Anyone using IsoAcoistics Gaia on SDAs?

spongebobsquarepants

I'm on the fence about ordering these feet for my SDA-2As. A few of the plastic nubbins broke off of the bases, and they rock back and forth.

The speakers are on a hardwood floor on bouncy 2x6 framing.

I could either:
-use these feet
-keep the stock bases and put new felt or something under them
-use spikes with discs
-thru bolt to the floor with a nut in the basement, maybe with some sort of gasket between (but then I can't play with positioning)

What do you guys think would have the best effect?

I tried doing a forum search, and only found @bc6 with the gaia feet on sda 2.3

Thanks!

Jazzhead

You might look at Herbie's Audio Lab array of products for speaker isolation. Most folks get best results with spikes, but in my situation (a wood floor above a basement) I found that decoupling the speakers kept reverberation from moving through the floor and muddying the sound.

spongebobsquarepants

Went on the Herbie's site, and have the "Way Excellent II Turntable Mat" in my cart now . The herbie spikes are interesting with no hardware. Seems like we have a similar floor situation @Jazzhead ...what method/products did you use for decoupling?

JayCee

@ptrooper is using Gaia's and his L800's.
https://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/comment/2593525#Comment_2593525

Jazzhead

Sponge...:

I have four Big Fat Dots under my RTA-12's - between the speakers and the stands. When I tried the Dots they made the 12's come to life, especially in the lowest frequencies. I have four Little Fat Gliders under the stands to decouple from the floor. In my situation it sounds very good. The wood floor thing can be a problem.

F1nut

I tried some Herbie's dot things under my TT. Didn't do a damn thing, sent them back.

ptrooper

I recommend the Gaia’s 👍

spongebobsquarepants

Thanks for the input everyone.
Just ordered two sets of Gaia III.
I'll update when I get them with install process/ thoughts on performance.

spongebobsquarepants

Got the left channel all set up. The 8mm tee nuts had 90° bevels for metric flat screws, so I "machined" them to 82° so I could use 8-32 stainless screws I had left over from the hurricane nut project.

The gaias are a lot springer than I thought! You can move the speaker a few degrees in any direction.

I'll update once I get the other speaker done on how they sound.

xschop

Those isolators look just like a set of poly engine mounts I used to make.
Looks like a nice install you did.

spongebobsquarepants

Thanks @xschop !
I finished the other speaker today...
They don't sound too dramatically different to me..
The bass seems to hit a little harder, in a good way.
Not sure if if its my imagination though.

The height from the floor is within a quarter inch of stock.

Anyone have any use for free sda-2a bases in poor condition?

Gardenstater

I doubt that it's your imagination. Do you feel less vibration of the floor through your feet now?

spongebobsquarepants

I got a chance to crank it up with a record I'm really familiar with, and it sounds very different at higher volume. The bass is a lot clearer and puncher.

Seems like a great fit for my bouncy floor situation.

The floor is so bouncy that before I put the turntable on a shelf, it was nearly impossible to walk in the living room without skipping.

Here's a photo of the setup with the new shoes.

xschop

Sounds like you've accomplished your goal.