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Post by MartinT on Apr 26, 2018 5:17:00 GMT
Buying a system rack is truly a shot in the dark. The thing is, you need to have experienced good and bad ones before you have an idea of what you like. I was lucky the second time around: my first was a Target, all welded and with spikes to the floor and for each shelf. It was fine at the time and I didn't know any better anyway.
My second, and current, rack was a Solid Tech Duo. It just read well on paper and I liked the idea of a solid design with sprung feet. The latter proved problematic and almost impossible to level with six of them and uneven component weight distribution. I finally modified and threaded the rack for screw-in RDC Cones, which work very well. However, each component needs further isolation and I use mostly Black Ravioli footers for this.
If I had to buy a new rack, it would still be mostly blind. The one thing I would avoid are spikes as I don't like coupling arrangements, I prefer careful absorption.
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Post by MikeMusic on Apr 26, 2018 18:16:30 GMT
I had a Sound Org table brought with my full system.
Heard the difference. Bought it. 40 quid
Some years later....
I heard a system with lots of Mana it in. Linn / Naim, sounded great.
Mana were just down the road so easy for Damian to bring in a 4 shelf rack, tested against the Sound Org table and Ladderax.
No competition. Bought.
Upgraded with loads more Mana and very happy until..
Tony recommended and brought in the Creaktiv
Heard it, most surprised
Bought it
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Post by Deleted on Apr 28, 2018 13:30:02 GMT
Martin you touch on a fair point about buying the dark;
I’m in two minds about my current situation, having sold my ushers mini dancer 2s, SLIC rca cables and hifi rack. It’ll be impossible to fairly compare the performance of the new components when I receive them - I’ve changed too many variables and no longer have my baseline to make fair comparisons.
However; that’s just the audiophile nervosa speaking. I’m confident that moving on from veneered mdf and tempered glass, to a tone wood (Australian Blackwood) that’s solid (ie not a veneer) with thicker isolation platforms and ‘full’ RDC on everything will be beneficial.
As for the Coherent cables, I heard what the two steps down (4d) in the range can do on my (at the time of hearing them) far less transparent system - this isn’t a concern at all for me; I’m just very excited to pick them up and enjoy them.
This is a long winded way of saying sometimes you just have to take a punt; if you can base these on experience, but temper your judgement with honesty, then all the better.
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Post by MartinT on Apr 28, 2018 15:17:35 GMT
I’m confident that moving on from veneered mdf and tempered glass, to a tone wood (Australian Blackwood) that’s solid (ie not a veneer) with thicker isolation platforms and ‘full’ RDC on everything will be beneficial. I'd say that stands a very good chance of being successful. |
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Post by yomanze on May 1, 2018 16:19:21 GMT
I had some issues with my neighbours complaining about deep bass, they could hear no music, just boom boom beats, so I took the spikes my speaker stands and replaced them with Brightstar IsoNodes. I was surprised to hear image focus and top end naturalness to improve as well as being able to crank it up more without upsetting the neighbours. Bass was not getting my room and house excited nearly as much.
I also have a properly set up Mana rack, great fun spending an afternoon tuning it, not. I decided to decouple all of my components using Brightstar IsoNodes, with Black Ravoli under the amp. This gave a welcome improvement in focus at higher volumes especially, even if it went against the Mana design of rigid coupling, which does give a more ‘live’ colouration, but really, it does sound better to me having everything decoupled.
I should point out that I have a bouncy suspended wooden floor, so on a concrete floor YMMV.
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Post by MartinT on May 1, 2018 18:43:44 GMT
I found having spiked speakers on a concrete floor to be detrimental. I found out later that new builds typically have a void underneath the concrete, and that was being excited. Wish I had known then what I know now. These Lidl washing machine feet under my speakers do a great job!
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Post by Deleted on May 14, 2018 9:26:00 GMT
If it all goes to plan I’ll take delivery of the rack this Thursday.
I’d like to post some photos but idk how to nowadays, photobucket wants me to pay... can anyone help?
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Post by Deleted on May 14, 2018 10:22:26 GMT
Yes, I suggest creating a Flickr account and posting using these instructions  |
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Post by Deleted on May 14, 2018 23:38:03 GMT
I use these guys. You don't even need an account. ibb.co/djT3VRI think there's a plugin for Proboards that uses this provider to allow pics to be posted without leaving the forum. |
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Post by MartinT on May 15, 2018 5:31:11 GMT
I guess it's going to depend on whether they are long-lasting and never do a Photobucket on you at some future point.
The plug-in sounds useful, though.
P.S. I've found that by using Tapatalk from my phone, any images I paste into a post are automatically hosted by them. Nice!
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Post by julesd68 on May 15, 2018 5:56:25 GMT
Yes, I suggest creating a Flickr account and posting using these instructions I had an email from Flickr saying they are being taken over by smugmug (awful name!) but presume it will be business as usual ... |
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Post by Deleted on May 16, 2018 0:48:11 GMT
Thanks for the advice gents; Im proud to present to you my new hifi-rack (I got the pictures from the woodworker last night (below)). I'm excited to take delivery Thursday evening Note the white streaks running through, that's known as 'Sap wood' and is a natural feature of Australian Black Wood - I think it's beautiful.  thumbnail_IMG_6046 by Martin Johnson, on Flickr Here are the nine isolation racks, three for each shelf:  thumbnail_IMG_6048 by Martin Johnson, on Flickr  thumbnail_IMG_6049 by Martin Johnson, on Flickr |
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Post by MartinT on May 16, 2018 5:35:46 GMT
Now, they do look very nice!
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Post by ChrisB on May 16, 2018 5:54:07 GMT
Very nice.
That species of Acacia is often used for instrument making. It has a diffuse porous cell structure, which I think is probably well suited to hifi applications. I posted a longish piece about this subject back when TAS was young.
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Post by Deleted on May 16, 2018 6:24:41 GMT
Very nice. That species of Acacia is often used for instrument making. It has a diffuse porous cell structure, which I think is probably well suited to hifi applications. I posted a longish piece about this subject back when TAS was young. Cool, do you have a link to that? Part of the reason that I went for this breed is precisely for what you mentioned (the musical instrument affiliation). I originally wanted Maple, but the Blackwood was just too pretty to resist. |
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Post by ChrisB on May 16, 2018 6:57:06 GMT
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Post by ChrisB on May 16, 2018 7:00:22 GMT
I think you made the right choice. Personally, I suspect Maple might be harder than is ideal, but I have nothing to support that view. It's preferred by instrument makers because it makes a nice sound but do we want that, or do we want something that has less influence?
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Post by Deleted on May 16, 2018 9:49:24 GMT
Yes, I suggest creating a Flickr account and posting using these instructions I had an email from Flickr saying they are being taken over by smugmug (awful name!) but presume it will be business as usual ... Yes, I had one too, Jules - Hopefully they won't go the same way as Photobucket! |
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Post by Deleted on May 16, 2018 9:50:29 GMT
Wow that wood looks mighty impressive. Once you have the system in place I am sure it will look even better.
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Post by scotty38 on May 16, 2018 9:57:22 GMT
Looks very nice and do you mind me asking how much? I had a couple of AV racks made some years ago so interested in current pricing. Totally understand if you want to keep that to yourself....
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