IsoAcoustics Gaia Footers AND Townshend Seismic Podiums

I just received a response from John Hannant who is the primary dealer for Townshend that the Isoacoustics footers will degrade the performance of the Podiums. Interesting! But I had a feeling that could be the case as two decouplers could have an adverse effect, similar to what @milpai describes with Nikon VR lenses. 

@thyname “Truly out of the box thinking” totally got me! It was just the case of sheer laziness. Now I suppose I will need to remove the Gaia, which makes more work for me!

@musicaddict The way I’m trying to make sense of it is that both of these solutions (Isoacoustics and Townshend Podiums) are decoupling solutions, which are a bit different from damping or typical absorption solutions. With decoupling, my understanding is that the vibration that comes from the speaker is isolated from the floor and vice versa, but there is also an inverse physical reaction that comes from the decoupling mechanism to counter what comes from either end and attempts to stabilize or minimize the resonances in the speaker. It may be that the inverse resonance control that the Townshend Podiums may not accurately counter back to the speaker because it is decoupled by the Gaia footers. In this case, the Gaia footers are supposedly the “weak link” in the chain. 

Perhaps @townshend-audio can validate or correct this hypothesis. 

@soix I did remove them and installed the stock spikes on the speakers and placed them on the Podiums. There was an improvement in high frequency articulation and clarity, but the tonal balance shifted as a result, and I will need to play with positioning a little bit. I know most people put their speaker direct on the Podium but as the ones I am using are bottom ported, I am weary of doing this. I may try that as well. 

@carlsbad2 Well said. Yes, it seems that people across multiple forums unanimously agree the Townshend Podiums’ performance notably exceeds the IsoAcoustics Gaia footers. I did notice an improvement in clarity off the bat, though delineation/imaging was affected, likely due to small shifts in speaker positioning. I unfortunately had to travel out of state for the week, but I look forward to continuing to dial the speakers in with the podiums in place. 

@aewarren I’m not sure if you read it but my speakers are bottom ported. While the Podiums have a set of small cutouts in its base, placing the speaker directly on the podium will block 80-90% of the bottom port. Also, have you seen the Townshend Podiums? They basically add no height… maybe as little as 1/4” if you adjust carefully. 

@alan60 The Seismic Bars are known not to provide the same level of weight distribution and stability as the Podiums, and as such, do not deliver the same level of performance. I was advised by John Hannant who is the primary distributor of Townshend that it is fine to use spikes on the platforms. But that Gaias would detract from the sonic performance the Podiums bring. I will continue to test as I get back this weekend.

@ronboco REW is a good suggestion, and I may do that. As I said, I thought I noticed it to be more tipped up with the spikes on vs the Gaia, but that could be due to more detail coming through. Sometimes that won’t show up in REW as it is not about the amplitude of the frequency that REW captures on a frequency sweep (singular frequency playing at a time), but about the imaging clarity that the Podiums bring due to less resonance and faster speed of delivery in complex passages. Only one way to find out, though, right?

Just to update the thread, I spent a good amount of time dialing things in last night. Only ver little needed to be done with positioning to get the best sound I’ve gotten out of my speakers with the Townshend Podiums.

They are still on their stock spikes vs directly on the platform. Where I reported the tonal balance shifting in the past, this was largely caused by the speakers being placed slightly closer together, causing an increase of energy in the center. The bass did get more taut which at first made it sound leaner, but this is likely due to less energy going into the floor. By adjusting the positioning, the speakers have reached a higher level of clarity. Microdetails are more discernable with less fatigue. With less resonance, the sonics have significantly better bass speed and articulation compared to IsoAcoustics Gaia footers. This leads to an overall more holographic presentation and improved air. 

I still highly recommend the IsoAcoustics footers as a more cost-effective solution. I’d say they get about 70% of where the Podiums take you at less than half the price. And I still very much leverage Isoacoustics Orea footers under every component that I own.