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Looking For High Quality Equipment Rack

I'm going to move soon and I'll take the opportunity to make some changes to my system. I want to focus first upon upgrading my equipment rack. Currently using a Target ProXL. It's a metal frame with glass shelves which I've supplemented with a few BDR shelves, 1/2" thick glass, rubber mats and vibrapods. I'm looking for a less haphazard, more rational approach to resonance dissipation and control.

I'm considering the following:

Arcici Suspense - http://www.arcici.net/

Sistrum 6 Shelf - http://www.audiopoints.com/multiplatforms.HTML

Grand Prix 5 Shelf Lemans - http://www.grandprixaudio.com/lemans.html

Mapleshade 3 Shelf Samson (2) - http://www.mapleshaderecords.com/tweaks/samson.html

Immedia E&T Spider - http://www.immediasound.com/ComponentStands.html

The rack will sit on a hard wood floor in the same room as the loudspeakers. The turntable will not be place upon the new rack. I'd prefer a single rack (5 shelf minimum), but I'd also consider two 3 shelf racks. I'm looking for anybody's experience and comments. Feel free to recommend any other brands too.

Thanks to all.
128x128onhwy61
slipknot1
1,423 posts
 
Rix Rax. http://www.rixrax.com
The Hoodoo is one very good looking piece of audio gear. saw one in action in the Pipedreams/Tenor room at last years THE show in NY
onhwy61's avatar
onhwy61 OP
5,217 posts
 
Sc53, interesting comment about the placement of your turntable. My RPM is a non-suspension design with a steel base. From your comments I should be able to place the RPM directly on the Sistrum. Thanks.
fishinfool
32 posts
 
If you are interested in Mapleshade, be aware that they can custom make their Samson shelf to any size and number of shelfs you want. I have a custom size on order,so I can't offer any comments on it, but I was very impressed using one of their 2" thick maple shelfs as an amplifier stand.
onhwy61's avatar
onhwy61 OP
5,217 posts
 
I ended up going with a 5 shelf Mapleshade Samson. From what I could tell the Grand Prix is the ultimate, but it's very pricey and somewhat inflexible if my system were to dramatically change (always a possibility).

The Mapleshade seems to have solved the major problem with my system. Previously I was using a Target stand made of stamped steel with glass shelves. If I played music at high volumes (>85dB) the sound could take on a hardness in the upper midrange/lower treble. It was particularly noticeable on muted trumpet. With the addition of the Mapleshade the problem has disappeared.

BTW, the Mapleshade is very well built, but the quality of the 2" shelves is not what I would call grade-A furniture quality. It's good, maybe even very good, but it's not excellent. The imperfections are very noticeable when the shelves are unpacked. Once the rack is assembled it's much harder to see the flaws. I chose cherry stained shelves with black uprights and the rack actually looks quite handsome.

One last thing, the Mapleshade people were wonderful to deal with and very responsive to my questions and inquiries.
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