What is the deal with expensive HiFi racks?

[CapMan]

Are they just pieces of furniture?

Do people buy based on aesthetics, strength or do they really make everything sound better

Do glass shelves make things sound glassy; is wood more mellow; does steel make the music sound hard.

I haven't seen a 'racks' thread so thought I'd start one.

 

[MusicNBeer]

I imagine the sales volume is very low on most of them, so you're paying more overhead costs. The only criteria I have is if the rack allows air flow, the rack won't crumble with my ridiculously overkill AB amp, and doesn't look terrible.

But I agree, the prices are crazy at audiophool sales sites.

 

[Dan]

Just more ways to give audiophools their dopamine hit

 

[Yasuo]

Some snake oil could be less vibrations hence better sound due to reduced distortion. Like those audiophile rocks...

 

[J.M. Noble]

A scrwed-together plywood & angle iron Eames Storage Unit can be over ten grand (vintage) or two grand (new Herman Miller). Furniture pricing is weird.

 

[Waxx]

It's mostly build in small series and by hand, so the production price is high. But in most cases there's also a "audiophool tax" applied also. Especially wood or exotic materials often makes it expensive to make, that may be true.

But expensive don't sound better than cheap ones, as long as they are sturdy enough for the job. Damping equipment is for hifi purpose only needed for turntables, and should not cost a lot to apply. I use a cheap Ikea rack as hifi stand and it does the job as good as expensive ones on sound, it's just not fancy or very flexible. I'm planning to build one myself off wood in the future (I lack time for all my projects, so far futur probally).

 

[boxerfan88]

I suppose hifi racks that resonates the least and looks classy will be expensive.

Once upon a time, during a loud measurement sweep, the cheap ikea cupboard door rattled. Repeating the sweep with the cupboard door open (stop the rattling) showed slight differences. I believe the cupboard resonance does affect the sound. It does make sense to have good racks up front especially so near the speakers.

 

[Rick63]

They're for guys who can say "it's only money".

Pioneer JA-R2 Vintage Stereo Rack - electronics - by owner - sale - craigslist

Pioneer JA-R2 Vintage Stereo Rack with custom oak side panels asking $1500

binghamton.craigslist.org

 

[MaxwellsEq]

Sometime during the 1980s, someone discovered that their Linn Sondek LP12 sounded better when placed on a light coffee table than when placed on a heavy sideboard full of stuff. This kicked off the low-mass+rigid approach to HiFi stands.

Why low-mass and rigid? I'm not a mechanical engineer, so I don't know for sure. The arguments mostly centred around energy storage and rapidly moving away excess energy mechanically generated by the stylus. Heavy mass storage was considered to "play along" with the music but slightly delayed, thereby impacting "speed" and affecting tunefulness, especially in the bass. See also "why do spikes work" etc.

 

[TankTop]

Almost all of the furniture sold as entertainment centers or cabinets are made all wrong. Almost zero ventilation and any cable management was designed by an interior designer who probably hates their husbands equipment

 

[Mnyb]

There are some that clearly sells by the argument that they sound better , *may* apply to a turntable, I had a wall shelf once ( bolted to a concrete wall ) it was very stable .

But their all kinds of isolation accessories and spikes etc to some stands .

The load bearing and ventilation is a good off some racks and some offer custom configurations , you put together shelves with differents higths etc

 

[CapMan]

Can vibrations really impact electronics via the generation of tiny currents? Is microphony a thing or just a phony (!)

 

[waynel]

here you go:

https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=39165

 

[waynel]

Can vibrations really impact electronics via the generation of tiny currents? Is microphony a thing or just a phony (!)

It's possible with some vacuum tubes. Also, turntables can be effected especially if a subwoofer is nearby. If you are talking about well designed solid state electronics and digital, It's a complete non-issue

 

[Mnyb]

Can vibrations really impact electronics via the generation of tiny currents? Is microphony a thing or just a phony (!)

Possibly some tube amps and some turntables waynel said , but most audiophile racks are not designed to combat vibrations for real , they have spikes and think that that works

 

[MAB]

Can vibrations really impact electronics via the generation of tiny currents? Is microphony a thing or just phony (!)

Yes electronics make noise due to vibration, and there are many different mechanisms, each piece of electronics is going to have different susceptibilities. Passive components, as well as tubes, transistors, etc. all generate noise with vibration due to a range of mechanism. Get an amplifier or preamp and measure while subjecting the electronics to vibration. Slam it around, beat it with a hammer, put it in a paint-shaker, you will measure a signal due to the vibrational effects if you have a sufficiently sensitive test. However, you need to compare the signal to the actual music signal. And to all of the other sources of artifacts (like buzzing ductwork, walls vibrating and re-radiating and all manner of other room interactions). The effect is typically tiny, unless a designers have created a circuit that is excessively sensitive.

Years ago I characterized this same residual signal due to vibration on a piece of electronics for making measurements of electromagnetic pulses from an airplane. These artifacts were tiny but certainly measurable, for instance the noise spectra correlated well to airspeed. And the airplane the device flew in was an extreme noise and vibration environment compared to an audio reproduction environment. This is a studied phenomena since some applications have to take these issues seriously, but it is way outside of audio in my experience. This is a good thing, since I would hate to live in a world where my ears detected every femto-Joule of vibration in either the electrical and acoustic domain.

 

[ta240]

here you go:

https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=39165

Too cheap and clunky looking

I'd gladly pay more for:

 

[waynel]

Too cheap and clunky looking
View attachment 369695
I'd gladly pay more for:
View attachment 369697

That's fine, it's furniture, just get what matches your decor.

 

[Hatto]

A scrwed-together plywood & angle iron Eames Storage Unit can be over ten grand (vintage) or two grand (new Herman Miller). Furniture pricing is weird.

View attachment 369672

I had to check...

Man, this is ugly!

 

[Martin]

I tried my hand at starting a business building and selling audio racks about 15 years ago. I was at RMAF in a couple of rooms for two years. This was during the financial crisis caused by the collapse in subprime mortgages and never really took off. I felt they were reasonably priced. Anyone can build them for several hundred dollars using 80/20 aluminum extrusions and butcher blocks.

Martin