Footers under new speakers

@steakster , Thanks , I’ll be picking some up tomorrow when I go for air filters. You’re the 3rd person to recommend these. FWIT I just ordered approx 1000 sqft of glue down oak hardwood flooring. This part of the room is 18’x18’, I’m on the fence about wood Vs new carpeting. If I do go new carpet it’s going to be shorter and greater density, maybe wool Berber type. Thanks again , Mike 

@prof . Yes , thanks again. I studied your pictures and even saved them to my phone for future reference. You’ve put considerable time and thought into what you’ve done. One thing I noticed with the Townsends is everything improved, but I have some glare/reflection that wasn’t present before. I attribute this to an overall gain in performance from an underpowered amp I’m using interim until I finish our remodel and get out my big stuff. At that time everything will be situated differently and after some speaker placement fine tuning I’ll focus on room acoustics. I have high hard sloped ceilings and I’m getting reflections with the increased gain in my current situation. Cheers, Mike B. 

@bugredmachine , Hi thanks for your input. Most here are way ahead of me, and I’m grateful for all the input. I’m especially appreciative of the friendly atmosphere totally free of judgement. This has been a 180* change in thinking for me and I plan on trying a few of the other products. Regards , Mike B. 

@noromance , Hi , thanks for the info. In purchasing the Townsends I pretty much went from zero to one hundred overlooking a lot of good stuff, point taken. I have a modded Thorens TD-180 with a Grado cartridge. Your TT is fabulous and you are light years ahead of me and I appreciate the direction. When my kitchen remodel is done and the dust settles I’ll begin the new setup. So I’m looking at a rack/shelf, something like Timber Nation. I’m cost driven , so I might build something and go from there. I have my TT , DAC, Streamer, CD transport, all the usual stuff. My new pre and power amps are about 55bs X 3 pieces , so I’m looking at decoupling 7-8 items. I’ll definitely try what you recommended and I started to read your previous thread. To be cost effective and experiment I will probably try multiple combinations of affordable stuff like repurposed cutting boards and marble or quartz. The springs you mentioned , some pods , maybe absorbing materials like mats. For a few hundred dollars and a few hand tools I should be able to come up with some methods that yield improvement and have fun doing so. Thanks for your guidance, Mike B. 

@pindac , Yes I hear you. I’m not sure what I will do in regards to cabinet resonance at this point. But first I’ll be looking at proper placement/ set up for my speakers. That will be after my remodel when I move to a different wall and have the room to place my speakers 2-4 ft off the back wall to optimize positioning. After some initial setup I’ll get a mic and software to measure the sound in the room and begin some room treatment. After that I’ll probably look hard at my cabinet resonance, but I’m not ready to modify my cabinets at this point in time, but I get it. So thank you for your suggestions as they are certainly applicable to where I’m at. Happy Listening, Mike B. 

@lemonhaze , Hi , thanks for the compliment. I have the Pangea Sorbothane  feet under my line stage. They have pretty much glued themselves to the Rogue RP-1 feet and the shelf it’s on. I’ll have to pry it apart when I change up my rig. FWIT I damaged my raw birch Klipsh Heresys with Blue Dots that were provided by Sound Anchor when I purchased custom sized stands from them. I’ve accumulated quite a pile of gear to assemble. I’m sitting here waiting on a pending kitchen , den remodel which will result in a massive dust cloud throughout the house. When the dust clears I will be getting out the Rogue Hera Pre, the Rogue M-180’s. I plan on putting the amps ( 55lbs ea ) on platforms near my speakers. I’ll use a two shelf rack for the Hera pre, my Thorens TT, and my Yiggy DAC. I currently have an Innuos Pulse mini with a LPS, a Musical Fidelity CD transport , an Oppo 105, and a Richard Gray 600 filter. When all of this occurs I will start experimenting with various items for components starting with the less expensive items suggested like springs and pucks. My TT has a custom Brazilian Rosewood plinth with Maple Shade brass footers. I’m thinking an additional platform with vibration footers. I’m running into funding issues and still need balanced cables. Between the 3 Rogue pieces I’ll have 22 tubes and need dampers for them also. During all of that I need to get a dedicated Ethernet line to my streamer as I’m using a powerline adapter through the same lines powering the system. My next big purchase will be a nicer steamer. It’s always something. 😆 BTW have you done any mods to your Oppo ? I only bought it to watch  my concert DVD’s and it’s been in the closet for the last 2 years. Regards, Mike B. 

@bugredmachine , Thanks , its the Hera II, I bought it from the original owner for $2k. It was sent to Rogue for a full service and a retube with Sovtek’s then stored . The M-180’s were free from the same friend. One had an issue and needed repair. So I sent them to Rogue and decided on the full Dark upgrade and full retube. I have a stash of nos tubes for them. Rogue supply’s Psvane KT -88’s over Tung Sol KT-120’s due to quality issues. I did a 100 hr break in for the gear and then boxed it up. After the dust clears I’ll set it up. I wanted some Tannoy’s but I’m not that well funded. I bought the Tektons as a budget compromise and am Very surprised at how much I like them. I considered the MoFi 888’s too, I wanted a FUN SPEAKER over an exacting audiophile speaker. My goal for this whole thing is to have a big full off axis wall of sound. I have a Had Inspire and some ZU’s for that small late night experience. My wife will inherit that for her own system. Once I offered to set her up with her own rig to steam het stuff she was all in. I’ve always tried to get her interested in my system with moderate results. I guess it’s like her having her own car. I should have realized this long ago. Cheers , Mike. 

