Iso acoustics gaia 1 isolation feet

VR3

So I am not really a review guy and rarely do I fall into audio jewelry tweaks but the marketing write ups definitely captured my curiosity.

First things first, my current speaker coupling technique is a granite slab on felt feet for easy movement and then I run the spikes on to the slab. From there I recently added floor disc with adhesive to prevent sliding. This method works really well for me in my room. Great bass, good transients, etc

I purchased these from Crutchfield. I chose Crutchfield based on my experience with their customer service, which is usually stellar. I knew I was going to have to order M6 thread adapters for the utopias and I didn't want this to take weeks to accomplish. Well, turns out this process is a kink in Crutchfields customer service armor. It took 2 weeks to receive the wrong parts, at which time I reached out to isoacoustics directly to get the right stuff. 3 weeks total.

No big deal! Was a drag for such an expensive purchase honestly.

On to the fun stuff, these things are a bear to install on heavy speakers, you need a towel! Get the feet on the towel, slide in place then remove towel for the suction cups to get their grip. Make sure the logos face forwards, a real bear. My speakers are almost 200 pounds so yeah...

First impressions were... A little disappointing unfortunately. There was a slight, ever slight refinement in the highs, but I didn't experience any improvement in spatial cues as the utopias have that in spades as is.

But what really killed it for me was a completely life suck from the speakers with significant bass loss. I actually started repositioning the entire setup, swapping cables, etc, maybe I had something wrong.

After one week, and my wife telling me last night the music was hurting her ears, no lie! I decided to pull them off last night and reinstall my spikes.

Listening to the system now with spikes and all of the magic is back...

This left me to ponder where this product would actually net benefits and I'm at a loss, I really really wanted to like this product. They are beautiful and hold the speakers in place like no ones business. But at the end of the day, it comes down to the sound.

I think if you are on the fence you should try this product, because why not, but if you have a really good system for coupling or decoupling, I'm not sure you will see the gains represented in the advertisements.

VR3

***note, these spikes add alot of height to your speakers. I believe this was a huge problem for me with the Utopias angled baffle. It added a little over an inch significantly changing the tweeter relationship to my ears

Gardenstater

A couple of things crossed my mind. First, perhaps you might want to try them again in place of the spikes, but keep the granite slab and the felt or rubber discs between the slab and the floor.

Also, the other thing is that I wondered if you may be getting some movement of your speakers, especially upon significant bass energy. That would diminish the impact of the bass. It's the reason Matthew Polk came up with the bass brace.

I'm not familiar with the product you used but there must be some give or compliance to them, in order for them to purport to isolate against vibrations; either springs or viscoelastomeric material or both.

When I isolated my 7B's with a pair of innertubes between concrete slabs plus roller bearings over elastomeric isolators the bass AND the highs got significantly clearer and impactful and tighter, although my first reaction was to feel that I had lost the bass, but further listening made me realize that I was no longer listening to the floor and the walls vibrating but was now hearing the music more as it should sound. I didn't need a bass brace only because my 7B's don't have that kind of muscle to the bass driver that yours may have and the fact that there is a lot of inertia due to the sand and lead shot filled steel column and the upper concrete slab (above the innertubes), that make up my stand. A dial indicator proved to me they were not moving.

VR3

I kept the granite slabs in use, the iso acoustics feet were directly placed on the granite.

The feet do feel like they are on springs, I would say there is about a quarter inch of play if you push in on them.

The levels I listen at are around 80db which isn't super loud. The utopias have ample bass and midbass under normal circumstances at most all volume levels.

There was a substantial reduction in that magic sauce the utopias have. Instead of listening to anything that comes up on shuffle, I found myself skipping track after track to find something, anything that sounded good. Speakers lacked all bass and bass impact, highs developed a sibilance and the midrange was very sterile. I think the height difference had a large role in these results.

displayname

Did you try sitting on a couple cushions to see if the height difference was the main factor?

Honestly though, I think tweaks especially are not a one size fits all solution. They just might not be a match with your speakers. I'd try to determine if the height is in fact a factor, but if it's not, I'd say just enjoy having a little extra money back in your pocket.

VR3

I did try sitting a little higher to compensate. I really wanted these to work, just a cool product and look, but in the end they did not work for me at all.

