said I should try the platforms by themselves since they raised the speakers the exact same amount as the spikes/discs, and adding rollerblocks would raise the tweeter height which would change the sound.He was familiar with my speakers and said the improvement using his platforms on wood floors would be significant. Very patient owner who was sincerely interested in helping me improve the sound of my system.

I have to say the sound of the speakers was cleaned up and more focused, and the soundstage opened up. There was less coming out of the speakers - distortion was reduced dramatically. He told me that was expected. The entry level ones are very reasonable (Segue Platform although the stealth - black ones I got are more $$ and add another layer to the platforms), and if you want to spend more, you can on his higher level models, but the incremental improvement was not recommended for my application for the cost. I liked the guy so much (he custom cut the platforms to my needed dimensions with no upcharge) that I bought his rollerblocks for under my amp and phono stage for isolation purposes. I am sure they improved the sound, but nowhere near as noticeably as my turntable from Townshend or the speakers from Symposium.

Both companies have great products - it all depends on the application. Symposium's wouldn't work with a turntable as light as mine, and Townshend adding instability to my speakers wasn't something I could live with.

sokogear
1,104 posts
 

@hilde45  - I would be the Symposium platforms are better for distortion/noise drainage and the Townshend podiums are better for isolation. I needed more isolation for my turntable and drainage for my speakers, so that's why I use both companies. For speakers, I think Symposium provides a much bigger bang for the buck. If I remember back when I got them, the Townshend product that would have worked was about 2-3 times the cost, and I am sure would have been an improvement - I was just not comfortable with the rocking. My amp and preamp move around with so much as a nudge being on top of the rollerblocks, but I can live with that since they are very stable. 

sokogear
1,104 posts
 

@wyoboy - part of the reason I went with the Symposium platforms is that they they raised the height of the speaker exactly the same as what came with the speakers (outriggers/spikes/discs), so the tweeter height was not affected.

You never know how much (if any) improvement you'll get from any given accessory/tweak (I hate that word). Symposium offers a money back guarantee, so you're only risking the cost of shipping, but I will say that if you talk to Peter there, he will tell you if he thinks there will be an improvement with your exact application if he experience with it.  

My experience with both Townshend's seismic platform under my TT and Symposium with my speakers are that the improvement was immediately noticeable and more than I expected. Not so much with Symposium rollerblocks under my amp and phono stage.

Lastly, I thought my stereo sounded darn good back in college, and it has only gotten better over the decades. Every time I think I am "there" I am surprised that the bar seems to be higher with a different arm, phono stage, cartridge, etc. And I am nowhere near as critical a listener as a lot of Agon contributors and don't change components very often (amp is 18 years old, speakers weren't traded in for 25 years). Most of the time I am doing something else, and I don't have a dedicated room - it's a den.

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