vibration and resonance

If you have a dedicated listening room than get rid of the rack. I never liked them always felt that they are nothing more than an antenna for vibration and no matter how there built always seem flimsy. I would if you have an Ikea in your area buy lack tables for each piece of gear their light,ridget,and not bad looking in numorous colors.

I don't think cork is the answer. There are applications in which I'm sure it will help.

If you're having the problems you describe, I'm sure a lot of that is getting back to your gear. Treating symptoms is not the best solution. You won't like the answer, but you need to get a solid foundation under your gear, or you're never going to hear it's full potential.

The rack needs to go, but don't substitute one problem for another. Get a rack that's going to do the job. Adona racks, available here are a reasonable starting point. There are many better racks, but the price goes up with quality. It's just like buying equipment. Buy the best you can afford.

I don't know what Schipo is talking about in his post, the last sentence is a mystery to me, but I doubt that you're gonna find what you really need at Ikea. I could be wrong though...

There are a lot of threads about racks and stands. Do some homework before buying anything, and if possible talk to people who have what you find interesting...

Good luck...

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I spent some time last year trying to figure out what to buy to replace my fairly inexpensive target rack... here's two recommendations of very sturdy/well build racks:

SolidSteel 6.4 (four shelves) retails around $ 1200.

Soundanchor 4 space (four shelves) around $ 1000.

I ended up going with two of the SolidSteel 5.4 (around 600) but wish now I'd gone all the way with the 6.4

Ikea in your area buy lack tables. there based on the torolyt stands that were built for linns during the late part of the 80s the principle was light yet very ridged structures are better at reducing unwanted vibration then massive solid struture. I think many have gotten away from this and have gone back to massive blocks of marble and slate are better controlling vibration?

Drtalsma:

Can you describe the actual rack you built. This might be useful for providing better comments. It's not that clear from your threads what finally you built.

If you remain with your current rack DynaMat should improve it significantly. MUCH better than cork. However, once applied consider DynaMat a permanent tweak since it is not easily removed.

Call Steve @ Herbie's Audio and talk with him. I'm sure he will have some worthwhile suggestions.

Both dynamat and cork stink.

Don't throw good money after bad. If your rack "rings", I suggest you go with something by the established manufacturers. I have a Salamander Archetype with cherry shelves that I am happy with, but would also look at Cambre, HRS and a few others if I was in the market.

I am using a converted 18th century wardrobe where I have been able to make a lot of simple but positive steps towards controlling vibration and cleaning up the sound, even for a very sensitive turntable. Like Drtalsma says, if you give us the particulars of your design, we might can help.

Taking another angle, the Brits love HiFi and go on about racks. Pick up a copy of the December issue of WhatHiFi and look at the rack section and ratings lists at the back of the magazine. If the vibration situation with your most likely handsome home built rack is unreconcilable, then you can get some ideas from there. Most HiFi boutiques in the States and elsewhere know about and can order offshore products, and some may even stock high quality and decent looking "budget" rack systems.

I too would like to know what you built in order to provide advice.
For Schipo, what are the dimensions between the legs of the lack tables? Could they be stacked? Maybe place a piece of granite on top? Might try these myself. At the cost there's little to lose.

Thanks for the advice. My rack is 24"x24" shelves 4 high with 5/8's threaded rod holding it together. The shelves are 3/4 plywood. It is spiked to the floor and I am seriously considering putting a granite slab on top. I did get a maple shade 2" thick platform for Christmas to place my player on which brings up another question about footers(soft or spikes).

Do you have the rubber washers between the nuts & the shelves like the salamander racks do?

I built a rack from slate and threaded rods. My rack is very heavy but will wobble if the nuts aren't tight. I really crank them to make it rigid.

What floor kind you have in your room?