[corndog71]

A buddy of mine was at one of the local hifi shops and got to hear a demo of Isoacoustic speaker stands.  He said it really improved the sound of a pair of inexpensive bookshelf speakers.  They're made up in Canada with lots of fancy engineering but the best part is they don't cost as much as your typical hifi tweak.

I was able to pick up a pair of their ISO-L8R155 bookshelf stands for $100 at the local Guitar Center.  They were developed for studio monitors.

I just tried them on my X-LS and they definitely improve imaging and soundstaging.  I can't wait to try their new subwoofer model.

http://www.isoacoustics.com/

[jazyes]

Hey Dog,

Thanks for the tip and the link. Wow, surprising since the Encore imaging and soundstage is already stellar.

[SoCalWJS]

I went to their website and looked at the Subwoofer stand. Too bad it only supports up to 75 lbs. It says to use multiple stands for larger/heavier models, but then the footprint is larger than my sub.

Still looks interesting.

[corndog71]

Just got the ISO-L8R200 version for my X-Statiks.  The effect is not subtle.
Bass definition is the best I've ever heard from these.  Spaciousness, microdynamics, decay...  all improved.

These are no joke.  I'm definitely getting one for my sub now!

[Captainhemo]

Just got the ISO-L8R200 version for my X-Statiks.  The effect is not subtle.
Bass definition is the best I've ever heard from these.  Spaciousness, microdynamics, decay...  all improved.

These are no joke.  I'm definitely getting one for my sub now!

interesting,  did you have the Statiks on spikes previously ?

-jay

[corndog71]

interesting,  did you have the Statiks on spikes previously ?

-jay

Yes.  I've had them on their original spikes as well as my home-made version of stillpoints.  My Statiks have upgraded caps and resistors in the crossovers including platinum bypasses on both midrange and tweeter circuits.  I never got around to adding No Rez to the inside. 

The effect these stands have is jaw-dropping.  The first thing I noticed was the bass.  On EDM tracks I can really feel the bass and it fills the room more.  Kick drums sound more like real drums.  Clarity from top to bottom jumps several notches.  I've been tweaking gear for years in order to squeeze every ounce of performance from them and this is by far the most effective speaker upgrade I've ever heard.

What really sold me on these was the science they put into them.  That and they are not ridiculously priced.  At Axpona I heard the Nordost Sort Kones demo and while they were impressive the prices for them were simply not worth the effect.  The cheapest ones were $200!  I got these stands for $150 shipped from Sweetwater and they are easily more effective.

I really try not to rave about improvements I've discovered until I've done more testing but these stands sell themselves instantly. 

[Danny Richie]

Guys these are just a stand with a soft suspension. The effect is reduced bass output in a given area by allowing the motion of the speaker to cancel out movement of the cone.

Sometimes reducing that bass response will allow some added clarity in the mid-range and have some positive effect. But it could come at the expense of other qualities. The really low foundation bass might suffer.

[corndog71]

Have you tried these, Danny?  I could swear I'm hearing more bass from my Statiks.  The lower bass seems kinda muddy and softer without these stands.

[Danny Richie]

Have you tried these, Danny?  I could swear I'm hearing more bass from my Statiks.  The lower bass seems kinda muddy and softer without these stands.

They can't add additional bass output. The only way to do that is to do the opposite. If you anchor the speaker to the floor so that it doesn't move then it will give you the most bass output possible.

It can take away output though and some associated boom. So it could sound cleaner or even tighter to some degree in some set ups.

I'd like to look at them further.

[bdp24]

Any component that makes sound via mechanical energy (turntables, loudspeakers) needs it's outer case (turntable plinth, loudspeaker enclosure) securely anchored to terra firma, so that the moving element (platter spinning record/arm supporting cartridge/stylus tracking groove, cones/ribbons/horns/etc. vibrating air.....all of that is done in OPPOSITION to the non-moving part of the transducer. It is the movement of the moving part against the non-moving part that makes sound, i.e. music. If the enclosure of a loudspeaker is allowed to move in response to the moving element, some sound is lost. Soft suspensions allow movement of the speaker enclosure, spikes prevent it.

[Captainhemo]

I was trying to figure out how they'd have  anchored the cabinets  better than the floor spikes  , why I asked  if you were using  spikes previously. Being that every action has an  equal and opposite reaction,   eliminating any cabinet movement by securely anchoring   would seem to be   what you'd want.

