I finally ordered and installed the Herbie’s Titanium Decoupling Gliders under my Sopra 2’s and they made a huge difference in improving the overall soundstage. This by far is the best tweak I’ve made to my system.
4 Likes
We added in Gaias for feet under a friend’s Magico S3 Mark 2 speakers and the improvement was huge. I was very surprised.
Personally after trying multiple isolation solutions over the years I prefer Townshend Isolation Platforms for both my speakers and my electronics - (the speaker supports make the biggest difference in my opinion though they all have an effect). You can get the individual support feet (in a form similar to the Gaias and the like) but I just find it easier and more stable to use the supports and the difference in price is not huge.
I just installed Herbie’s Giant Fat Gliders (X4 per speaker) under my 60kg each Unison Research Max 2’s, replacing the stock spikes. Am still figuring out optimization. Room is upstairs (wood floor boards), carpeted on thick underlay. Didn’t like the sense of ‘disembodied’ separation resulting from possibly exaggerated clarity in the mid/highs vs lows. The ‘Herbie’d’ bass was also more clear than with spikes but seemingly reduced in impact. Went back to the spikes that came with the speakers, which sounded more balanced but now unsatisfying with the reduction in clarity. What to do? I ran Audyssey MultiEq room measurement software through my Denon AVR and discovered surprisingly more measured bass with the Herbies than the spikes. So now I want to chase the improved measured frequency curve from the Herbie’s to find a corresponding sound benefit which I feel entitled to… And so it turns out that after removing some bass treatment that I had put in the room front corners to absorb the bass bloat from the spike Max2’s - immediately apparent, excellent, balanced sound from the Herbie’s. The moral of the story being that it’s maybe not only about Upgrade A vs competitor Upgrade B but also how to integrate the chosen solution into the listening room and clean the slate from previous compromise additions.
4 Likes
I can only report an interim status after trying the Gaias instead of Herbie‘s big fat gliders under my subwoofer and the speakers.
The Gaias under the sub were immediately better. Tighter bass and more ambiance, the cabinet of the sub hardly vibrated anymore, fascinating.
Under the speakers I don’t have the final mounting of the Gaias yet, as I’m still waiting for thread adapters and so far had to fix them with thin double sided tape to the speakers. So far, here they only offered minor of the usual improvements to the Herbies but totally destroyed especially the 1-2kHz region. Heavy peaks around there. The Herbies have a much better balanced midrange and treble so far and are hardly worse in other characteristics.
I’ll report back as soon as I could mount them properly with the threaded pins.
1 Like
It also depends on the looks, would you put 2” nickel plated or stainless steel hand grenades underneath Sonus Fabers Spike outriggers? Also I would never use the Isoacoustics if they protruded from the base plate of the speakers.
The biggest optical hurdle is the fact that the Gaias threaded rod and height adjustment nuts make the speaker look positioned awkwardly high. Making the 2” hand grenades even pop more into your face. Maybe some reports of sound improvements come from the psychological effect that the Gaias are visually overly present.
For outriggered spikes I would definitely go for the Herbies. They look much better, are not remotely a bulky as the Gaias such that they do not mess up the original beautiful design.
For my black bookshelf’s I have decided for the black IsoPucks.
The IsoPucks are less than 1/2 price of the Gaias and don’t make the speakers look out-placed like the Gaias do. They are less visible as I can position them fully underneath the speakers. Yet, it’s exactly the same technology as the Gaias.
I trust that studio’s are just not prepared to pay the premium that high end consumers are willing to pay.
To be honest I also finally expect great results for the main speakers as soon as I could install the Gaias with the threads properly.
Yes it would be good if they were not as high, but that seems to be the price for the effect.
