Alternative Rack to Salamander

One of the best bangs for the buck in the Salamander price range (actually a bit less) and not well-known (yet!) is the Studiotech Performance series. www.studiotech.com

The best retailer (he charges less than the manufacturer + FREE shipping) is Dynamic Home Theater (Michael Stone - owner, 781-843-2442) or on the web at:

http://www.dynamichometheater.com/store/merchant.mvc?page=DHT/CTGY/STUT

They come knocked down, easy to assemble and very sturdy.
Order the optional cone spikes, only $8 a set I think. I like the all black, but your wife may prefer the silver.

If money is not an object, here is your answer.

If your wife has a problem with those aesthetics, you are indeed in trouble!

For a performance-oriented rack, alot of people like the Sistrum racks. Winner of the 2004 Brutus Award for Excellence from Positive Feedback Online publication. They are consistently mentioned in any conversation about performance platform systems.

They feature all black powder-coated laser-cut steel shelves, machined stainless legs, and brass accents in construction, and look very sleek and upscale. Proprietary MicroBearing fill and other upgrades are optional. Various heights and numbers of shelves. Holds up to 300 pounds per shelf. Improves performance of video components too!

Not cheap, but not near as much as those Rix Rax, either.

Check them out at http://www.audiopoints.com

Disclaimer: I work for the company.

I like the Sistrums very much. I spent a lot of time admiring them at CES. Unfortunately, they are exactly the sort of thing I cannot have. I need something that at least smacks of looking like furniture, which is why I got the Salamander in the first place. I looked at Rix Rax, and they are definitely a possibility, as is the Billy Bags Pro-54. If there are no other "furniture-like" audiophile quality racks, I guess it will be between those.

I also happen to be the owner of 2 Salamander pieces. I to am considering replaceing them with a quality stand. I agree with the general consences on Rix Rax the one I will probably buy is Grand Prix Audio. I feel carbon fiber is the way to go for dampening purpose`s with the carbon fiber shelve`s it`s hard to beat also it`s very expensive with the carbon fiber shelve`s, even with the acrylic it`s still costly. PS there is a four shelf Monaco for sale in stand`s Iv`e been thinking of taking the plunge. David

David, the Sistrum racks are the main competitor to the Grand Prix racks for performance. We've done extremely well in head-to-head competition against GP, in the few instances where people actually compared them for performance against Sistrum.

I don't want to try to use this for ad space, so if you have questions or interest, please email me.

You can keep your Salamander rack and work with using additional materials for isolation. I use Neuance platforms. I have on on top of some Isoblicks and there is further improvement. You can also use maple on Isoblocks. or have Neuance shelves custom sized to replace the stock Salamander shelves. Or use Sistrum platforms under components. The Salamander racks are nice and flexible. I'd try to keep it.

Thanks for your very helpful responses. I have a couple of Neuance shelves, which help, but there are still resonance issues. But these suggestions prompted me to do some fruitful research, and I am going to be experiementing with a few resonance control devices before diving into a new rack unit.

Txlef,
Have you considered a DIY rack? I recently sold my Billy Bags rack, and have found that sonically and visually I am happier with my maple & brass rack. As one who is not exactly "Mr. Woodworker", I can attest that it's not so tough to do. For sonics, I use Audiopoints 2.0 model, which fits perfectly on my 5/8" threaded rods. If you're interested, email me offline and I can send you part#s, etc. on brass rods, etc. You can see it on my system page...
http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl? vevol&1036941919&view
Cheers, Spencer

Txlef,

Try removing the glass doors and snug up any loose screw fasteners on the Salamander Twin 30 and see if that doesn't resolve most, if not the bulk of your "resonance issues".

best,
k

btw- when your Salamander was assembled, did you use carpenters glue to ensure that the rack is rigid?