Can an audio rack be that important?


When we spend Tens of thousands on audio equipment are we losing sight on the importance of a good audio rack? I have seen many setups were ultra high end audio equipment is used sub-par equipment racks. 
I have been grappling with buying a high end audio rack for sometime but have always put it off as less important. 
What does a reference rack actually do for the sound of high quality components?

 

hiendmmoe

Showing 1 response by dean_palmer

Better is better but it's just furniture. A rack is generally not going to improve or even affect the audio itself, but we must consider things like a turntable if part of the system on the rack (let's assume no turntable for a second). We will have all kinds of arguments, but no modern audio gear is going to sound different between racks. If you have enough movement to affect your gear on any decent rack you have bigger structural issues or environmental issues in your building. I have movement issues with my wood frame floors, but no rack is going to change that. Nice well built heavy duty racks are always better, not arguing that. Chances are if you are having issues with a rack it's because it is complete junk, but is still not affecting the audio quality. I have a cheap but decent rack system, but the issue is the wife walking like a sasquatch while the turntable spins, even with sorbothane insulators, not the rack. If you are one of the people who like to get naked and roll in piles of expensive power cords, and interconnects, and spend time preaching about audiophile fuses, then you might feel the need to argue this one :-)