Hi End rack really deliver?

I always felt that an audio rack was more of a convenience than anything else, until I bought my Billy Bags. All I can say is that the improvement was NOT subtle.

A dealer for Grand Prix Audio told me his technique to sell GP racks.

He let the customer hear a system with all gears on GP rack except CDP which sits on another high end rack. Then he moved the CDP from that rack to GP and let the customer decide. 10/10 times, customers heard an improvement.

I am a believer in vibration control since 20+ years ago, started out with big wood rack and Mod Squad tip toe. Now I use Grand Prix Audio Monaco thru out, just debating if I need to continue using Black Diamond Racing cones.

I cannot say about high end racks. But when I replaced my makeshift stand with a Salamander Designs 5.0 (cherry finish), the images stabilized and I heard a lot more clarity in the sound than I used to before. Note that I also have the Mega spikes installed on the stand instead of the regular feet caps that came with the stand. So you can say, I am a believer in the fact that good stands do make a difference.

For many (30 years) I never believed in vibration control or “high end” audio racks. But on advice from someone I trust I switched the rack for my mbl 6010D pre amp and mbl 1621A transport and 1611F DAC from a very functional Billy Bags to a Finite Elemente Master Pagoda rack. Immediately upon setting my system up, I could hear a very distinctive improvement in the sonic signature of my system. In a word everything became more natural sounding. A touch of harshness which characterized the sound of brass and strings disappeared. For me it was a meaningful change, and I am now a believer.

Regarding aesthetics and WAF, you are on your own…but you have our moral support

Semi forgot to mention the experiment we conducted at his house several years ago. He told me that he had tried at least 10 - 15 different amp stands under his BAT tube amp. He ended up with a piece of 300 lb slab of stone that he was using under smoe electromicroscope in his lab at work. He had been using that slab ever since I met him.

One day when bunch of us were over, he told us he just spent $$$$ on these new racks (Grand Prix) sitting in the back of the room. We helped him move the slab back and put the GP amp stand in front of the slab. I thought he was going crazy spending that kind of money for stands. Then I left the amp stand up (without the acrylic board) with 1 finger, and thought he was for sure a nut as I was a believer of more mass the better.

We then move the amp forward onto the Grand Prix stand for another round of listening. None of us had heard of this company before. But we definitely heard a big improvement in various areas. We then moved the amp back and forth several times just to confirm.

And it make sense. Several of the guys at that listening work for semiconductor companies, and we've all seen various types of vibration control devices used in labs for vibration sensitive equipment. So it make sense that any mechanical system (LP or CD playback) and tube equipment would benefit from vibration control devices such as a rack.

FrankC