Amp Stands - Wood or Stone

The clue for finding a wider range of Board Material produced very similar to P'holz and Permali is searching for the following:

" Phenolic Resin Impregnated Densified Wood Board "

Some Companies using these Board Types give the materials an in house name, hence, Kaiser Speakers calling P'holz 'Tankwood'. 

As a guide to purchasing these Board Materials, the Board must be a Heat Treated Vacuum Compressed Board, which has a weight of approx' 1400Kg/m3.

There are PhenolIc Resin bonded boards that are not produced the same, the Boards can be produced as a non heated treated Vacuum Compressed and seen with a weight range from 800Kg/m3 - 1400Kg/m3.

When selecting a Board Type that is approx' 1400Kg/m3, there are a few other considerations.

The individual who originally tested and made public their measurements, which is where the interest started in using this material for Audio Purposes. When describing their test results and the attraction of the material, made it known that a 10mm thick board has all the intrinsic properties required to suit Audio purposes.

The Boards Tested have evolved in their construction and thicknesses and in general, it is accepted that a Board constructed with Cross Grain Plies, a 1mm Ply compressed to 0.5mm, where the commonly selected Board thickness seen selected today is 25mm ( 1"). A Board will typically be Cross Grain Plies using 50 Layers @ 1mm compressed by 50%.    

In my personal experience nothing substitutes for mass. Most of my components have around 40lbs of lead on each (except the speakers.) These bricks sit toward the side edges of the components to reduce any potential stress on the internals and to center the mass over the support feet that come with the component. All of the support feet are manufacturer rubberized to some extent on the bottom contact surface, so this is at its most basic a combination of rubberized damping and mass loading. As mentioned in the earlier post, the Audion monoblocs are too small for the the full 40 lb treatment, but the single 20lb lead brick spanning them is more than sufficient. Everything else - the Jay's CDT3 Mk3, the Holo May KTE, and the Holo Serene KTE get the 40lb treatment.

Due to lateral space constraints in my living/listening room it was necessary to "go vertical" with a cherry Salamander rack. The original black steel structural rods were replaced with solid brass all-thread and brass nuts which stiffened up the rack substantially and eliminated loosening over time.

Since I listen mostly late at night, I call this my "Silent Night" system.

If Building a Rack that does not require too much height is also of interest and the Threaded Rod Support Method is a method that is acceptable.

The Link will show a alternative material well worth considering and one that would be a very good interface with a " Phenolic Resin Impregnated Densified Wood Board ". 

https://www.roechling.com/industrial/products/composites/laminated-densified-wood/fasteners

@bolong 

@ghdprentice 

Along the lines you guys were going, I treat my components like I have previous rooms where a heavy mass is isolated from the room (double drywall hung on hat channel for instance).

I cannot say the sound is better, but I want to take every advantage so I use 3 inch maple slabs set on the Adonna rack rubber bumpers and then the component sets on isolation devices like Nordost Sort Kones. I'm theoretically isolating the component from the heavy mass of the slab. The slab, as wood, has a very low Fn as opposed to a slab of granite which has a higher Fn. 

Perhaps a higher Fn is beneficial in some instances, but I would rather have a lower resonance as the slab.

Fn - natural frequency

Again, I'm not sure it "sounds" better, but knowing how electronics can be susceptible to vibrations (many years doing electronics packaging and vibration testing) I give it a go this way.

Happy listening! 

Yes, my components are all sitting on granite below which are the wood shelves of the Salamander rack.