@cbrez , Thank you for your kind words, I give all the credit to the contributors on this thread. For me it’s been learning to think outside the box and “ Contempt prior to Investigation.” You have a nice system. Check out Hilde45 on this thread. He has/had similar gear to you. I’m totally grateful for the help I’ve received. My short term plan is to get my new gear up and running. During the process I’ll need a new equipment rack and isolation for 6-7 items. I’m going to get a few inexpensive items like springs , and isolation pucks and build a few platforms and just experiment. On the pricier side I’m considering Auva and Tough Nutt products. Happy Listening, Mike B. 

@travbrow , Hi thanks for your input. I was not even aware of this brand.  I will spent some time reading up on their products. Happy Listening, Mike B. 

@pindac , Once again thank you for your comments. This came at the perfect time as I’m gathering items for my new setup. Of high importance is a new rack for my gear. I did some online searching and came across the ENJOYYOURSHELF article. My intent is to commission one of my woodworking friends to build one that looks similar to Timber Nation products, but on a beer budget. I will certainly study his designs and incorporate them into my equipment shelf. Regards , Mike B. 

@westcoastaudiophile , Hi not sure I understand your question/comment. Why bother with the podiums ? FWIT I previously had JBL near fields on Sound Anchor spiked stands. They stood 4 1/2 ‘ and a combined weight of 100 lbs, they were spiked. I then had Zu Omens Spiked with great results. I thought there might be more with the ZU’s so I used 4” walnut slabs spiked to floor with the ZU’s on top various ways and it was a total flop. After some talk with Sean Casey at Zu he concluded that the back pressure sitting just above the carpet played well with the speaker / tube amp interaction . So this thread is with Tekton DI’s and carpet for now. I’ve read for considerable time about improvements with uncoupling and wanted to try. I tried the Tektons unspiked on the carpet , then spiked, then spiked with 10lb dumbbells on top to get rid of the cabinet resonance that occurred when I added the spikes. Now I have the Townsends and they took 1 day to settle. The SQ improvement is absolutely astounding. And I don’t have bias confirmation with my play things. I recently let go of my Harley’s and my snow skis and my road bike due to age. I reached my peak with my firearms hobby and cut the herd to about 30, with my class III stuff having to reside in a friendly state. I’m a definite Mid Fi guy and way out of my league here. As soon as I get my wife her new kitchen I can play stereo and dedicate some time and money to learn and enjoy. I won’t be able to try my recently acquired and upgraded 180 wpc tube amps until after this damn kitchen remodel. The flooring guy was here today and I asked about wool Berber to replace my existing shag rug , I had sticker shock. I might be on wood here too ! Please excuse me if I come across too blunt , I’m smiling. Regards, Mike B. 
 

@fthompson251 , Wow ! Your system is amazing and way above my level. I was not aware of the Viablue products so thank you. The “ Wiggle Factor “ is totally out of my comfort zone too. My speakers are 54” tall and 115 lbs , and Un spiked on my carpet had about the same wiggle factor. However with the Townsends I’ve leveled them with a bubble level and now settled, they come back to zero when I manually wiggle them. I’m still not clear on the Townsends if they hang or push within the pods. Out of the comments I’ve received from people that have actually used them the vast majority are very pleased. I have cheap speakers compared to most and I had a huge improvement. There’s a thread that just started by a Magico owner and I would imagine that with a speaker that well engendered and at that price point would experience a lesser improvement. All I can say is , I was skeptical until I took the plunge and tried them. FWIW the price is received  from Townsend was comparable to Gaia and Auva with almost all that tried those against Townsend preferring Townsend. I’m not going to turn into a Fan Boy and preach the You Must Have mantra. By the same respect I dislike blanket statements like “ Power cords do not make an improvement “. I do believe that everything is system dependent and we can generalize but never be absolute. So thank you for sharing and if I had your gear my neighbors would certainly hear it. Cheers , Mike B. 

@fthompson251 , So I went over and rocked my speaker by hand and made a reference point above the front corner with my finger. The speaker can swing side to side almost an inch each way. Then it settles right back to level. I have two 60 lb Standard poodles and one likes to lay by the left speaker. The other day she bumped it lying down and had her rear haunch on the pod itself. The speaker moved and settled right back. I went over without disturbing the dog and put my level on the speaker and it was plumb. I think what’s most amazing is how strong the bass is without being planted to the floor. Regards , Mike B. 

@unreceivedogma , Hi thanks for you’re recommendation. I had a single sub that I removed from my system. However when I change room location and do my new setup I’m planning on running duel subs that are fairly large. I like the footers you have and am also considering Herbies. As much as I like the Townsend’s I can’t afford to buy more of them. I might try one under my TT. What to you prefer for your turntable ? My stuff is pretty modest by comparison so I’m really cost driven. Respectfully, Mike B.