Contrary to what the obsessed say stacking gear will have no deleterious effect. Why not just buy another rack and rearrange your room to tidy things up?
Stacking gear no more rack space does it affect sound quality
I've run out of room for my gear. Since I started streaming i have run out of rack space and began stacking. I bought some of those brass disc long ago for putting on top of components for damping and was told by seller not to use to many it will dull sound. Now I have my preamp power supply on top of preamp and dac power supply and dac on top of preamp power supply 3 high. Streamer on top of phono stage. I have another dac on top of streamer. I have 3 racks 2 shelves each between speakers, total six shelves. Do other people do this and does it affect sonics. I don't even have room to take things off to try without stacking, to much crap plugged in.
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Power supplies and electronic circuitry, of a necessity, generate RFI/EMI. That such can interfere with the performance of adjacent electronics; SHOULD be the most basic of one's understanding. Particularly, if one assumes the position of (imagines themselves) an advice giver! Digital gear is especially bad, when it comes to such emissions. I have three pieces of my equipment in a vertical cabinet. The topmost are my TacT preamp and BAT CDP digital noise generators (SS Bass amp and it's massive power supply, below). On the cabinet's top: my turntable and of course: highly sensitive cartridge and tonearm wiring. Those pieces are all separated (the shelves and top completely covered) by Texas Instruments RFI/EMI blocker sheeting. Something Michael Percy used to sell, but: I believe has since been discontinued. TI does still offer things to mollify the effects, as do a number of others. Not everyone will bother with attempting to avoid such interference and: IF the distance between pieces of equipment and wiring can be maximized, it's not as much trouble as the effects drop off, in accordance with the Inverse Square Law. https://www.prosoundtraining.com/2010/03/15/the-emi-project-part-1-introduction/ https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/electromagnetic-interference. https://www.ti.com/lit/an/snla016b/snla016b.pdf?ts=1625397787187&ref_url=https%253A%252F%252Fwww... https://www.daenotes.com/electronics/microwave-radar/inverse-square-law#sthash.Avvckp3b.dpbs That's all some of us silly musical equipment owners have the audacity to call: SCIENCE! |
ps: That TI Shield is explained on page 14, of this catalog: http://www.percyaudio.com/Catalog.pdf A side note: many of us have found that background noise is often inaudible and goes unnoticed, until it's gone and a, "blacker background" is experienced. As with everything else in this hobby: YMMV! Enjoy the journey! |
That is a place you can make a LOT or get rid of a LOT of noise. # 1 Placement. Be careful what goes where. Turntables/Tape units, valve gear (PtP), and digital gear don't always play well together. # 2 Shielding and cable routing only ADD to the noise issue or detract from it. I call it "Cable Art" I like cabling to look nice and be QUIET. Three things are left in my mind. # 1 How easy is it to access the gear for playback and cleaning? # 2 How HARD/EASY is the access to input/output panel (s) and or to SWAP gear and cabling? # 3 WHAT kind of a mess am I LOOKING at.. Looks count. BUT then I look in the mirror. Maybe not so much. :-) Gear racks use to be all the rage.. They still are in a practical application, BUT who says stereo guys are practical. 20k gear racks just touch the tip of stereo-nut-ism. I know of NO CURE! Besides treatment cost money, that could be spent on stereo STUFF.. I say feed the BEAST.. Regards |
Yes @troidelover, I quite agree. Stacking gear directly on other gear can lead to heat buildups. May also invalidate guarantees as many manufacturers advise not to stack. So, I recommend not stacking power amps particularly as either they will heat items above or you put them on top where their weight may be deleterious to items below or the stack may become unstable. |
I've not noticed any noise problem or any heat issues. I do have cables placed as organized as possible. Amp and anything with tubes are not stacked. I've just heard if to much weight is on a component it can deaden the sound. I don't know if I believe that's possible. It may be best to add some more shelves just to be safe the heat issue does concern me even though it's not noticed. |
For anyone who is concerned about EMI/RF noise radiating from a component and affecting another one, you should realize how EMI/RF radiates. Unless the component generating the noise is fully sealed, EMI/RF will 'escape'. A good product design will take into account the generated noise and will deal with it as part of the design, not as an afterthought. Half measures, DIY approaches, etc simply don't work with radiated noise
