Isolation Platform to Raise & Isolate Loudspeakers

Several things going on here. For starters its vibration control. Can't be isolation because, well imagine perfect isolation: speaker levitating, just floating in space. But the speaker, in order to make any sound at all the drivers have to move. F=ma, every force needs an opposing force, the isolated speaker has only its own mass. Total flop, drain all the energy, a fact proven as easily as putting the speaker on an inner tube or even a couple sheets of sorbothane. So forget isolation.

Vibration control. Forget grounding. That ain't it either. As you can prove as easily as trying different shapes and things between the speaker and the floor. Which I highly recommend. The only way to eventually reach the point where you have a clue, have actually learned and are no longer merely repeating dogma other people repeated to you, round and round ad nauseum, is to try it. My tagline: go and listen.

Okay so by the way all the above applies to everything. You asked about speakers. A speaker is also going to sound different merely being raised or lowered an inch. Everything else the same but that inch changed the room reinforcement and relationship between you and the speaker which also affects the response you hear. 

So these are two separate things- vibration control and speaker placement. Try not to conflate the two.

Third issue- subwoofer. Every speaker is better with subs. Even a system with subs is better with subs. Mine has five. It sounds a lot better with five than it did with four. It sounded a lot better with four than it did with one. Understanding the theory behind why this is so I have no doubt six will sound better than five. Do a search for distributed bass array, Swarm, or read all posts by Audiokinesis if you want to get up to speed on subs.

From what I understand (which is limited!), the operative function in loudspeaker vibration control is not isolation, but rather energy dissipation from the speaker's cabinet or frame.  I'm picking up some Forte III's later this week myself and I'm considering a platform.

Thank you MillerCarbon!  I think you outlined this nicely. 

three-easy, what type of platform are you considering? DIY? I'm super curious. 

millercarbon
Several things going on here. For starters its vibration control. Can’t be isolation because, well imagine perfect isolation: speaker levitating, just floating in space. But the speaker, in order to make any sound at all the drivers have to move. F=ma, every force needs an opposing force, the isolated speaker has only its own mass. Total flop, drain all the energy, a fact proven as easily as putting the speaker on an inner tube or even a couple sheets of sorbothane. So forget isolation.

>>>>Isolation devices act as mechanical low pass filters. Nobody ever claimed it was perfect. Give me a break! The isolation effectiveness of an iso device depends on several factors, including the resonant frequency of the device - the lower the Fr the lower the percent transmission of vibration as you go up in frequency of vibration. AND as we’ve seen in the YouTube video from Max Townshend, speaker isolation has two primary functions - it prevents mechanical feedback to the front end electronics via the floor and reduces speaker cabinet resonance. Since speakers generally don’t have much energy below say 30 Hz isolating them is VERY effective since the percent of isolation for mass on spring devices is higher than 99.9% above 30 Hz. Problem solved! 🤗

Watch the Townshend Audio videos on You Tube.

@jbhiller 

I'm considering a Symposium Acoustics Svelte speaker set.  I'm using their Foundation Rack and a couple of other platforms with good results under other gear.

https://i.postimg.cc/cHTTzrtT/sveltespeakerset.jpg

IsoAcoustics GAIA line

@thyname   

IsoAcoustics GAIA line

No way would I put a Klipsch Heritage line speaker on feet or spikes.  They weren't designed to have a cavity beneath the speaker.   Paul W. Klipsch himself has noted in his designs that a cavity beneath the speaker can "ruin" bottom octave reproduction.

Now on speakers that are designed on feet or spikes I totally agree that the GAIA line often provides a nice improvement.  I use them on my Spendor D7s and like the improvement.

Sorry @three easy payments... I am not familiar with Klipsch speakers. Never owned them. You are right

The subdudes help, just as they did my REL.  Things sound better.  I'm not sure how to phrase it other than saying a good touch more coherent.  Surprisingly, the high end sounds more together. Hmmm. Inexpensive tweak. 

After another four hours of listening and swapping them in and out, I think the best description is that the midrange and treble have become better defined--ironically not the low end as much. The techy folks can either chalk this up to placebo or something scientific. I won't be returning them or moving them out though.