IsoAcoustics Isolation Feet - Does it really make positive effect or fancy accessories

[decomo]

Has any one enjoy using Isoacoustics Orea or IsoPuck on audio component and speakers?
They are quite expensive and wondering if it is really worth the money and make positive effect.

And, does anyone know if it is spring loaded inside or something else?

 

[ppataki]

Has any one enjoy using Isoacoustics Orea or IsoPuck on audio component and speakers?
They are quite expensive and wondering if it is really worth the money and make positive effect.

And, does anyone know if it is spring loaded inside or something else?

My Iso-Puck Mini set is arriving today; I am planning to perform some measurements before/after and will publish the results here (probably tomorrow)

 

[decomo]

My Iso-Puck Mini set is arriving today; I am planning to perform some measurements before/after and will publish the results here (probably tomorrow)

Fantastic to hear. Look forward to see some measurement when available. Thank you for your effort.

 

[Pretorious]

Ethan Winer covered this pretty extensively on his blog:

Testing Loudspeaker Isolation Products

It's all hokum as far as I know. Ethan's testing confirms that.

 

[Thomas_A]

Ethan Winer covered this pretty extensively on his blog:

Testing Loudspeaker Isolation Products

It's all hokum as far as I know. Ethan's testing confirms that.

In most cases isolation does nothing but sometimes it does. Ethan just confirmed that it did not change frequency response in his case. In any case soft feet/isolation ensure that you will not have any problems, regardless of setup. Soft feet can be had for pennies, no need for esoteric isolation devices.

Speaker enclosure vibrations - a few measurements with accelerometer

There are been quite a number of threads dealing with vibrations in speaker cabinets, both in relation to "speaker feet" and vibrations in enclosures themselves. I recently took out my ACH01 accelerometer to do some measurements, both speaker feet and enclosures. There was some initial...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[mns3dhm]

This is an interesting question as there are high end speaker companies (PSB, Magico) that use IsoAcoustics isolation feet on their speakers. I realize that in itself may not get much traction at ASR, but I do think that Paul Barton at PSB is a very respected speaker designer. On the other hand, I recall reading a discussion with Kevin Voecks of Revel, (another respected speaker designer) regarding isolation products for speakers and he was not a fan.

 

[SteveC]

I use an isoAcoustics Delos platform under my Technics SL-1200G turntable and I find it makes an audible improvement to the sound. Of course a turntable is a mechanical device and, just like shock absorbers affect how a car rides, isolation could make a difference in a turntable. I have not found that they help ampa, preamps, DACs, etc. (based on my hearing). However, after spending a number of years as a card-carrying audiophile, I have a collection of such devices, and I use them. What the heck, can't hurt, right!

 

[Thomas_A]

This is an interesting question as there are high end speaker companies (PSB, Magico) that use IsoAcoustics isolation feet on their speakers. I realize that in itself may not get much attraction at ASR, but I do think that Paul Barton at PSB is a very respected speaker designer. On the other hand, I recall reading a discussion with Kevin Voecks of Revel, (another respected speaker designer) regarding isolation products for speakers and he was not a fan.

Genelec that make studio Industry standard speakers, have the Iso-pods.

 

[Punter]

I've presented a bunch of these devices on the Snake Oil threads. They all fall into the category of "HiFi jewelry" in my opinion. The idea that mechanical vibrations can affect the operation of solid state electronics is preposterous. However, this does not occur to the shills who review these devices as they rely not on science or logic but their ears. Amazingly, sighted testing of these useless add-ons always produces some new level of audio nirvana, even in equipment that that costs more than your house! This is something that always amuses me, audiophools spend ridiculous amounts of money on components which, based on price, should be the premiere performance grade product but this peak equipment can be improved somehow with the addition of doo-dad's that defy logic in their operation! Still, there's lots to choose from.

This guy "listens" to them all

 

[Matias]

Has any one enjoy using Isoacoustics Orea or IsoPuck on audio component and speakers?
They are quite expensive and wondering if it is really worth the money and make positive effect.

And, does anyone know if it is spring loaded inside or something else?

Gaia Isolation anything in this?