I know with my speakers  the spikes  definitely make an improvement, I'd actually prefer them  not to have the spikes  as they add  some height and also make it much  more diffiult to move them.  But they sound better using the spikes

corndog71,  you said you  did not have the cabinets lined with no rez,   did you do the  vinyl/open cell foam  or  are the cabinets bare ?   This might be a long shot,  but I am wondering if using the  spikes  is causing more  resonance and therefore translating into hearing more "muddiness" in the bass.   Could using the  stands be eliminating some of the resonance   and making it sound cleaner ?
You could line the  statiks cabinets with  2 sheets of no rezs , might have to leave the bottom bare,  but it would most likely be a very worth while upgrade.   

-jay

[corndog71]

corndog71,  you said you  did not have the cabinets lined with no rez,   did you do the  vinyl/open cell foam  or  are the cabinets bare ?   This might be a long shot,  but I am wondering if using the  spikes  is causing more  resonance and therefore translating into hearing more "muddiness" in the bass.   Could using the  stands be eliminating some of the resonance   and making it sound cleaner ?
You could line the  statiks cabinets with  2 sheets of no rezs , might have to leave the bottom bare,  but it would most likely be a very worth while upgrade.

-jay

My X-Statiks have the original factory lining.  This really only affects the woofer section as the mids and tweeter are on just a baffle.  While I'm a big fan of No Rez I'm not a fan of scraping out the factory lining.  It's really quite a pain.  With the crossover upgrades they sound great.  Ever since I added the platinum bypasses I felt like there really wasn't much else I could do to improve them.  These are seriously great speakers for the money!  The spikes tightened things up for sure and I thought my little mod to them helped as well.

The rubber feet on the isoaccoustics is very tacky on the top and bottom.  They have a minimum height of 5" which raises the tweeter level more than I would like.  But again the benefits I'm hearing are worth it.  It's almost like a new speaker!  I should probably add these are on hardwood floors. Not sure how they would work on carpet.

[Captainhemo]

When you were using the spikes,  did you have them sitting on the little discs  ?  I've often wondered how well those   actually  provide  an anchor to the hardwood .... maybe those rubber   feet are actually doing a better job 

No matter what the reason,  it is cool they are working for you   

[corndog71]

When you were using the spikes,  did you have them sitting on the little discs  ?  I've often wondered how well those   actually  provide  an anchor to the hardwood .... maybe those rubber   feet are actually doing a better job 

No matter what the reason,  it is cool they are working for you

No, since my floors have a thick coat of urethane I let the spikes dig in.  I did use the discs at some point when I was adjusting speaker positions.  I think most people use them to avoid scratching and puncturing their floors. 

My last tweak was an attempt to mimic Stillpoints.  Talk about overpriced tweaks!  A friend of mine swears by them.  Anyway, I got some copper pipe caps and steel ball bearings.  I stacked the ball bearings in 3 layers and let the spikes rest on the top layer.  The idea is to convert vertical traveling energy into horizontal energy or something like that.  It ended up being a slight difference but nothing to shout about.  Not to mention a pain setting these 52 pound speakers on them without knocking things over.

[Captainhemo]

No, since my floors have a thick coat of urethane I let the spikes dig in.  I did use the discs at some point when I was adjusting speaker positions.  I think most people use them to avoid scratching and puncturing their floors. 

My last tweak was an attempt to mimic Stillpoints.  Talk about overpriced tweaks!  A friend of mine swears by them.  Anyway, I got some copper pipe caps and steel ball bearings.  I stacked the ball bearings in 3 layers and let the spikes rest on the top layer.  The idea is to convert vertical traveling energy into horizontal energy or something like that.  It ended up being a slight difference but nothing to shout about.  Not to mention a pain setting these 52 pound speakers on them without knocking things over.

Well,  guess that  eliminates my  idea of the discs not   providing a  secure anchor.

As for the other tweak,  never hurts to try  but for me that one  is a head scrtacher 

-jay

[gmurray618]

So my question is what is the generally accepted way of placing a speaker on a hard wood floor - that you don't want to put spikes into?  I was thinking of putting together a small platform of the flooring boards and let the spikes anker into that. Maybe glue a thin rubber pad to the bottom of the platform for friction.

[jdavies]

One possibility would be spike decoupling gliders from Herbie's Audio Lab.  Haven't tried them myself, but the reviews seem to be very positive.

[corndog71]

FWIW, I just found out that Dynaudio is including them with some of their speakers.

http://dynaudioprofessional.com/bm-series/bm-mkiii-series/

[srb]

That's almost unheard of for a major speaker player to bundle another manufacturer's product with their speaker.  That's quite the marketing feather in their cap for IsoAcoustics.  I don't know how well or not they work, I just wish they didn't look so cheap.

Steve

[Danny Richie]

To me these make the most sense with small monitors that won't play down low. The damping or the allowed movement might be such that shorter wavelengths are less effected while the lower wavelengths will be more damped out.