I’m glad you have not returned them yet. Hopefully you receive the adapters in time to audition them before the 60 days are up.
Anyone considered comparing GAIA with the SVS isolation feet ($100/8)? I’ve compared the SVS with Herbie’s giant fat gliders with ATC SCM19A actives on a Berber carpet. The Herbie’s were much cleaner than flat on carpet - I didn’t try spikes - and the SVS cleaned up the bass. I hadn’t realized how much floor resonances were still affecting the sound. Still, at first with the SVS music seemed less alive, but whatever was left of that impression disappeared with Snowmass.
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Adapters and Gaia II’s installed on my PSB Imagine T3 towers. I’ll report in a few days with impressions.
Please let us know what kind of floor they are on.
Carpeted room, but speakers are on a 24" X 24" X 1.5" granite slab ( EST 40-45 LBS) ( sitting directly on the carpet )
No carpet spikes needed
Definitely curious to hear your impressions - thanks for keeping us up to date!
I continue to be happy with the Gaia III. I’ve had them for a couple months and have put supports under my standmounts to lift the Gaia off the floor to ‘remove’ them and much prefer them doing their thing.
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Well, I decided to keep them. The sound improvement when added them to my PSB T3’s was tighter bass, and mids are a lot cleaner overall. More natural sound. Better sound structure, more detailed sound. I think they are a keeper.
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I have Mapleshade’s big brass footers under my speakers. I tried the GAIA II replacing the big footers and found I like the brass big footers more. The GAIA sounds a little more airy, but the brass is richer and more solid sounding which I prefered. It’s a matter of taste.
Those would not be allowed on my original 1952 raised red oak floors I refinished in 2016. What is your floor? carpet/pad over concrete?
I have carpet/pad over hardwood. I could use tip toe bases under the footer, but I didn’t bother. I don’t expect to change to hardwood floor any time soon. I was actually using GAIA spikes underneath to make the GAIA more stable on my carpet.
Thanks for that Darren. I was really interested. I have the same speakers. After Snowmass, I am very happy I have the option to plug the back of the speakers when needed. The bass went deeper. My room doesn’t handle big bass well. These speakers are great in their flexibility. Good to know bass tightened with the Gaia’s
Thanks for the update. I also have the T3. I may have to invest in them. Thanks for the follow up.
After having Gaia II’s under my new Revel F228Be’s for a couple weeks, they are staying. I have hardwood floors with a basement below and for me, everything snapped into clearer focus and total purity with the Gaia’s in place.
I use a Townshend Podium under my turntable (24kg) and it gives perfect isolation. I have a bouncy floor, I can jump up and down and the turntable remains totally static (as measured using Seismometer app). The thing about the Townshend podiums is that they use adjustable spring loading. It is very sensitive. There is a pretty exact effective loading, change it a bit and you lose the isolation effect almost completely.
I also have Townshend bars for my speakers, that again give perfect isolation.
For my desktop monitors I use foam that decouples and tilts the speakers up. About $20.
I used to decouple my main speakers using acoustic foam - does not compress and very cheap, cuts with a sharp knife and gives a clean edge. About $10 per pair of speakers.
The Isoacoustics Gaia pads are spring-loaded, but because they are not adjustable I think it will be more luck than anything if they effectively isolate, but they may decouple to some extent. A very expensive way of decoupling.
The cheapest and effective form of decoupling is Sorbothane, for up to about 25kg. $20 max.
I tested Isoacoustics and DSMD in my local pro store and they do not isolate, but the do decouple. The DSMD are preferred for heavier units, when I went in they were being used under a pair of Kii Three’s. See the video for the DSMD.
The pro version of the Isoacoustics pads are the same except the colour and the price - exactly half the audiophile version.
So my experience is that there are different products for different circumstances and whether you just want to decouple or completely isolate, and in some circumstances a $20 product will do just the same as a $500 or $1,000 product. For my turntable, spending about $800 was the only thing that works, but it works perfectly, and it is a lot cheaper than buying a turntable with built-in isolation.
So I had the opportunity to attend the recently past Rocky Mountain Audio Fest.
After I left the PS audio room I ran into the Focal/Isoaccoustics room.
Dave Morrison approached me and asked if I would like a demonstration of his Gaia footers on a pair of Focal Kanta.
As he switched the sound from the pair without the Gaia’s to the pair that had them the sound was amazingly improved.
Everything became so much clearer and the bass was more defined without being tubby or bloated. The midrange became more 3 dimensional and the top end was more transparent.
It was an amazing demonstration.
With that in mind I ended up purchasing them for my Von Von Schweikert VR-2 speakers.
From the moment I installed them to the out riggers the difference blew me away.
The sonic improvement was very much worth the money I spent for them. The sonic improvement was immediate.
Due to the added weight of the speakers (150 LBS) due to the speaker cavity holding about 30 LBS of lead shot coupled with 35 LBS of lead shot in the bags on the top of the speakers as you can see in the pictures I needed the Gaia 1’s But no problem as the end result is that I also like the way they look and balance out the VR-2’s visually speaking.
All I can say is that I found the improvements not to be minor “BUT” it was a" MAJOR" improvement.
And it’s all the more so, if your system is refined, detailed, transparent and revealing.
But no matter what, it will dramatically improve your sound system.
I am in the process of purchasing the Isoaccoustics Orea series of the rest of my system (front end) and expect to have increased improvement like the Gaia’s have done for my speakers.
This is one tweak that I can fully support and recommend to everyone, knowing that the improvements are well worth the money and sonically they will be delighted.
Happy listening my friends!
Cheers
Ian
(upload://fpJwXlE63hld0asRXjcpUFeHJip.jpeg)
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I use the L8R200 stands under my subs. They bring out more detail and texture, and giving them a more nimble, quicker sound.
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It made me nervous seeing them so close to the rack of equipment.
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I know, same here. But that’s apartment living for you. Limited space while still making my better half happy. I’d rather them be closer to the mains, but…