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Iso Acoustics Gaia Speaker Isolation


Guest thathifiguy

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Guest thathifiguy

I picked up a couple sets of the Gaia 3 units (support speakers up to 32kg) yesterday and set them up last night on my PSB Synchrony One towers (not without a few curse words along the way).

 

I'd been hearing a lot of good things about them, so decided to bite.

 

Early signs are very positive so far. Played a number of my regular tracks and all sounded more open and bigger than they ever have.

 

For those that aren't aware, Iso Acoustics have done speaker isolation for studio monitors for years, though I believe these Gaia units are their first real dip into the world of home hi-fi speakers.

 

The idea behind them:

 

“When a speaker is placed on a hard surface, secondary internal reflections result. Any artifacts of this smear that is similar in the two channels is perceived to be in the center, causing the sound stage to collapse. The GAIA series of isolators eliminates this smear resulting in a larger 3-dimensional sound stage.”

 

They seem to be spring loaded in some way/shape or form as upon initial installation, I was a little nervous about the 'wobble', but after some time toying with them  it appears that is how they are meant to be.

 

Will do more listening over the weekend, but so far pretty happy with the investment!

 

One word of caution, the base of the Gaia Isolators appear to be some sort of sorbothane/similar material and thus left some 'moisture' marks on my bluestone slabs that I sit the speakers on. Not an issue for me, but could be for someone putting on expensive floors. 

 

More details about them can be found here.

 

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I just started a thread about these and similar products for speakers and electronics here https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Estereo%2Enet%2Eau%2Fforums%2Findex%2Ephp%3F%2Ftopic%2F124201-Electronics-and-Speaker-Tweaks%2FIsolation-etc&share_tid=124201&share_fid=46070&share_type=t

Electronics and Speaker Tweaks/Isolation etc

This is excellent timing thanks for posting. Have you also noticed if less sound is travelling into other areas of the house?

Sent from my JAZZ using Tapatalk

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Guest thathifiguy
Just now, Bunno77 said:

I just started a thread about these and similar products for speakers and electronics here https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Estereo%2Enet%2Eau%2Fforums%2Findex%2Ephp%3F%2Ftopic%2F124201-Electronics-and-Speaker-Tweaks%2FIsolation-etc&share_tid=124201&share_fid=46070&share_type=t

Electronics and Speaker Tweaks/Isolation etc

This is excellent timing thanks for posting. Have you also noticed if less sound is travelling into other areas of the house?

Sent from my JAZZ using Tapatalk
 

 

Can't say I have been that observant yet, but I'll be sure to keep my ear out! 

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Won't they alter the level of the tweeter by some distance?

The Designers of speakers would be careful to get the level correct on their speakers for the seating position, so I would of thought.

Or is it all ok as the distance is not too bad.

Edited by rocky500
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Guest thathifiguy
9 minutes ago, rocky500 said:

Won't they alter the level of the tweeter by quite a distance?

The Designers of speakers would be careful to get the level correct on their speakers for the seating position, so I would of thought.

I can't imagine it having much of an effect.

 

My spikes already had the speakers sitting a few centimetres from the floor, at worst the Gaia 3's may add an extra centimetre.

 

You can always adjust for this by having the rear ones sit slightly higher to give a slight forward tilt should you need it.

Edited by thathifiguy
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6 hours ago, rocky500 said:

Won't they alter the level of the tweeter by some distance?

The Designers of speakers would be careful to get the level correct on their speakers for the seating position, so I would of thought.

Or is it all ok as the distance is not too bad.

If you think it's that critical perhaps you should put some under your listening chair as well to match. :sarc:

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17 hours ago, rocky500 said:

Won't they alter the level of the tweeter by some distance?

The Designers of speakers would be careful to get the level correct on their speakers for the seating position, so I would of thought.

Or is it all ok as the distance is not too bad.

It depends how tall you sit and the height of the chair anyhow. 

