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What is the deal with expensive HiFi racks?

The only worthy hifi rack has the feet made of solid gold and the shelves made of white statuario marbel. It makes the sound absolutely precious!
 
JiiPee said:
The only worthy hifi rack has the feet made of solid gold and the shelves made of white statuario marbel. It makes the sound absolutely precious!
Click to expand...
With solid gold feet it would actually appreciate in value, unlike the typical audiophile rack that drops 60% in value the second they buy it. So you might be onto something there.
 
You can put a lot of effort in designing a rack. Watch this video (German):
starting at min 1 / min 5 (after prosa), they do a lot to minize vibrations. If it´s audible - don´t know. But it´s not only voodoo in the sense only expensive but doing nothing.
 
phoenixdogfan said:
I'm at the point in my life where I don't want my media system to look like something that would be more at home on the stage of a dive bar than my living room. So for me, media furniture is not about grasping for some final increment of sonic transparency, but rather about creating a "put together" look to my living space. So for me something that looks like this:

View attachment 417112
is worth the money.
Click to expand...

I have that exact unit in my family room with an 85" TV sitting on top. BDI makes really nice stuff. I have a Klipsch RC-62 II center channel inside the unit behind the center doors. I used Pioneer MCACC to calibrate my system with the doors closed and dialog is perfectly intelligible. It would easily fit an RC-64.

Martin
 
Mart68 said:
Sinatra will sound better at least :)

Actually I was looking at some system pictures on another forum and someone was using a modified drinks trolley (or possibly hostess trolley) as a rack.
Click to expand...
Heresy!
 
Mart68 said:
Regardless, audiophile anti-vibration products are touted as improving all component performance including computers, amplifiers, power supplies and other devices with no piezo-electric components.
Click to expand...
Mart68 said:
Thing is, with a turntable we are talking about a device that is designed to pick up vibrations. Not true of any other hi-fi component.

I've also had that issue with bouncy floors, so I now have solid floor. Better for speakers too.
Click to expand...
Good stuff Mart68,
All just more of that "Hi End" lunacy to sell expensive products for what should be a non-existent issue with modern gear.
If your curious, walk up to your speakers and put your head next to them.
Then have a friend tap on the side of your active components, turn the volume up with no music playing, and listen for a thump.
If you don't hear anything from the speaker, that component is NOT microphonic to a level that it's supporting furniture will be in play.

Of course don't try this with tube gear or turntables, they are all highly microphonic to a level that the furniture can be in play.
But only minimally since they will still be affected by the airborne vibrations of the playback sound beating on the surface of the tubes, the
LP, turntable, tonearm, etc etc etc.
 
Wow … nice!!
 
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My favorite rack for 25 years has been the Spider Rack from Finite Element.
Very light, very stable, very stylish, but that's a matter of taste, free access to the connections and the device, no device feet required, absolutely no heat build-up from the rack, individual height up to 150cm, freely scalable for different device sizes and heights.
Unfortunately it is no longer manufactured.
 
jsrtheta said:
If only there were a way to test it....
Click to expand...
What test?
Like that?

www.audiosciencereview.com

What is the deal with expensive HiFi racks?

I had to check... Man, this is ugly! Charles & Ray Eames were icons of 20th Century design (see the much-copied Eames Lounge Chair, still in production, etc). The Eames Storage Unit was supposed to be an affordable modular design that used easily sourced (and for the time, cutting edge)...
www.audiosciencereview.com www.audiosciencereview.com

You can try it yourself,it's dead easy,just loopback any interface you have and tap on it.
 
Sokel said:
Did a little test,just lightly tapping rhythmically my interface while measuring:


View attachment 369727

left alone

View attachment 369728

messing with it

It seems there is some truth to the vibration thing but I don't know what kind of rack would solve it.
Click to expand...
This only really works with a lot of weight and strong damping at the transition from floor to rack. Alternatively, directly on the device, but neither is a good idea.

I would move if there were such massive problems, as such vibrations have a very negative effect on people.
 
Roland68 said:
This only really works with a lot of weight and strong damping at the transition from floor to rack. Alternatively, directly on the device, but neither is a good idea.

I would move if there were such massive problems, as such vibrations have a very negative effect on people.
Click to expand...
I think that what saves this little plastic thing I tested (E-MU 0204) from being like that constantly is its little soft feet (still soft after 20 years)
The effect is not visible at all when tapping right next to it.

Next test I'll do is to put it on the side of a speaker while playing loud something that has impact.
We'll see.
 
Sokel said:
I think that what saves this little plastic thing I tested (E-MU 0204) from being like that constantly is its little soft feet (still soft after 20 years)
The effect is not visible at all when tapping right next to it.

Next test I'll do is to put it on the side of a speaker while playing loud something that has impact.
We'll see.
Click to expand...
I would actually be interested in that too.
Just put 3 or 4 M8 or M6 nuts directly under the device.
What happens then if you knock next to it and directly on it?
 
Roland68 said:
I would actually be interested in that too.
Just put 3 or 4 M8 or M6 nuts directly under the device.
What happens then if you knock next to it and directly on it?
Click to expand...
Skipping the rubber feet?
That's easy to do and sounds like fun,stay tuned ,I'll try it right away.
 
BeeKay said:
Still not cheap even if used

View attachment 417391
Click to expand...
You've missed an important line, he wants €400-600 per rack.
The price is high though, they usually sell for a little less, but still significantly more expensive than the inferior replicas cost new.
 
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