New rack or power conditioner

What's the rest of your system?

neither is that important as is room treatment...Can the power condition. Most if not all make no change at all. The room and only the room will make all the difference in a better sound system...the best of luck...

what is your budget?

Sorry about the. All BAT tube preamp & CD solid state amp.
Aerial 10T speakers.

Thanks

BAT and Aeriel is NICE equipment. I suspect each will yield a improvement...what interconnect, power and speaker cables do you use? Also also room treatments?

Woodworker,

My perspective is that for any audio system, you want to get its foundation as good as possible. To me, that means getting the room acoustics as good as possible, the speaker setup within the room as good as possible and getting the electrical power as good as possible. Once you have these done right, then you can work on items like vibration control (racks), etc. So, bottom line, if you can improve the quality of your electricity that is what I would do first.

Arnie

Quadraspire Sunoko vent. I've never experienced such a dramatic improvement from a single ancillary change in 40 years of this sometimes ridiculous hobby. Corrected most of my perceived room acoustics problems. Simply stunning. System on the rack is Manley, Rega, Decware.

Expensive, yet stunning in its positive effects.

Later, chase down a Furman 15i power conditioner.

Thanks for the responses. All cables are Synergistic Research Res. Ref.
No room treatments other then heavy drapes.

I have done both and both were big improvements. It is kind of the “weakest link in the chain thing”. I would do one and put the other on the to-do-list for a later fun project.

Buy a Pure Power 2000 AC regenerator; it will make a bigger sonic improvement in your system than a new rack!

The reason I asked about your system was to see if a new rack was the right choice for an upgrade. For example, if you really needed a new pre amp, it would be foolish to put the money somewhere else. Assuming your system is in good order, you really need to look at your components themselves. The type of components, and how well they are made will dictate how bad you need a new rack. Sources with moving parts like TT's and CD players and components that use tubes, tend to benefit the most from a good rack. Also, some components are designed in such a way that they are less prone to vibration. A good example would be my Wadia 861. It sounds the same no matter what you put it on. My Rotel 1072, on the other hand, improved when put on a good rack. Even more so with cones.

All things considered, the best overall approach may be to go with a good quality, but not ultra expensive rack, and then treat each component individually with things like cones and tube dampeners. If you have a TT, you may want to consider a nice base for it. Doing it that way is the best value because it lets you put the money where you need it most.

I buy these types of products from The Cable Company. You pick whatever you want and they send it out to you to try in your system first so you don't waste your money.

Babybear and I were going down the same path...I think room treatments are first investment...bass traps and something at the first reflection points are a must to start...

Although we don't know what you have in your room.

I assume you're pretty handy with wood working..I'd replace the MDF shelves with a hard maple...for not much money...2-3 inches thick. You can then experiment with a few footers like those from still points or symposium...

Also, do you like in a home? Do you have dedicated lines to your BAT equipment? I used to own a BAT VK51SE and a BAT VK P10SE and a BAT VK 75SE..it was all pretty current hungry and responds welll...again for not a lot of money...If you have your BAT in the Tice it maybe restricting the current somewhat....

Just my 2 cents with out knowing more...

I was thinking of changing the mdf to maple or ash, but I am getting kind of tired of the look of the rack ( the alltread). I do have a dedicated line. As for power cond. I am leaning towards the SR Powercells. I just saw a Gregitek rack and have to say it is a nice looking rack but not much in reviews.

As for building a new rack from scratch, the wood would be no problem, but the isolation of the shelves is the biggest hurdle. I guess some of Herbies Audio items would work.

I was going to recommend swapping out the MDF for slate pieces until I read your comment saying you're tired of the look. My rack is similar but with slate shelves. very heavy and solid feel. They pass the knuckle test with no ringing, just a dull thud that can be painful.
Mine is nearly ten years old and I am tired of looking at it but don't want to pay for better performance.

Around $2500 is the budget. I think for now the room treatments are fine.
The Quadraspire rack I saw on another site. I am not that fond of the bamboo shelves. It is not a hardwood, and I would think that the shelves will flex over time and humidity.

