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Experience with Townshend Seismic Podiums on Concrete Floor (they're great)

​I have tower speakers on a concrete floor covered with carpet. Recently, I tried out the Townshend Seismic Podium (size 1)  on my Ascend Acoustics Towers (RAAL tweeter) for about 4-5 hours. Here is a brief recounting of my experience.

At first, I set up the podiums and just listened to well known tracks; next, a few days later, I used that same set of tracks to compare, A & B, the speakers on the podium vs. without the podium (but at the same height). A friend with me also compared this A/B setup. We listened to a simple jazz arrangement, a Mozart aria, a rock recording by Chesky, and a country/rock piece. All were well recorded.

The difference made by the podiums are not subtle. In general, it is as if the entire sonic presentation was brought into focus, as if a light veil or layer of dust had been wiped away. It organizes everything; it makes the parts of the whole make sense.

More specifically, these were the effects I noticed: 

Bass was slightly fuller, much cleaner and more distinct; for an electric bass, this meant that rounded notes that previously blurred in a sequence (too legato) become individual notes. String bass notes gained dimensionality and texture; the finger on the string became more real, and the resonance of the large wooden bass got fuller and richer. Rhythm sections were better able to stand out *as* rhythm sections, that is, as musicians who are working together.

As far as midrange and treble go, there was -- as with the bass -- more definition, clarity, detail. They sound more like instruments-in-the-room rather than the presence of instrument appearances. Not much about their tonal character changed, but they became more palpable and more exactly located.

That brings me to the soundstage. The width of the soundstage grew by about 10-14% — 5-7% on each side. It was remarkable. Instruments gained space, separation, and definiteness of location. They didn't sound apart or isolated but just more distinct, separated from other instruments. I imagined this as fidelity to the way the microphone recorded them or as the mixing engineer intended. 

When I ordered the podiums, I made sure to ask for the ability to return them. I was assured that I could return them if I just paid shipping. (No restocking fee.) I was skeptical and wanted an escape clause. I had watched a few videos and was curious about whether Mr. Townshend's scientific claims would translate into audible differences that would be worth the money (the podiums cost about 1/3 of my speakers' cost). 

Well, my skepticism is gone — and it disappeared rather quickly at first, and then after careful comparison. I am keeping the Townshend podiums. Are they better than Isoacoustics footers or other products? I don't know, because I have not compared them. But they're making a huge difference and, should I want to put other speakers on them, they'll fit the others I have, easily. I'm pretty sure I'll never give these up.

 

128x128hilde45
brownsfan
1,508 posts
 

This is a really interesting subject, and one that my own personal experience has taught me ought not to be ignored.  I am more than a little surprised that @hilde45  experienced the magnitude of improvement that he did, given that he is working with what I consider to be the best case scenario, that being carpet over concrete.  When you think about a problem, and the experimental results aren't what you expect, you need to pay attention and learn.  It means you are not thinking about the problem correctly. 

 In trying to think my way through this problem, I've thought in terms of 3 different types of unwanted kinetic energy that are undoubtedly problematic to some degree.  

  1. movement of the speaker cabinet back and forth and side to side due to Newtonian action reaction caused by the driver motion
  2. cabinet vibration also due to the drivers motion
  3. floor resonance being transferred back and forth between the speaker and flooring until it finally dissipates.  

It has been my experience that that last type of unwanted kinetic energy (3) can be very bad.  Carpet over concrete presents a situation that is orders of magnitude less prone to transferring kinetic energy back and forth from and to the cabinet than is carpet over wood.  If I recall correctly he tried spikes, which should minimize front to back and lateral cabinet movement (1), and yet, he found the Townsend product to be a substantial obvious improvement over what he had used previously.  Unless I am missing something, this all tells me that that speaker cabinet resonance (2) was the main culprit.  It also tells me that the Townsend product is somehow draining and dissipating that speaker cabinet resonance quickly.   I guess I am going to have to learn more about this product.  $1500 is not exactly lunch money but it is far less than I have already put into fixing my problem.

By the way, I've used spikes, I've used sorbothane feet, and I've used Herbie's gliders.  The gliders were head and shoulders above the sorbotthane and the spikes.  Now I wonder if the Townsends can get me a bit more.

 

smandlej
70 posts
 

As an owner of Townshend podiums myself, the clue is in the full name "Seismic". A concrete floor in an area of seismic activity, even minor, will not isolate your speakers fron nature's effects. The use of spikes coupled to a concrete floor will exasperate matters as Max explains in his youtube video. That's my two cents worth and I am keeping mine because my wood floors on the upper floor where my system is installed ensures that I am not entertaining the entire house.

hilde45's avatar
hilde45 OP
4,779 posts
 

@ozzy — thanks for the link to your review!
@relayer101 — I saw someone on another forum asking about down-firing ports. I can’t remember what they said, so you might need to search the web a bit on that question. It’s a good one.
@snilf — I got a nice deal from their representative that made it more affordable, FWIW. Still a lot more than the Isoacoustics — and way more than what you have! If I had not liked them, I would have simply paid shipping to return them. I’m selling another piece of gear to (mostly) cover the cost of these. Now that I know I want to keep them, that is. The reasoning I couldn’t escape was this -- "Whatever these cost, they’re still maximizing money spent on everything else." The only question was, "Maximizing by how much? 1% 5%?" The answer is hard to put in percentage terms but was basically, "By a degree I’ll find impossible to forget if I send these podia back."

As @brownsfan and @smandlej point out, the wood floor situation makes the podia even more relevant, so another reason I’m sticking with these is that they allow me to move my speakers to another room — or use the podia in another room — without having to consider another solution.

I want to add a shoutout to @millercarbon who wrote accurately and articulately about these products a while back. At the time, I was nowhere near having a system together, so the very idea of spending $1k on platforms seemed beyond the pale.

jtcf's avatar
jtcf
1,589 posts
 

@relayer101 I don't want to hijack hilde45's thread but I also have bottom ported speakers that according to the research I've done don't react well with the Townshend podiums.I've ordered Primacoustics platforms which are supposed to arrive Wednesday. I posted a video( looong and tedious) on hilde's other thread that demonstrated good results with a bottom ported sub.I'll tack it on to the other thread or start a new one and tag you with the results. I'll post a link for you.

jtcf's avatar
jtcf
1,589 posts
 

 

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