IsoAcoustics Gaia Series Isolation Feet for Speakers & Subwoofers (Gaia III, 32 kg max) – Set of 4

Product Information

That doesn’t mean I didn’t sense a difference. I did indeed perceive that the soundstage and the bass tightened up. The sensation is as though the SVTR Signature Towers cabinets became more inert. The quantity and quality of the bass output from the SVTR Signature Towers is simply body blowing and anything I’ll write will fail to convey the experience of these speakers. Nevertheless, introducing the GAIA to the equation improved the perceived performance of the speakers in my room. Conclusion The internal squidgy bit in the middle of the Gaia feet means that when installed, the loudspeaker has a small amount of travel like it’s sitting on a well-damped suspension system. It doesn’t bounce like the suspension of a Linn turntable, and it doesn’t even have the freedom of movement of something like a Townshend seismic speaker platform, but if you are used to rigid speakers spiked into the floor, that slight movement might come over as disconcerting.

The one thing that my months-long experience with IsoAcoustics GAIA isolators taught me is that decoupling the speakers from the flooring substrate and dampening the resulting vibrations plays a role in improving the perceived soundstage, imaging detail, and improves the overall experience of the music. Moreover, isolation most certainly needs to be part of our conversation of optimizing speaker-room performance and as far as I'm concerned now belongs as an essential part of our optimization toolkit. Please note: TV and larger floorstanding speaker deliveries are not available to Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Isle of Man, Isle of Wight, Scottish Islands, and Channel Islands. GAIA I isolators are finished with a machined stainless steel housing with an elegant dark chrome finish. Incorporating IsoAcoustics patented design principles, the GAIA I provides a high degree of isolation while resisting lateral movement and oscillations to maintain alignment with the listening position. Internal reflections from the hard-supporting surface are attenuated resulting in greater sound clarity and openness. The GAIA I will reveal clarity and openness from your speakers as you’ve never heard. GAIA isolators come with thread adaptors for the 3 most common thread sizes which fit the majority of speakers.

GAIA III

Design wise, aesthetically they are very nice with a high grade stainless steel body which is dark chrome plated and looks fantastic and in combination with the rubberised internal structure which is formed to stabilise internal reflections and also forms as the stable base to the footer in one moulded piece; a tactile suction type force for a hard surface, minimising vibrations and ringing from cabinet to floor and vice versa, allowing the supported speaker to be in a more “floaty” position. Carpet spike adapters are also available for under this system and are not a replacement to the rubberised bottoms which are intrinsically part of the overall vibration control system.

In the main VPI listening room during my visit, two identical pairs of speakers were connected to a system (playing from a fine and varied VPI collection of LPs on a VPI HW40 Direct Drive Turntable); one with standard spikes, and the other with Gaia footers. Guests were able to listen while switching between the two pairs at the push of a button. The improvement offered by the Gaia was for me noticeable and not subtle: Overall tightening up of the bass, better clarity, and more spacial accuracy of instruments in the sound stage. I had also heard such improvement at a friend’s home with a pair of Revel Salon 2 loudspeakers.The GAIA’s are threaded into the base of the speaker or subwoofer to replace the existing spikes or feet. Threading the GAIA’s into the base of the speaker creates a strong connection with the speaker. With the top of the GAIA housing connected with the speaker and the bottom of the GAIA connected to the supporting surface, all of the energy is then managed by the GAIA’s internal isolator.

Internal reflections are another consequence of speaker placement which can result in a loss of sound clarity and can cause sounds to become less three dimensional and spacious. Vibrations are inherent in the speaker, but any vibrations reflecting off the supporting surface and returning through any mechanical connection are a cause of internal reflections” Something else to notice is during films the front soundstage is together more and cohesive. I have my centre channel raised on monitor foam wedges so are relatively isolated, now there is much less distinction in certain times between the front left and right speakers with the centre. Like additional timbre matching has occured. Thanks to the spikes which supported by the LP turntable, the tube power amp & the KEF stand loudspeakers.

To demonstrate this point, IsoAcoustics set up a test environment at the National Research Council (NRC) of Canada. Dr. Floyd Toole’s, Dr. Sean Olive’s, and Todd Welti’s work at the NRC has laid a strong foundation for what much of what we now hold as fundamental truths in acoustics and psychoacoustics of loudspeakers and headphones. Perhaps we should rename the NRC the Sacred Temple of the Audio World.

So I'm waxing lyrical right? Guy spends stupid money on speakers feet and placebo effect wins the day? I don't think so. I was not sat there straining to hear these differences, they are there immediately and with no doubt. The footers when placed under a great set of speakers increase the focus dramatically, and again the bass tightens up with a greater sense of definition. This can be considered hifi dogma, the Isoacoustics feet and allowing you to improve this after the fact.With those broad parameters in mind, it was time to get things in motion. Selecting the Right IsoAcoustic Product When a speaker is placed on a hard surface, secondary internal reflections result. Any artefacts of this smear that is similar in the two channels are perceived to be in the centre, causing the sound stage to collapse. The GAIA series of isolators eliminates this smear resulting in a larger 3-dimensional sound stage.” The GAIA III includes thread adaptors for sizes M6-1.0, M8-1.25 and ¼”-20. Alternative thread size adaptors are available upon request through IsoAcoustics distributors. There were no snake oil claims in the product descriptions of vibranium, adamantium, or unobtainium alloys forged in the heart of a dying star and then cryogenically frozen for a thousand years to align Higgs Boson particles into some mythical object immune to the laws of physics. On the contrary, IsoAcoustics has performed tests of their products at the acclaimed National Research Council of (NRC) of Canada and publishes measurements of the differences their isolators make using a laservibrometer.