Does anyone have any experience with Solidsteel racks and their customer service? I wanted to order the HF-4 rack, as it's big enough to hold my McIntosh amp and I like the way it looks. That said, it's listed as temporarily out of stock on Crutchfield and an email sent to the company a few days ago has gone unanswered. Should I just move on to another company? Suggestions? (I don't want an all wood rack. I like the look of the metal legs and black shelves).
Putting aside the component racks, the Solidsteel SS-6 speaker stands look really good. The industry has been crying out for a quality set of monitor stands at an affordable price, for decades.
The normal stands you get around $200-300 are just rubbish, they all wobble even when filled up with sand or ball bearings. Then there seemed to be a big leap in price up to 3-4k for high end stands (I have Track Audio Precision 600 which are now unobtanium) and there was really nothing in-between.
If you use standmount speakers, you really do not know how good your speakers can be until you get them on quality stands.
I have a few of the original solidsteel pieces. I'm in the market again and heard somewhere that they are going through a major redesign. Maybe the reason for lack of product. There's always something better out there but for what you get the price point is hard to beat.
A bit late to post on this thread but I just installed a Solidsteel HF-3 Hyperspike rack yesterday. I did not expect an equipment rack to make much difference in SQ but it did and it was an subtle. I had a Salamander rack previously. All my equipment is light weight....digital components no amps. It looks understated and complements my gear/room and performs as advertised. The pillars are solid steel and very heavy. The shelves are over 1" MDF with multi-coats of finishes with flat black almost rubberized top coat finish. Solidsteel describes all this as part of the design.
Appreciate all the feedback! I contacted Symposium and they got back to me right away, even though they were all on vacation. Really impressive communication thus far, their racks look great, and they're from my home state, NJ (happily in CA for the past 15 years though). As long as I can get one for a good price, I'll probably order from them.
Btw, I had already checked Music Direct, but did not call them.
SolidSteel makes very good audio racks and I would highly recommend this brand. I currently own the S4-4 model and I am very pleased with this audio rack.
I have contacted SolidSteel many times via email and have always received a response from them. Sometimes it took a few days to hear back from them since they are in Italy and have a different time zone.
SolidSteel carries quite a few different series/models and it is possible that Crutchfield and Music Direct are not able to stock all of them.
Elizabeth makes a good suggestion with trying to search on line to find a place that might have them in stock. Otherwise , I would contact Music Direct , or Crutchfield after the current holiday and inquire about availability.
Most companies like Music direct ,when they place orders overseas , will order in bulk . If they are currently out of stock , you can place an order for their next shipment. It would be worth the wait if they would have to order this audio rack for you.
Did you check with Music Direct? They always answer email promptly and you can call (think toll free) and talk directly with a salesman. Plus they give free shipping on audio racks. All 3 racks I bought from them came within 3 days of ordering them.
I Mis-Read your original post, I was under the impression you tried phoning them, my bad.
@stereo5 I’m not going to call Italy. This is why we invented email. I did my part and reached out. I have little patience for companies with bad service. They were my first choice but I’m not going to order if I have no idea when a rack will actually arrive.
I have three Solid Steel audio racks to fit my McIntosh equipment. I own a S2-5, S3-3 and S3-5 audio racks. They are all rock solid and offer plenty of room for Mac gear. My Turntable is on top of a 3-5 rack and no longer has acoustic feedback.
Music Direct sells all the variations and is where I purchased them from. Did you call Solid Steel in Italy? Highly recommended.
@bdp24 that's a great data point. I'm actually looking for a rack mainly because my $90 Monoprice rack not because I care how it looks (it's pretty unoffensive) but because the 110lbs McIntosh MC452 amp is pretty precarious on it. I fear it'll collapse any day.
I have the old Model 44 Solid Steel rack, which was later renamed the 5.4. Those were the Solid Steel racks, long-ago discontinued, with shelves that each sat on three aluminum cones, the tips of which sat in little wells in the cross-members of the rack's aluminum frame. Each shelf is 3/4" MDF covered with a thin veneer of Formica. MDF is out of fashion, but I guess the stock shelves could be replaced with maple ones.
The metal frame is nicely made and finished, and the four corner pillars can be filled with sand/lead shot/kitty litter. Each pillar has a nicely-machined stainless steel threaded spike in it's bottom for leveling. The only problem I have had with the rack is that the top shelf sits on three cones, the one in the back in the shelf's center. My turntable, which weighs 60 lbs. and has four feet, was heavy enough to bend the back side of the shelf at it's two corners---since it was supported only in it's center, all the way down onto the top of the pillars. I removed the three cones and placed the MDF shelf directly onto the four corner pillars. Cones are reputed to provide isolation, but I don't buy it.
the Symposium racks look nice. I wish I could get the Osiris. Especially is copper they look awesome. I’ve sent them an email as their ordering seems complicated and there aren’t too many online sources.
My only point was that I had a SolidSteel Rack a while back. At the time it seemed like a decent rack. But in hindsight I was not all that impressed. That was a few years ago. There new line might be great, I don't know.
Look at the Symposium Acoustics Foundation rack looks and sounds much better than Solidsteel. Symposium is a wonderful co with great customer service as well.Good luck!!
@lostbears I'm not sure how that translates to the current Solidsteel lineup. They do offer a ceramic shelf option. As for Zoethecus - I'm glad you like yours, but I have all SS devices, I don't even think Zoethecus is still in business? and either way I have about -42 interesting in the aesthetic of their racks.
That said, I'll give Solidsteel another day and then move on to something else. It's depressing how bad customer service these days. I just ran a few errands and stopped a car dealer in hopes to check out a future purchase. There were maybe a dozen people wandering around and the only 2 salesman I could see were helping other people. No one offered to help any of the people there who were clearly looking for help. Most I saw ended up just leaving.
As for Solidsteel - how hard is to reply to simple emails from potential customers? It's 2018. Email should be treated almost no different than a phone call.
I have 2 solid steel 5 racks. Must be 10yrs old now. Filled the legs/shelf supports with sand. One of them supports my turntable which sits on 80lbs of layered granite. I think they are excellent stands although as said shelves could be improved.
I believe I had the 5 series. This was a few years ago. Each shelf sat on special cones. But he shelves were nothing special. One of the things that I think makes the Zoethecus racks really good are the Z Slab shelves. They are a composite of many layers including ones to shield from RF. The shelve on a lot of racks are just covered MDF.
I would not choose a rack just on looks. Vibration control and isolation is also important.
hi @lostbears I've seen you post that many times here on Audiogon, but that's the only signal I have at the moment (other than the unanswered email). Which rack specifically did you get from them?
As for other options, I really haven't found many that fit my aesthetic. The Zoethecus racks don't really appeal much to me.
I had a SolidSteel rack for awhile. I bought it as a demo from Music Direct. I would highly recommend them. I replaced my SolidSteel rack with a
Zoethecus rack. I have all tube electronics and the difference was huge. Especially with the amp. I was not that impressed with the SolidSteel racks. They really are not much better than the Target rack I had in the late 1980s.
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