Townshend Seismic Podiums

What really happens is no matter what you do the whole room - floor, walls, ceiling, and everything in it - winds up vibrating like crazy. But the thing is, even if it doesn't travel 50 ft or whatever, even if it doesn't travel at all it is still a problem. Because if the speaker makes the floor vibrate, even if only right underneath the speaker, then those vibrations inevitably travel right back up into the speaker. 

Max has video clearly showing this is exactly what does happen. The smallest speaker cone movements, the ones that reproduce subtle ambient information, are easily swamped and smeared by this much vibration. This is why Pods and Podiums work so well. Eliminate this subtle vibration, reveal this subtle information. It really is that simple. 

Nobsound springs are under $30 per set of four. They are not damped, and this results in some amount of resonant behavior coloring the sound. It is however almost always low level enough to not be noticeable- except when compared to Townshend which are optimally damped and therefore have a huge reduction in coloration and greatly improved natural timbre.

My speakers, amp, turntable, everything went from Cones to springs to Pods and Podiums. The improvement at each step was not subtle. Not at all. I dare say no one would prefer Cones to Nobsound, and am even more certain everyone would prefer Podiums to Nobsound- or any other undamped plan spring. I can totally believe you were blown away. Try Nobsound, they are not on the level of Townshend but you will be shocked how good they are for the money.

Speaker cabinet vibrations are complex and varied. Rick makes a good case for the cabinet vibrating like a balloon. As drivers pressurize the cabinet, air pressure causes the walls to flex outwards like a balloon or tire being filled with air. Then it rapidly depressurizes. These cycles cause the whole speaker, not just the baffle, not just the sides, but the whole thing to be expanding and contracting. This is in addition to the obvious forward and back motion caused by the drivers.   

This may be one of the reasons cones and spikes work better than sitting directly on the floor. Cones and spikes go in corners, which are a lot more reinforced than the middle of the bottom, which is vibrating up and down, expanding and contracting. 

None of this vibrating is anywhere near as simple as that. What we think of as back and forth, expanding/contracting or whatever, if we look closer there are waves riding upon waves. This is a lot of what Wilson and others are trying to address with their composite honeycombed unobtanium high tech materials. 

Pods and Podiums simply allow all this complex motion to occur without exciting adjacent materials such as the floor. They work by allowing the speaker cabinet to dissipate its own energy without feeding into the floor, and equally important, without the floor energy feeding into the speaker. 

However we explain it, the results speak for themselves.

Sam,
Those speakers will probably both look and sound better sitting directly on Podiums. You may want to experiment with different materials between the speakers and the Podiums. I use BDR Cones on Round Things. Partly for looks, partly to make it easier to avoid scratches. It is overkill, I wouldn't go out and buy them for this, but I have em so I use em. 
Cheers,
Chuck

They can be used either way. Bear in mind the main point of outriggers is stability. Podiums already are wider and more stable. It won't gain anything going even wider, but you will need larger Podiums to accommodate outriggers.