Need a new Hi-Fi rack?

Well first of all that system- Hyperion, Herron, HFT- congratulations! Theoretically yes, you do stand to gain more than just aesthetics, because racks really do make a difference. Unfortunately, nobody wants to hear what works best, and nobody'd make it anyway, because its mass and mass ships expensive. So they mostly wind up being just heavy enough to not be too horrible, and hope that with a good enough shape or finish nobody will notice. Because, I mean, who "auditions" racks in their system anyway?

So pretty much guarantee you buy the one you like the looks of. It is after all what we all do. The one thing I would suggest though is to consider the turntable separately from everything else. Even two of the exact same rack from the same company will be better than putting it all on one. 

Thanks Millercarbon. I have it set up now so that I have a center unit with three shelves which includes my amplifier, phono stage, and turntable on top. Then the power conditioner is on one shelf on the floor to the left and the CD player is on another shelf on the floor to the right. I intend to duplicate that with the new rack system with a central three shelf unit and flanking amplifier stands. I want to keep overall height down as low as possible, which is why I broke down the original five tier Atacama rack the way I have described. What exactly would you recommend? Thanks.

Low is good. Floor is better. Impractical, but better.

Nothing I tried that was anything like all the stands you see came anywhere close to the floor. My system is all laid out to maximize my audio dollar and performance. Power conditioner on the floor by the front wall. Power cords going left to sub amps on the floor, to the integrated sitting on the floor dead center and a bit further out, and to the right to the turntable/phono stage/motor controller rack. Being back against the wall and off to the right the one thing that would mess up imaging can't because of where it is. All the other stuff is so low, even sitting on a granite plate and Cones the amp is only 12-18" and even that surface is broken up, so its almost not even there.

That's my tip- low, and broken up. Its better if its not there at all. But if its low and broken up then it will act almost as a diffuser and that's what you want.

Anything beyond that, tap on it. If it the sound is hard and fairly sharp and immediately dies it'll probably be okay. If it rings, or tings, or vibrates or anything at all like that, walk away.

Thanks Millercarbon. Your advice is very much appreciated.

If you have a concrete floor, you might consider a concrete block stand. While possibly not in line with what you might want aesthetically, it sounds great. I use blocks with 3" maple top. 

Thanks noromance. I bet that does work well, but the aesthetic would fit in my room.

Here is a very old photo of my system from 2004. http://theanalogdept.com/c_miller.htm
Not to say "do this" but to give some idea just what it takes to make a rack that’s better than the floor. It ain’t easy! The floor has all the advantages. But with just 700 lbs of concrete, sand, granite, and carbon fiber it can be done!

All humor aside it shows cheap material like concrete can be cast into graceful curves that when painted don’t look at all like concrete. The ABS columns are polished and in person you’d never think ABS. Concrete doesn’t have to mean cinder blocks. Doing it again today I would probably use real wood veneer. Still might. Could be added any time.

Whatever you get, if its low and squat, stiff, solid and massive, especially with most of the mass up high and as near the turntable as possible, with as little on it as possible (ideally table and phono stage is all) then you should be fine. Whatever you do plan on an extra 6" or so. Because no matter how good the rack it will be even better with something on top. Sand box, big thick butcher block, BDR Shelf for the Source, whatever it is, be thinking about it, because of all the things you do this will probably be the most important and cost-effective.

I use a Core Audio Designs custom rack with my TT setup:

http://coreaudiodesigns.com

Results are perfect IMHO. Not only does this rack look beautiful, performance is spectacular. You can actually jump up and down in front of the rack with absolutely no effect on TT playback. I even tried kicking the rack once during TT playback (not recommended!), again, no effect on playback. Outstanding isolation. Details of my system can be found here:

https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/7324

BTW, no affiliation with Core Audio Design, just a very satisfied customer.

@arsh,

I highly recommend Core Audio plyKraft rack or isoPlat platforms. They have been in my system for over 5 years and still looks good as new, built and performance is outstanding.

https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/8046

Arnold is a master craftsman, he can also do custom projects to meet your needs. The packaging is also outstanding and very reasonable.

Millercarbon, I noted that your description of the DIY turntable stand included a note that the "well" was filled with a mixture of sand and mineral oil. The mineral oil component is something I've not seen used before. Out of curiosity, did you arrive at that combination through experimentation and do A/b comparisons with and without the mineral oil? Also curious how you sealed the well to contain migration of the oil?Kudos on the project. 

I got the oil idea from Chris Brady of Teres Audio. He tested different materials for his turntable. In my situation the oil is just barely enough to coat the sand when thoroughly mixed. Just enough to eliminate dust and scatter. 

The "well" is an indentation for the sand that was cast into the concrete. Most people would use a box or tray to hold the sand. With concrete and granite the damping from sand is essential as concrete and granite really are not good by themselves. Massive and stiff but poorly damped, they ring real bad. That's why nothing sits directly on concrete or granite, and not even directly on the sand.

That rack was built around 2003. The sand at the top has a 150 lb granite plate sitting on it. The sand at the bottom has four MDF footers supporting a phono stage. Neither has shifted at all in what is now nearly 20 years.

Thank you all very much for the suggestions. Millercarbon, your set up looks great, and I would never have guessed it’s construction. Thank you. Lalitk and mgarchmch, I will check out Core Audio designs. Thanks again.

If you are looking for a shelving unit made of wood, here is another guy to take a look at. https://saluda-river-audio-stands.business.site

Mike will build to your specs.

I have been happy with the rack i ordered from Timber Nation a couple years ago. Its solid and heavy - 100% maple - and looks nice. https://timbernation.com

thanks wc1 and audiorusty. Appreciate your recommendations.

@arsh,

It’s worth pointing out that many of these ‘wood’ crafted stands does not have any damping materials. Each of the Core Audio Design component racks or isoPlat amp stands comes with shelves that are preloaded with their unique blend of damping materials to create a high mass, low resonance core.
I never felt the need to further isolate or decouple my components from the rack 😊

Thanks lalitk. I see that they do have that, as do the top level audio elegance stands.

Once again, thank you millercarbon for sharing this information.  Much to consider and use.  Thank you everyone for the links.  Details, it is always in the details.

I also HIGHLY recommend Core Audio Designs! They make a difference and they are beautiful to look at, not tacky or geeky like most high end racks. They are also more affordable. 

Thanks musicfx.