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what is the theory behind maple stands and racks?

I have not "heard" a maple amp stand or rack - using Billy Bags products now, which are made from steel and mdf - but don't grasp why maple would be a good material to use - quite the opposite. Maple is used for some electric guitars because it "rings" - it is very dense and causes notes to sustain, which is to say, it continues to vibrate for a long time. This would seem to be exactly the opposite of what one wants in a stand or a rack. If there is some claim that vibration is "drained away", well, if the rack is continuing to ring, that would likely cause acoustical feedback - the equipment isn't isolated from the thing it is sitting on. Can anyone who is not a vendor of these things explain the why of it, or relate positive experiences that seem to have a basis in fact?
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photonman
96 posts
 
Guido,
well, the vendor says the gains in sonic performance of the 4" maple vastly outweighs any effects of the increased driver height. As a compromise, I could do 2" plinths but they recommend 4" for tile/concrete floors.

as for trying out the polymer footers, did you see the prices of those things, that would be an experiment I cannot afford!

I do believe the platforms make a difference as I had my monitors on 2" maple and they sounded better than the stereo shop setup on the mfr stands and using better components than my rig.
guidocorona
4,298 posts
 
Hi Photonman, what is the source size, and pricing of the 4" maple platforms? Those things tend to be ghastly expensive as well.

Post the URL if you can.

Saluti, Guido
photonman
96 posts
 
Guido,

Here are the maple platforms.

Actually, the maple platforms themselves are reasonable, it is the brass feet that run up the price.

For example, their 4" platforms with large brass feet are $505/pair. The retail of the brass feet separately are 8 ea at $35 = $280 so that means the two platforms are $225 total which is not bad taking into consideration the finishing and labor.

I was thinking of doing a custom setup with 3 feet, but the third would be a bolt through megafoot. Each megafoot retails for like $110 each.
photonman
96 posts
 
Well, I could not resist, I went ahead and ordered TerraStone platforms for my speakers. There was a good case for the TS over the maple and the TS was actually more cost effective and instead of raising my towers up 5.5", the TS platforms will only be 1.5" high (1" platform and 0.5" brass radiused feet)

And the black looks nice too :)
guidocorona
4,298 posts
 
Hi Photonman.... Could you give us more info about the particular Terrastone platforms you have ordered.... Size and price.... What is your hypothesis about sonic advantages over 4 inch maple? And of course, let us know actual results once you install them.

Saluti, Guido
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