Townsend Isolation Podium

I have a good friend who uses them under some large Focal floor standers,sorry don't know the model number,but they weigh in at 60 kg and must stand 5 foot.

He really likes what the Townsend supports do in his system.You can tap the speakers and they will move back and forth but the air in the bases of the podiums isolates them from his suspended wooden floor.Their almost the opposite of the rigid principle with isolation.I like what they do but best to get a home demo if you can and see what you think.

I think Tony M on this forum uses them with his Naim DBL's

I've heard the Townsend bars (using springs) under a friends Fact 8's. They look great and seem to offer a definite SQ improvement according to him. However, I have heard of a few situations where my dealer couldn't get them or the podiums to work particularly well with some speakers, so definitely suggest a home demo.

I'm currently using DBL's with Mana sound bases under them. This seems to give a similar decoupling effect where the speakers, if lightly pushed, bounce backwards and forwards for a few seconds. What the Mana stands seem to do well is to give everything a bit more headroom and naturalness but at the tiny expense of absolute focus and impact.

Using DBL's directly onto Naim chips and then on to my wooden floor can, at very loud volumes, just get a tad too harsh with certain albums. This is probably more to do with the recordings and room than anything else. As you can imagine this is not the kind of thing you want to A/B demo with the back-breaking weight of DBL's!

At the moment though I'm reasonably impressed at what the Mana bases are doing.    

Tabby cat posted:

I think Tony M on this forum uses them with his Naim DBL's

I don't use the Townsend platforms Mr Tabby, but I did join a previous discussion about them. The previous owner of my DBLs used Mana, like Geko, and reckoned they worked really well. He didn't want to sell them (he'd bought a replacement pair of DBLs in a different finish), so whilst I was there I took some photos and measurements of his Manas. I eventually got round to making a pair, and, as Geko points out, these work extremely well. Having the speakers move about when you push them seems counterintuitive, but if you look on the Townsend website there's an interesting video showing how effective their platforms are at isolating speakers from feedback from the floor.

I tried their little experiment, using a seismometer app. on my iPhone - stamping on the floor (oak boards resting on a compressed flint and mud substrate) next to the speakers produced a significant deflection, but with the DBLs on my DIY Mana platforms the meter hardly moves at all.

Tony M,

Curious as to what you used to replicate the boards?

I also hear that there's a new product from Mr Watson of Mana fame that might be about to break cover. I understand that it is for supporting source equipment. I think it may make an appearance in the hi-if press over the next couple of weeks?

Should be worth a listen.

Thanks for the comments to date. Only a tentative enquiry at this stage but as always the Forum is a good place to start!

Interested to hear a bit more about the Mana platform and the DIY version. 

Thanks.

Geko posted:

I also hear that there's a new product from Mr Watson of Mana fame that might be about to break cover. I understand that it is for supporting source equipment. I think it may make an appearance in the hi-if press over the next couple of weeks?

Should be worth a listen.

???? Geko,....Two in our group have already ordered ????????????.

/Peder ????

Geko posted:

Tony M,

Curious as to what you used to replicate the boards?

 

Hi Geko, I was going to use the laminated medium-density fibreboard, but then I received much help and advice from a lady who happens to be a specialist in materials technology - handy! So I ended up fabricating the boards from a sandwich of 12mm marine ply with a filling of 16 gauge aluminium sheet, stuck together with epoxy resin. As you so rightly point out, humping DBLs around really puts the kybosh on experimenting with different options under them. However, the end result is surprisingly excellent. The sound's a lot more focused, with better, more defined bass.  Previously to this, I was using the Fraim Chips. My friend Mr Darke Bear, on a visit, suggested we try them upside down so we snuck them under the spikes and, by George, he was right! The Manas are much better though. I've been using a Mana Reference Sound Shelf under my LP12 for many years, and that also really improves the sound - a considerable improvement over using the deck on top of my Fraim.

Geko posted:

I've heard the Townsend bars (using springs) under a friends Fact 8's. They look great and seem to offer a definite SQ improvement according to him. However, I have heard of a few situations where my dealer couldn't get them or the podiums to work particularly well with some speakers, so definitely suggest a home demo.

I'm currently using DBL's with Mana sound bases under them. This seems to give a similar decoupling effect where the speakers, if lightly pushed, bounce backwards and forwards for a few seconds. What the Mana stands seem to do well is to give everything a bit more headroom and naturalness but at the tiny expense of absolute focus and impact.

Using DBL's directly onto Naim chips and then on to my wooden floor can, at very loud volumes, just get a tad too harsh with certain albums. This is probably more to do with the recordings and room than anything else. As you can imagine this is not the kind of thing you want to A/B demo with the back-breaking weight of DBL's!

At the moment though I'm reasonably impressed at what the Mana bases are doing.    

I'm also using Mana Sound Base to my DBL's.
First I was skeptical to the bouncing since no other Mana behaves like this.
But I agree with You what they bring to the system.
What is a downside in my room is that the bass becomes a bit reduced.

Very interesting. I have some of the original Mana boards and believe that they are Formica laminated chip board. Similar, but thicker, than the original boards used in the Sound Organisation. I was curious as to what these might add to the overall SQ - knowing how sensitive this stuff is!

i see the Mana Sound Clamp has finally broken cover on another thread!

HardBop posted:

Anyone any experience of using the Townsend Podium for speakers? They get good write ups...but not cheap of course! 

Thanks.

Hi, I use them under my speakers and I would not be without them. They removed virtually all bass boom that I had previously thought to be a room issue, as well as ‘cleaning the sound overall’. I also use Townsend Pods beneath my unsuspended turntable as well as my audio racks. I initially got them on a month’s free trial basis, I’m guessing that Max still offers this service.