Townshend Speaker Bars / Podiums - any experience?

https://forums.naimaudio.com/to...ation-ovator-s-600-s

Thanks - for some reason the search engine didn't pull this up - certainly not in the first few pages!!

Ive been wanting to try some of these for quite some time. Be interested to read your thoughts once you have them in place. Very disconcerting though how much speakers move with these in place. 

I tried the speaker bars a couple of years ago and there were definite sonic benefits but they were just too unstable for my leaning back PMC 23s , there's no way I could have lived with them . They would maybe be better on  a speaker with a larger footprint but personally I like things to be very stable . The Platforms I think are the evolution of the bars and look much more secure . 

Max is no fool, he is definitely onto something here. They work very well on mic stands, according to my mate Tony Faulkner

I'm interested in these isolators. I saw Max and the speaker bars at the Bristol show this year, but as he was sharing the corridor with a number of other vendors we couldn't listen to what they did. I too like others at a little concerned about the instability of the speakers. Would stillpoints be a better option?? 

heihei posted:

I've just got a pair of Podiums being sent through from Townshend to try underneath my Ovator S600's based on Jason Kennedy's review. Sue at Townshend has been v helpful, even sending though some feedback they had from a S600 user and wondered if it was anyone on here?

Anyone else had any experience of these? I'll obviously post my own findings.

It is probably me. 

I have had a set of Max's speaker bars under my S600s for around two years. They transformed the sound of my system removing the bass overhang that I had for so many years, including the time with SL2s. I subsequently attached the seismic pods to my audio stands, again with improvement to the SQ. Finally I placed another set under my Roksan Xerxes 20+.

As you may guess I am a convert.

Finkfan posted:

I'm interested in these isolators. I saw Max and the speaker bars at the Bristol show this year, but as he was sharing the corridor with a number of other vendors we couldn't listen to what they did. I too like others at a little concerned about the instability of the speakers. Would stillpoints be a better option?? 

I think the seismic podiums could be the perfect solution and looked much more stable when I saw them at the Indulgence show , maybe the springs are stiffer than before ? I'm not sure about Stillpoints but I've read good things about them including on this forum . I use Chord Silent Mounts , I bought them for my PMC 32s and they worked a real treat on a wooden suspended floor , similarly they are very expensive but they work (for me) . I have them under Custom Design stands right now with new ATCs , I may have a fiddle around to see if they are still as effective in this set up once my streamer returns from Naim , I'm currently restricted to using my Hugo with optical for TV and Bluetooth audio . 

Finkfan posted:

I'm interested in these isolators. I saw Max and the speaker bars at the Bristol show this year, but as he was sharing the corridor with a number of other vendors we couldn't listen to what they did. I too like others at a little concerned about the instability of the speakers. Would stillpoints be a better option?? 

Under my S600s they are apparently unstable but this is intended. I can give the speakers a substantial push and they oscillate like crazy but eventually revert to their exact upright position.

pete T15 posted:

Finkfan posted:

I'm interested in these isolators. I saw Max and the speaker bars at the Bristol show this year, but as he was sharing the corridor with a number of other vendors we couldn't listen to what they did. I too like others at a little concerned about the instability of the speakers. Would stillpoints be a better option?? 

I think the seismic podiums could be the perfect solution and looked much more stable when I saw them at the Indulgence show , maybe the springs are stiffer than before ? I'm not sure about Stillpoints but I've read good things about them including on this forum . I use Chord Silent Mounts , I bought them for my PMC 32s and they worked a real treat on a wooden suspended floor , similarly they are very expensive but they work (for me) . I have them under Custom Design stands right now with new ATCs , I may have a fiddle around to see if they are still as effective in this set up once my streamer returns from Naim , I'm currently restricted to using my Hugo with optical for TV and Bluetooth audio . 

Yeah the podiums look good Pete. My speakers are on currently on a suspended wooden floor but will soon be moving to my office which will be carpeted. Would they work ok on carpet? 

My speakers are currently on phase 2 Mana, but when I decide to experiment I will see what the Townshend supports can do.

Installed these last night and due to Christmas festivities have only had a couple of brief listening sessions but thought I'd do a quick update.

Installing was pretty straightforward apart from the obvious bit about shifting the weight of a S600 speaker. It does seem odd that they move around so much, but they are pretty stable so I'm not overly concerned. The platforms are pretty big (unsurprising given the footprint of the speaker). They sent a pair of no.4 platforms which fit perfectly width-wise and a couple of inches to spare back and front. Looks-wise they do somewhat spoil the look of the speaker, and I'm surprised there have been no complaints from others in the family given the speakers are a feature of the living room!

Sound-wise, the most noticeable feature is a cleaning up of the bass, particularly the mid bass. As such, the bloom that can appear on certain recordings is all but gone, and whilst this can initially feel like less bass, it feels more accurate. This is very much in line with Jason Kennedy's review. Elsewhere the differences are less noticeable but the overall feeling remains one of a cleaner presentation, and as such giving better separation to instruments, voices, etc. which leads to better insight into the music.

I'll update once I've had a listen some more, and with final conclusions.