Shelf Material

I will look for some Maple butchers block Albert but I doubt I can get it here. I have seen such blocks made out of NZ native timbers, mainly in Rimu - how hard/soft is Maple? I have always heard good things about the Vibraplane, and the item at machinadynamica.com sounds like a similarly impressive product. Not only are they expensive, but the freight to NZ will add even more, and hence I need to take a biggish risk going down that path - but maybe a risk I will have to take. Suspending with string is novel (at least to me). That is something I can try very quickly and will have a go at it soon. I have also located some off-cuts of Corian, so will try those in the next week as well. Strangely I have never liked Vibrapods in any application, and similarly do not like the Sorbothane or Sorbogel stuff. A friend of mine says I am on the wrong track and insists that I have to damp the components directly first, and he may have a point. Are there any decent damping sheets available? I notice that the Sonic Frontiers stuff has damping pads inside, and I have found their gear to be relatively immune to the effects of cones, shelves etc.

Redkiwi: If you try hanging or suspending a component, please post your results. I just realized that in my setup I would have to include small line tighteners in order to level the platforms. Can't think of a better way.

I tried hanging equipment back in 95 with very good results.I even hung the cables.Wild looking to say the lest.But remember the celing moves more than the floor.I am working on a full multi-suspension system for CES,with the rack of stainless steel and the shelves of Corrian.Very George Jetsonish

Redkiwi, Hard Maple butcher block is commonly used in the food industry in the USA, but I don't know availability in your native NZ. Maple, although relatively light (compared to MDF or particle board), is dense, and when large solid lumber strips are glued together, the combined grain structures, glue bonds and naturally occurring differences in density in the various pieces, makes for a unique shelf material. You can visit McMaster Carr via the internet to look for yourself. Go to: WWW:MCMASTER.COM. The shelf material to look up to begin with is #4882T52. It is two and a quarter inches thick, thirty inched deep, and six feet long. The price is $271.10 (US) and will make multiple shelves for that price. I had three six foot pieces of this material shipped to me, half way across the USA for about $75.00. It is also possible that they have distributors that deliver in NZ. Their site says "worldwide," so who knows? Long distance air shipment is not always out of the question, I once had Flying Tigers ship a four hundred pound, 8 foot long item from Holland (Amsterdam) to DFW Airport (Dallas) for only about $135.00. Granted it took almost two weeks, as I bought the most economical (stand by) service, but it certainly made it affordable. Obviously, if this or a similar item is available nearby, this would be ideal. In any case, I wish you the best, and hope that some of the information I have provided will give you alternatives.

The Corian hasn't arrived yet so a report on that will have to wait, and it sounds like I should go directly for the Maple rather than try a native NZ wood - thanks Albert. BUT - I bought some 100lb strain guage nylon from the local sports shop today and suspended my source and preamp components (three of them, but each suspended separately) by merely tying the nylon to the steel frame of my rack - ie. I removed the shelf above the component and tied the nylon to the frame that had supported that shelf and then looped the nylon under the component below and tied it to the other side. I used two pieces of nylon for each component, going side to side, and used a trusted fishing knot each end, rigged up a twist arrangement to deal with fine levelling and sat back to listen. I have only listened to two CDs so far, but I am excited. Resolution is better, soundstaging is remarkable, bass is more extended and more punchy, and the sound is slightly more forward, but with oodles of depth. The sound is definitely more natural - applause sounding much more like hands clapping than rice crispies. There is none of the swimminess that the bladder products have, and there is no part of the spectrum that has any apparent resonance or suck-out effect (all shelves seem to suffer the former and bladder products suffer the latter). Before I get carried away however, while listening I could objectively say it was better than before, but I had a slightly nagging doubt whether it was in fact more musical than before. I will have to get more acquainted with the sound, because the source of that feeling may reveal itself given more time - on the other hand it may have been because I had to turn the equipment off and on, and it needs to settle again. While it was quick and cheap to do, it was very fiddly and if I decide to follow this up further I will need to come to a better arrangement - perhaps involving shelves (that Corian and/or Maple may be useful after all) - taking components in and out of the rack at present would be quite painful and probably require three or four hands. I will report on this again when I have listened some more, and played around with some variations on the theme. Dekay and Sound_decisions, thanks for the idea and recommendations - the results are very intriguing at this point.