Confusion about "high-end" racks

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.

Sistrum has some new products coming out soon that sound better than even thier current racks. I am in the mechanical grounding school, unless you have springy wood floors. I dont have any thier full equipmemt racks, just speaker stands and a their stand under my turntable. Both made a huge improvement.

But I do think some magazine should do a comprehensive review/comparison among the major types of racks.

So you think that racks affect the sound of a system? Aside from the acoustic imprint the shape, size and location of a rack can have in a room, how, exactly, does a rack affect the sound of a system and, if it does, how audible are these effects?

I would upgrade real components and simply make sure the rack is out of the way, acoustically speaking, rather than being used as an altar for componets.

Setting up your electronics in an adjoining room with only the speakers in the room is always a possibility, if you don't mind the walk.

pbb racks will help isolate equipment and help with ressonance control and yes they make a big difference sometimes as much as buying a new piece of equipment. even setting up in an adjoining room your still have resonance problems and isolation problems and the you have to pay for extremly long cable runs