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@fiesta I have calculated MTBF as part of the design cycle in several products admittedly nothing to do with hifi. Your point is? Are you telling me that a device operating well within its specified limits will fail prematurely? Sure its performance may degrade if operating continuously at its limits but the design of the product should ensure that all devices are operating well within their operating limits, else it is bad engineering practice. |
Well at least you know what MTBF is. Does that mean if you operate something below its designed temperature span, it will NOT last longer? I have seen a lot of poor engineering in my day, one common one is REL's R8 failure in several of their subwoofers. Another is using polarized 35 vdc capacitors in a circuit that exposes them to 25vac rms repeatedly. They never made it close to operate to their designed MTBF. Many manufactures including ones that designed equipment for military use, have poor designs, yet somehow they get qualified! I'm pretty sure in todays hi-fi audio world, manufactures use inferior designs and components specifically so they will fail and must be replaced, just to generate more revenue. There are so many examples of this in products from the automotive and appliance industries. Shall I go on? If you operated a piece of electronics in a narrower temperature band than its designed operating temperature specification, it WILL last longer! |
Does that mean if you operate something below its designed temperature span, it will NOT last longer?What component are you referring to? Silicon devices or passive components? As I am sure you know the fabricating processes of silicon devices have improved tremendously and are far more reliable than some years ago. Aging of silicon is so slow that in reality is not an issue anymore, AS LONG AS the parameters (including temperature range) are obeyed. Again passive components should be chosen in a design to operate within their temperature range among other parameters, that is why you have temperature ratings. You wouldn't use a 70 degree C cap in a design where you know that the temperature will rise to say 80-90 degrees. Same goes for the voltage rating although you indicate that in certain cases that has not been adhered to. I do not know what REL use since I am not interested in their products. Many manufactures including ones that designed equipment for military use, have poor designs, yet somehow they get qualified!IMO Standards (ISO, UL and similar) have nothing to do with how good a design is, all they prove is that a consistent process is followed within the cycle of a product. You may have the crappiest of spec and still get markings as long as you produce the same old rubbish. I'm pretty sure in todays hi-fi audio world, manufactures use inferior designs and components specifically so they will fail and must be replaced, just to generate more revenue. There are so many examples of this in products from the automotive and appliance industries. You are touching an totally different subject. Really? You do appreciate the complexity of modern electronics, don't you? And are you telling me that a reputable company will KNOWINGLY design a bad product? I like to see how long the said company will last in the marketplace. There is a difference designing something to a low budget to designing and producing a bad product on purpose. If you operated a piece of electronics in a narrower temperature band than its designed operating temperature specification, it WILL last longer!Once again, I am NOT suggesting to operate components at or beyond their limits or their absolute maximum ratings but it is safe to use them under their normal operating conditions whether that is temperature, voltage, current, frequency, load, etc. Of course I am assuming a properly designed component, not something made in a garage... |
sometimes you have to do what you have to do. electronics cases are stronger than you think. at the market you wouldn't put canned goods on top of bread so a little common sense stacking components goes a long way. make sure to never cover any ventilation slots. make sure the feet of the upper components are fully resting on the surface of the supporting component. stack with heaviest / largest footprint on the bottom. with solid state gear you should be fine. i do not believe you will notice any audible issues. |
Components vibrate internally and that transfers outside the boxes - stacking them adds to each other's vibrations synergistically. Even phono stages vibrate, and because they deal with tiny signals, even small vibrations impacting them are detrimental. Plus you have the ventilation issues mentioned above. Avoid stacking to whatever degree possible. If you can't, remember what the great CE says...."A man's got to know his limitations". |