First impressions of the Isoacoustic Gaia 1’s

@bdp24 

“@curtousjim: No, the Townshend Podium does not screw into the holes of ANY loudspeaker or it's bottom plate. The Podium is just a metal plate with Pods bolted onto it. If you want to keep the Reference 5's bottom plate (I would), just install a set of Pods in place of stock spikes. You COULD remove the stock plate and set the now-baseless”
 

So are you saying I would need pods and the podiums?

That seems like major overkill to me.

JD

curiousjim,

The only reason I would remove your metal plate is because you said it has bumps on it from where the spikes are to go. That could be a problem with stability.

So, if it is easy to remove I would.

BTW, once the podiums are installed, it will probably scare you a bit as to how much they can wobble. One time I leaned against them while adjust some cabling and when they wobbled I thought they were going to tip so I let go causing me to loose balance, I fell to the floor and crushed a couple KT 120 tubes in my mono blocks on the way down. I’m not saying the podiums make them unstable, just be aware.

ozzy

@havocman: Your most recent post tells me two separate issues have become conflated:

1 - Using individual Pods bolted onto your loudspeaker’s stock bases VS. removing the bases and placing your now-baseless loudspeakers on Podiums.

2- My unique situation of using 3 Pods bolted onto my Sound Anchor tripod-style speaker bases VS. you using 4 Pods with your loudspeakers.

Unless I’m mistaken, I believe what John is telling you is NOT that the use of individual Pods under your speakers will be unstable, but rather the use of 3 of them will be. I can confirm that 4 is much more stable than three. I first tried 3 Pods under a relatively heavy turntable (VPI Aries 1), and that was a failure. The table did indeed flop around, side-to-side and front-to-back. 4 is definitely far better than 3 in that application. 3 was also unstable under the very heavy Esoteric DV-50S digital player; 4 is much better. Interestingly, both the table and digital player have moving parts. However, under my lightweight electronics (with no moving parts), 3 works fine. Just move the Pods around until the mass is distributed between them such that balance is achieved. With individual Pods, you can even use a higher-weight rated model under the transformer end of a power amp.

In any case, you should definitely take John’s advice on all things Townshend. However, if you look at the individual Pods and the Pods attached to the Podium, you will see they are identical. The only difference is that the Podium has adjustment knobs on the top of the Podium plate, making leveling easier than it is with individual Pods. But the individual Pods are adjustable as well, just without the knob.

So if you have the dough, and don’t mind springing for the higher-priced Podium, great, go for it. But I’m telling you: four individual Pods bolted onto your stock bases will be just as stable as the Podium, ASSUMING THE BASES ARE THE SAME SIZE.AS THE PODIUM PLATE. And also the same thickness/stiffness/anti-resonant, etc. All the Podium is, is 4 individual Pods attached to a metal plate. It IS a nice plate ;-) .

The reason 3 Pods work with my loudspeakers/outriggers but is not generally recommendable is because of the unique design of the Sound Anchors stands, the mass distribution of the loudspeakers, and the front-to-back vs. left-to-right dimensions. In general, 4 is definitely the way to go. In fact, I will shortly be getting stands for my speakers (Eminent Technology LFT-8b) that Grant Mye is willing to make, and I will be bolting 4 Pods onto them. Why the Mye stand instead of the Townshend Podium? In addition to a metal base, the Mye stand has struts that extend from the base up to near the top of the LFT-8b’s planar panel, providing support and bracing to the entire structure.

@curious Jim: No. The Podium is fitted with 4 Pods. If you get the Podium, you obviously don’t need individual Pods.

So, the choice is to either remove a loudspeakers’ stock base (if any) and set the speaker on the Podium, or, if you are happy with the stock base/outrigger of your speaker, use 4 individual Pods in place of the (presumably) stock spikes.

Talk to John at Townshend, and follow his advice is my advice. He expressed to me his reservations about my idea of using 2 "C" Pods on the front of each of my Sound Anchor stands and 1 "D" Pod on the rear (in place of the 3 stock spikes), but I decided to give it a try. It may not be the best choice in most applications, but works in mine.

The Gaia raise the tweeter height so that’s going to be a noticeable change. I imagine the height increase also helps a bit to reduce the floor bounce reflection.

As a side-note, it is interesting that every Gaia discussion gets flooded with Townshend Audio plugs.