Metal, aluminum, or wood for a rack ?

BTw, wood and glass (tempered safety glass) racks are a good idea if you want a mix of style and build quality.

Elizabeth, you can say it if you want to.
I get a kick reading behind your gender thoughts on male preception.

I've decided to build my rack out of wood. With stackable shelving with spikes at the bottom of eack leg that will sit on the shelf below it.

I'm going to glue two 3/4 in. balsa plywood together to make a 1 1/2 in. shelf.

I'll make a three shelf rack at 24 x 18 in. with all the hardware for less than $150.

I can't afford to pay $$$$ for a rack. The wife wont understand. So, I do what I can.

It'll be better than the 1/2 in. thick MDF that I have now.

Thanks to all that has contributed.

John

Wood is out . Ive found metal with a 50/50 fill mix of sand and lead work well . I'm in the heavy and ridged camp , although many are using the less mass method . Any solid ridged stand will be a improvement .

what is the purpose of a rack ?

i see two .

1) a way to access components (i place them on the floor)

2) access the components and avoid intruding resonances at certain frequencies.

so the question is if materials resonate at a certain frequency, which one do you prefer.

i would think achieving a resonant frequency as low as possible is the way to go.

thus, i would opt for wood. you can always use anti-resonant devices under the components.

I just glued and screwed my two 3/4 in Birch plywood shelves together to make 1 1/2 in shelves and rapped on them with my knuckles and it was very impressive.

It sounded like you hit a concrete block.

No reverberation or resonance to speak of.
It's much better that the 1/2in MDF I'm using right now.

I'm also using Maple butcher blocks with cones between the shelves and the amp and CD player.

It's comming along just great.
When I'm done I'll put new photo's in my virtual system and update it.
Have a great day.

Oh.... +1 on the wood resonance.