I have the Gaia 3's under my subs and main speakers. I noticed a big improvement in bass and dynamics - really what their ad said it would do. The 'springs' resonate at an extreme low frequency so as not to be heard by the human ear. They are supposed be capable of tiny wobble from front to back and vice versa and in that horizontal plane i.e. same direction that the speaker cone moves - front/back direction

Bob

Edited by Heifetz
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  • 1 year later...

Gambled and tried them under my pair of Quad 57 ESL speakers on metal stands. I was not sure how they would go with non box speakers but was pleasantly suprised. The bass was cleaner and appeared a little deeper and there was a definite increase in the soundstage width and depth. One of my better tweaks.

 

I will try them with my stacked pair when my second set returns from being reconditioned  by John Hall.

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Hi all. I've got a set of Gaia II's under my speakers.

 

My setup is highly modded Mac Mini with Liner Power Supply, Chord 2Qute Dac, OAD Pre and Power Amp, with all the pre-requsite 'hi-fi' cabling all plugged into a PS Audio P3. This is all playing through Dynaudio Focus 380 speakers, standing on a wooden floor.

 

With a bit of sweat, effort, and alot of swearing I managed to install the Gaia's.

 

My first response was 'whoa'. Everything was better defined... infact the sound coming out of my speakers displayed increased resolution, more focused imaging and improved soundstage. I thought what a huge improvement. But after some time listening I found the sound hard and dry, and I began to worry I've spent a not inconsiderable amount on an expensive tweak that didn't work well with my system. I'd lost the beautiful midrange and smoothness my system used to have.

 

So I sat down and tried to work out what was going on. I've read that Nordost design their cables to introduce 'distortion' (I'm probably quoting what I read wrong), and we know that many Valve amps in the past quiet easily introduced distortion into the sound that many find pleasing. I was wondering, maybe the distortion I had was more appealing, maybe I need to re-introduce distortion into my system some how... after sitting and listening to my system and thinking about my problem, I luckily stopped my silly thoughts and decided to take another approach. I came up with another hypothesis that because I had moved recently and hadnt set up my equipment racks, and all of my equipment was sitting on hard heavy cabinets that was storing vibrations from the sound coming from the speakers, and in-turn was introducing distortion into my components in a feedback loop. This created a kind of smearing, which wasnt unpleasant - maybe similar in effect what happens to valve amps when distortion is introduced and colours the sound with a 'warm' glow.

 

So I set about pulling out all my isolation platforms and accessories, got my Mac Mini, dac and amplifiers isolated and bang, the sound smoothed out. Now all the gains I perceived - increased resolution, more focused imaging and improved soundstage - was emphasised and the smoothness and warmth returned to my system. As an added benefit the bass sounds clearer, more controlled and more extended. I couldnt go back to living without the Gaia II's now that I have heard such a big improvement to my system. I can highly recommend them.

 

So to sum up I'm extremely impressed and happy with the obvious and sizeable improvements to my system. I'd highly recommend the Gaia's to people who have already gone beyond mid-fi, have a system that is revealing of component changes, and looking to tweak out improvement gains in their systems. I'd suggest this might be an expensive tweak for people who have only spent a couple of grand on their system as it costs around $850 for a set of 8 feet. It would still work but I'd spend my money on getting better equipment first.  And before installing the Gaia's you need to ensure your components, cabling, isolation etc is all sorted as the sound could become revealing of distortion and noise in your equipment.

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I added the Gaia II under my Whatmough P33 signature speakers sitting on a floating wood floor. I found they opened up the soundstage resulting in a perceived improvement in the clarity of vocals that normally sit centre stage. 

 

They do have a suction cup type effect which sticks the speaker to the floor and allows some alarming movement left to right. This makes it harder to move the speakers around but also makes it far less likely that anyone can ever accidentally knock them over. A definite bonus for tall, narrow speakers like these.

