Solidsteel S3-5 Audio Rack
Clipdat
Posts: 12,934
At last, the thread for my new Solidsteel S3-5 Audio Rack! Huge thanks again to Douglas Connection for the great deal. Anyone looking into a Solidsteel rack, please consider supporting our forum vendor and contacting @helipilotdoug!
The S3-5 retails for $999 and features some additional niceties over the entry level 5 shelf Solidsteel S2-5 model at $500. For the additional $500 you get thicker shelves with rounded corners, columns filled with a "damping material", and plastic discs that the columns sit against which "insulate" them from touching the shelves directly. While I don't have experience with the S2-5, the additional perks of the S3-5 are quite nice. The rounded corners and thicker shelves are visually more appealing, and the plastic discs aided in assembly. The pre-filled "damping material" could be a positive or negative, depending on your point of view. Yes, $500 more for only a few more features is a tough pill to swallow. However, I think it's important to mention that these racks are made in Italy, not China. So therefore your price points are obviously going to be higher.
Moving on to the assembly process and build quality. Everything arrived intact due to the excellent packaging layout. Even though the box had some distress from the shipping process and looked like it had been dropped a few times, everything inside was in perfect shape and free of any damage.
Opening the box, the first thing we see is the assembly instructions/manual and warranty info card, boasting a 5 year warranty against manufacturing defects.
Underneath the top layer of foam, all of the hardware is nicely laid out and protected for transit.
Close up of the nice quality bolts used to link the columns together.
Close look at the female threaded sections of the upper and lower end caps/footers. Look Ma, no thread burrs! These all had a good weight to them and felt solid and high quality when handled. Very nice.
Taking a look at the end of one of the columns, we can again see the high quality threads and a glimpse at the "damping material" inside.
The damping material appears to be a closed cell foam product, not unlike the material used in the packaging to keep the hardware safe in transit. It doesn't appear to be a damping material that adds weight or mass, but rather one to reduce/eliminate unwanted aural resonances from occurring. This is where the pre-filled material could be considered unwanted or undesired. If you're looking to fill these with sand or lead shot, I don't believe that you'd be able to due to this foam material already being inside.
The columns themselves are quite light, and each MDF shelf is very heavy. Total assembled weight of the rack is roughly 75lbs empty.
Each shelf is individually bagged to prevent damage from friction during shipping. The wood has a nice textured laminate which is more robust than other forms of veneered MDF that I've seen. This surface should be resistant to scuffs/scratches and at the same time very easy to dust off in the future.
The assembly process is super straight forward. You basically assemble it upside down and then flip it over once you're finished. Each column gets held to the other, and to the shelf, by the double threaded metal bolts shown earlier. The plastic discs are valuable here, as they protect/insulate the columns from pressing directly into the MDF. This way you can tighten them down fairly aggressively with your hand and not worry about them marring the finish of the shelf, and at the same time making it difficult to over tighten. Any excessive pressure will be diffused through the plastic disc instead of directly into the wood. This made the assembly process really enjoyable and effortless.
It was not really possible to see this on the included visual Ikea style assembly instructions, but I noticed each bolt shaft has two different lengths of threads. I'm not sure it matters what orientation you use during assembly, but I would advise trying to keep it all uniform. I kept all of the shorter threads "up" and the longer threads down when I assembled it.
I've tried to illustrate the thread length difference here. It's subtle, but noticeable.
Longer side:
Shorter side:
After completing the assembly I flipped it upright and held it, while my wife helped position the Herbie's giant decoupling glider footers so that as I lowered it down, the spikes would rest into their respective cups. This part was definitely a two person job!
Then, I extended out each of the adjustable spikes so that they would be fully pressed into their cups. This was very easy to do by hand, and resulted in a level rack according to my bubble level.
Final position showing completed assembly. The process to put this rack together was very straightforward, and easily done in under an hour. All of the tolerances for the hardware, threads, pre-drilled holes, column uniformity, shelf quality, etc. were great. No quality control issues at all.
