Under my tower speakers -- Isoacoustics Gaia, other options?


I have Ascend towers (45lbs each) on a concrete floor covered in thin wall to wall with an area rug on top of that. I am looking into different footers for my speakers and am curious what people with towers on concrete have tried and liked.

To my mind, something as expensive as Townshend platforms do not seem worth it, as they'd cost about a third of the price of the speakers themselves.

If you've tried Gaia III isolators or other kinds of feet for your speakers, especially on concrete floors, I'm curious to hear your observations. Thanks.

128x128hilde45

Have you heard of or tried Herbies Isolation Pods/Pucks? 
I did some testing with them and without: nothing incredible but they did at least affect and improve a few specific Frequencies from my loudspeakers when I used them underneath.  Also noticed they helped kill about 1/2 of a noise/distortion issue I have with a couple very micro-phonic pre-amp tubes.  I don't think they are 'better than' Gaia (which I think also have actual solid real world room speaker and turntable measurements), but they are really affordable, and the owner of the company is VERY communicative.  
 

 

I have the Oreas under my Turntable platform.  They do some isolating but mostly dampen vibrations.  Works good for my Sota turntable.  (Putting a second set of spring footers under a Sota is not a good idea.  The double spring system would be unstable.)  I tried the Nobsound footers both directly under my preamps and DAC and on platforms that the preamps and DAC sit on.  I found that better because the feet on my equipment are designed to dampen vibrations.  You can see them on my system page.

Remember to tune the footers to your equipment by using as few springs as possible for each footer.  If you are in-between- ie one less spring is too little and one more spring is too much, don't be afraid to add a mass to your component to increase the load.  The lower the spring rate, the lower the natural frequency of the system.  Fewer springs gives a lower system spring rate.  Lower is better.  And the higher the mass, the lower the natural frequency.

Hilde:

Added Gaia Ii to my Dynaudio C60s and the difference in midrange and bass was remarkable. I use the spikey pads on carpet over concrete. Do it!

@tonywinga

A couple of years ago I watched a Peter Townsend video demonstrating his speaker platforms

That would be surprising. Pete Townshend is the guitarist for the Who. The gentleman who made the Podiums was Max. No relation. https://hifiplus.com/articles/max-townshend-a-personal-tribute/

Oh yeah. Thanks for the correction.  I was listening to The Who just the other day.