Solidsteel racks any good

The Solidsteel racks are excellent. They provide isolation and are well engineered. I'm using 4 of their racks for my system at the moment. The aluminum points that the platforms are seated work very well. I filled mine with sand before using. I think they are a good value. I use my racks with an all Levinson system, a friend uses his with a Krell/Gryphon system. Talk to Bes at Music Direct he'll set you up.

Yes the SSW stuff is very good. I use an H5. Noticed my system picked up a certain liveliness. Stuff looks great is is well made. Filling it may or may not make it sound better. I did not and it sounds great. If you are looking to take the edge off you may want to fill it.

I used to have one. It was a nice rack, but I did not like the fact that the shelves were not adjustable and equipment would not always fit in the space between the shelves. I like the Mapleshade type racks that have adjustable shelves.

Sgr and Rello: thanks for the info. I think they're the way I'll go. It seems there's not really anyone who makes a 60" three shelf rack that's got good isolation for a reason. Well, billy bags does custom stuff, but I think the cost would be prohibitive, no? Maybe I'll email them and see.

Slowhand: I know what you mean about the shelf size thing. I'm trying to buy something as big as possible, that way if I upgrade I won't be needing to get new racks every time. I like the mapleshade stuff, but hear very differing opinions on the sonic attributes of the stands, and maple in general as a support.

The other option is to get something like the user Artg has (a wooden credenza from Room and Board) and then invest in some isolation platforms from Symposium. Cost difference aside, I'm wondering if this would work as well as say a solid steel rack. Anyone have an idea?

Thanks a ton!

Matt

I just placed an order for a SolidSteel 5.5 rack with Music Direct. Bes said it's on its way to US and should be here soon(they didn't have it in stock). I found no reviews on these, but they look solid and I like the design. We'll see when I get it. By the way, what do you fill with sand and what's the change in sound? Is it the cones that get filled or the posts? thanks.

Well I've decided to go with the H-6. I'm convinced enough that these will have some sonic advantages in comparision to the offerings fro BDI or Salamander. The Billy Bags I want is 2X the price, but would take up a lot more space, and wouldn't integrate into the interior as well. I'm going to use the extra money to buy some Symposium accessories (first for speaker, then for components). I'll let you know how it works out, but the system won't be set up until January, so check back later if you're interested

I've owned a silver SolidSteel 6.4 since the beginning of the year and like it a lot. I had initially considered filling them with lead/steel shot or powdered whale snots because the metal frame "pings" when rapped, but I haven't noticed any ringing or resonance at all during playback. Good stuff!

I think I'm going to go ahead and fill the rack with sand, because i'll never do it later if I already have all the gear on it, plus, I had favorable results doing that with an old Lovan Rack, but that one def. needed it.

Mimberman, you might want to contact SOlidSteel about that. I'm wondering if leaving them unfilled and UN-Solid was intentional and part of their design. On the other hand, shipping a sand filled audio rack would cost a mint.

Good luck!

Heh, yeah....kind of funny that SolidSteel racks are made with tubular steel, no? I'll contact them first though, because I"m sure they'll have an opinion. I don't have wall to wall carpeting like you do though, so I'm thinking sand may be the way to go, in addition to cups for the feet of the stand.

I'm another happy solidsteel owner. Have an H6 and three or so H6 Partners. Very well built. It may be too late, but I got mine from Savant at a pretty substantial discount. Shipping times are really slow (something about waiting for a shipping container from italy to fill up), but the price break was worth it.

Edesilva, I looked on their site for SolidSteel and the 5.5 that I bought at musicdirect is $50 more at Savant. Do I need to call them to get the discount?

The far right is MSRP; if there is a _____.__ next to it, I think it means they can't show their price. Give 'em a call or shoot 'em an email...