Racks vs. furniture w/pods, points, aurios, etc?

Agree that the Rix Rax line is simply stunning, as is the price.

Have you looked into Zoethecus? Also has a furniture look, and while not cheap seems to be well made.

Another that you may want to check out is the Finite Elemente Pagode Master Reference line.

http://www.finite-elemente.de/frame-uk.html

Perhaps not quite the furniture look of the first two but makes liberal use of wood and supposedly stands up to the best in terms of sonic quality. It's made in Germany and distributed by Immedia (http://www.immediasound.com/), who you could check with to see if there's a dealer nearby.

I've pondered the same question. Really prefer a nice double-wide wood rack (this is my present setup) to the steel framed alternatives. I'm isolating the rack's shelving from the equipment with Vibrapods, topped with Black Diamond shelves. I use cones to couple the equipment to the isolated dead-mass BD shelves. This sandwhich method seems to work well enough, but I can't say that I've compared this to an open frame rack with Neuance shelving, which seems to be a recommended approach. I really wondered how a Neuance would work in place of, or coupled to a Black Diamond, but I never received a reply from Ken Lyon so although I'd like to try it, I have no idea.

what other audio rack brands worth mentioning?

You might want to consider the Salamander Synergy line. Not
the best in terms of rigid support - but if you have a home
with decent furniture (i.e. - Baker, Ethan Allen, etc.)
it will not stick out like a sore thumb, either.
Available in a variety of finishes; and you can add doors, end panels, media drawers, etc. to set up for your
needs. Probably one of the biggest knocks on the Synergy
line is that the side panels fit into a metal channel and
can resonate a bit. This can be easily cured with a few
pieces of Dynomat applied to the inner surface of the panels and some thin foam inserted into the metal channels.
Also - you won't pay a king's ransom for the Synergy
racks. I have a Twin 30 model in walnut with walnut end
panels and an extra component shelf and bought the entire
set up for well below $1K. And since the shelves can be
adjusted for height - you can allow plenty of space to
install Vibrapods, Isolation Shelves, etc. under your
components.