Gaia Isolation anything in this?

[ElJaimito]

This chap shows a reduction in IMD when using these isolation products,

ISO Acoustics Gaia III Isolation Feet Review

Recently a customer requested ISO Acoustics Gaia III isolation feet for their custom speakers. Once they arrived I was curious to see how they performed and so I devised an objective test to compare the feet against rigidly coupling the speaker to the floor. My test consisted of subwoofer...

josephcrowe.com

The manufacturer states,
“The reduction in vibrations can be explained by the way that IsoAcoustics isolation manages the energy of the speaker to reduce internal reflections. The vibrations when spikes are used is greater in comparison because the vibrations are hitting the solid surface and conducted back to create internal reflections.”
I am highly sceptical are these just cup and ball with a sorbathen footer?
Keith

IMHO and long experience the claims made for these products are mostly snake oil. I never use them, never recommend them. Mind you, I bolt my speakers down on rigid stands. If you MUST put them on a resonant surface or desk (hint: don't) then I suppose they might just have some slight effect. See e.g. https://ethanwiner.com/speaker_isolation.htm

 

[Purité Audio]

No because ‘isolation’ feet make no difference.
Keith

 

[sandeep_s300]

Hello everyone,

I own a pair of B&W 805s with the original stands, and I’m trying to determine if there would be any benefit in using IsoAcoustics Gaia III isolators in my setup. Currently, the speakers are screwed into the stands, which are placed directly on a wooden floor (using b&w spikes)

Has anyone had any experience with a similar setup, and could you share whether the Gaia III would offer a noticeable improvement compared to more affordable options like the Soundcare Jupiter spikes?

Any insights would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance.

Go for it - clear audible difference. Bass will feel like less but more defined,vocal clarity improves due to better instrument separation can be heard. I am using on my revel floor standing on wood floor and also on my center channel speaker .

 

[Purité Audio]

Any evidence?
Keith

 

[Chagall]

Far better value...and TÜV TESTED

 

[Acerun]

I will say that they look nice, make the speakers easy to re-position, and I like my speakers off my wood floor that has a garage underneath. Seems less boomy but no measurements.

 

[egellings]

My floor is concrete (no basement), so spikes on the speakers pierce the carpet and make solid contact with the floor. Except for the occasional earthquake, that baby doesn't vibrate at all.

 

[Witterings]

Far better value...and TÜV TESTED

View attachment 395683

Thay're not NEARLY expensive enough for audioplhile cred

 

[MattHooper]

No because ‘isolation’ feet make no difference.
Keith

You started the thread with an article where somebody measured reduced modulation amounts by 17dB.

Curious: What is the reason that you would assert this to be inaudible?

(given my own experience I’m glad I didn’t listen to somebody saying that isolation feet can’t make any difference)

 

[Purité Audio]

It’s always possible to manufacture an outlier case, extremely poorly designed loudspeaker placed on a resonant table, but properly designed loudspeakers will not store energy which could lead to audible resonance.
Keith

 

[Puddingbuks]

@Purité Audio I heard a demo twice at an audio show where they have an A/B setup with identical speakers. There is a difference to be heard, you can even hear it in this video, with a poor mic:

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

youtube.com

 

[MattHooper]

@Purité Audio I heard a demo twice at an audio show where they have an A/B setup with identical speakers. There is a difference to be heard, you can even hear it in this video, with a poor mic:

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

youtube.com

There are quite a number of similar demos on YouTube where you can hear the difference. Including some where people have been careful to keep the same speaker height, and relationship of the microphone to the speakers.

 

[Purité Audio]

I have been at demos where the volume was surreptitiously turned up, what is the mechanism for the change?
Keith

 

[MattHooper]

 

[Purité Audio]

I don’t watch that tripe but if you have a physical explanation?
Keith

 

[MattHooper]

I don’t watch that tripe but if you have a physical explanation?
Keith

You’ve previously given quite a bit of information (by people more technically informed than I am) about how footers can plausibly change the sound. Including measurements shown by others and in some videos I’ve posted before.

In other cases when measurable differences have been shown for footers, you’ve switched to “ but is it audible?”

You’ve been presented a video above where somebody went to lengths to control for variables, so you can try and hear the difference yourself.

If you are now going to hand wave it away as
“ tripe” without watching or even an argument as to how the experiment was faulty… you do you I guess.

 

[Purité Audio]

Explain through physics how they work, what are they doing to change the sound ?
Keith

 

[MattHooper]

Explain through physics how they work, what are they doing to change the sound ?
Keith

(knowing this is fruitless, and so I only have myself to blame…)

First of all, I’m not declaring that these devices work with some form of absolute or scientific certainty.

However, in response, I would point out..,

You yourself started this thread citing a test showing measurable differences when using the gai.

What is your account for these measurable differences?

As to how they work, isoacoustics give their explanation for the principles on which they purportedly work, as well as measurements testing those principles apparently showing measurable results:

IsoAcoustics Testing at the National Research Council of Canada (NRC)

Review testing completed at the NRC which includes frequency response in an anechoic chamber and measuring vibration levels using laser vibrometers to compare results between IsoAcoustics isolation and spikes.

isoacoustics.com

So the ball would be in your court as to your technical explanation against their claims and measured results.

If you were going to accept that they can make a measurable difference, the question becomes “ Is it audible?”

Well, there seems to be an enormous amount of feedback from people who have tried these that they make audible differences, and that they are virtually always similar audible differences - tightening of base, clearing up of mid range etc.

But if you want to say that all of that could just be a biased effect - you don’t trust other peoples reports, or you think maybe people aren’t carefully controlling for variables, well now you have a video where somebody has done that for you, to check it out yourself.

So basically the ball is in your court and that’s about all the work I’m inclined to do for you.

 

[Purité Audio]

Did those videos not include a physical explanation do you want to have a stab at one?
It is of course possible to engineer a situation where vibration might lead to audible resonance, placing a naked driver on the floor might do it.
But that’s one of the reasons why loudspeakers have enclosures.
I wouldn’t place too much faith in online videos if I were you.
Keith

 

[MattHooper]

Did those videos not include a physical explanation do you want to have a stab at one?

I’m not competent in the technical areas necessary to vet those claims.

But since you were asking for an explanation of how they work, I thought you were the one who was going to take on the claims from the company, but how they work, which was accompanied by measurements purporting to verify the principles. That’s why I said, since you were asking for this, here you go, and the ball is in your court.

I wouldn’t place too much faith in online videos if I were you.

I don’t generally appeal to faith

If someone has done a test that appears legitimate, with no obvious faults that I’m aware of, then I can take it as interesting or suggestive. After all, Amir does videos too. He explains what he’s doing, it makes sense, so I give some credence.

Not to mention, my impressions aren’t only from videos, but from actually owning and trying the Gaia (including keeping variables like height constant). They seemed to distinctly alter the sound in the way that coincides with what many other people report, and also happens to be consistent with even YouTube demonstrations.

Not fully scientific, sure - most of us aren’t able to achieve scientific controls at home - but I’m happy with them.