Wow. turnbowm, The propensity for ignoring useful information to hatefully go after me is just staggering. Because how could anyone fail to understand? Its clearly stated this was the 1990's. For you who are so challenged, math I know can be hard, that was like 30 years ago. English too, apparently. Takes at least grade school level reading to understand everything in the OP happened way back in the 90's. Is it not clearly stated this is a journey? Its only just begun.
Okay so here's how it works. You take a jab like that, turnbowm, boy do I hope you got your money's worth. Because congratulations, you made the list. This is the one and only response from me you will ever get. I am my own moderator, and you are banned. I see your name, I stop reading. Got it? Good.
Yes Easy, this being 30 years ago there's probably all kinds of stuff that's better by now. In fact I KNOW there's at least some stuff that's better now. As will become clear, that is the whole point of the journey. One step at a time.
Sorry. Okay. Now where were we? Oh yeah, DJ.
DJ had this great saying: The best rack is no rack. This being the 1990's and me being tapped out from remodeling all my meager money went into components with precious little left over for fancy racks. Especially not if the rack was liable to only make things worse. (I did of course buy one anyway. But that's jumping ahead.)
In the beginning my McCormack amp (yes the one with the vibration control spike, the spike that started it all) was on a plank. Just a bare plank. 2x12. When you see guys with the cinder block and plank looking for a better rack, that was me. Except I didn't even have the cinder blocks!
Because, being sound quality obsessed, in order to add a rack it had to be better than the floor. Or at least not too much worse. Which almost all racks are. (Do NOT take my word for it- try it and see for yourself!) For sure this being the 90's all racks were much worse than the floor. All I could afford anyway.
Fortunately one thing I figured out early was you can test materials in small pieces. Learned this from the McCormack spike. Manual said try things like a coin under the spike. Sure enough the coin did change the sound! Different materials had different sounds!
Tried a whole bunch of different things. Wood of different species (pine, oak, cocobolo, etc) sounds good, but not neutral. MDF sounds neutral (less colored) but not as good, if that makes any sense. A lot of guys prefer the little added euphonic kick of certain hardwoods. I was leery of something that made certain instruments sound "better". I don't want them to sound any particular way at all. That's the job of the recording, mastering, and pressing people. Mine is to display, not editorialize on, their work.
This took a good year at least. Long enough to be sick and tired of laying down on the floor to play a record. But also all that time made me good and familiar with that on the floor sound. My rack had better be at least as good as the floor!
(DJ would build me a rack, but for about $7k and remember: 1994. That's about a million in today's dollars.)
What finally came out of all this, sure enough, did turn out to be at least as good as the floor. https://theanalogdept.com/images/spp6_pics/C_miller_web/TTstand_1.jpg
Okay so here's how it works. You take a jab like that, turnbowm, boy do I hope you got your money's worth. Because congratulations, you made the list. This is the one and only response from me you will ever get. I am my own moderator, and you are banned. I see your name, I stop reading. Got it? Good.
Yes Easy, this being 30 years ago there's probably all kinds of stuff that's better by now. In fact I KNOW there's at least some stuff that's better now. As will become clear, that is the whole point of the journey. One step at a time.
Sorry. Okay. Now where were we? Oh yeah, DJ.
DJ had this great saying: The best rack is no rack. This being the 1990's and me being tapped out from remodeling all my meager money went into components with precious little left over for fancy racks. Especially not if the rack was liable to only make things worse. (I did of course buy one anyway. But that's jumping ahead.)
In the beginning my McCormack amp (yes the one with the vibration control spike, the spike that started it all) was on a plank. Just a bare plank. 2x12. When you see guys with the cinder block and plank looking for a better rack, that was me. Except I didn't even have the cinder blocks!
Because, being sound quality obsessed, in order to add a rack it had to be better than the floor. Or at least not too much worse. Which almost all racks are. (Do NOT take my word for it- try it and see for yourself!) For sure this being the 90's all racks were much worse than the floor. All I could afford anyway.
Fortunately one thing I figured out early was you can test materials in small pieces. Learned this from the McCormack spike. Manual said try things like a coin under the spike. Sure enough the coin did change the sound! Different materials had different sounds!
Tried a whole bunch of different things. Wood of different species (pine, oak, cocobolo, etc) sounds good, but not neutral. MDF sounds neutral (less colored) but not as good, if that makes any sense. A lot of guys prefer the little added euphonic kick of certain hardwoods. I was leery of something that made certain instruments sound "better". I don't want them to sound any particular way at all. That's the job of the recording, mastering, and pressing people. Mine is to display, not editorialize on, their work.
This took a good year at least. Long enough to be sick and tired of laying down on the floor to play a record. But also all that time made me good and familiar with that on the floor sound. My rack had better be at least as good as the floor!
(DJ would build me a rack, but for about $7k and remember: 1994. That's about a million in today's dollars.)
What finally came out of all this, sure enough, did turn out to be at least as good as the floor. https://theanalogdept.com/images/spp6_pics/C_miller_web/TTstand_1.jpg