Can an audio rack be that important?

I was skeptical for decades about the sonic benefits of a rack, but finally had one built because I was tired of having gear sitting on the floor.

Had a friend who's an artisan build it to my specs.

1.5" butcher block hardwood.

1" square steel tubing.

All tubing filled with sand.

Shelves isolated from tubes with silicone.

Tubes isolated from wood floor with hard rubber discs.

I was only wanting things to look better, but to my surprise the sound quality also was improved.

So yes, in my case a well-designed rack did make a difference.

@roxy54 Not the case at all. You think what you like and post like you do. To nice a day to waste on you. 

I’d say, like most things we buy, there is a minimum quality standard that should be adhered to. That being said, there are both acoustic and aesthetic advantages to be had if it’s in your budget.

I built my own by repurposing some walnut furniture into a number of shelves that can be configured in a multitude of designs based on where they are placed in the space.

Ive had these as one tall rack, two medium racks and recently into three short racks. Connectors are 3/4" black pipe from Home Depot. Most components are on IsoAcoustics Gaia footers, IsoAcoustics Orea or IsoPucks.

Yes absolutely , you can measure the vibration ,a decent stand today $minimum.  $1500  there are $20 k stands with seismographic control electrically

if you have the bucks ,$500 nothing special , but you can buy the iso acoustic pucks  sold by weight needed and 4 is better then 3  that’s a good stop gap 2-300 per component start with the dac ot digital and or turntable .  They make nice ones for speakers about $600 for 2 speakers .

Yes it is Important.

No, you do not Have to spend a lot of money.... but it Helps.