Rudolf, what I can tell you from direct experience is that the Gaias are not “it works because it looks impressive” devices. I spent a day at VPI House (VPI’s own “music home” where they have multiple rooms set up with various ranges of equipment, often rotating them out for new and different things). They once had their main room set up with two identical pairs of Focal speakers, side by side, driven by the same equipment and cables. The only difference was one pair had Isoacoustics Gaias. The difference was not subtle. Even the initial doubters, thinking the difference must have something to do with the height difference, or anything but the Gaias, had to eventually admit the Focals without them didn’t sound as good. Some may not like the way they look, but they do work. Not saying the Herbies products don’t work, but the Isoacoustics devices do work quite effectively. 
4 Likes
@jazznut @tony22 thanks for
I believe in the the applied technology by Isoacoustics, which is why I go for the IsoPucks.
With these things you indeed need to settle with a compromise and looks.
On some speakers the Gaias look good, see how Marten speakers in Sweden integrated them in their design.
On large Focals even the big Gaias look in proportion.
But putting them underneath design stands for bookshelf’s or like I said on Design outriggers like the Sonus Faber Olympica speakers?! It is good to have alternatives like the Herbies less invasive designed absorbers.
I see many pictures of speakers and subwoofers to which the IsoPucks look much more attractive, they do the same thing and cost a fraction. Even Isoacoustics explains the difference between the IsoPucks and Gaias as: same technology only the Gaias are available in more different weight categories which may improve the sound quality a tiny bit more depending on the weight of the speakers.
Luckily these improvements are now available (Gaias, IsoPucks, Herbies) for everyone’s sonic and visual taste.
2 Likes
Yes, I agree!
I find that for my speakers (Decware HR-1, two pair) that decoupling from the floor works best. I’ve tried a handful or two of different methods (Herbie’s Iso-Cups, Ingress Engineering Rollerblocks, myrtlewood blocks and maple blocks with Herbie’s Grungebuster material, Aurios) before finding the right fit with the VooDoo Cable Iso-Pods. These are not the most inexpensive method but three or four under each speaker creates a sound I love.
2 Likes
As much as I like the Herbie Decoupler/Glider, the Gaia’s are in a completely different league. I’ve used Herbie’s under my Audio Physics and lately under my Wilson W/P, but I recently changed to Gaia Titan Theis and the difference is remarkable. Yes, a VERY different cost, but well worth it.
It’s really astonishing how they completely quiet the subwoofer, which previously vibrated noticeably at large movements. Can’t wait to mount them properly at the speakers, too.
Running GAIA II’s under new speakers. As the speakers are breaking it is too early for any meaningful comments. The installers comment was "I need to get a set of these for my speakers as well, and he uses Townsend isolation stands.
1 Like
So today my test with properly installed Gaia’s vs. Herbie’s giant fat gliders.
As I previously mentioned, the subwoofer benefits very much in accuracy, no movement of the chassis anymore, the Gaia’s stay.
Mounted properly under the speakers, the heavy 1-2lHz resonance I previously noticed was gone, but anyway my speakers still don’t seem to react positively a lot to it, but quite a bit more negatively. This may have to do with the fact, that with my current room, its node behavior and speaker placement, the main speaker (although capable) isn’t too strong below 45 Hz (the sub takes over) and the Gaia’s mainly work below this spectrum. Further on my bass accuracy is already very high and the speakers a quite solid construction.
Positive in my case vs, Herbie’s:
bass purge comes beneficial in case recordings have strong bass there, but the difference is not night and day
imaging is very stable and pin point
recordings with dense tonality seem a bit more transparent
Negative in my case vs. Herbie’s:
midrange and treble are strongly altered and less organic and harmonically complete/coherent. The disadvantage in this region is clearly bigger than the advantage in bass accuracy.
The magic of an enveloping, shimmering, palpable, resonant sound of instruments and voices with lot’s of ambient air inbetween is for a good part gone and replaced by rather tiny and flat pin point positionings of sound events within a similar soundstage instead. In my case this sounds like Hi-Fi vs. real.
Sum up:
this means I will continue to use the Herbie’s on the main speakers as in my case they provide magic, enveloping imaging and air with a very harmonic midrange and treble and hardly less accurate bass.
