How much are you willing to pay for an audio rack?

Jetmaker737

hearingimpared wrote: »

See post 32!

lol... it wasn't there while I was typing! :cool:

But still, you'd have to be able to explain how the vibration of the components could alter the sound. In SS gear I don't believe there is any functionality that can be influenced by it. However, for tubes you could see some possible effects due to vibration induced displacement of the relatively large size internal components of the tubes.

hearingimpared

Jetmaker737 wrote: »

lol... it wasn't there while I was typing! :cool:

But still, you'd have to be able to explain how the vibration of the components could alter the sound. In SS gear I don't believe there is any functionality that can be influenced by it. However, for tubes you could see some possible effects due to vibration induced displacement of the relatively large size internal components of the tubes.

It shakes the electrons up and bounces them off each other!:rolleyes::D

Tony M

I see in some displays they place amps and things on the floor....

I guess they are keeping infuences to a min. for their Demos.;)

Makes sense dosn't it.:rolleyes:

And I'm being serious here. It makes sense if racks introduce changes.

Echosphere

Bought this at Target down the street for $150. 3 Glass shelves, tripod design with steel and wood.



http://www.target.com/Eclipse-TV-Stand-40/dp/B001L0VYDA/ref=sc_qi_detaillink

Hawkeye

hearingimpared wrote: »

IMHO it is another piece of gear.

In all reality it is a tweek and as we all know tweeks are a cumulative effect towards better SQ.

I most certainly agree with you here! My original thought was since it is accepted as a component, there has to be the aesthetic appeal also. Thus, to get both, we're going to have to choke up some coin.

My BillyBags is also loaded with 200 lbs of lead shot. Makes it a bear when I have to get behind it. In addition, I have all the components except the amps sitting on Symposium Rollerblocks. The rollerblocks are just another tweak which on some pieces did nothing and on others, repeatable changes occurred. I received the best result with the blocks under my transport and tube pre.

Gordon

hearingimpared

Hawkeye wrote: »

I most certainly agree with you here! My original thought was since it is accepted as a component, there has to be the aesthetic appeal also. Thus, to get both, we're going to have to choke up some coin.

My BillyBags is also loaded with 200 lbs of lead shot. Makes it a bear when I have to get behind it. In addition, I have all the components except the amps sitting on Symposium Rollerblocks. The rollerblocks are just another tweak which on some pieces did nothing and on others, repeatable changes occurred. I received the best result with the blocks under my transport and tube pre.

Gordon

I hear ya Gordon.

I have 350 lbs of lead shot filling the four tiers of the VTI and it is a nightmare when I have to make a change. Sometimes I have to break it down tier by tier to be able to make a change or even swap out ICs for that matter but it is worth every bit of effort and the PITA as the shot loading has improved the sound of the rig by leaps and bounds. It is actually impossible to move when considering the weight and that it is spiked to the floor.

madmax

jaxwired wrote: »

I'm not doubting that you did, but there are other possible explanations for those differences. Sure, one possibility is that the rack makes a sound quality difference, but seeing how that flies in the face of common sense, I'd be looking really hard at other possiblities. No offense.

No offense taken but do you realize what my test was? I had several different types of material in approximately 20" x 15" panels and slid them one at a time under a given piece of equipment and noted how the sound changed. Try this one, get a piece of glass and a piece of MDF and try each one back and forth under your preamp or CD player.

BTW, common sense for an engineer is that if you vibrate capacitors or coils you introduce voltages in their associated circuits. You can introduce measurable spikes into something like a preamp just by stepping on the input cable.

Oh, and I'm not a rocket scientist and don't claim to be one but I would hope my rocket had vibration isolation for the circuit boards.

Midnite Mick

Not really a rack per se...more of a cabinet but I am really diggin these.

http://www.salamanderdesigns.com/chameleon/#/berlin

Mike

jaxwired

madmax wrote: »

BTW, common sense for an engineer is that if you vibrate capacitors or coils you introduce voltages in their associated circuits.

I have no idea if that's true, but where talking about micro or more like nano vibrations here.

I'm not saying audio racks don't "sound" different, but if they do, it absolutely contradicts common sense. Wouldn't be the first time something did. However, for me, if something contradicts common sense then I'm very skeptical. Especially when the only verification is the quite subjective and less than perfect "listening test".

hearingimpared

Midnite Mick wrote: »

Not really a rack per se...more of a cabinet but I am really diggin these.

http://www.salamanderdesigns.com/chameleon/#/berlin

Mike

Salamander racks are so nice Mike. I love looking through Raife's rig pictures just to look at them. When we moved in here, I was going to buy a Salamander for my HT rig and my two channel rig but for some reason the wife put the kibash on it. . . she didn't like the looks. Go figure.:(

hearingimpared

jaxwired wrote: »

I have no idea if that's true, but where talking about micro or more like nano vibrations here.

I'm not saying audio racks don't "sound" different, but if they do, it absolutely contradicts common sense. Wouldn't be the first time something did. However, for me, if something contradicts common sense then I'm very skeptical. Especially when the only verification is the quite subjective and less than perfect "listening test".

