I too did all my purchasing of Townshend Audio Seismic products from John Hannant, who was a pleasure to deal with. I have them under my speakers, turntables, CD/SACD player, and electronics. Not cheap, but imo money well spent.
Townshend Audio Seismic Podiums Review
Seismic Isolation Podiums: A Game-Changer for Bass Control and Overall Sound Quality
After attending the Capitol Audio Fest, and returning home to evaluate my system against what I’d heard, I was reminded just how much I love the sound I’ve cultivated in my setup over the years. In many ways, it stood up favorably against some of the best systems I heard at the show—some costing many times more. That said, the experience left me inspired to try to push my system further and find how I could make it even better.
One issue I’ve been wanting to address is the bass boom in my room caused by my large speakers coupling with my raised floor. My listening room is on the lower level of a split-level home with an open floor plan and a suspended floor that behaves a bit like a drumhead. While I’ve installed bass traps in the corners and experimented with absorbers and isolators, I was still searching for a way to decouple the speakers from the floor entirely.
That’s when I discovered Townshend’s Seismic Isolation Podiums. I was already familiar with Townshend’s supertweeters, but I had no idea how highly regarded their isolation products were. After combing through countless reviews (seriously, I couldn’t find a bad one which was amazing), I reached out via an Audiogon listing to Townshend’s Worldwide Sales Manager, John Hannant, for guidance. He’s a really responsive guy, and he recommended and sold to me the Size 5, E-weight Podiums for my massive 250+ lb Dynaudio Consequence Ultimate Edition speakers.
The Podiums arrived in Virginia in under a week, all the way from England, and my first impressions were:
1. They’re frickin big.
2. They’re frickin solid.
3. How on earth am I going to get 250 lbs speakers onto these spring-loaded platforms
Thankfully, the process turned out to be much easier than I feared. Using Teflon furniture sliders, I carefully tilted and slid the speakers onto the Podiums, fine-tuned their positioning, and bubble leveled them according to the directions. Despite how unnerving it feels to see, and feel, my hefty speakers perched on a bouncy interface, the results speak for themselves: the bass response has been transformed.
The muddying boom I’d been battling is gone, replaced by bass that is tighter, quicker, and far more defined. It’s truly amazing how much of a difference these Podiums have made. Beyond the bass improvement, they also reduce vibrations transferring from the floor to my equipment rack, which further improves other aspects of the sound in more subtle ways. Everything is just a little better.
The build quality of the Podiums is exceptional, as you’d expect from a product hand made in England essentially of just heavy specialty coated steel, carefully chosen tempered springs and a custom rubber dampening system. While they’re not inexpensive (what is, in this hobby/industry), they deliver on every claim I read about, and can be considered a lifetime investment because there is nothing to wear out.
Townshend has truly created a stellar product, backed by fantastic customer service. The Seismic Isolation Podiums have exceeded my expectations, and I can’t recommend them highly enough to anyone looking to elevate their system’s performance, particularly if resonance is a known issue.
Kudos to Townshend for such a well-engineered solution that makes a real difference!
Note: I have no affiliation with Townshend, nor was any monetary or product provided to me to generate or influence my review.
16 responses Add your response
Agree with the benefits of springs under speakers, regardless of the flooring support, but especially with suspended wood floors. Having very solid and wider-than-the-speaker Sound Anchors stands made it much easier for me to size, damp, and position individual springs under my speakers but I certainly understand the appeal of the Townshend products for ease of use. |
bdp24, just adding Pods, or their dual Pod Corners product, was my first idea for my Dynaudio speakers, but John Hannant convinced me that the Podiums were the best solution for me. Same price as corners too. I would have loved to just screw four pods into my footers but, after working with the Podiums, I can see what he meant. Due to weight distribution, I had to slide my speakers all the way back on the biggest size Podiums. If I’d just used Pods or corners, it may have been difficult to get a good even weight distribution across the footprint of my type of speakers. That was just the solution for my speakers though. |
Actually, by using available on-line tools, matching springs to a single situation is not all that hard, but does require consideration of the weight to be supported, acceptable dimensional limits, desired range of compression, and a few other factors. A DIY solution must also consider an effective damping strategy. Where the Townshend solution does so well is in offering a product that is successfully applicable to such a wide range of situations (i.e., weights, sizes, and other factors). |
I sold my first set of Townshend Podiums with my Sasha 2s. I didn't have the same floor issues as the OP as my system is on stone on concrete. My gains we not as much in the bass area. All frequencies tightened up increasing resolution and focus. They contribute to the soundstage in a significant way. I had IsoAcoustics on the Sasha 2s and took the 30 trial offer from John at Townshend. While the IsoAcoustic product certainly looks cooler, they didn't perform as well as the challenger, Townshend. For Christmas this year and at my request, my wife gave me custom made Podiums for my Rockport Cygnus speakers. I looked longingly at Stillpoints ($10,000) for the Rockports, and HIFISTAY (5 or 6K) plus spikes, but I know Townshends work, and I didn't want to commit that much capital to footers if there was another way. I think the custom made base that will trace the outline of the speaker bottom might look very cool. |
Those Cygnus speakers are really next level! With a solid aluminum front sandwich baffle, but being quite swept back for time alignment. I’m betting they will be somewhat front heavy but not as much as even my Dynaudio’s are. But with custom Podiums, I’m sure they will level nicely, probably with F weight rated Pods on the Podiums. Not that yours would need it, but I wonder if Townshend ever mix weight rate Pods if a speaker Is significantly heavier on one side. Such as a really thick non-time aligned front baffle on a rectangular enclosure. |
I am so happy to hear how happy you are using the Townshend Podiums. While I never did buy any of the Townshend isolation products, I did have the same boom in my sound and I was vibrating the dishes at one end of the house and the attic fan at the other side of the house if I turned my KEF Reference 5’s up a bit. I then got some pieces of granite I placed the KEF’s on and it helped, but when I put some Isoacoustics Gaia One isolation feet on, oh did everything improve. Not just the buzzing of dishes, but my Soundstage really tightened up as well.
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The Townshend web site has links to Mr. Townshend showing significant vibration absorption even directly on concrete. That said, my implementation was to try to solve an audible problem with a crappy floor that the stands seemed tailor made to fix. I have no idea how much difference you would hear/feel in your application on what should be a good floor situation. Maybe play some reasonably heavy bass and actively try to feel how much vibration is transmitted directly from the speakers to your flooring, and from it to your gear. With the Townshend’s, I can stand barefoot right next to the speakers and feel nothing, up to a pretty decent volume level. That was not the case before them. |