I guess it goes without saying I am not looking for linear flat response either, I'm looking for hours of endless music listening without nitpicking why I can't jump from Nora Jones to Korn haha

VR3

Side note, when I said "This left me to ponder where this product would actually net benefits and I'm at a loss,", I meant in the sense of recommending to someone as a solution to an issue.

I'm just not sure where decoupling becomes the recommendation versus coupling

ptrooper

Sad that these didn’t work for you. I have them on my SRS and L800’s which have 6” concrete foundations below my carpeted and laminated boarded rooms . I definitely found these to add more weight to the midrange ,tighter bottom end and finer details too the top end ,especially on the SRS !
I don’t have the instructions in front of me but I vaguely remember reading that the writing can be faced to the rear and or towards the seated position as well.
I to found them to be a real 🐖 to install
What are you going to do with the Giai 1’s ? You say a 6mm thread.? Same as SRS here !

VR3

I'm glad they worked for you, I could see these doing well with a slab, they drastically change the sound, so I could see preference coming into play for sure.

I love the look and build, the way they grip the floor is also killer, no way you are moving them without some upwards force or a spatula. Really wanted them to work for me.

I plan to return them to Crutchfield shortly

F1nut

Thank you Trey, you saved me from wasting my money on something I had serious reservations about to start with.

marvda1

F1nut wrote: »

Thank you Trey, you saved me from wasting my money on something I had serious reservations about to start with.

you have got opposing views so why not try them yourself and return if you don't like them.

Gardenstater

It would be very interesting to tell the company what your results were and find out what they got to say for themselves Please share with us if they respond!

Apparently they have done lots of testing and have a patent:

https://isoacoustics.com/isoacoustics-speaker-isolation-technology/

Does anyone have their patent # which might be on the product itself or the literature they provide? I'd like to look it up.

F1nut

marvda1 wrote: »

F1nut wrote: »

Thank you Trey, you saved me from wasting my money on something I had serious reservations about to start with.

you have got opposing views so why not try them yourself and return if you don't like them.

Because their product does the opposite of what I have learned and experienced over many years.

ptrooper

My Sonos 1 sounds awesome on my table!

VR3

So I had a spare moment today and I listened for about 45 minutes with the old spike arrangement... There just is no contest for me here. I think perhaps the granite on felt isolates the speaker somewhat from the floor as it is perhaps as I do not experience alot of floor vibrations.

I still recommend trying these feet, if they work for you, they are an amazing product as far as build quality and so forth. Stunning looks, so if they work for you, excellent!

ptrooper

They are certainly better than the stock L800 rubber spike boots !

ptrooper

I dare not talk them off and try the spikes alone now lol !Maybe
when i upgrade the L800's x overs!

spongebobsquarepants

This thread had me curious... so I just unscrewed all the gaia feet off of my sda2a speakers, and left just the remaining 8mm stud on the wood floor. It's not a spike, but it's what I got...

The speakers are about an inch lower without the feet.

I listened to Kruangbin's "Evan finds the third room" loud as heck with the feet on and off. (Nice thumpin' bass for testing)

Set up a db meter app on my cell phone. 1.5db quieter with the feet on (maybe height?). 73.2 vs. 71.7

Sounds the same to me, but feels different.. you can feel the bass hit more with them on. Disclaimer: I do not have golden ears. (years of jackhammering for a living, no music background/education)

The windows in the kitchen (directly behind wall behind listening positon) shake more with the gaia feet on. The coffee maker lid was shaking with the feet on, not shaking feet off.

Went down to the basement, and the heater air return ducts were shaking much more with the feet on. Which is weird because standing in front of the stereo, the floor shakes much less with the feet on.

The wood floor is on 2x6 with a 10 foot span from the 1940s. If someone jumps on the floor in front of the stereo, you can see the beams flex in the basement. It made it difficult to set up a turntable... wound up using a wall shelf.

I prefer the bass hit you in the chest feeling vs. not.

I may have an especially crappy floor that works with these... but then again maybe someone else would prefer the sound of spikes in the same room!

Edit: speakers were 4" from back wall the whole time

VR3

I would highly recommend picking up some spikes which can be had for around 40 bucks, will work much better than 8mm threads. Read up on spikes, the point of the spikes, no pun intended is the point, without the point, you won't receive the benefits of spikes. Not discounting your experience, just that you are not quite comparing both equally

Gardenstater

Try using an Android phone app called Sound Meter Pro. It has a Decibel Sound Meter that keeps track of the avg. to the nearest 0.1 dB. That's great for leveling your speakers with some white noise. Then it also has a Vibrometer and you can set your phone on the floor right in front of the speakers and it will record the average vibration level as well as taking a graph and allows you to save the data too I believe.

