Equipment Rack Between Speakers...Good or Bad

I experimented with this over 25 years ago. Having the luxury of a dedicating music room and an adjoining equipment closet, this was what I’d learned.

With monopole speakers, the ACOUSTIC effects of placing an equipment rack against the front wall (between main speakers) are minimal to moderate. It has much to do with the size/height of the rack in relations to the speaker distance from this wall. Since the tonal response and image property of the speakers dictates its placement, the net effect varies. Following the general rules of third, or fifth which some had advocated, the speakers often sits a good distance forward. Front rack effect will be minimal but still persists. Unfortunately due to domestic compromises, most setups doesn’t allow.

When accessing the front rack scenario, one should take into consideration of visual influence. Having visual image of a rack smack center often trick one to reject the notion of depth perception 12 O’clock. I resorted to turning off all lights and blocking all instrumental illuminations. I’d tried closing my eyes but often times, I fell asleep.

In search of perfection, I’d tried to further minimize front rack influence with flanking room tune panels. This is one step short of throwing a heavy blanket over the rack. But despite all efforts, I honestly believed that I heard a difference. Ignoring tonal balance of the speakers, I founded that the further out I pull the speakers from the front wall, the less effect the front rack will be. Near field listening anyone?

I also had the opportunity to take custody of a pair of beautiful Dipole ribbon panels and this was what I’d learn. Due to the front and back radiation properties of dipole speakers, the front rack had much greater influence sonically. Lowering the rack size/height made an immediate difference and mostly improvement to image, soundstage, depth, and dimension. Short of the power-amps, the best sound I perceived was to move most, if not all, equipments out of the main room. All necessary equipments up front were kept as low as possible, under 24” in most cases. Wall treatments not withstanding, any objects placed asymmetrical along the wall will affect perceived stage to some extent.

For those who are lucky enough to have a dedicated music room with separate/isolated equipment room, my humble advise is to remove all front-end equipment from the listening area. Removing delicate source equipment such as turntable, transport, etc., will pay healthy dividends. Solutions to connect the front end with main room is entirely a different topic for discussion.

Unfortunately I no longer have such luxury.
Thanks for listening
Mosler666

The search for answers to this thread is dependent on and should include the rack design, material used to build the platform, the audible sound characteristics of the rack and most importantly - rack functionality.

Materials used in rack design absorb, reflect, damp and/or conduct resonance formed by vibrations through chemistry makeup; some combinations of materials convert resonance to heat, some transfer resonance to ground where others trap resonance within the components - and the list of vibration control methodologies goes on and on.

Certain types of rack designs have multiple issues when placed between speakers but there are also products that deliver a favorable performance when used in that context.

Lower profile racking systems are currently trending in popularity as the closer equipment is located to earth’s ground or the greater mass of the flooring, detrimental resonance will dissipate more efficiently and away from your components. This information is based on physics working in concert with the laws of gravity, motion and Coulomb friction.

Applying various vibration management accessories that isolate, absorb or transfer resonance from a lesser functioning rack framework is placing a Band-Aid over the wound in hopes it will heal itself.

Very few people make an effort to audition racks. Listening to rack sonic, rack noise and most importantly hearing what a highly functioning rack provides is a rarity. After reading multiple audio forums it appears to me that everyone already owns the best rack design - correct?

If more listener’s compared and auditioned racks the same way amps, speakers, sources, cables, et all are purchased, you would absolutely “hear” the vast differences in performance. There would be more information available for researching this topic instead of relying on personal favoritisms, and advertising claims along with a hodgepodge of video testing methodologies that are more marketing tools in comparison to reality.

Proof in performance requires a listening test along with an initial capital investment. Pick any price point - say $400 to $700 each or more depending on your budget. Pick out any two or three single shelf products from different companies making sure they have a very positive track record providing full financial return guarantees.

Choose one of wood or simple butcher block, one of steel, acrylic or aluminum construction or any combination thereof. Set them up and rotate an amp, loudspeaker, or power distribution product across all three stands and you will hear what is missing from your purchasing formula and system sonics. If you do not have the initial investment capital required to audition three stands at once, try one per week as you will soon realize the absolute importance of a highly functional equipment foundation.

Listeners who know the differences make more informed decisions, save money and increase their listening enjoyment from every additional purchase of electronic equipment, loudspeakers, cables, power distribution and accessories because they hear more information and musical content that most equipment has built into them. The equipment rack can disguise, remove or limit the capabilities of advancing the sound of your equipment and speaker quality to a higher level. It is the difference between good listening and absolute - wow!

The racking system is in absolute command of your sonic results and easily proven to those who are interested.

Robert

A qualified soundman representing a manufacturer who sells vibration management accessories, speaker stands and equipment racking.

If the amplifiers and sources are on the floor between speakers with higher midrange and tweeter elements this should not interfere with the acoustics.

The rack is fine, move you speakers forward and away from that side wall.

Hi Roxy, I would recommend seismically isolating both your speakers and each individual piece of equipment and rack. There are a wide range of isolators on the market that definitely do NOT work. I would suggest one of the following:

Ingress Engineering cup and rollers directly under your equipment, supported by a thick slate platform supported by either Machina Dynamica springs, Townshend Pods or a 12 inch dia. inner tube at very low pressures.

For speakers the easiest solution is Townshend Podiums but you could also use MD springs and/or Ingress speaker footers.

For rack isolation you can use either Townshend Bars or Pods, alternatives would be MB springs and/or Ingress footers.

For more detailed advice you are welcome to PM me.