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Isoacoustics Orea vs Townshend Seismic Pod on Components

I installed a set of Isoacoustics Gaia 2s on my speakers about a month ago and was extremely pleased with them. I'm now curious about the Oreas.

My components are currently placed on a good rack with Finite Elemente Cerabase footers at the bottom of the rack. I was wondering if individual isolators such as the Orea or Seismic Pod placed under components can further improve sound quality. I've read contradictory comments about the Orea. Some say they brought an appreciable difference when placed under components such as DAC or amplifiers. Some say they bring nothing to the sound, zero difference.

I would appreciate experiences on the Isoacoustics Orea or the Townshend Seismic Pod, or the comparison between the two products. The Oreas look better than the Pods to me although the latter may be costlier.
ryder
ryder OP
1,682 posts
 
Reading the finicky setup of the Nobsound, in my limited experience this applies to the Isoacoustics Gaia too but perhaps to a lesser extent. Most people will just take things for granted, setting up the footers and then expect them to work well with the first installation with the assumption that everything is done correctly. When I first installed the Gaias on my speakers, I nearly threw in the towel after they made the sound worse, thinking that I must be a victim of another overhyped product. Fortunately, after few adjustments to the Gaias to get them more evenly loaded, they have now performed to expectations.

If you get a poor result, the blame is usually on the product when it can be just a case of poor or incorrect set up, or something else. It’s not always the case but worth mentioning.




audiopoint
199 posts
 

Not really my place here, but would like to bring a few thoughts into the conversation.

Regardless of the good, better, or best performance from a footer, a large percentage of what you are experiencing with any type of footer, especially those located under electronic components; the principal equipment rack or speaker plinths totally affects their sonic outcome and your decision making.

Everyone forgets or never realizes that the equipment rack is the core component - the heart of every system. 

The rack governs every purchase you make from now or until you decide to audition and purchase a racking system capable of higher performance.

Unfortunately, for most audiophiles, this is the least discussed piece of equipment in the system.

I would love to hear more about the rack brand, construction, or materials used when discussing footers, accessories, and sonic opinions.

Thank you for your time,

Robert



ryder OP
1,682 posts
 
Hi Robert.
You brought up an important subject. The equipment rack in my main system is Finite Elemente Spider with Ceraball Spider feet at each supporting level and Cerabase footers at the bottom of the 4 pillars. The equipment rack in my 2nd system is a cheaper 4-tier design without any isolation enhancement. At some point in the future I will likely replace the standard spikes of the rack with some isolators, perhaps the Isoacoustics Gaia.
ryder OP
1,682 posts
 

The Nobsound springs arrived yesterday and I put them under my Audio Note Cobra. This amp has been sitting on an Ethan Allen wooden cabinet, beautiful, but not an audiophile accessory. The change is pretty dramatic- more dimension, better focus, just more of a "right" spacious feel to things. I’ll do some blind tests over the next few days if the family is up for it. I should be getting the Oreas today but don’t know if we will have power back in our region from the storm today.

 

May I ask if there’s any update on the Nobsound springs vs Isoacoustics Oreas on the Audio Note Cobra? Did you use all 4 Nobsound units on the Cobra and how many springs are installed on each Nobsound unit? I checked the weight of the Cobra and it’s 13.6 kg which isn’t too heavy.

astolfor's avatar
astolfor
317 posts
 

Here is my experience.

I used the Isoacoustics Orea Bordeaux and Indigo and did not make much difference if any at all. Now, if you really want to isolate use the Seismic Isolation Pods from Townshend. IMHO way better by a long shot. I did a simple the test the Pods, Orea and no Isolation. I have an unipivot tonearm in one of my tables. I put the table on top of the Orea, played a record, then I tapped the shelf with 20gr pendulum, the sub extended 1.23 inches, then I put the table on top of the pods and repeated the the experiment, and the sub extended 0.21 inches, without isolation the sub extended 1.24 inches. The reason I did use this method was an attempt to take all the subjectivity out of the equation. Yes the Pods are more expensive, but they work. I repeated the test 4 times and these are the averages. The Nobsound pucks did a much better job than the Isoacoustics too, the only "problem" with the Nobsound is that you need to figure out how many pucks and springs, but once you dial it in, then they land at 0.86 of an inch of extension.

 

I used laser range traces to measure the extentisions.

 

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