Great responses above. I agree that your Dad was very kind in offering you what he did. I hope that you've gained more respect for both your Father and the components that you currently have after going through all of this : )
As far as equipment "stands" or "racks" go, you're going to get a LOT of conflicting suggestions on the subject. Believe it or not, and i wouldn't have believed it myself unless i had experienced it myself, racks really can alter the sonics of a system in a BIG way. As such, don't rush into something that "looks cool" or is "cosmetically matching". That is, if you value the sound of your system. There are things that make specific rack designs more desirable than others.
My suggestion when shopping for a rack is to look for something that is very rigid yet relatively low in mass. The heavier that the rack is by itself, or any given component of the rack is ( individual shelves, etc... ), the worse your system will sound. Then again, most would not know that their system could sound "better", "worse" or even "different" unless they've tried several different types of racks.
The key to all of this is resonance ( vibration ) control. Obviously, metal can be made quite rigid and low in weight, but at the same time, it will also "resonate" or "ring" once it is excited. That's because metal by itself lacks "self-damping" properties. On the other hand, wood comes in all different types of rigidity and densities, so there are a LOT of variables here.
After learning about the sonic differences between racks and being in a similar position to yours, i looked for some type of platform to build upon that allowed me to experiment a bit. That is, i wanted a design that allowed me to change components ( and sonic signatures ) of the rack itself. The easiest way for me to do this was to look for a low mass yet rigid frame where the shelves were not "anchored" to the support structure. Once i had the basic components for the "frame", i could alter the density and rigidity of the materials used for the shelves. This proved to be very enlightening to say the least.
If you don't want to "experiment" here, and i can understand this, i would probably look for an all wood rack that wasn't real heavy. There are several woods that combine lower mass with good rigidity, producing a rack that is neither "live" nor "dead". A rack system that lacks internal damping i.e. is "too live" will be easily excited ( via air-borne musical energy or floor-borne energy ) and "ring". A rack that is very heavy, overly damped will be "dead" and will muddy the sound while robbing the system of transient energy. Finding the right combo of the two ( "live" but not prone to ringing ) can be tough. Whatever it is that you choose, just make sure that you take into account spacing for adequate ventilation of your components, especially the amp.
If you do some reading in the archives, you'll find quite a few threads on the subject. Take all of these comments with a grain of salt as there are different parties posting here that have a vested interest in your wallet i.e. industry professionals that market products in this category. Some of them acknowledge their affiliations, some don't. Personally, i am not involved in the marketing of any audio related products.
If there is one commonality between the different vantage points involved in this subject, that point would be that racks / support structures DO affect the sonics of a system, for better or worse. While it is easy to overlook this aspect of rack design and just go for form, functionality and / or cosmetics, you might end up throwing away quite a bit of performance that may be hidden within the components themselves by doing so. Sean
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As far as equipment "stands" or "racks" go, you're going to get a LOT of conflicting suggestions on the subject. Believe it or not, and i wouldn't have believed it myself unless i had experienced it myself, racks really can alter the sonics of a system in a BIG way. As such, don't rush into something that "looks cool" or is "cosmetically matching". That is, if you value the sound of your system. There are things that make specific rack designs more desirable than others.
My suggestion when shopping for a rack is to look for something that is very rigid yet relatively low in mass. The heavier that the rack is by itself, or any given component of the rack is ( individual shelves, etc... ), the worse your system will sound. Then again, most would not know that their system could sound "better", "worse" or even "different" unless they've tried several different types of racks.
The key to all of this is resonance ( vibration ) control. Obviously, metal can be made quite rigid and low in weight, but at the same time, it will also "resonate" or "ring" once it is excited. That's because metal by itself lacks "self-damping" properties. On the other hand, wood comes in all different types of rigidity and densities, so there are a LOT of variables here.
After learning about the sonic differences between racks and being in a similar position to yours, i looked for some type of platform to build upon that allowed me to experiment a bit. That is, i wanted a design that allowed me to change components ( and sonic signatures ) of the rack itself. The easiest way for me to do this was to look for a low mass yet rigid frame where the shelves were not "anchored" to the support structure. Once i had the basic components for the "frame", i could alter the density and rigidity of the materials used for the shelves. This proved to be very enlightening to say the least.
If you don't want to "experiment" here, and i can understand this, i would probably look for an all wood rack that wasn't real heavy. There are several woods that combine lower mass with good rigidity, producing a rack that is neither "live" nor "dead". A rack system that lacks internal damping i.e. is "too live" will be easily excited ( via air-borne musical energy or floor-borne energy ) and "ring". A rack that is very heavy, overly damped will be "dead" and will muddy the sound while robbing the system of transient energy. Finding the right combo of the two ( "live" but not prone to ringing ) can be tough. Whatever it is that you choose, just make sure that you take into account spacing for adequate ventilation of your components, especially the amp.
If you do some reading in the archives, you'll find quite a few threads on the subject. Take all of these comments with a grain of salt as there are different parties posting here that have a vested interest in your wallet i.e. industry professionals that market products in this category. Some of them acknowledge their affiliations, some don't. Personally, i am not involved in the marketing of any audio related products.
If there is one commonality between the different vantage points involved in this subject, that point would be that racks / support structures DO affect the sonics of a system, for better or worse. While it is easy to overlook this aspect of rack design and just go for form, functionality and / or cosmetics, you might end up throwing away quite a bit of performance that may be hidden within the components themselves by doing so. Sean
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