Click an image to enlarge.
I have always understood the need for individual
component isolation for turntables, amplifiers and alike in the
form of either a good rack, or individual tables or specific feet.
However, speaker isolation was at the bottom of my ‘hi-fi
tweak to do’ list for a variety of reasons.
 |
Firstly,
I trusted the spikes (or other) provided by most speaker manufacturers
would be all I needed to support and isolate my speakers? “Vibrations
through my floor, nah, not an issue because I cannot feel any
substantial vibrations!” I also considered my floor
to be solid enough and relatively vibration free? After-all,
I had reallocated from a house with a notable springy wooden
floor, but my new listening room had a solid porcelain tiled
floor, on top of a layer of levelling screed, compressed polystyrene
(for underfloor heating installation) and a solid concrete base.
Surely that should be enough to stop, or inhibit vibration issues?
And if I did have vibration issues, it certainly did not impair
my musical enjoyment.
Secondly, I spent over four very busy
years searching for the right amplifier, so speaker isolation
was not a priority.
Thirdly, I have spent many months sorting
out issues with my MartinLoogan electrostatic speakers (panel
replacements) so again, speaker isolation was at the back of my
mind.
Despite conversations with trusted experts in
the field, I did not believe further bespoke isolation devices
would make noticeable sonic improvements.
Change of heart
The lightbulb moment happened during conversations
with a group of opera singers in October 2024. We shared our love
and admiration for specific celebrated singers and discussed octave
ranges, quality of tone and pitch. One singer advised that she
was partially blind and was able to detect musical information
on stage via vibrations through her feet (she performed barefoot)!
She also confirmed she rehearsed at home barefoot and was able
to pick up information in the same manner in her rehearsal room.
This was enough to trigger my investigation into speaker isolation.
As with all my shared experience reviews, I conducted
substantial research and questioned many in the hi-fi industry
regarding speaker isolation and specifically ‘the design’
of various products on the market over a period of several months.
Of course I wanted to ‘get it right’, but I also wanted
to minimise the amount of boxes and speaker lifting on this occasion!
WELLFLOAT Delta Isolation Base corner
(with 20mm height option)
Prices (£519 per corner) – Total cost £4152
– other options also available.
.jpg) |
The first isolation
device to be strategically placed under my MartinLogan ESL11A
electrostatic speakers were the WELLFLOAT Delta Isolation Base
corners (with 20mm height option). These units are the most
expensive isolation option I (reluctantly) shortlisted. Their
individual price was enough to make me stutter during a conversation
with the WELLFLOAT representative, however, he advised…
“Just give them a go, I believe these units are a
great start AND you can always return them if they are not to
your liking?”
This particular listening experience
coincided with a visit from five eager music loving individuals
who (like me) have never considered using any form of bespoke
speaker isolation. Each individual brought a small section of
their own music on vinyl record (rock – pop – soul
- electronica) to try out. Great to have extra ears (and hands)
for this listening experience!
The WLLFLOAT Delta Isolation Base listening
experience begins
My friends initially listened to my system without
the WELLFLOAT Delta Isolation Base corners in place. Individual
reactions and comments were interesting...“Yeah, sounds
great.” “Such a wide and deep soundstage and I can
almost visualise the position of each musician…!”
The positive comments continued as the group cherry picked various
albums from my CD and vinyl record collection to line up and play…
“BUT have you tried any type of room treatment?”…”What
about installing curtains behind the speakers…?”
The comments and chatter continued as they each wondered around
the room examining my speakers, the turntable, the cables. They
also discussed whether my listening room was a ‘live room’
or not and proceeded clapping and clicking their fingers in the
air.
I paused playback after a few minutes and requested
assistance to install the WELLFLOAT Delta Isolation Base corners
and restarted the experience with the same music...
At this point all five individuals stood
still in the room, looked at each other, looked at me and never
said a word until I stopped playback five minutes later. “Wow,
what an amazing transformation!” One individual said
out loud as he glanced at others across the room.
“Music
now sounds clearer and sharper!” Another pointed out.
