What are your favorite upright 4-5 shelve audio rack recommendations?
What do you guys like for racks in the $1000-$2000 range? I see some nice Adona stuff for $2600, also looked at Maple audio. Looking for an upright with 4-5 shelves with a turntable taking up the top shelf.
the Mapleshades are very heavy, solid, pieces with the threaded steel legs x 4. Can be painted certain colors if desired. very adjustable to adjust to dips in the floor while adjusting each shelf to horizontal using a level.
I had the Vulcan rack and it was great for the money BUT the shelves won’t hold more than 50-60 pounds and with the big curve of the front of the shelves, some of my components wouldn’t fit without hanging over the front and back. I replaced it with a SolidSteel rack which was a lot more money, but each shelve will hold 90+ pounds and the shelves are much deeper. Also with this new rack, the acoustic feedback I was getting with my VPI Prime is gone.
I have a 5-shelf open-frame Salamander. I can't asses the WAF factor: even I don't find it very attractive. I 'chose' it because it was $10 at a thrift shop, without a scratch: sonic properties had little to do with it. All shelves are height-adjustable, a big feature for me — fixed-shelves often leave a lot of wasted space. The wood itself is very nice solid cherry, in a blockboard (butcher-block) form, and nicely finished — it blends with my refinished floorboards in a semi-disappearing act. Top shelf is oversized and can probably accommodate any size of turntable, even with multiple 12" arms, outboard motors and power supplies. They make a feeble attempt at decoupling by using thick rubber washers, but their benefit is nonexistent. Sturdiness is rock-solid even with two 60-pound monoblocs. Would I pay their online-direct price (about $700 + shipping)? Not a chance. I've moved away from racks over the years, preferring 'normal' furniture that makes the gear less obtrusive in my living room — a dedicated music room would be a different story,,,
You might consider going with the Pangea Vulcan rack from Audio Advisor, and saving some money. I haven't compared it to higher end racks, but it is very well built, and a great value for the money.
I went with Mapleshade audio sampson 5 shelf rack with 4inch TT platform. What a beautiful piece of furniture for my equipment. I added a picture to my profile as I couldn't figure out how to add here. I know there are high end racks that do this and that for isolation, but for my needs this will be the last rack I will use.
Dhpeck, I too have an Arcici and absolutely love it. Harry Pearson ( late, of The Absolute Sound ) also had one. In addition, I also have a four shelf Gregitek which I purchased on Audiogon for $2400. It was a demo in mint condition. It is also a nice rack.
plays above it's price in build quality, look and performance in a solid rack. owned it now for 6 years in the context of a cost-no-object system. and the pieces are modular so it can be expanded easily. you could buy longer legs to add shelves, or cut the legs to shorten it.
if i wanted a decoupling rack i would absolutely buy the Artesania; but it's more in the $6-$13k price range.
for my needs i would rather use footers and active isolation for each shelf and piece of gear.
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