The S3-5 retails for $999 and features some additional niceties over the entry level 5 shelf Solidsteel S2-5 model at $500. For the additional $500 you get thicker shelves with rounded corners, columns filled with a "damping material", and plastic discs that the columns sit against which "insulate" them from touching the shelves directly. While I don't have experience with the S2-5, the additional perks of the S3-5 are quite nice. The rounded corners and thicker shelves are visually more appealing, and the plastic discs aided in assembly. The pre-filled "damping material" could be a positive or negative, depending on your point of view. Yes, $500 more for only a few more features is a tough pill to swallow. However, I think it's important to mention that these racks are made in Italy, not China. So therefore your price points are obviously going to be higher.
Moving on to the assembly process and build quality. Everything arrived intact due to the excellent packaging layout. Even though the box had some distress from the shipping process and looked like it had been dropped a few times, everything inside was in perfect shape and free of any damage.
Opening the box, the first thing we see is the assembly instructions/manual and warranty info card, boasting a 5 year warranty against manufacturing defects.
Underneath the top layer of foam, all of the hardware is nicely laid out and protected for transit.
Close up of the nice quality bolts used to link the columns together.
Close look at the female threaded sections of the upper and lower end caps/footers. Look Ma, no thread burrs! These all had a good weight to them and felt solid and high quality when handled. Very nice.
Taking a look at the end of one of the columns, we can again see the high quality threads and a glimpse at the "damping material" inside.
The damping material appears to be a closed cell foam product, not unlike the material used in the packaging to keep the hardware safe in transit. It doesn't appear to be a damping material that adds weight or mass, but rather one to reduce/eliminate unwanted aural resonances from occurring. This is where the pre-filled material could be considered unwanted or undesired. If you're looking to fill these with sand or lead shot, I don't believe that you'd be able to due to this foam material already being inside.
The columns themselves are quite light, and each MDF shelf is very heavy. Total assembled weight of the rack is roughly 75lbs empty.
Each shelf is individually bagged to prevent damage from friction during shipping. The wood has a nice textured laminate which is more robust than other forms of veneered MDF that I've seen. This surface should be resistant to scuffs/scratches and at the same time very easy to dust off in the future.
The assembly process is super straight forward. You basically assemble it upside down and then flip it over once you're finished. Each column gets held to the other, and to the shelf, by the double threaded metal bolts shown earlier. The plastic discs are valuable here, as they protect/insulate the columns from pressing directly into the MDF. This way you can tighten them down fairly aggressively with your hand and not worry about them marring the finish of the shelf, and at the same time making it difficult to over tighten. Any excessive pressure will be diffused through the plastic disc instead of directly into the wood. This made the assembly process really enjoyable and effortless.
It was not really possible to see this on the included visual Ikea style assembly instructions, but I noticed each bolt shaft has two different lengths of threads. I'm not sure it matters what orientation you use during assembly, but I would advise trying to keep it all uniform. I kept all of the shorter threads "up" and the longer threads down when I assembled it.
I've tried to illustrate the thread length difference here. It's subtle, but noticeable.
Longer side:
Shorter side:
After completing the assembly I flipped it upright and held it, while my wife helped position the Herbie's giant decoupling glider footers so that as I lowered it down, the spikes would rest into their respective cups. This part was definitely a two person job!
Then, I extended out each of the adjustable spikes so that they would be fully pressed into their cups. This was very easy to do by hand, and resulted in a level rack according to my bubble level.
Final position showing completed assembly. The process to put this rack together was very straightforward, and easily done in under an hour. All of the tolerances for the hardware, threads, pre-drilled holes, column uniformity, shelf quality, etc. were great. No quality control issues at all.
Comments
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Now for some initial impressions and first reactions to the assembled rack. Visually, the all black look means business and looks great. The rounded corners to the shelves just look high quality to me. It's a subtle detail, but an appreciated one. My wife commented that this rack "has higher WAF" than the last one. Married guys, take note.
Construction wise, the rack as a whole is very rigid and robust. It feels solid and if you approach it and push lightly to moderately against it with your hand it does not give or move. You have to exert a fair bit of pushing force to get it to start to sway/move away from you slightly, and when it does, I believe it's probably partially doing so because of the high durometer rubber material in the Herbie's footers which is flexing slightly. I'm sure it's not as rigid and robust as some of the Adona and other $3k+ racks, but keep in mind the $1k price point. Overall, it has a satisfyingly "solid" feel to it.
