IsoAcoustic Gaia Speaker Footers

[Blake]

Just installed the Gaia footers to my speakers and..... wow!  My speakers sound significantly better as compared to using the stock footers.  The difference is not subtle.  Quite shocking.  Highly recommended.    

 

Now I understand why they won the EISA 2019-2020 HiFi Upgrade Product award.  Well deserved.

[Ralf11]

better as in... ??

 

speaker type, model?

[Blake]

Oh, I guess that would help, just being a bit lazy.

 

Speakers are Raidho XT-1 on Raidho stands.  My mini review of the Gaia is Post #79 in this thread:

 

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/raidho-xt-1-new-version-of-the-award-winning-x-1.795502/page-6

 

[Ralf11]

ok, so not used on your subs...

 

what qualities in the sound changed?

[Blake]

I only used the Gaia footers on my speakers.  My subs are on IsoAcoustic subwoofer stands, but the sub stands are a different product than the Gaia.  The sound quality changes are described in the link I posted earlier.

 

 

[macuniverse]

On 9/19/2019 at 8:13 AM, Blake said:

Just installed the Gaia footers to my speakers and..... wow!  My speakers sound significantly better as compared to using the stock footers.  The difference is not subtle.  Quite shocking.  Highly recommended. 

 

I second that. My Spendor A4's are on a suspended timber floor. My first impression was "tight" everything. However the first time I ran REW sweeps with GAIAs I noticed that the room rattling (that I was getting before GAIAs)  disappeared.

 

I think their benefit is also highly room/speaker type/placement dependent. I would get a pair with a trial period if it can be organised.

[PAR]

Yes, they exceeded my greatest expectations. It is one of those products where the question " what changed" is simply answered by "everything" and very much for the better ( the improvement is not subtle). So far every friend who was familiar with my system before  I installed IsoAcoustic pucks and has heard the system since has bought a set.  Oh, that is except for my friend running Quad ESLs who can't figure out were he could use them ( nor can I).

 

BTW, after talking to Iso Acoustics in Canada and as guidance for the correct product to purchase, the Gaia's are really meant for floorstanders with bushes for spikes. The pucks and the stands seem more aimed at the pro market for either stand mounts or for e.g. meter bridge mounting. The essential point is that the base of the speaker is in direct contact with the isolation units as one aim is to prevent resonances between speaker base and the support  i.e. don't screw Gaias into a speaker stand base in replacement for spikes. In that case you need the pucks or one of IsoAcoustics stands between the stand top plate and the speaker. In my case pucks were chosen as had I used the IsoAcoustic stand then the tweeter would be placed too high for my listening position. The pucks are only around 3 centimetres tall when installed and loaded.

 

Incidentally, if you go the pucks, you need one per 9kg of speaker loading with a minimum of 3 per speaker.

 

I also recommended them below in the thread concerning ATC speakers.

[Blake]

On 10/10/2019 at 7:36 AM, PAR said:

BTW, after talking to Iso Acoustics in Canada and as guidance for the correct product to purchase, the Gaia's are really meant for floorstanders with bushes for spikes. The pucks and the stands seem more aimed at the pro market for either stand mounts or for e.g. meter bridge mounting. The essential point is that the base of the speaker is in direct contact with the isolation units as one aim is to prevent resonances between speaker base and the support  i.e. don't screw Gaias into a speaker stand base in replacement for spikes. In that case you need the pucks or one of IsoAcoustics stands between the stand top plate and the speaker. 

 

Hi PAR, 

 

A few clarifications are required here for accuracy.  The Gaia footers are not intended for use only with floorstanding speakers.  They can also be used with monitor or stand-mounted speakers. 

 

The key is whether or not the speaker in your setup is physically attached or bolted to the speaker stand. 

 

If your speaker screws into or is bolted to the stand, then IsoAcoustics recommends that you replace the stock footers on the speaker stand base with the Gaia footers (in my situation my speakers and stands are bolted together, so I used the Gaia footers).   The reason for this is, when the speaker is bolted to the speaker stand, the speaker and stand act as "one unit", like a floorstanding speaker.

 

If however, the monitor speaker is just placed on a speaker stand with no physical attachment to the stand, then in that situation, the Iso-Puck or an IsoAcoustic stand is the product to use, rather than the Gaia. It sounds like that is the case with your setup.

 

As a side note, in case anyone is interested, here is an installation video with some installation tips.

 

 

 

[PAR]

Thanks, a nice clarification and far better put than I obviously did.