Isoacoustics Gaia Isolation pods

[NickTMS]

Deleted post as unable to upload photos. Please PM me if you would like to see a couple of photos of the GAIAs on the Olympica IIs. Thanks.

[NickTMS]

Deleted post

[Axel]

I suspect the spiked disks are spiked just to prevent the speakers to slide too easily if pushed on, not for any coupling reason.

Jean-Marie

On this page: http://www.isoacoustics.com/products/gai...s/gaia-ii/
Have a look at the installation video and skip to 4:25 where we are told that the reason for the discs is to couple the Gaia to the solid flooring below. So I wonder what they bring to the party?  I have just sent them an email to ask and I’ll let you know their answer when I have it.

[David A]

I suspect the spiked disks are spiked just to prevent the speakers to slide too easily if pushed on, not for any coupling reason.

Jean-Marie

On this page: http://www.isoacoustics.com/products/gai...s/gaia-ii/
Have a look at the installation video and skip to 4:25 where we are told that the reason for the discs is to couple the Gaia to the solid flooring below. So I wonder what they bring to the party?  I have just sent them an email to ask and I’ll let you know their answer when I have it.

Years ago I started reading up on vibration control and how it worked. When it comes to isolating one thing from another for vibration, soft things that can flex tend to be considered as springs and their effectiveness of a spring as an isolation device depends on the resonant frequency of the spring. You don't get isolation below a frequency that is roughly 1.4 times the resonant frequency of the spring so  if you want isolation below 14 Hz you need to use a spring with a resonant frequency of 10 Hz or lower and the lower the frequency the  more isolation you will get.

The soft layer of the Gaia feet is essentially a spring device. The carpet on a floor and it's underlay will also act as a spring to some degree so if you just sit the Gaia on the carpet you have a spring in contact with another spring forming a spring unit with a combined resonant frequency that's different to that of the Gaia on it's own so you change the effectiveness of the Gaia as an isolation device.

The spiked discs bypass the carpet and underlay and couple directly to the floor beneath them so the Gaia sitting on the disc behaves as if it were sitting directly on the floor in the absence of the carpet and it works as it is intended to work.

I don't know if you really need the discs or not but that is the theory for what they do. If the combined resonant frequency of a Gaia foot sitting on your carpet is lower than the resonant frequency of a Gaia foot sitting on a solid floor, in theory you should get more isolation without the disc, and you would get less isolation without the disc if the combined resonant frequency is higher than that of the Gaia foot directly on the floor.

[Axel]

I suspect the spiked disks are spiked just to prevent the speakers to slide too easily if pushed on, not for any coupling reason.

Jean-Marie

On this page: http://www.isoacoustics.com/products/gai...s/gaia-ii/
Have a look at the installation video and skip to 4:25 where we are told that the reason for the discs is to couple the Gaia to the solid flooring below. So I wonder what they bring to the party?  I have just sent them an email to ask and I’ll let you know their answer when I have it.

Years ago I started reading up on vibration control and how it worked. When it comes to isolating one thing from another for vibration, soft things that can flex tend to be considered as springs and their effectiveness of a spring as an isolation device depends on the resonant frequency of the spring. You don't get isolation below a frequency that is roughly 1.4 times the resonant frequency of the spring so  if you want isolation below 14 Hz you need to use a spring with a resonant frequency of 10 Hz or lower and the lower the frequency the  more isolation you will get.

The soft layer of the Gaia feet is essentially a spring device. The carpet on a floor and it's underlay will also act as a spring to some degree so if you just sit the Gaia on the carpet you have a spring in contact with another spring forming a spring unit with a combined resonant frequency that's different to that of the Gaia on it's own so you change the effectiveness of the Gaia as an isolation device.

The spiked discs bypass the carpet and underlay and couple directly to the floor beneath them so the Gaia sitting on the disc behaves as if it were sitting directly on the floor in the absence of the carpet and it works as it is intended to work.

I don't know if you really need the discs or not but that is the theory for what they do. If the combined resonant frequency of a Gaia foot sitting on your carpet is lower than the resonant frequency of a Gaia foot sitting on a solid floor, in theory you should get more isolation without the disc, and you would get less isolation without the disc if the combined resonant frequency is higher than that of the Gaia foot directly on the floor.

Thank you, @David A for your answer. Sean from Isoacoustics replied thus:
 Regarding the carpet discs, they are recommended if you have a thicker carpet or a carpet with underpadding. If your carpet is thin and feels solid underneath the GAIA’s then the carpet discs are not really required. The carpet discs are designed to provide a solid surface for the GAIA’s. the GAIA are the designed to connect with the speaker and with the floor below and the internal isolators manage the energy from the speaker. If the speaker is on a thick carpet it can have a negative impact on the performance of the GAIA’s.

I think he is confirming exactly what David said, but in less detail.  My carpet is fairly thick with very springy underlay, so I’ve just ordered a set of discs.

[Jean-Marie]

Thank you both, @Axel and @David A .

Jean-Marie

[Axel]

I met @BrianT in London last Monday and picked up the Gaia lls that he very kindly bought over from Canada for me. I fitted them this morning, which was a very easy task, just tipping first the back up and fitting the rear feet, then doing the same for the front. Brian also got me some longer studs for the front feet, so that the backward lean on the Olympicas was retained. I’ve set them up roughly and will let them settle for a few days before I attempt to level them.
The attached pictures speak for themselves really. The tool pictured is from my guitar setup toolkit. It’s designed to tighten potentiometer nuts without having to take the knobs off, tightening output jack nuts etc. It’s just about big enough to tighten the lock nuts on the Gaia threads without messing up the knurling on the nuts and is much easier than using padded needle nose pliers as recommended on the Isoacoustics site. They are available on eBay for not much money.
When everything is settled and levelled, I’ll post my listening impressions.
Thanks again to @BrianT for his generous gesture, which saved me quite a lot of money, and it was nice to go up to town to meet him and have a chat over a couple of beers.
As you can see, the Gaia lls are 2" wide at the top and 1.75" tall.
The discs under the original spikes are Herbie’s Gliders. They made moving the speakers easy, as the name suggests, but they didn’t isolate any vibrations from speaker to floor as I could feel the floor shaking when I turned the wick up with a bass heavy track.


               

[Antoine]

Forum members importing stuff for other members: forums at their best!

Looks good, hope it sounds great as well @Axel !

[BrianT]

Forum members importing stuff for other members: forums at their best!

Antoine

I had made a post on this forum, offering to import them in to England for anybody who wanted them.
3 members contacted me, but Alex was the only one to go though with the order.

I was very glad to help him, he saved a few pounds, but not as much as he could have done after buying me a beer in the bar.
Thanks Alex for the beer it was great to meet up with you.

Brian

[Antoine]

Forum members importing stuff for other members: forums at their best!

Antoine

I had made a post on this forum, offering to import them in to England for anybody who wanted them.
3 members contacted me, but Alex was the only one to go though with the order.

I was very glad to help him, he saved a few pounds, but not as much as he could have done after buying me a beer in the bar.
Thanks Alex for the beer it was great to meet up with you.

Brian

Hi Brian, I indeed saw the generous and kind offer you made, super! And always nice to meet a fellow Devialet enthousiast IRL!