Even though this will never really be a concern during actual use, if you attempt to "shove" the top shelf of the rack with your hand, you can see (and feel, if you then place and hold your hand on the shelf) the energy and vibration rapidly oscillate and diffuse through the structure for several seconds. Again, the slight "flex" that the Herbie's feet have to them may be contributing to this. Also, this may just be a naturally occurring response to abrupt "horizontal impact/sway" when dealing with a structure that has been assembled/engineered/designed in this manner.
Tonight I staged my gear on it, and I think you'll agree, it looks better when it's "fully loaded"!
In summary, I'm satisfied with the build quality, rigidity, look and feel, and overall experience with this equipment rack so far. I've not actually "listened" to it with my gear yet, so I can't comment on any audible improvements it may bring, but I will get to that in the near future.
I would not hesitate to recommend the Solidsteel S3-5 to my fellow Polkies. While it's not going to have the engineering prowess and materials of the Adona and other $3k+ racks, I do think it's absolutely worth saving up to get to at least this "$1k quality level" versus considering lower priced options.
In this case I feel it's a clear example of "you get what you pay for" in terms of the quality level of the lower priced $100-400 racks, versus this jump to a $1k rack.
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Very well written review...ABOUT TIME!
Glad you were able to finally get a rack to work out for you. Looks good! -
Well done. Nice job with great pictures. DK did an excellent job writing that for you! (and that was meant as a compliment)
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Very nice review, Drew! Rack looks amazing. Glad this all worked out for you.
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The Solid Steel Rack looks perfect for you! Congrats!
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You've got me thinking. I wonder if someone was so inclined, if they could build a hybrid Solidsteel rack. If someone wanted a rack with the intent of mass loading it, I wonder if they could buy the S2 series which doesn't have the dampening material inside, fill it with lead/sand and then special order those isolation discs that the columns sit against and install them in the S2 series for added benefit. Assuming they would fit. It still wouldn't have the niceties of the S3 series but would be sort of like a S2.5 series.The S3-5 retails for $999 and features some additional niceties over the entry level 5 shelf Solidsteel S2-5 model at $500. For the additional $500 you get thicker shelves with rounded corners, columns filled with a "damping material", and plastic discs that the columns sit against which "insulate" them from touching the shelves directly.
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Great review man. Looks great.
I think the quality and value of that rack make it very appealing at its price point.
Nice that it doesn’t take a week to get assembled and level.
Do you think it would work well with a bigger power amp on the lower shelves? I’m sure it would stick out the back some but it looks to be stable enough.
Main room- RTiA9 x4, CSiA6, in ceiling Atmos RT-70 x4, SVS PC 4000 x2, Marantz 8805A, OPPO 203, Emotiva DR3 G3, Emotiva XPA-2 G3, Emotiva XPA-5 G3, Emotiva X300, Sony 75" 940E, Panasonic Plasma VT50, PS Audio Power Port X2, PS Audio AC-5 x8, AQ Rocket 33 Biwire speaker cables, AQ King Cobra XLR IC, Furman PFi20 W/Cullen cable, SoildSteel S4-4 rack, Gik room treatments
Office- Legend L600, in ceiling Polk RC80i, Marantz 7704, OPPO 203, Pioneer Elite PDF-59 CD, PSA Stellar 300, Sony 55" 800B, Gik room treatment
Master BR- Signature ES60, Signature S35 Center, Signature S15 Dolby Height, LSI700 in ceiling, SVS-SB4000, Marantz 5012, Emotiva XPA5 G2, OPPO 203, Pioneer DVL-919 Laser Disc, Sony 55" OLED
Patio- SDI Atrium8 x3, Emotiva A-100 amps x3 -
Nice Review Drew!
I saw several at LSAF this year and help loaded up Marvin's Audio Rack that he bought from Doug. I may someday upgrade to it or something.
