Hi End rack really deliver?


OK I want to know if you feel using a high end rack really delivers legible sound improvement? I am trying to get the wife to buy into an "ugly" high end rack...vs "furnture". She is very skeptical but has agreed that if it really adds to the sound and can be heard she will maybe loosen up. I have never run my stuff on a good rack so I honestly dont know. I would be interested also if anyone is aware of any good racks that also look nice for the WAF....I am in Hawaii so I have to order it from the continental US proably anyway so I need to get it right from day 1.
joekapahulu
For those of you with GPA racks, have you ried filling the legs? I have Star Sound steel bearings that are thinner than human hair in the amp stand and are uniform in size that allow them to fit together better than sand/lead shot.
Yes, in fact, when done right I would attest that a true performance-oriented racking system could quite possibly be the most cherished component in a given system regardless of the other components one may own or how much one may have spent. Most cherished from a performance perspective that is.

-IMO
Hi Joe Kapahulu,

A good, solid, rack tht fits your needs is a basic requirement. Some racks have adjustable shelves (a big plus) or can be custom built to your specifications (e.g., Billy Bags). If you have a turntable, a proper rack is even more critical, particularly if the floor is a suspended wooden floor. I have a custom built Zoethecus rack (no longer in business) that is more than five feet high. To make it stable, I used a cleat to a back wall to anchor it to a back wall. If you have a table, consider a low rack for stability or a similar arrangement to stabilize the rack.

My own experience with extreme vibration dampening through use of exotic racks and shelves is that results vary quite a bit depending on the system and components. I use a Symposium Ultra shelf under my Linestage and another under my amps, which sit on the floor. These shelves provide a very subtle improvement over regular shelves/amp stand. They don't appear to help with my CD player (Naim CD555), and in a friend's system, the shelves sounded bad (lean and bleached sound) under a CD player (Audio Aero Capitole). Under a Levinson No. 32 preamp, Symposium Rollerblocs provided good coupling to the shelf, but I don't use them for my current linestage (Emotive Audio Epifania) because of the perforated bottom on the unit. That is why I earlier recommended that you experiment with the shelving and coupling of components to the shelves after getting a good basic rack.

I have no idea how high end you are looking for racks. Good basic racks can be had from Atlantis (adjustable shelves) and Billy Bags (customizable spacing of shelves).
On the higher end extreme, Silent Running Audio is a possible choice. I am not familiar with their rack, though I have heard, and I like, their equipment support shelves. A friend's Tron amps came with two custom sized SRA amp stands so the manufacturer thought it was a worthy addition. Their stands/shelves are custom designed for the specific weight and weight distribution of each component (different elastomers at four corners of the shelf).

A similar approach is taken with HRS racks and shelves. A friend bought a huge, three section HRS rack. It is the most heavy, beautiful to look at and solid rack I've encountered. Another friend was in charge of construction/setup. He was amazed at the close construction tolerances and perfection of manufacture. Each shelf was specifically tuned to the particular component that was being placed on the shelf. The BAD news is that the whole set up cost $50,000. I hope this represents the extreme of what one can spend.
don't think of it as a rack. a rack is like a drill. and when you buy a drill, you don't buy a drill. you buy holes...

the rack is to do 2 things (aesthetics excluded): safely support equipment, and isolate gear from horizontal & vertical vibrations. the first is paramount in any rack.

the 2nd can be had after the fact w/ footer & shelving combinations.

and here's a hint (which the author of the grand prix dealer trick hinted at): if you don't hear improvements w/ source gear, you shouldn't expect anything else to improve either.
Haven't read all the posts here, but I'll chime in for a quick second to say that racks definitely influence sound.

I've never owned a nice rack, but I used to have my system on a cheapo tv unit... Moved it to another cheapo Ikea tv stand...the thing looked nice, but was hollow on the inside. Well, wouldn't you know it, the system took on a 'tubby', 'hollow' sound coinciding w/ the rack on which the equipment was sitting. Upon switching everything back to the old rack, everything snapped back into place audibly speaking. I further experimented by putting equipment on tempered glass and lo and behold, the system took on a bit of a sharper edge.

I am a firm believer that the item on which equipment rests influences its sound character beyond a shadow of a doubt.