Auralex ProPad vs Primacoustic RX5-HF vs Ultimate Support MS-80

[dickiefunk]

Hi,

I'm looking to buy buy better monitor isolation pads for my Neumann KH120's and am wondering which option to go with. The products I'm interested in are :-

Auralex ProPad
Primacoustic RX5-HF
Ultimate Support MS-80

What are your thoughts on these three products and which would work best with the Neumann KH120's?

[Hugh Robjohns]

I have no idea what the Ultimate support mounts are like as I've never used them or even come across them anywhere. However, the Auralex and Primacoustic solutions are both good -- although you will almost certainly need to add some additional mass between the Auralex propads and the speaker to get the foam to 'squash' a bit and get into its required 'springy' state. That's what the thick metal plate on the Primacoustic design is for, but you have to pay for all that weight to be shipped... Buying a couple of thick floor tiles and plonking them on the pro-pads will work as well (it's what I use here under KH310s).

The other alternative which I can heartily recommend (but your bank manager won't thank me!) is one of the IsoAcoustics mounts -- either the Pucks which are excellent, or one of the L8R stands if you can accommodate the height (which doesn't have to be very much, actually). These isolation stands are very effective indeed -- amongst the best I've ever used -- but they are far from cheap!

H

[dickiefunk]

Thanks Hugh. I did have a quick look at the IsoAcoustics ISO-L8R155's but am wondering if stability might be an issue? The PrimAcoustic RX5-HF's look more sturdy and stable which is quite important in my situation. I'm not sure how the Iso pucks compare in stability and performance?

At the moment I'm just using the original Auralex MoPads.

[Hugh Robjohns]

Never had stability issues with the Isoacoustics LR stands, and we've used them a lot on Studio SOS jobs. The pucks are very elegant and very effective, and I had them under my kh310s for a while and liked them a lot... But the supplier wanted them back and I didn't feel I could justify the price...

There's nothing wrong with the mopads if you can load them sufficiently with some extra mass or cut them down in width to achieve the equivalent loading.

H

[dickiefunk]

Do you know how the Puck's compare to the LR stands regarding performance?

[Hugh Robjohns]

Not done a direct comparison. All I can say is that they worked well, and looked very elegant without raising the speakers much -- which was important for my setup. I used three under each speaker, so three sets altogether, but at over £50 a set that gets very expensive! Hence the reversion to Mopads and tiles!

[dickiefunk]

I messaged IsoAcoustics to enquire what they would recommend and they said the ISO-L8R155 would work best with the Neumann KH120's! These cost £85 per pair which is cheaper than all the other options.

I have been leaning towards the Primacoustics RX5's because of their more stable design but they cost £144 per pair. Also, I'm not sure my KH120's are heavy enough to compress the foam on the RX5's for them to work at their optimum?

Pretty torn between the ISO-L8R155's and the RX5's.

[Hugh Robjohns]

I'd go isoacoustics....