Doug offer a pretty sweet deal on one of these at LSAF so he didn't have to take another one home or ship one out, but lucky for me my Vehicle was so full I knew it wouldn't fit.2 ch- Polk CRS+ * Vincent SA-31MK Preamp * Vincent Sp-331 Amp * Marantz SA8005 SACD * Project Xperience Classic TT * Sumiko Blue Point #2 MC cartridge
HT - Polk 703's * NAD T-758 * Adcom 5503 * Oppo 103 * Samsung 60" series 8 LCD -
My understanding is that all the parts are interchangeable, making the system modular between ranges. For example you could even add in one shelf of the S5 series, for example the very top one, just for your turntable:
While keeping the other shelves the standard flat variety, which is what I needed to be able to fit my amps and preamps on one shelf.[You've got me thinking. I wonder if someone was so inclined, if they could build a hybrid Solidsteel rack. If someone wanted a rack with the intent of mass loading it, I wonder if they could buy the S2 series which doesn't have the dampening material inside, fill it with lead/sand and then special order those isolation discs that the columns sit against and install them in the S2 series for added benefit. Assuming they would fit. It still wouldn't have the niceties of the S3 series but would be sort of like a S2.5 series.
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Each shelf is rated to support 150lbs (which seems a bit crazy to me, but it's written right on the paperwork), so I don't think there would be any issue with large power amps.Do you think it would work well with a bigger power amp on the lower shelves? I’m sure it would stick out the back some but it looks to be stable enough.
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Good review I am impressed!
There’s a solid steel above this one, no? I thought I saw one with chrome legsMagico M2, JL113v2x2, EMM, ARC Ref 10 Line, ARC Ref 10 Phono, VPIx2, Lyra Etna, Airtight Opus1, Boulder, AQ Wel&Wild, SRA Scuttle Rack, BlueSound+LPS, Thorens 124DD+124SPU, Sennheiser, Metaxas R2R -
Yep, the next series up is the Hyperspike series: http://solidsteel.it/hyperspike-series-high-end-audio-racks/
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Good review I am impressed!
There’s a solid steel above this one, no? I thought I saw one with chrome legs
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Nice review Drew! Glad to hear you are happy with the Solidsteel S3-5 rack. At LSAF I set up the HF-3 rack and the HF-A amp stands in our room, and am very impressed with the quality. Also had a S5-4 rack and sold it to one of the exhibitors who set it up and we were both very impressed with the look and quality.Sunfire Theater Grand IV
Sunfire Cinema Grand Signature
SRS 2.1TL
SDA 2BTL's
CSiA6
FXiA4
FXiA6
SDA 2A's
Monitor 10A's
http://www.douglasconnection.com -
Just finished my S3-4 rack. I have to agree with all of Drew's comments above. First impression when picking up the box is, man this thing is heavy!
As mentioned above, build quality is top-notch. Very easy assembly.
Couple of modifications I made during assembly:
I added loctite to the threaded fasteners. Probably overkill, just wanted to make sure over time they didn't get loose.
I added washers in between the bottom cones and the shelf. I was concerned that a cast metal finish on the cones may tear up the laminate a bit when tightening. Again, maybe overkill, but I had some thin fender washers that fit perfectly.
Bottom cones installed with washer:
My new Solidsteel Rack! Thank you Doug for a top quality product!
