Symposium Ulta Shelf under floor standing speakers - Any Thoughts ?

Certainly worth trying. I can testify to the benefit of well thought out isolation of the speaker from the floor having recently installed the Townshend Seismic podiums under my Magico Q3s. This is more than twice the price of the similar sized Symposium offering but would have the added benefit of isolating the speaker from external vibration (as well as the speaker from the room). 

i guess my one concern having read the Symposium materials is how you level the speaker after removing the spikes as the shelf is to be used flat on the floor. For my speakers at least having them perfectly level is quite critical. The Townshend offers four point leveling

Thanks Folffreak and I have contacted Tonwshend for more information and US dealer. I like the idea of leveling as well as a thinner profile. Symposium does have products for speaker platforms that do include leveling spikes but my concern is the size / height of their platforms and raising the speaker too high.   

I use svelte shelves under my speakers, which are thinner than ultras, and I have ultras under my amp and DAC /music server.  Like any tuning device, whether it helps or hurts the sound quality is dependent on the room/system and what you are trying to achieve.

My setup is on a suspended wooden floor covered with wall-to-wall carpeting.  Speaker spikes would couple the speaker to the floor, which would act as a sounding board.  By using the svelte shelves, I got a tighter sounding bass response.  I have the speakers sitting directly on the shelves (to most effectively couple the speaker to the shelves, which in turn dissipate the energy in the core of the shelves).  In order to tilt the speaker back a bit, I use wooden shims under the front of the shelves.  It is probably best to have the svelte shelf flat on the floor, but, more importantly, the speaker bottom should be in full contact with the shelf, which I manage to do with my setup.  

By the way, I know someone who is in the business of setting up systems and he uses svelte shelves a lot under speakers and finds that in most instances it helps the sound unless the system is already overly dry sounding.

I have looked into more elaborate footers/platforms, but, not much more than a casual look.  The issue with many of them do involve leveling.  The ones with adjustable height of the feet, like the Townsends, would allow for leveling, but, I am not as sure about whether they can be used to tilt the speaker back a bit, without upsetting the spring/suspension mechanism which probably works best with the speaker completely level. 

I didn't find a US dealer for the Townshend podiums but had no problems buying them direct from the UK. They are made to order in the UK anyway and will take about 6-8 weeks to get to you. Cost will be $2000 plus depending on the size you need. More details on this thread
https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/speaker-isolation-experience-with-townshend-seismic-isolation-podium

To Larryi's question on tilt you can get a small degree of tilt but probably would not want to push it too far

I use the the Super Plus under my speakers, because of my suspended wood floors and received definite bass improvement. A tighter presentation. The footprint of the Symposiums need to match that of your speaker's footprint. My dealer recommended them this way, as suggested by Symposium.
Kenny

To all members - my comment was not to offend Mr. EBM ....as I always appreciated his comments regarding Symposium. So my apology to him if this comment which was intended as joke ....that offense was taken. Not my intent.

I agree with first posting, if you are considering this option I would look closely at the seismic podium. I spoke to the distributor in the US  as I have been looking at them for my 800D's. Cost about 3800 US (full retail) for the pair for the largest size.

The Ultras will certainly deliver a lot of vibration absorption (dissipation of energy as heat), but, you should at least experiment with the effects of raising your speaker that much higher off the floor.  If you cannot borrow a pair of Ultras, you might want to use wooden blocks or something to see if the extra height helps or hurts the sound and to see if adjustments to speaker placement can take care of any issues.

Other options include footers like those supplied by Stillpoint.  A local dealer really likes those footer under many of the floorstanding speakers they carry (Magico, Raidho, and Focal).  These things can be much more expensive than anything else mentioned here, but a lot of people swear by them.

I tried svelte shelves under my Opera Callas monitors, between the speaker and the stand.  It definitely "cleaned up" the sound, but ultimately, I preferred the speakers directly on the stands.  IMO, they took some of the warmth out of the sound.  I would imagine they would work well in a more boomy system that is lacking in bass definition, but as stated above, you really have to try it to see.  I think many people, in a search for detail and clarity, end up with thin-sounding systems that are difficult to listen to in the long term.  

I saw Peter's (owner of symposium) demo at the NY audio show back in 2003 and was very impressed.  (he hit a crowbar against a rod of metal and it rang like a telephone.  He hit the same rod with the same crowbar, but the rod was resting on a Fat Pad and the ring became a 'thud'.  I was sold.  I had the svelt shelves under my Sanders Stats (100 lb, 6 foot electrostatic speakers).  The immediately tidied thing up in the sound and made my wife very happy with the high hats down stairs no longer vibrating (unless I really blasted).  Had that for 4 years, so figured, what the heck, and I upgraded to the Ultras.  Tightened up the sound even more (can't imagine better) and I can blast as loud as I want and the high hats don't even wiggle.  I would never not have symposiums under my speakers.  They are a deal breaker for me.  (and Peter is awesome).

Thank you fellow members and all good points ....my concern is that using the shelves '' under '' the speakers you would be raising the speakers up over I'd  say 4'' or so.......the Sonus Faber Olympica III 's are not small / short  speakers. The Townshend Seismic podiums are a thought but for close to $4,000...I would use the money to move up the overall SF line.      

I used Svelte shelves and Rollerblock Jrs as recommended by my dealer under Nola Viper Reference IIIs. Oo  hardwood floors they made a large improvement and only raise them 2" off the ground. Probably would be fine with your Olympicas. Cheers,
Spencer

Old thread, I know, however this is the spot to ask my question. 

I have speakers that have a very thick PVC type base. The speakers, themselves, weigh 215lbs a piece. 

Now, do you think it's best to put the speakers flat on the Ultra Platforms, or use the metal footers of the speaker to the Ultra Platform? 

Put speakers directly on Symposium Ultra for best coupling.Enjoy!

@ebm Yeah, that's what the general thinking is. I suppose I could try them both ways, it's just that the thick plastic at the bottoms of the speakers is an unknown. 

The cool thing is, if sat the base right to the Ultra Platforms, my speaker height wouldn't change much, as that's the height with the footers and the spikes, about 2" and some change. 

Ah, the audiophile’s dilemma - to couple or isolate? What to do, what to do? 🤔

@geoffkait - Ha! I think in this case it's more, to couple or integrate. THAT is the question! 

Whoops! I meant to write "Super Plus Platforms." My bad. 

….well geoffkait you responded as you usually do, answer the question you presented. That would be helpful to all of us.   

OK, so, I’m an old school isolation guy, meaning mass on spring isolation system with extremely hard coupling between the component and the iso device and between the iso device and the floor. If the Symposium is such a device I’m all for it but I notice on their web site they say their shelf can be used with roller balls and on top of low frequency iso stands, which means it’s not (rpt not) a seismic type iso device, rather a vibration damper/absorber. And go add that the Ultra shelf will not solve low frequency footfall problems either. Which is a little odd, since the speakers wouldn’t be subject to very low frequencies of any type. If the components were not isolated then isolating speakers would not help for seismic type vibration of other causes, they would be lower than the lowest frequency of the speakers. Obviously all components, including the speakers, should be isolated from very low frequency vibration for best results.

….thank you geofkait as THAT was more helpful than your other normal rubbish. I currently have everything on HRS platforms and stands and wondering what technology would be best under speakers.

My pleasure, carebear.

Thank you gain Jeoffkait  - much appreciated