We investigate the impulsively excited acoustic dynamics of nanoscale Au triangles of different sizes and thicknesses on silicon and glass substrates. We employ high-speed asynchronous optical sampling in order to study the damping of the acoustic vibrations with high sensitivity in the time domain. From the observed damping dynamics we deduce the reflection coefficient of acoustic energy from the gold–substrate interface. The observed damping times of coherent acoustic vibrations are found to be significantly longer than expected from the acoustic impedance mismatch for an ideal gold–substrate interface, hence pointing towards a reduced coupling strength. The strength of the coupling can be determined quantitatively. For Au triangles with large lateral size-to-thickness ratio, i.e. a small aspect ratio, the acoustic dynamics is dominated by a thickness oscillation similar to that of a closed film. For triangles with large aspect ratio the coherent acoustic excitation consists of a superposition of different three-dimensional modes which exhibit different damping times.