The nods of agreement were unanimous.
Positive improvements with the WELFLOAT
Delta Isolation Base corners
We continued to listen to both vinyl records
and CD’s for at least one hour. There was no further mention
of the potential need for room treatment, curtains behind speakers
and nobody clapped, or clicked their fingers in the air again.
Individuals took turns to take up the hot seat (listening chair)
as well as taking a seat at the back of my 28ft x 12ft room. Individuals
continued to comment positively regarding the sonic (musical)
transformation. “Music sounds great form every corner
of the room.” “Everything sounds so tight and controlled,
especially the bass; there was a boom in the room before you installed
the WELLFLOAT’s. The boom did not destroy the music, or
my enjoyment, but without the boom I can really zone in on voices,
instruments and appreciate what makes this music great!”
“What else have you done to get these results?”
I reminded the group that I (we) had not done anything else other
than install the WELLFLOAT Delta Isolation Base corners!
I continued to listen to various types of music
with the WELLFLOAT's in place after my friends left. I felt encouraged
to listen to all types of music, as well whole albums without
skipping tracks I had previously regarded as ‘album fillers’.
Such is the beguiling effect using the WELLFLOAT’s.
‘Is this just a placebo affect I wondered?’ Three
days passed and I was still listening. In fact I was now listening
to albums I had not played for over twenty years. Albums I considered
were poorly produced, poorly mixed. I am not saying the WELFLOAT’s
improved the quality of production or mixing, or made bad recordings
sound good. I just found it easier to focus on the good (and let
go) of the areas in the production or mix which were bad (in my
opinion) and still appreciate and enjoy the music!
.jpg) |
‘It’s
all about the bass’ is a phrase I considered using
as a center piece in bold here, but there is much more going
on with the WELLFLOAT Delta Isolation Base corners installed.
Obviously these isolation corners (which are not cheap in my
book) have ticked the ‘effective technical design box’
and I will let YOU the viewer read more about the technical
design aspects of WELFLOAT in your own time. I wanted to be
able to concentrate on what these isolation corners do and how
they perform in my hi-fi system and room sonically (musically).
My task was to discover how these isolation corners performed
in my hi-fi system and room sonically (musically). It turned
out to be a very easy task (especially with the assistance of
five music loving friends)!
It was obvious to everybody
from the outset that lower frequencies were stunningly controlled.
The improvement in this area was not subtle, it was HUGE! In
fact the improvement to all frequencies, instrument, vocal imaging,
soundstage depth and width had vastly improved.
The overall
positive effect on music was astounding!
Robin Francis
© Michael Valentine Studio
January 2025
Turntable
AMG Viella V12 turntable with AMG Teatro MC with newly fitted
the Fritz Gyger II stylus & AMG reference tonearm cable.
Phono stage
Whest PS.40RDT Special Edition phono stage.
Townshend F1 Fractal balanced XLR interconnect cable between the
phono stage and
Audio Hungary C200 Preamplifier.
CD player
Musical Fidelity A3 CD player.
Pure silver bespoke RCA cables between CD player and preamplifier.
Amplification
Audio Hungary P200 Amplifier (with
Tung-Sol KT150 tubes) & C200 Preamplifier
Speakers & speaker cable
MartinLogan ESL11A speakers (ARC - Anthem Room Correction switched
off)
with Townshend DCT Isolda speaker cable.
Table
Quadraspire Q4 EVO 4 tier shelf.
Power & mains cables
Russ Andrews balanced mains unit (BMU 3000)
Russ Andrews Powerkord 300 mains cables for Russ Andrews BMU 3000,
amplifier, preamplifier, CD player and speakers.
BMU 3000 configuration
Power amplifier plugged direclty into the wall socket
Preamplifer, phono stage & CD player plugged into the BMU
3000 gave best results to our ears.
Further
Recommended
Viewing
|
Click the image below to go
to the Speaker Isolation two
(IsoAcoustics Gaia II Series Isolation Feet - Conclusion &
decision) Experience Review,
or the WELLFLOAT logo to reach their website...
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