Hope you are really pleased with them. With their offer of a full refund within 30 days if you are not delighted then its a win-win situation anyway.My wallet is now one set of Auva 50 lighter. This place is dangerous.
These look very interesting. How do they attach to the speaker? And where did you get them? CheersThe SINGLE biggest improvement I have done in the last ten years has to get my 100 kg + speakers off from the heavy duty spikes and place them onto four (per speaker) Cerabase 'inspired' supports...that are a two piece affair decoupled by three ceramic ball bearings. These appear exceptionally well made and finished, although the rubber pads do pong a bit with a 'new tire' smell.
Having done so, bass gained a great deal of clarity, precision and extension-something that is even apparent at low listening levels. Imaging also improved to no end, as did decay of notes and articulation.
The height of the upper 'turret' is adjustable by rotating it on a central threaded bolt, making it possible to get a rock-solid support using even four of these bases. My floor is slightly uneven, and without this adjustability there would have been considerable rocking that would have largely negated any potential benefits.
The total cost...with shipping and taxes- was around $170 US for all eight, including the optional ceramic bearings. Which is exactly 90% cheaper than buying the original Finite Element Cerabases. Who knows if these work as well, but for 10% of the price they can offer enormous benefits.
After years of experimenting with speaker positions, different speaker cables (even the $20,000+ Ansuz Diamond), and dense platform supports with and without spikes beneath them, this was the only cure for the problems I had been hearing.
Are the podiums any better than the bars?
I read somewhere the podiums are better. Forget whereAre the podiums any better than the bars?
Yes but podiums are colossal and I would not have a chance to install them in the same position ending with either speakers way too far apart , closer to the corners/front wall or too close to listening position.
I'm not certain it platforms are better or not as I never had a pair but word from Townshend was the only difference would be installation process but who knows
You have a choice of either by resting them on the rubber top surface, or if you do not install the rubber pad, there is a threaded recess that allows you to mount a bolt that screws in to the speaker. One set of such bolts are supplied, but they did not fit my speaker, so I just plonked them on top of the bases and they have a very firm rigid support.These look very interesting. How do they attach to the speaker? And where did you get them? Cheers
Both use same loading cells and I'd be surprised if there was any noticeable difference, platforms are definitely easier to set up and position/move around.I actually prefer the looks of the Bars to Podiums. If they sound exactly the same that would be useful.
Today after an initial listen I rang Stack Audio & spoke to Theo telling him the Auva 50's worked with my OTA Quad 57's later I received the email below from Stack Audio offering a discount code
Yes indeed the Auva 50's are excellent, aren't they. Very pleased with mine on Atacama SLX stands supporting Harbeth Super HL5 Plus speakers. My findings were similar in many ways to your own.Today after an initial listen I rang Stack Audio & spoke to Theo telling him the Auva 50's worked with my OTA Quad 57's later I received the email below from Stack Audio offering a discount code
Wed 17/04/2024 10:39
Hey John,
Hope that you are well. Theo said it was a pleasure speaking to you a moment ago. Just for clarification on the code, it works with Loudspeaker Isolators and our Equipment Isolators. At this time it is not active on the SmoothLAN Network Filter due to excessively high demand at full price vs stock levels.
The code is 7.5wigwamgroup, it is currently active until the end of May.
When I spoke to Theo a while ago he was apprehensive that the Aura's would work with Quad 57's indeed any electrostatics as he did not feel they produce the energy of other types of speaker.
Since I have good bass in my room & when touching the OTA Quad 57's when playing music there was considerable vibration in the knowledge there is a return period I ordered 8 x Auva 50's
The Auva 50 feet arrived earlier this morning than expected beautifully packed & substantial, very well engineered.
I had them assembled & fitted in minutes. I immediately heard the bass though just as deep has lost a "bloom" making double bass, though still with it's plummy note, sounding even more natural, bass drums whether pop or orchestral still have a distinct punch.
Trebel & midrange are cleaner, subtle sounds are easily discerned, like the sound of snare drums or Tabla indeed the difference twixt wooden Tabla & metal Punjabi Dholl, is more distinct, the strings of Sitar or Rudra Veena & Sarod are vibrant as are the guitars on a recording of the Shadows farewell tour concert.
Voices on complex coral works have more separation, on a recording of Cat's on my Virgin HD Tivo box of Cat's, on one number 3 "cats" sing a background their voices sounding very Andrews Sisters which I think was the intent. This also applies to male voices. There is a greater sense of the acoustic on live performances or the the studio reverb applied by the engineer...
Touching a OTA Quad 57 frame after fitting the Auva 50's playing music the perceived vibration is reduced in amplitude. Theo Stack did say as the contents of the 50's settle they should improve things further. After 3 hours that appears to be verified not cheap but money well spent.
The music used to asses the Auva 50's : while(1<2)(deadmau5) CD, The Mikado on DVD, several performances of Indian classical music also Tubular Bells( Mike Oldfield) & War of the Worlds (Jeff Wayne) The Shadows farewell tour concert & snippets of orchestral recordings including The Messiah (Handel) with Iestyn Davies countertenor, via recordings on my HD Tivo box. Snowflakes are Dancing (Tomita)LP Tapestry (Carole King)LP, Dark Side of the Moon & Wish you Were Here (floyd) LP's.
$1050, each. LOL. Some people will buy anything if it's sufficiently expensive.You have a choice of either by resting them on the rubber top surface, or if you do not install the rubber pad, there is a threaded recess that allows you to mount a bolt that screws in to the speaker. One set of such bolts are supplied, but they did not fit my speaker, so I just plonked them on top of the bases and they have a very firm rigid support.
I got them from Ali Express. Took about 8 days between ordering and delivery. If you do a search for 'Cerabase' these will pop up.
They are only a couple mm different in dimensions from the genuine Cerabases, but the construction otherwise appears to be identical.
Several vendors sell these, with some being rather more expensive than others. You can pay as much as $300 or as little as $170 for a set of eight.
The wildly successful implementation of these 3-bearings per module have whetted my appetite to try some clones of the Stillpoints Ultra 6.
These appear identical in construction to the genuine Stillpoints and use 60 ceramic bearings per support instead of just 3.
The genuine Stillpoints sell for $1050.....EACH; and I would need eight.
Their clones sell for $140 each (and I would still need eight), which while not cheap still would be about $8000 cheaper than getting the real deal. And the $1200 USD would be around the same price as the Gaia and Townshend platforms.
Jason Kennedy in Australia has done a video review comparing Auva's to Gaia's. Think it is on Youtube or otherwise via the Stack Audio website. Not sure if they were the 50's though. Anyway, the Auva's won out by a fair margin.Anyone compared Auva 50's to GAIA's?