Has anyone had experiences good or bad with speaker isolation or isolation in general ?


hi
i have been enjoying buying and listening to hifi for some 35 years now and have seen many items come and go.I have also been interested in the audio cable discussions and i agree that cables do make a difference how much of a difference is a very individual, and a system dependent situation. There has been nothing that has got me so excited and improved the sound of my system that has ever made me want to really share it with fellow audiophiles until i started to try various isolation products.With so much choice from affordable to very expensive i found the hole subject very confusing and i did not know where to start. After trying lots of various products all shapes and sizes with very different results i decided to read reviews which is something i do not usually do to get some advise.I read a review on the Townshend audio seismic podiums they are isolation platforms that go under your speakers .This company is very famous for isolation ideas and have been around some 50 years based here in the UK they also had a factory in the USA back in the 1980s. I contacted Nick at Emporium hifi  and he agreed to install a pair for me so i could have a listen. My speakers are sound-lab dynastats which i use in quite a small room but with the adjustments give a nice sound. After installing the podiums we both sat down with jaws hitting the floor these podium things completely transformed the sound of my system to absolute perfection. After all this time trying various products under my equipment i have now isolated my speakers and the sound quality is exactly what i believe we all are chasing, my sound-labs are now transparent no more bass problems i have just got one big 3D sound stage the dynastats are now very open with deeper much better bass everything is perfect. I now believe isolating your loudspeakers is the first port of call i was so impressed by the Townshend audio seismic products i now sell them as i have never come across anything that has given my system such a great upgrade , the sound is the same as before but now its just so much better its playing deeper bass but tighter much more resolution and no boom , the midrange is so much more human sounding realistic and spacious with the top end so refined and perfect , is anyone using podiums and had the same experiences i would love to hear from you thank you john 
mains
Alas, I can't really get much more width than how wide my speakers already are.. again because of the need to keep space for the playroom entrance. Right now my speakers are spiked through carpet into a concrete slab...

Anyone have any idea if springs and/or roller bearings would be an improvement over spikes on a concrete slab?
toddverrone, it's my professional opinion that coupling using spikes, etc would be best on a concrete slab unless there is an extreme source of outside vibration such as heavy road traffic.
I was, for many years, a Field Analyst and multi-plain balance specialist for The Westinghouse Corp. The same principals apply, weather it pertains to high rpm machinery such as turbines or large rotating machinery such as scrubber fans or to audio performance. Frequencies and Cycles are directly related and impact their connective apparatus and structures the same. Aside from out of balance, the major cause of failure or disruption of rotating machinery or any of it's coupled apparatus or connective structure, are resonant frequencies and their harmonics; looseness or wear anywhere in the chain and outside interference. All the same applies with audio and the solutions also the same. Dampening adds mass and can reduce vibration by eliminating the problem of resonance. If there is looseness anywhere in the system including a flimsy cabinet, shaky floors or loose parts it becomes a problem causing vibration and serves to amplify outside sources of vibration. It has been my experience that, when everything else has been addressed, if the floors are very solid and the cabinet/rack and stands are solid - coupling using spikes, etc is very affective. If the floor, cabinets and other structures are not solid or there are outside sources of vibration, then isolation devices would probably work best. Instead of blindly spending allot of money experimenting with what worked in someone else's system, evaluate your own system and structures.
Good luck,
Jim
 
hi
i would seriously without hesitation go for the podiums , with concrete floor or suspended wooden floor the benefits are shown by Max Townshend on you tube ,i have experienced the benefits on suspended wooden floor which is very solid without any bounce , as for knocking them off i use sound-lab dynastats which are maybe 6ft tall i have no worry's at all if anything they slightly move if pushed so the chances off toppling seem much less obvious than when i had them on the floor if pushed when flat on the floor they would tip, on the podiums they wobble slightly and i fill to make them topple would take a real serious push as they are basically on suspension i hope this makes sense , please fill free to ask further if i have not been clear bottom line im saying more stable on podiums check the look of the design depending on the size of your speakers footprint you could go for a bigger size but i really do not believe you need to , on concrete i have felt my speakers were not that stable any slight knock they would move on podiums they suspension takes the knock and speakers return to original position i love mine the performance is incredible and the sound -labs are definitely safe i have no worries regarding being knocked over i have 7 children from 7 years to 25 years one of my speakers is near a door way the speaker may get knocked now and again but has never fallen hope this helps.
The good thing about concrete slabs is they are very very stiff so they resist, but not totally eliminate, the rotational forces that result from Earth crust motion, traffic, subways, etc. The concrete slabs do not do so well in attenuating low frequency vertical forces since the entire building is being moved by the motion of the Earth's crust, etc. At the same time I have found very hard cones improve the sound and presumably the isolation effectiveness when employed under both the component on the isolation device and below the isolation device.