Jax as stated hundreds of times here, you'll never know until you try.:)

TouchOfEvil

jaxwired wrote: »

I have no idea if that's true, but where talking about micro or more like nano vibrations here.

I'm not saying audio racks don't "sound" different, but if they do, it absolutely contradicts common sense. Wouldn't be the first time something did. However, for me, if something contradicts common sense then I'm very skeptical. Especially when the only verification is the quite subjective and less than perfect "listening test".

The amount of vibration a piece of gear is subjected to will vary for everyone. If you have a decent enough sub setup though i'm betting the vibration will be fairly high unless you take steps to eliminate it.
For instance with my sub running while listening to music it used to cause the cd player to skip if turned up too loud. This tells me vibration control is a much needed thing for my setup.

jaxwired

BlueFox wrote: »

There is no "common sense" contradiction here.

Really? Might want to give that a bit of a rethink...

jaxwired

hearingimpared wrote: »

Jax as stated hundreds of times here, you'll never know until you try.:)

True, but then I'm in jeopardy of becoming one of those guys with cable elevators and orange hospital outlets, demagnetizing my CDs, and resting all my equipment on little squares of tofu. And I'd probably have to trade my CD collection for south american woodpecker mating calls recorded on reel to reel. Too big a commitment for me...

madmax

jaxwired wrote: »

True, but then I'm in jeopardy of becoming one of those guys with cable elevators and orange hospital outlets, demagnetizing my CDs, and resting all my equipment on little squares of tofu. And I'd probably have to trade my CD collection for south american woodpecker mating calls recorded on reel to reel. Too big a commitment for me...

Where do I find the woodpecker mating calls on R2R? My CD copies just don't cut it anymore.
madmax

unholyracket

I'd pay $5,000 but it depends on what you're looking for. The Audiav racks mentioned in the review can cut out vibrations, electro-static discharge, alien brainwaves, etc., to give you the cleanest sound. If you're not into the cleanest possible sound, then stick with your $150 yard sale racks.

decal

I wish I had 5 grand to spend on a rack. I'd buy a lot of music with it!!!!

inspiredsports

This goes for anything I've ever purchased that I use on a routine basis . . .

I find I'm always willing to pay considerably more than the most I was willing to pay when I made the initial purchase.

When I learn the subtlties of the item, I learn what features could be improved upon and what each of those improvements cost. I then generally sell the original and trade up, several times. I guess it's what you would call the cost of education.

mantis

Here's the deal with Audio racks.
They fill a need. They are spec'd to home X amount of gear for today and if your smart , you spec in some room for future gear.
If the rack is to be seen then it should work in it's environment. Most times the WAF comes into play. Money comes in after you figure out whats needed and whats needed cost. If your not willing to spend X money on X rack then you have to find something thats affordable to your budget.
I'm willing to spend what it takes to fill my needs at all times. Most of the time the racks I like are expensive for my budget. I usually find a way to get what I want to try to find a alternative that still suites my needs but don't break the bank of better put piss my wife off.
I spend some money on my Salamander many years ago and I still have it today. It's in perfect shape and does exactly what I need it to do and look good doing it. I'd like to get all my gear out of my room and put it in the basement , use a Mid Atlantic rack for my house gear as well as theater gear. I'm willing to spend whatever it costs for that rack or 2. They are the best and I will not settle for anything less.

bikezappa

Consider locating all the equipment in a closet in the listening room or other room.

Get an IR to RF remote and you have no feedback issues and the wife will love the set up.

reeltrouble1

I would pay about 1 million for a rack....if it was attached to this.....

thsmith

She looks like is not old enough to vote

Toolfan66

I am building one kinda like this one by Adona http://www.adonacorporation.com/av45cs4.html I did purchase the spikes from them that go on this rack, very nice people. I just wanted to save some money and I wanted mine to be a little wider, my shelves will be 24" x 19" and made from 1" thick acrylic.. should be done in a couple weeks..

3Labman

I made up a crude drawing and had my Amish guy make mine out of hickory. Cost me $1200 and the wife likes it.

Drenis

3Labman wrote: »

I made up a crude drawing and had my Amish guy make mine out of hickory. Cost me $1200 and the wife likes it.

I'm a big hickory fan. Post pics?

rebuy

3Labman wrote: »

I made up a crude drawing and had my Amish guy make mine out of hickory. Cost me $1200 and the wife likes it.

I'm a big Amish fan, Post Amish pics.

3Labman

I cannot find the camera. I will look tomorrow and try to post pics.

disneyjoe7

reeltrouble1 wrote: »

I would pay about 1 million for a rack....if it was attached to this.....

SWEET!

reeltrouble1

thsmith wrote: »

She looks like is not old enough to vote

well you might not want to tell her that....or risk having her name carved into your leather seat.....!!!!:razz:

VR3

I think I spent roughly 800 on my racks -

I wanted the VTI style but not VTI, I was not fond of VTI's build quality...