I will probably decide to keep the Gaia’s for trying in a possibly different room situation some time in the future or in case anything else changes things dramatically.
It’s important for others with non adjustable setups, to note, that the Gaia’s can strongly modify tonality without the option to compensate (except by changing equipment or cabling once again). My speakers are adjustable (and I had to rise the level of the bass chassis quite a bit), but that didn’t help the inorganic mids in my case with the Gaia’s enough. Reading what kind of tonality problems some have with DAC firmware upgrades or similar, I wonder what they will have with this kind of change. On the other hand, in a setup with not very accurate bass performance or little too strong bass and rich, dense midrange, or in a setup less optimized to the point, the Gaia’s might do wonders from start without disadvantage.
Finally I think with such implications, it would actually be meaningful if speakers were designed and voiced on Gaia’s, so that their tonality effect is calculated. I’m very convinced of the Gaia‘s concept and they definitely do their job and they even take the Herbie‘s similar concept goal a step further. With main speakers, they just change quite a lot also above and aside the bass region and in my case unfortunately mainly negatively in the current situation.
9 Likes
Great assessment, @jazznut!
Very well articulated @jazznut
I have not shared where I ended up, but it’s very similar to yours (slightly different based on room config). I didn’t want to share until your final assessment, but in my room with my speakers, I’ve also ended up with Herbie’s under my current speakers and Gaia II’s under my subwoofers.
1 Like
Perhaps I missed it, but what is the floor under your speakers, e.g., bare wood, bare concrete, tile, carpeting … I think it makes a difference in what is best under your speakers.
I have Vandersteen 5 on a concerete floor with commercial vinyl tile. I’m currently using the stock cones with cone cups (spikes easily gouge the tile) and it is very difficult to slide the speakers (the cups stick to the floor). I’ve heard the IsoAcoustics Gaia demonstration and found it eye-opening. Problem for me is I need the Gaia Titan Theis, two sets are $1800! To make matters worse, it would be almost impossible to slide the 180 lb speakers around. I’ve looked at the Herbies cone cup glider and it may help decoupling and sliding for a much lower price. The discussion above leads me to think the Herbies are a good option regardless of the price difference, do you folks agree?
The Gaias, if you see their principle seem quite independent of floor (mine is wood on concrete). The sorbothane under the Gaias cares for sucking the bottom of the metal construction to the floor, so that all the movement is handled by the mechanism inside them. This means, carpet needs their small round spiked platforms under them.
For being able to slide them I temporarily put thin plastic sheet below after tilting the speakers, same to remove.
The Gaias work stronger than the Herbies in doing what both intend, they just do it so good, that this can have serious implications in the spectrum above bass. You have to try them or decide in advance for yourself if this may be critical for you. A speaker will for sure sound different with them, than it was voiced.
I think they do most positive, the deeper your main speakers play bass without dB loss in your room and maybe the less stable your speaker construction is. My experience was, they are phenomenal in their main effect (cleaning up bass and quieting the speaker movements) but otherwise implicate effects as spikes do. The Herbies don’t do that but are weaker in the elimination of movements. The differences between the two strongly depend on how tight your bass already is. Why the Gaias in my case kill the magic, I can’t catch yet, I expected the opposite. The magic I speak of is hard to achieve initially, many setups don’t have it. Then the Gaia effect may also be more positive, especially if one’s sound is too rich before.
1 Like
Thanks Jazznut! I use the IsoAcoustics Orea under all my electronics and turntable, very happy with them, but have not tried them under any speakers … yet. Too bad they are so expensive for my 180 lb speakers! With respect to sliding the speakers around, I’ve tried various things under my cone cups without much success. I’ll have to give it some more thought before investing in the Gaia. I should add the speakers are not real stable, they use three cones that are threaded into the base, and while fiddling with the feet I have almost tipped them over a couple times, talk about a near heart attack! Thanks for the detailed assessment and advice!