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11 hours ago, Max Headroom said:

Hi all. I've got a set of Gaia II's under my speakers.

 

My setup is highly modded Mac Mini with Liner Power Supply, Chord 2Qute Dac, OAD Pre and Power Amp, with all the pre-requsite 'hi-fi' cabling all plugged into a PS Audio P3. This is all playing through Dynaudio Focus 380 speakers, standing on a wooden floor.

 

With a bit of sweat, effort, and alot of swearing I managed to install the Gaia's.

 

My first response was 'whoa'. Everything was better defined... infact the sound coming out of my speakers displayed increased resolution, more focused imaging and improved soundstage. I thought what a huge improvement. But after some time listening I found the sound hard and dry, and I began to worry I've spent a not inconsiderable amount on an expensive tweak that didn't work well with my system. I'd lost the beautiful midrange and smoothness my system used to have.

 

So I sat down and tried to work out what was going on. I've read that Nordost design their cables to introduce 'distortion' (I'm probably quoting what I read wrong), and we know that many Valve amps in the past quiet easily introduced distortion into the sound that many find pleasing. I was wondering, maybe the distortion I had was more appealing, maybe I need to re-introduce distortion into my system some how... after sitting and listening to my system and thinking about my problem, I luckily stopped my silly thoughts and decided to take another approach. I came up with another hypothesis that because I had moved recently and hadnt set up my equipment racks, and all of my equipment was sitting on hard heavy cabinets that was storing vibrations from the sound coming from the speakers, and in-turn was introducing distortion into my components in a feedback loop. This created a kind of smearing, which wasnt unpleasant - maybe similar in effect what happens to valve amps when distortion is introduced and colours the sound with a 'warm' glow.

 

So I set about pulling out all my isolation platforms and accessories, got my Mac Mini, dac and amplifiers isolated and bang, the sound smoothed out. Now all the gains I perceived - increased resolution, more focused imaging and improved soundstage - was emphasised and the smoothness and warmth returned to my system. As an added benefit the bass sounds clearer, more controlled and more extended. I couldnt go back to living without the Gaia II's now that I have heard such a big improvement to my system. I can highly recommend them.

 

So to sum up I'm extremely impressed and happy with the obvious and sizeable improvements to my system. I'd highly recommend the Gaia's to people who have already gone beyond mid-fi, have a system that is revealing of component changes, and looking to tweak out improvement gains in their systems. I'd suggest this might be an expensive tweak for people who have only spent a couple of grand on their system as it costs around $850 for a set of 8 feet. It would still work but I'd spend my money on getting better equipment first.  And before installing the Gaia's you need to ensure your components, cabling, isolation etc is all sorted as the sound could become revealing of distortion and noise in your equipment.

@Max HeadroomThanks for that post. Very informative. My speakers require the Gaia 1 which as far as I can see will cost AUD2,000. Where did you get yours from? I thought 8 Gaia 2 feet cost a lot more than $850. 

Edited by amdan
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17 minutes ago, amdan said:

@Max HeadroomThanks for that post. Very informative. My speakers require the Gaia 1 which as far as I can see will cost AUD2,000. Where did you get yours from? I thought 8 Gaia 2 feet cost a lot more than $850. 

I bought mine from Sydney HiFi Castle Hill. Just looking at their website, they’re still selling 8 Gaia II feet for $806. There’s a big jump in price to the Gaia I though at $1899.

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I’ve been living with the Gaia 3’s for more than 6 months now. Sitting under a pair of Elac 407’s. 

 

Pretty well same results as mentioned above - better defined transients, especially in the lower frequency range, imaging less ‘fuzzy’, soundstage overall a little bit cleaner with the sound appearing a little bit more lively. 

 

The other thing I will add is that the speakers have disappeared that little bit more with the Gaia’s. 

 

They are certainly staying in my system. 

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1 hour ago, amdan said:

I'll need adapter plates to which brings my cost to over$2000. Not sure it will be worth that much! Shame I can't try before buying.  