This chap shows a reduction in IMD when using these isolation products, https://josephcrowe.com/blogs/news/iso-acoustics-gaia-iii-isolation-feet-review The manufacturer states, “The reduction in vibrations can be explained by the way that IsoAcoustics isolation manages the energy of the speaker...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[kemmler3D]

I think (but I'm not sure) for isolation feet to have any legitimate audible effect, two things need to go wrong:

-Your speaker cabinet needs to be vibrating a significant amount, which it can, but shouldn't be
-Your floor needs to be resonating due to the speaker cabinet's vibrations and re-radiating that audibly into the room

I think this CAN happen but usually doesn't. Thoughts?

 

[Thomas_A]

I think (but I'm not sure) for isolation feet to have any legitimate audible effect, two things need to go wrong:

-Your speaker cabinet needs to be vibrating a significant amount, which it can, but shouldn't be
-Your floor needs to be resonating due to the speaker cabinet's vibrations and re-radiating that audibly into the room

I think this CAN happen but usually doesn't. Thoughts?

You can also have a monitor placed on your studio console or desk. Check the vibrations of the desk/console while playing a sweep with speaker either coupled or isolated from the desk.

 

[Puddingbuks]

I heard an isoacoustics demo twice, the speaker with these feet sounded more open and airy imho.

- 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

 

[mns3dhm]

I think (but I'm not sure) for isolation feet to have any legitimate audible effect, two things need to go wrong:

-Your speaker cabinet needs to be vibrating a significant amount, which it can, but shouldn't be
-Your floor needs to be resonating due to the speaker cabinet's vibrations and re-radiating that audibly into the room

I think this CAN happen but usually doesn't. Thoughts?

If I recall correctly, Kevin Voeck's said something like, 'ideally the speaker would weigh 800 pounds with spikes on top of a concrete floor'.

 

[win]

I don't think it's changing any frequency response, but I did get the feet for my subs. They don't rattle nearby objects as much.

 

[617]

If they did work, they would only work for electromechanical devices such as turntables and speakers, and in both cases they would need to be engineered for the mass of the device at the very least.

I never understood how people can put so much effort into turntable design and then place the speaker in the same room as the speakers playing the same frequencies at the same time the turntable is picking them up. Madness.

 

[MattHooper]

Has any one enjoy using Isoacoustics Orea or IsoPuck on audio component and speakers?
They are quite expensive and wondering if it is really worth the money and make positive effect.

And, does anyone know if it is spring loaded inside or something else?

I have tried the isoacoustic Gaia footers under my floor, standing speakers which sit upon a sprung wood floor. They seemed to make the type of difference most users report: tightening up the bass and a slight clearing up of the sound in general.

Hard to find good data supporting it though.

I also have the isopucks which I was originally thinking of using underneath my turntable platform. But I ended up using a spring based footer instead, which was much more effective at cancelling vibrations. I also found the same when putting Spring-based footers under my speakers. They had the most pronounced effect.

Personally, I can’t see any reason that the iso acoustics or other footers would have any Sonic effect under other type of equipment like amplifiers or DACs, etc.

 

[deprogrammed]

You can also have a monitor placed on your studio console or desk. Check the vibrations of the desk/console while playing a sweep with speaker either coupled or isolated from the desk.

I had some Yamaha HS8s on my computer desk. They would vibrate the desk. I could feel it. Drove me crazy. I also wanted to raise them a bit. 2 yoga blocks later, problem solved. Yoga blocks can also be used for headphone storage. I should market audiophile yoga blocks.

 

[kharan]

If there are changes, I think it's most likely it will show up as some form of intermodulation distortion, or if unlucky as some harmonic distortion. I don't think it'll affect FR in a significant way.

 

[terryforsythe]

Has any one enjoy using Isoacoustics Orea or IsoPuck on audio component and speakers?
They are quite expensive and wondering if it is really worth the money and make positive effect.

I got some inexpensive 1" dia. silicon isolation pads off of Amazon, and put them between my speakers and the stands. Measuring before and after with REW, it lowered the harmonic distortion a little, but I don't remember by how much.

I don't know how much better the Isoacoustics will be, or if they are worth the cost. If you can buy them as a returnable item, maybe get them and a cheaper set, then measure their performance difference with REW. If the difference is worth the cost to you, keep the Isoacoustics. If not, keep the cheaper ones.

These are the ones I got:

Amazon.com