Good catch, you’re right, it’s easy only after the speakers are on the podiums ; ) - for that, I designed a flat C jig sized to fit around the selected size podium for the speaker, a base I could bolt the four hand jacks onto from beneath with countersunk bolts to keep the base level, and to hold the jacks in place while the speaker is being hoisted. Another jig to fit between this flat base and the speaker is made from four separate struts, to be assembled under the speaker - these struts are designed to be slid together incrementally without use of nuts or bolts, with the weight of the speaker holding them firmly while the lifting is underway. 

So, to start, the C jig is placed around speaker, in the precise location the podium is intended to sit under that speaker. One pair of hand jacks get bolted on first to the same side of the C base jig, and the first primary strut placed on their arms. The second pair of long support struts are slid into the first strut from under the speaker base - these may require a protective coating to prevent the speaker base from being scarred, but a hairline stainless steel finish for the struts takes care of most of that. Then the second primary strut gets slid into the ends of the two secondary struts, with the second pair of hand jacks finally bolted down to the C jig under that strut. 

You’re ready to lift.

The hand jacks must be operated two to a side simultaneously, to control the toppling moment of the speaker. One side is lifted first with its hand jacks, followed by the opposite side, always in tandem. Which is to say that if you perform three clicks on the hand jacks to start with, the opposite side can be lifted six clicks in rotation thereafter, until the desired level reached, whereupon the last hand jack pair levels off the assembly with just three clicks.

The design works best for speakers with a lower centre of gravity - for tall speakers, you will have to proceed very slowly, with just a click/two clicks per side each time. But you’ll be amazed how fast it goes. The hand jacks are pretty accurate, and can be subtly adjusted mid click, if necessary.

You will not want to raise the speaker simultaneously on both sides, unless you have a partner you are completely in sync with, in order to control the vertical level of the speaker at any point during the lift.

After the required height is achieved (for the Townshend podiums, this would be the height of a podium corner where the isolating springs are housed), the podium is simply slid between the hand jacks and under the lifting jig into position, with small adjustments to the precise location the speaker is to sit on its podium.

I’ll be posting pictures of this speaker lifting mech for you to follow my description. Hope it helps in some way of other : )