MNPCTech footers?

All great information. Overlooked however are the Townshend Audio Seismic products, imo the best "reasonably" priced (less than the cost of the Herzan and Minus-K platforms) isolation devices. The line includes individual Pods, Platforms (which incorporate the Pod), Podiums (likewise), and Speaker Bars. Well known in the UK, not so much in the U.S. (Townshend Audio products are distributed in the U.S.A. by Dan Meinwald of EAR-U.S.A., which may explain why they remain largely unknown here ;-) .

By the way Keith, I am a participant in the VPI Forum thread you provided a link to.

Keith, the GAIA are indeed listed on Amazon for $189, and B&M stores are selling them for $199. They were developed to be used as feet for loudspeakers, in place of the stock feet (if any) or spikes. But they are also appropriate for turntable, including your HW-19. The GAIA III can be used in place of the stock VPI rubber feet that came on the tables base, in place of the suspension springs inside the base of the table, or both.

You can read the review of the GAIA (and some other IsoAcoustics feet) in the June Stereophile by Art Dudley for any other clarification you need, or read about them on the IsoAcoustics website.

Keith, the GAIA III is not at all complicated externally (internally is a different story, but you needn’t concern yourself with that ;-). It is just a circular metal foot 1-1/2" tall by 1-3/4" in diameter, and will fit into the spring cavity in the HW-19 base. Each foot comes with three threaded studs, one of them being 1/4-20, the same as the T-nuts installed inside the base for the stock springs. You just remove the springs, and install the GAIA. Simple and easy!

The GAIA is normally used "right-side up" (the top of the foot has internal threads into which the stud screws), but there is no reason why it can’t be used upside-down, which it can be in the HW-19 base. One end of the stud screws into the T-nut in the base, the other into the GAIA foot. And the threading allows the foot to be adjusted in height, by which you can level the sub-chassis. Perfect! Art Dudley reviewed the GAIA III in last month’s Stereophile, if you want to read what he has to say about it’s performance as feet for his Garrard 301 table.

There is another superior footer you may want to consider, the one I chose to go with instead of the GAIA: The Townshend Audio Seismic Pod. It costs more than the GAIA III (but less than the GAIA I, about the same as the GAIA II), and is larger in size. I don’t know if it’s dimensions will allow it to be used inside the base of the HW-19, but it can used as feet for the base. I have a set under my VPI Aries I, and l love ’em! They’ve gotten great reviews in the UK hi-fi press, and by Robert Levi in Positive Feedback.

With the HW-19, more important than the feet on the wooden base are whatever is being used to isolate the floating sub-chassis from that base. Common replacements for the stock spring suspension are Herbies Tall Firm Tenderfeet and SIMS Navcom Silencers (no longer in production). And people are just now starting to install the IsoAcoustics GAIA III as suspension footers, and loving the results. $199 for a set of 4 ($189 on Amazon). They even come with a set of 1/4-20 threaded studs, the same size as the stock springs! The GAIA is adjustable, providing a means of leveling the sub-chassis. 

A lot of people have installed the 1.5" wide Mod Squad Tiptoes in place of the stock rubber feet on the wooden base of the HW-19, a good idea. But the Tiptoes extend past the edges of the bottom of the base, looking like Hell aesthetically. And, Tiptoes are machined out of aluminum, a very soft metal. A better choice is the Dayton Audio DSS2 foot, which is the same 5/8" height as the stock rubber foot, machined out of brass (somewhat soft, but people seem to like the sound of it), and offered in chrome, black chrome, and semi-gloss black (which matches perfectly the piano black version of the VPI base). Installed on the HW-19, a set of Dayton Audio feet looks really sharp. The foot is also available in a 1-1/4" tall version, model no. DSS3. Parts Express sells the DSS2 for $8.95 for a set of 4, $11.90 for the set of DSS3.