The IsoAccoustics Gaia pricing does look a little odd at first glance. The Gaia III's are up to 32kg at £199, the Gaia II's up to 54kg at £299, the Gaia I's up to 100kg at £599. So the I's are fully double the price of the II's! I did find this a little annoying, as the Blades are 57kg, so a fraction over the Gaia II recommended weight.
I checked this with IsoAccoustics. The first point to note is that the Gaia I's are machined from solid stainless steal, whereas the II's and III's are carbon steel chrome plated. I think stainless steal is about 5 times the price of carbon steel currently, plus the I's are larger, so this goes someway to explaining the much higher price of the I's. As to the Blades being 3kg over the limit of the cheaper II's, this is what IsoAccoustics had to say:
The weight limits we set are based on the performance curve. The performance of the GAIA II is beginning to decline at the 121 lb weight. The performance level has a curved shape as weight increases, not a cliff. I would suggest the GAIA II would still perform very well at 57 kg, but the GAIA I will have a slight edge in performance at that weight level. I believe you will still be happy with the GAIA II and it is a good option for you if the GAIA I is not in your budget.
A fairly foo-free response I thought!
One thing concerns me a little though.... My little KEF Blades have opposing side mounted bass drivers and you can balance a £1 coin on edge on the top of the speaker, run them flat out with bass heavy music and the coin will not fall off. So not much is vibrating anywhere. Can these feet really help?
That said, the Blades did sound excellent at OAC last Saturday, for the record this was with the Gaia I's.
I checked this with IsoAccoustics. The first point to note is that the Gaia I's are machined from solid stainless steal, whereas the II's and III's are carbon steel chrome plated. I think stainless steal is about 5 times the price of carbon steel currently, plus the I's are larger, so this goes someway to explaining the much higher price of the I's. As to the Blades being 3kg over the limit of the cheaper II's, this is what IsoAccoustics had to say:
The weight limits we set are based on the performance curve. The performance of the GAIA II is beginning to decline at the 121 lb weight. The performance level has a curved shape as weight increases, not a cliff. I would suggest the GAIA II would still perform very well at 57 kg, but the GAIA I will have a slight edge in performance at that weight level. I believe you will still be happy with the GAIA II and it is a good option for you if the GAIA I is not in your budget.
A fairly foo-free response I thought!
One thing concerns me a little though.... My little KEF Blades have opposing side mounted bass drivers and you can balance a £1 coin on edge on the top of the speaker, run them flat out with bass heavy music and the coin will not fall off. So not much is vibrating anywhere. Can these feet really help?
That said, the Blades did sound excellent at OAC last Saturday, for the record this was with the Gaia I's.
1000 Pro - KEF Blade - iFi Zen Stream - Mutec REF10 - MC3+USB - Pro-Ject Signature 12
