Author Topic: Isolation of a sub or large speaker?  (Read 6924 times)

Offline Carlman

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DaveC

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Re: Isolation of a sub or large speaker?
« Reply #1 on: May 13, 2014, 11:28:20 AM »
No, but it looks interesting, and may be a good replacement for the cardboard box currently doubling as an isolation platform for my sub...  :rofl:

There's only 1 review on that one but other similar products by the same manufacturer have more reviews, which seem extremely positive:

http://www.amazon.com/IsoAcoustics-ISO-L8R155-Medium-Pair/dp/B008GOP79G/ref=pd_cp_MI_0

Offline sleepyguy24

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Re: Isolation of a sub or large speaker?
« Reply #2 on: May 13, 2014, 12:55:31 PM »
Hi Carl

Thanks for the lead on this. I may be able to use these. I've always been happy with the Auralex platforms but these look different and could raise my subs an inch higher. I've never seen or heard of these until now.

I called the IsoAcoustics earlier in the day and the guy I spoke to was nice.

http://www.isoacoustics.com/contact.php

He said the L8R200 Sub can handle up to 75 lbs in the compact format. In the raised form it can handle up to 60 lbs.

I asked if he had a turntable isolation platform and he said no. Right now they are concentrating on pro audio applications. Drum raiser kits, isolation platforms for really heavy pro HT set-ups etc.

DaveC

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Re: Isolation of a sub or large speaker?
« Reply #3 on: May 13, 2014, 01:08:54 PM »
After reading some reviews I ordered one, the cardboard box has got to go.  :rofl:

I have a 10" sealed sub with Adire Audio XBL^2 driver and 200W plate amp.

Will report back...

Offline Carlman

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Re: Isolation of a sub or large speaker?
« Reply #4 on: May 13, 2014, 06:18:11 PM »
Cool... Just thought it was practical and affordable...
It'll be nice to hear your thoughts, Dave. I'm guessing your system will sound less 'boxy' ... Har har
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Offline rollo

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Re: Isolation of a sub or large speaker?
« Reply #5 on: May 15, 2014, 06:15:39 AM »
Good find. Cool. Let us know the impact of the stand.


charles
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Offline bmr3hc

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Re: Isolation of a sub or large speaker?
« Reply #6 on: May 15, 2014, 04:51:40 PM »
Interesting look for sure. Not sure how this would work with a 10" front active and 12" downward firing passive Rel sub.
Pretty happy with my Auralex platform. But, still curious about this one.
"If music be the food of love, play on."  Shakespeare

DaveC

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Re: Isolation of a sub or large speaker?
« Reply #7 on: May 17, 2014, 10:14:38 AM »
I got it yesterday from Sweetwater. They are really trying to make sure their CS is good, I got a phone call asking about how I was going to use the stand, and an offer to call or email if needed. Shipping was same-day, and they threw in a little bag of candies.  :rofl:

The top and bottom platforms are made out of heavy plastic, seems thick and durable enough for it's intended purpose. Each corner of the platforms has a rubber insert. On top and bottom, the insert forms a rubber foot to contact the floor and subwoofer. In the middle the rubber cups accept 4" long steel tubes that join the top and bottom platforms into one unit.

The rubber inserts allow the cabinet to "float" and has quite a bit of compliance in the horizontal plane. A light touch is enough to move the cabinet visibly. There is some vertical compliance as well, but much less than in the horizontal direction.

So, this stand is seems like it will do a better job of decoupling the speaker than a foam platform, and by quite a bit. For me, it makes more sense to firmly couple a subwoofer cabinet to the floor, but it's pretty obvious this is back-assward when tested out. The box says it allows float which gets rid of resonances, and it when you listen it's pretty obvious this is happening and the results are better than a coupled cabinet.

Generally with these things if I don't notice a difference right away it's not significant enough for me to worry about, but I can say it made a difference and didn't require a careful A/B either. The result is cleaner sounding bass, simple as that. I do think the results will vary depending on your equipment, but with my simple 10" sealed subwoofer it was definitely worth it. 

I was just thinking with a downfiring sub you could put a platform on the stand that the sub would sit on, but that would change other things too... maybe for the better, maybe not.

edit: dimensions are 8 x 10" or 6 x 8" between center of supports. They support 75 lbs, but you can use 2 of them for larger subs.

The improvement in bass translates to better clarity and detail in the rest of the frequency spectrum as well. We have all experienced how good bass elevates the sound of a system, this is no different and the change is very noticeable.

edit2: I am going to have to order a pair for my speaker stands. I have low stands currently on brass spikes, but the spikes are sitting on pennies with thick felt underneath to decouple from my hardwood floor. I am going to replace the brass spikes with these devices, the monitor ones are 3 or 8" tall. Or I could get 2 subwoofer platforms for the same price as a pair of mediums since I will not raise or tilt the devices...

In any case, I think isol8r is going to sell a lot of these things!
« Last Edit: May 17, 2014, 11:18:37 AM by DaveC »

Offline Carlman

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Re: Isolation of a sub or large speaker?
« Reply #8 on: May 20, 2014, 01:09:31 PM »
Cool! Glad they work! I thought it was a good, inexpensive design that anyone could try... :)
Thanks for reviewing your findings.
I wanted to build something like this for my speakers... to add a little height in addition to giving them isolation.  My speakers weight 150 lbs and I don't want them to be more than a few inches higher... So, I will likely have to do something I make... just need time.

-C
I really enjoy listening to music.

DaveC

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Re: Isolation of a sub or large speaker?
« Reply #9 on: May 20, 2014, 03:17:36 PM »
Carlman, one option might be to cut-down the steel rods used to join the top and bottom platforms, along with trimming the rubber cups a little bit, but even then I think you would only reduce the height about one inch. As it sits, the sub stand is 5" tall. It will raise my speakers up a couple inches vs the brass spikes, but I think that will work well in my situation... also for your 150 lb speakers you would need two stands to handle the weight, so the cost is more too. The stands are simple and I think you could DIY something as effective and probably much nicer looking too.  :)

In any case, I should get the other 2 iso stands in the next couple days, I hope it makes a nice improvement for my main speakers too.

Thanks for posting, it was just what I needed for my sub!


DaveC

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Re: Isolation of a sub or large speaker?
« Reply #10 on: May 23, 2014, 09:06:25 PM »
There's no contest, the iso stands make for a fairly large improvement vs my current method of support, which is (was) 1 lb brass spikes on pads with thick wool felt. The bass through the upper mids sound clearer. Imaging is better, my system sounds "bigger"... My feeling is these may be worth looking into no matter what you happen to be using currently, they may be quite a bit better.  And I'm sure most places have return policies if not.

As far as what the stands do, the amount of movement that is allowed (in the horizontal plane) is relatively large, the force required to produce movement is very low, and there is almost no "stiction". So, the feeling the speaker cabinets are "floating" is much different than other stands because of this, and I would guess the amount of decoupling they provide exceeds that of most speaker stands or other decoupling devices.