Confusion about "high-end" racks

In my opinion since no one that I’m aware of has done a side to side “A/B” comparison of one rack to another with the exact same equipment it’s all a matter of personal tastes which is highly opinionated.
They are all good racks, go with the one that you like the looks of the best, or that fits your budget. Look for slight defects or flaws that will not work with your system suck as shelf spacing, incorrect size shelf, no ability to add mass to the structural supports, can’t use points for connection to floor or as I found out the hard way with my reference rack the “Sistrum Platform Rack”, because of the back leg being in the center, that back leg might interfere with an AC plug or RCA/balanced interconnect, or it’s a hassle to set equipment on three audio points or those sharp points can mark the bottom of your equipment. My remarks about my rack are not meant as criticism but simply an example of insight I have as an owner that others might not think of.
Best regards,

I looked at all the ones you listed and more. While I liked the SRA they aren't flexible enough for me and would require two which I can't fit in the space I have. GPA look cool, but just don't seem to have any real science behind them (to me) next time you see one, grab the top and shake it, you'll see why I didn't buy these! Sistrum? I have a Great Dane and suspect she'd knock something off those platforms so they weren't even a consideration. I liked the look of Acoustic dreams but they didn't work for me either. I haver seen the Critical mass systems, and they look great, but they are huge shelves and take up a lot of space, I think for a large complicated system like mine they are to bulky and they are rather expensive. I liked the looks of the Finite Pagode Master Reference, but alas it's too small and not flexible enough for me. I looked at a bunch of others not mentioned here too, as well as all the stock ones like Billy Bags, Lovan, you name it I likely know them.

I literally spent two years going through which racks I wanted to upgrade to, and knowing I was going to spend some serious coin on them, I wanted one that I could live with for a long time. I wanted a solid build with large weight handling, the ability to level on my Terra Cotta tiled floors with stability, preferably a rack that could be pretty tall and have multiple, adjustable shelves. I only found out about AudiAV a few months ago and well, my rack will be here before Christmas!

I went with a black Crystal 6' tall with 8 shelve, all signature and several with Granite for my really high end pieces. All shelves are equipped with the Mag Block as well, in black.

I spent hours on the phone with Jared Poiry and the guy is into some serious science with these things! The vibration isolation used is akin to what is under electron microscopes, and the Mag Bloc is straight out of defense contracts, you have to see his video about this stuff!

Feel free to drop me an Email privately to discuss these further, but I don't think you can find a more flexible rack that does as much as these do anywhere.

Oh, you might want to rethink the Diamond, unless you are running several hundred pound components they are way over kill, and costly (Jared told me the average $ for a Diamond setup runs close to $30K when fully spec'd out!)

Ken

First of all, after reading the subject title of this thread, I am most dissapointed that we are talking about audio gear. :)

I agree with Larry (Lak) that at the level you are talking about, appearance and ergonomics are the main issues. All the mentioned racks should perform high quality isolation regards of design. I also have a rack (Lovan Sovereign) that has the middle leg in the back, and agree that it can be a PITA functionally. It seems to interfere with either power cord or interconnects at some time. Though I have a couple friends who rave about the Symposium Isis rack, this also has the middle leg in the back that you'll have to learn to 'work around'.

Good luck,
John

Best to get a rack, four posts, with no shelves but one that will support granite. Ideally, the shelve heights should be fully adjustable and not fixed. Then, have quarter inch granite shelves made. Should not cost you more then $40 a square foot. Avoid glass. Finish on granite can be polished or dull. If you have a TT, make its shelve half inch, bottom with quarter inch top putting spikes in between. Enjoy.