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I own a pair of M4 Sapphires and I am contemplating going from Herbie's Lab Threaded stud giant gliders to IsoAcoustics Gaia footers. Partly because I noticed one of the gliders has broken when I was tightening it the other day. I have owned Gaia's before on a different speaker, so I know they can work well. And Herbie's don't seem too forthcoming with a reply about how to fix these or whether they will replace it (they are about 2 years old).



I have 3 questions:

1. Which Gaia to get: the II or III? The cheaper III is good for speakers up to 32kg using 4 footers, but of course I only need 3, so is an M4 Sapphire less than 3/4 of that (24kg)? I don't have my manual to hand to look up the weight, and can't find mention of the weight anywhere here or elsewhere on the web. Meanwhile, 4 Gaia IIs support up to 55kg, so I know 3 of them will be capable enough.

2. Does anyone have direct experience of Herbie's gliders vs the Gaia footers, and whether the Gaias are clearly better? Opinions seem mixed on this circle. Or maybe I should get the Herbie's spike decoupling giant gliders? At least those look unbreakable.

3. If I did get the Gaia's, can they be set up to provide the slight backward tilt that I want on my Spatials, and that the Herbies do really well (because you can order them with different stud lengths - 40mm at the front and 25mm at the rear for me).

(I know there are multiple mentions of Gaia footers on this circle, but nothing directly answers my questions, especially about using them with M4 Sapphires). Thanks!

[Charles Xavier]

I use the SVS Soundpath footers on my M3 Saphires. Vibration free. I tried the Stack Auva 50's on them and they vibrated.

[Mr. Big]

I own a pair of M4 Sapphires and I am contemplating going from Herbie's Lab Threaded stud giant gliders to IsoAcoustics Gaia footers. Partly because I noticed one of the gliders has broken when I was tightening it the other day. I have owned Gaia's before on a different speaker, so I know they can work well. And Herbie's don't seem too forthcoming with a reply about how to fix these or whether they will replace it (they are about 2 years old).



I have 3 questions:

1. Which Gaia to get: the II or III? The cheaper III is good for speakers up to 32kg using 4 footers, but of course I only need 3, so is an M4 Sapphire less than 3/4 of that (24kg)? I don't have my manual to hand to look up the weight, and can't find mention of the weight anywhere here or elsewhere on the web. Meanwhile, 4 Gaia IIs support up to 55kg, so I know 3 of them will be capable enough.

2. Does anyone have direct experience of Herbie's gliders vs the Gaia footers, and whether the Gaias are clearly better? Opinions seem mixed on this circle. Or maybe I should get the Herbie's spike decoupling giant gliders? They seem unbreakable.

3. If I did get the Gaia's, can they be set up to provide the slight backward tilt that I want on my Spatials, and that the Herbies do well (because you can order them with different stud lengths - 40mm at the front and 25mm at the rear).

(I know there are multiple mentions of Gaia footers on this circle, but nothing directly answers my questions, especially about using them with M4 Sapphires). Thanks!

I have repeatedly found on the carpet floors with my 8lb pad that my Sapphire M3s sound their best with the feet that you screw the spikes or Herbie's into (I tried them also) dynamic-wise, in tone and color, etc. With the spikes, you lose a lot of that.  So no spikes at all, I had 3 audi friends over and they felt the same. Said the speaker sound good before, but without any spikes, they had more of everything that the speaker had with the spikes, tried SVS footers and they were off in 15 seconds. Anything under the speakers will change the sound, but I use recordings I've heard for 40 years and when they get screwed up then I know something has to go bye SVS footers and spikes. Try your speakers el'natural.

[James Edward]

Go with the II’s, since the weight will be distributed on 3 points instead of 4. I have the M3 Turbo S, and the weight is probably similar. As far as what others have said here regarding whether or not they are beneficial, it is certainly worth experimenting with.
I currently use SVS Soundpath footers, mainly for the bit of extra height and the fact that I can play with the rake angle. I hadn’t noticed any negative effects after installation as someone here did. Of course now I will have to mess around with these again… We suffer for our craft!
FWIW, and it may not be much, I was surprised at how much the baffle vibrates at high volume. I just figured that without the box, things would just dissipate as opposed to containment within. Regardless, I love the M3 Turbo S sound, and maybe the baffle is contributing to what I like. Who knows?

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Thanks all for replies so far. Anyone else?

@James, on a related note: when I was checking the footers, I noticed the bolts fixing the baffles to the metal bases were quite loose and needed a good tighten. I guess nearly 2 years of vibration from playing would do that.

[El Tio]

I use Gaia II's on the front and a III at the back to provide a bit of rake. Audio Advisor sells the Gaia III's individually.

https://www.audioadvisor.com/iagaiaiii-1?sku=NEW-IAGAIAIII-1

[gene9p]

I placed the Gaia III's on my Snell JIV speakers that I refurbished. Amazing how they changed the sound!...they are one of the few tweaks that actually work.

[jamieattfield]

I have Gaia II’s under my m3 sapphires. They work very nicely. Herbies are ok but not in the same league in my opinion. Another lower cost option are Nobsound springs. Work almost as well as the Gaia’s at a fraction of the price.

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Small update: Herbie's Audio Lab have replied and said they will replace the stud glider under warranty. It's on its way via post now. Still, I wonder about the Gaias...