I would think a power conditioner wouldmake more of a difference. Maybe a used ps audio power plant premier for around $1,000 and some power cords?

You are right. At the time I got the Tice years ago, I don't know if it was what I could afford at the time or what the saleman was trying to unload.

It sounds and though you would really like to upgrade racks. I was in the same position, and didn't like the look of some audio racks. Ended up buying the Samson Rack from Mapleshade Audio. Very sturdy -- very nice old growth maple -- gorgeous finish. Sounds great.

Since everything has some effect, it's hard to predict, in the abstract, which will make the most positive difference in your system:
I'm not a naysayer to power conditioning, but once I did dedicated lines, I eliminated some highly regarded power conditioners- the system sounded better without them. (It's not that the dedicated lines 'improved' the sound, but they did eliminate one additional variable in AC power noise and interference and I generally have pretty quiet power, with the occaional spurious noise). Power conditioners and regenerators will make a difference, whether it is better is a separate question and depends in part on how nasty your AC is to begin with. (Note that I have invested in a very expensive power system for my next room, so I'm not negativing the value of dealing with AC power, just talking priorities, especially at a budget).
Racks- big improvement in that department, but you should know that even bigger improvements may be obtained by using a less fancy isolating rack and going with a very basic rack that allows you to use decoupling devices, like the Stillpoints. Having gone both ways (system currently uses some fancy Grand Prix Monaco stands and a very basic Adona platform combined with Stillpoints Ultra SS, you may find that the latter is more within budget and gives you considerable flexibility).

I would first check with the people at Star Sound.

They built and worked on your type of racking format for years. We have a few older versions of Mike Green racks in house and Robert’s affordable recommendations worked out so well we kept them.

Quite possibly you could serve two masters with a single budget.

I would second the Stillpoints as they made a nice improvement to my sound. You might try adding Stillpoints to what you already have before replacing your rack.

Thanks, that might be the way to go. I see they have a few different types, is there one that I should be looking at?

Woodworker- the Stillpoints are no bargain either. The Ultra SS can be bought in sets of 3 or 4, and the Ultra 5, i think it is called, is a more massive one that apparently provides even more effect. They also make a cheaper one, i think it is from aluminum, less of what Stillpoints can do from what I gather, but I didn't try those. If you search here, you'll see a ton of discussion about these products. The price can add up quickly, and many people who use them start putting them under many components in addition to their speakers. I guess the way you might approach it is to get a dealer to loan you a set or two, and try them under your CD player, line stage and/or amp(s).
I had Adona make me a very simple platform for the tube rectified power supply of my phono stage, and then proceeded to try all sorts of devices under the power supply. The results were interesting, and I posted them on another forum. Bottom line- I found the Vibrapod cones, plus pod (or disc) to show a demonstrable benefit and these are cheap as fast food. Other devices, like Aurios, were killer in terms of tightening up everything, but added a harshness that I couldn't tolerate. The HRS footers were good, but not as good as the Stillpoints SS. I also tried some proprietary rollerblocks, which gave some of the benefit of the Aurios, but not quite as strident. Of course, that's in my system, with my components.

Well I decided to go with the Stillpoint Ultra Mini footers and build a new rack.
Thanks for all the help.

For the money- without doubt a power conditioner. You can experiment with improvements to your rack when you can hear what your present system can really do.

That will be my first on my list, as soon as I find a SR Powercell.

Try a PS Audio P10 before settling with Synergistic.

Woodworker501, very curious what your thoughts are using the Ultra Minis? I am thinking about buying some to try out as well.

Symposium Isis rack get the best!!

Well I found a used Synergistic Powercell 10SE MKII, and did make all the difference in the world. I am happy with that purchase. The Ultra footers might be in the back burner for now. Even the small ones do add up. I am looking at the SR MIG footers. I might just keep the rack for now and wait for a Sistrum rack to come along.