Sounds like you'll be better off with townshend podiums. 

I bought a set of Gaia 2s at the hifi show last year. The standard bolts don't fit my speakers and I'm only just now getting it sorted. Got a call today from convoy saying that isoacoustics will have to special make bolts for me. 

Hopefully one day soon I'll get them on

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  • 8 months later...
On 23/06/2018 at 4:06 PM, Abee_V said:

I’ve been living with the Gaia 3’s for more than 6 months now. Sitting under a pair of Elac 407’s. 

 

Pretty well same results as mentioned above - better defined transients, especially in the lower frequency range, imaging less ‘fuzzy’, soundstage overall a little bit cleaner with the sound appearing a little bit more lively. 

 

The other thing I will add is that the speakers have disappeared that little bit more with the Gaia’s. 

 

They are certainly staying in my system. 

I got a set for my Spatial M3's for my birthday last week. Everything you have is what I have found. My speakers were always pretty good at disappearing, now they are awesome. I'm getting better micro detail and more nuances to every note

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After a fellow forum member @Happy Sacks sang high praises about the Gaias, and after seeing positive feedback on this thread and also from my AV dealer I've decided to go for it as well. Gaias II is what I will need, just waiting for stock.

 

What are people's view of the carpet spikes? My carpet is just regular thin loop carpet. Do you think the spikes are necessary?

Edited by Ed Sky
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2 minutes ago, Ed Sky said:

After a fellow forum member @Happy Sacks sang high praises about the Gaias, and after seeing positive feedback on this thread and also from my AV dealer I've decided to go for it as well. Gaias II is what I will need, just waiting for stock.

 

What are people's view of the carpet spikes? My carpet is just regular thin loop carpet. Do you think the spikes are necessary?

I am really happy with my 2s and same experiences as above.

 

I think I have similar carpet to you and it's fine. I spoke with Convoy about this and they said the spikes are more for very thick carpet and or underlay.

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3 minutes ago, Bunno77 said:

I am really happy with my 2s and same experiences as above.

 

I think I have similar carpet to you and it's fine. I spoke with Convoy about this and they said the spikes are more for very thick carpet and or underlay.

Thanks for the feedback. I'll get them without the spikes then. @Happy Sacks recommended coasters from Bunnings as an alternative to spikes as well.

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4 hours ago, Ed Sky said:

After a fellow forum member @Happy Sacks sang high praises about the Gaias, and after seeing positive feedback on this thread and also from my AV dealer I've decided to go for it as well. Gaias II is what I will need, just waiting for stock.

 

What are people's view of the carpet spikes? My carpet is just regular thin loop carpet. Do you think the spikes are necessary?

 

3 hours ago, Ed Sky said:

Thanks for the feedback. I'll get them without the spikes then. @Happy Sacks recommended coasters from Bunnings as an alternative to spikes as well.

You will get better results using the dedicated carpet spikes, but you can use 60mm clear spiked castor cups if you can't afford them as a temporary solution. GAIAs work best whey they have a suitable surface to adhere to.

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3 minutes ago, Happy Sacks said:

 

You will get better results using the dedicated carpet spikes, but you can use 60mm clear spiked castor cups if you can't afford them as a temporary solution. GAIAs work best whey they have a suitable surface to adhere to.

Thanks @Happy Sacks, that's a great hack! I assume this is the product you're referring to: https://www.bunnings.com.au/surface-gard-60mm-round-spike-castor-cups-clear_p4050163.

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Hi Guys,

I keep looking at these but my speakers are 32kgs which should mean, according to Isoacoustics the Gaia II’s but that would cost just under $1k....I can’t do that, considering my speakers cost me $3,300!

But, if I can use Gaia III’s, which are rated to 30kg’s then I could afford them, has anyone used the III’s on 30+ kg speakers?

Cheers
Matt

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