Isoacoustics Gaia and speaker wobble
I have installed Isoacoustics Gaia II isolators on my Focal Aria 936. Initially I had some issues installing them but have resolved that and they are on tight. I have thick plush carpet so the isolators are sitting on the carpet spikes that Isoacoustics offer as well. When I lightly tap on the side (and back) of the speakers near the top, the speakers wobble slightly, but then return to position. Prior to installing the isolators, I used the stock spikes and the speaker did not move as much, hence the questions.
Also, I put a bubble float on the top while playing the music loudly (with a high level of bass) and the bubble did not move, so I’m thinking that is key. I actually sunk a nail into the carpet to make contact with the hardwood floor beneath and then compared the length of the nail to where the isoacoustics carpet spikes go in and it appears deep enough.
Has anyone else experienced movement they consider normal and in general, is a certain amount of movement expected. And, yes I asked ChatGPT, but I’d like actual experience of owners. :-).
I know pictures help, so see below. In the first picture you can’t really see the spikes. The second I show them. You can hear them push through the carpet when I step on the plinth.
Thanks very much.
Hi, @hazeloop I watched the video. The Isoacoustic Gaia feets are not designed for installation on soft surfaces like carpet. They should only be used on hard surfaces (wood, concrete, parquet, laminate etc. like floors) or on stands. My advice: remove the carpet from under the speakers until they reach the floor themselves to keep using Gaias, or use spikes without heels. |
@ilyavorozheykin - this is the conclusion I'm coming to. The carpet spikes that Isoacoustics sells may work for thin carpet applications, but no way for thick carpet like mine. The last video I posted where I moved the speaker to hardwood to test it pretty much proves this. In that video, you can see the isolator do its work as designed when the vibrations occur. In the video on carpet, the entire carpet disc moves with the speaker since the spikes can sink into the floor below the thick carpet and pad. I do believe the isoacoustics work, but with the right application. Conceivably, I could secure some platform (wood, granite) to the subfloor through the carpet and once I have a solid base, the gaia would work. Now, I'm down that rat hole. |
@richardbrand is right. Ideally, one's speaker cabinet will be rigidly attached to the floor so that the forward and backward motion of the woofer cones will not cause an opposite motion in the cabinet. In theory, this could "muddy" transients. Spikes simulate this sort of rigid mounting, and are especially useful with carpets (obviously, the speaker can "wobble" every which way on a carpet—which is why using the Gaia feet in conjunction with a carpet is kind of nonsensical).However, this is not the whole story. If your floor is not itself rigid—not a concrete slab, but a suspended wood floor, for instance—then the floor itself will act as a transducer, absorbing sound from the speaker rigidly mounted to it and reverberating in an uncontrolled way. The acoustic effect of this is far worse than the minimal blurring or muddying caused by very slight reactive movements of the cabinet in response to cone movement. Bottom line: use spikes for concrete slabs and carpets but isolation devices (Gaia, Townshend platforms, sorbothane) for suspended hardwood floors. I've tried Gaia and Townshend, but have settled on cheap sorbothane feet to isolate my tower speakers (Scientific Fidelity Teslas) from my hardwood floor. Soundstage and instrumental location in space are enhanced, and bass is tighter as a result. The sorbothane feet (about $50 for eight) work as well as the expensive Townshend. By the way, Townshend has a video that shows how speakers mounted on their platforms do visibly wobble. But a seismograph mounted on top of the speaker remains flatlined even when someone is walking heavily nearby. |