When I put it on top of the concrete block that is at the base of my stands but is above the dual minimally inflated inner tubes and the other concrete block which is above the rollerblocks with viscoelastomeric isolators under them and on the floor, I get a much much higher reading than when I put it directly on the floor in front of the speakers. It's more than 2x the reading.

This would be very useful for quantitatively comparing the vibration in the floor with spikes vs. with the gaia 1 feet.

spongebobsquarepants

@VR3 any recommendation for spikes? All the ones I’m finding on ebay ship from Aja.

Could wait a couple weeks...

VR3

https://www.musicdirect.com/vibration-control/solidsteel-8mm-spikes-set-of-3

Gardenstater

For spikes you can just get some Grade 8 bolts and cut the heads off, chuck it up in an electric drill and hold at an angle to an electric grinder and make a pretty decent point. Get the proper thread for your speakers and an adjustment nut for each one. That's what I did for my Martin Logan Dynamo Subwoofer which is spiked to my vibration isolation stand comprised of the above mentioned concrete blocks, innertubes, etc...

Then if you like spikes you could always spring $$$ for some eye candy ones

spongebobsquarepants

Man, getting a “Product is no longer available” message over here. Would’ve been sweet cause i’ve been meaning to order a record and a pack of degritter filters from music direct.

I’ll just order some Asian ones on eBay and report back in a month or so.

VR3

https://www.ebay.com/itm/5-x-THREAD-ADAPTERS-M8-8MM-MALE-TO-M6-6MM-FEMALE-THREADED-REDUCERS-/254254855623?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49292

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dayton-Audio-DSS5-SN-Satin-Nickel-Spike-Set-4-Pcs-/321501717425?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49292

spongebobsquarepants

So the spikes go onto small plates that go on the floor... very interesting.

I was ready to put eight... or more likely a couple dozen “positioning” dents in the floor for science.

Can’t wait to test the suckers out.

VR3

Yes, I would use some type of double sided tape that can be easily removed once you get the plates where you want them. That will prevent lateral movements

spongebobsquarepants

Well, I tried. The chinese spikes arrived today, and are 6mm vs. 8mm I thought I ordered. Maybe i can find a reducer sleeve, but 6 to 8 is pretty close.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/223515072836

Gardenstater

I see that same seller has a M6 x 0.5 spike instead of the M8 x 0.75 I presume you ordered, so they sent the wrong one? If you hold the spikes thread up against the thread of the Gaia you can at least determine if the pitch is the same (0.75mm ?).

For M8 anything finer than 1.25 is a fine or superfine and for M6 anything finer than 1.0 is.

M6 x 0.5 would I guess be a superfine?

jdjohn

I've been pleased with these awhile: https://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/comment/2497402#Comment_2497402

Emlyn

I installed a set of Gaia IIs with the carpet spike cups on my JM Lab (Focal) Electra 920.1 tonight and noticed an immediate positive improvement in the sound across the board. The improvement is with all kinds of music listened to at varying volumes over a couple hours. I had some bonus money from Crutchfield which covered a good portion of the cost from them.

I think what's going on is the speakers only have small spikes (M6 threaded) in stock form in an MDF base plate that sits on carpet even though the spikes are connecting/coupling with the floor/slab underneath. That's apparently enough to smear the bass output somewhat which may rob the musical detail from the other drivers. The speakers are front ported with a 10" bass woofer.

The weird thing is vocals now pop out in the center image better than I've ever heard with these speakers and I've had these for 16 years in a variety of rooms with different gear. The soundfield's width doesn't seem to have changed but instruments are more clearly defined in it. I don't think that has anything to do with the speakers now sitting up higher by a couple inches since I changed my seated position to be sure. The main benefit is in bass with bass guitar sounding more natural and overall makes the speakers more relaxing and enjoyable to listen to.

Anyway, the Gaia IIs are a win with me at least in this application. Like getting a new pair of speakers again.

I don't think I'll try Gaia 1s on my L800s since those sit on hardwood and the performance on those speakers is excellent already. The Gaia 1s are expensive too.