Basement: Polk SDA SRS 1.2tl's, Cary SLP-05 Pre with ultimate upgrade,McIntosh MCD301 CD/SACD player, Northstar Designs Excelsio DAC, Cambridge 851N streamer, McIntosh MC300 Amp, Silnote Morpheus Ref2, Series2 Digital Cables, Silnote Morpheus Ref2 Series2 XLR's, Furman 15PFi Power Conditioner, Pangea Power Cables, MIT Shotgun S3 IC's, MIT Shotgun S1 Bi-Wire speaker cables
Office: PC, EAR Acute CD Player, EAR 834L Pre, Northstar Designs Intenso DAC, Antique Sound Labs AV8 Monoblocks, Denon UDR-F10 Cassette, Acoustic Technologies Classic FR Speakers, SVS SB12 Plus sub, MIT AVt2 speaker cables, IFI Purifier2, AQ Cinnamon USB cable, Groneberg Quatro Reference IC's
Spare Room: Dayens Ampino Integrated Amp, Tjoeb 99 tube CD player (modified Marantz CD-38), Analysis Plus Oval 9's, Zu Jumpers, AudioEngine B1 Streamer, Klipsch RB-61 v2, SVS PB1000 sub, Blue Jeans RCA IC's, Shunyata Hydra 8 Power Conditioner
Living Room: Peachtree Nova Integrated, Cambridge CXN v2 Streamer, Rotel RCD-1072 CD player, Furman 15PFi Power Conditioner, Polk RT265 In Wall Speakers, Polk DSW Pro 660wi sub
Garage #1: Cambridge Audio 640A Integrated Amp, Project Box-E BT Streamer, Polk Tsi200 Bookies, Douglas Speaker Cables, Shunyata Power Conditioner
Garage #2: Cambridge Audio EVO150 Integrated Amplifier, Polk L200's, Analysis Plus Silver Oval 2 Speaker Cables, IC's TBD. -
And how'd you like leveling the spikes and getting those all perfect? Doesn't it feel a lot more solid once you get those nuts on the spikes locked down? I thought so at least.
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Just finished my S3-4 rack. I have to agree with all of Drew's comments above. First impression when picking up the box is, man this thing is heavy!
As mentioned above, build quality is top-notch. Very easy assembly.
My new Solidsteel Rack! Thank you Doug for a top quality product!
Glad you like it Dave. Solidsteel does build excellent racks! Sunfire Theater Grand IV
Sunfire Cinema Grand Signature
SRS 2.1TL
SDA 2BTL's
CSiA6
FXiA4
FXiA6
SDA 2A's
Monitor 10A's
http://www.douglasconnection.com -
And how'd you like leveling the spikes and getting those all perfect? Doesn't it feel a lot more solid once you get those nuts on the spikes locked down? I thought so at least.
Actually haven’t done that part yet. Until I do some furniture re-arranging in the basement. Gotta get the SRS’s in the best spot.
But yes they look robust. The lock nut looks like it’ll do the trick.Basement: Polk SDA SRS 1.2tl's, Cary SLP-05 Pre with ultimate upgrade,McIntosh MCD301 CD/SACD player, Northstar Designs Excelsio DAC, Cambridge 851N streamer, McIntosh MC300 Amp, Silnote Morpheus Ref2, Series2 Digital Cables, Silnote Morpheus Ref2 Series2 XLR's, Furman 15PFi Power Conditioner, Pangea Power Cables, MIT Shotgun S3 IC's, MIT Shotgun S1 Bi-Wire speaker cables
Office: PC, EAR Acute CD Player, EAR 834L Pre, Northstar Designs Intenso DAC, Antique Sound Labs AV8 Monoblocks, Denon UDR-F10 Cassette, Acoustic Technologies Classic FR Speakers, SVS SB12 Plus sub, MIT AVt2 speaker cables, IFI Purifier2, AQ Cinnamon USB cable, Groneberg Quatro Reference IC's
Spare Room: Dayens Ampino Integrated Amp, Tjoeb 99 tube CD player (modified Marantz CD-38), Analysis Plus Oval 9's, Zu Jumpers, AudioEngine B1 Streamer, Klipsch RB-61 v2, SVS PB1000 sub, Blue Jeans RCA IC's, Shunyata Hydra 8 Power Conditioner
Living Room: Peachtree Nova Integrated, Cambridge CXN v2 Streamer, Rotel RCD-1072 CD player, Furman 15PFi Power Conditioner, Polk RT265 In Wall Speakers, Polk DSW Pro 660wi sub
Garage #1: Cambridge Audio 640A Integrated Amp, Project Box-E BT Streamer, Polk Tsi200 Bookies, Douglas Speaker Cables, Shunyata Power Conditioner
Garage #2: Cambridge Audio EVO150 Integrated Amplifier, Polk L200's, Analysis Plus Silver Oval 2 Speaker Cables, IC's TBD.
