Most Equipment Rack Materials Don't Make Sense to Me

fado · « **on:** 25 Mar 2023, 01:01 am »

Most equipment racks use hardwood, high density composites or even granite for shelves. It seems like dense materials would be more likely to transmit vibrations to components instead of dampening them. Wouldn’t softwoods like redwood or cedar be better at absorbing/dampening vibrations and thus less likely to affect the component?

Tyson · « **Reply #1 on:** 25 Mar 2023, 02:32 am »

MDF is a good option, for this reason.

fado · « **Reply #2 on:** 25 Mar 2023, 02:38 am »

I do have a quatity of 1-3/4" thick close grain all heart redwood. Do you think it would be suitable?

Letitroll98 · « **Reply #3 on:** 25 Mar 2023, 09:12 am »

It appears the suspension of the individual shelves is as least as important as the shelving material, perhaps moreso. I would imagine you'd want to know the mechanical properties of the shelf in order to design a mounting system that complimented the material. Of course this is easier with manufactured shelving be it high density fiberboard, metal, stone, whatever. Then again you could go with mass and make the thing as friggin heavy as humanly possible, which makes the design much simpler.

Early B. · « **Reply #4 on:** 25 Mar 2023, 11:28 am »

Quote from: Letitroll98 on 25 Mar 2023, 09:12 am

It appears the suspension of the individual shelves is as least as important as the shelving material, perhaps moreso.

This.... along with isolating each component and the shelf material shouldn't matter so much. The good ones are sturdy, hence the dense materials compared to the inexpensive ones that use 1/2" MDF shelves.

lokie · « **Reply #5 on:** 25 Mar 2023, 12:08 pm »

Thick wood is my not so secret equipment rack material.

dpatters · « **Reply #6 on:** 25 Mar 2023, 12:34 pm »

My methodology is a hardwood rack and maple platforms on top of IsoAcoustic IsoPucks

Don P

JCarney · « **Reply #7 on:** 25 Mar 2023, 02:20 pm »

Quote from: fado on 25 Mar 2023, 02:38 am

I do have a quatity of 1-3/4" thick close grain all heart redwood. Do you think it would be suitable?

Yes, that should work beautifully. Some components still might need some more isolation, but the redwood should provide very good dampening. I used 2" thick oak shelves in a rack I built years ago and that worked very well.

Good luck,
JCarney

AllanS · « **Reply #8 on:** 25 Mar 2023, 02:37 pm »

Quote from: dpatters on 25 Mar 2023, 12:34 pm

My methodology is a hardwood rack and maple platforms on top of IsoAcoustic IsoPucks

Don P

Where did you get your rack? I'm looking for something like this.

dpatters · « **Reply #9 on:** 25 Mar 2023, 05:42 pm »

Purchased from a local hifi shop that is no longer in business. I might suggest timbernation.com for quality hardwood rack.

Don P

Mariusz Uszynski · « **Reply #10 on:** 25 Mar 2023, 06:23 pm »

There's French company called NorStone, that makes really nice audio/video funiture, hifi racks, speaker stands, etc...
They have distributors for North America, so their products can be ordered at your local store.Here's the link;

https://en.norstone-design.com/

AllanS · « **Reply #11 on:** 25 Mar 2023, 09:33 pm »

Quote from: Mariusz Uszynski on 25 Mar 2023, 06:23 pm

There's French company called NorStone, that makes really nice audio/video funiture, hifi racks, speaker stands, etc...
They have distributors for North America, so their products can be ordered at your local store.Here's the link;

https://en.norstone-design.com/

Quote from: dpatters on 25 Mar 2023, 05:42 pm

Purchased from a local hifi shop that is no longer in business. I might suggest timbernation.com for quality hardwood rack.

Don P

Thank you both.

JakeJ · « **Reply #12 on:** 27 Mar 2023, 12:29 am »

Here is an affordable solution made of solid hardwood Acacia. For the price you couldn't buy the wood from a raw slab wood seller. I don't care for the legs but one could fab up an alternative.

I plan on making a an AV stand that offers more equipment space than my current "K-Mart" solution (cheesy silver painted mdf cabinet with two glass shelves) and I will be using slab woods. Not because the manufactured stuff isn't good but because I love wood working, it's one of my hobbies.

I have not used stone for anything but speaker bases and as long as they are isolated they work well and look good. In my opinion stone just passes vibration through and must be isolated from the floor, especially if it is a suspended floor. A previous abode had a large living/dining room space with a poorly built suspended floor made of 2x6 joists on 16" centers and 1x4 stringers between the joists. Footfalls were death to my turntable there. My current place is not much better but I now have a 3" slab wood table made of Honey Locust that does a good job of minimizing vibrations. Wood is also my preference for the warm aesthetic it lends to decor.

mresseguie · « **Reply #13 on:** 27 Mar 2023, 12:50 am »

A few years ago, I had a rack made for me. The supporting frame is made from rectangular 1" x 2" steel tubes welded together. The steel vertical supporting skeleton is located to the rear, so it appears <from the front> that the shelves are floating. Each shelf is ~2" thick black walnut. Each contact point between wood and steel supports is isolated with a sheet of silicone. [Imagine a sandwich wood/silicone/steel bolted together.] All the materials and construction cost me $1500. Once it was set up, I added six Isoacoutics feet/pucks for further isolation (not included in the $1500 cost).

I'm pretty sure I posted pics and a brief explanation on AC when I set it up, but where the heck did I post it???

Photos:

The top shelf normally supports my turntable or whatever new toy I'm trying out.

Mr. Big · « **Reply #14 on:** 30 Mar 2023, 06:22 pm »

I tried a few racks over the years, from solid wood, Polycrystal, Core Audio, Solid Steel, etc. The Adona racks have given me the most balanced sound and lowest noise floor.

dpatters · « **Reply #15 on:** 30 Mar 2023, 06:33 pm »

Those are nice racks. Not much WAF for a living room installation like mine

Don P.

Delta77 · « **Reply #16 on:** 30 Mar 2023, 07:25 pm »

AudioCircle...

Lets not forget that Klaus (Odyssey) makes stereo racks to order.
They may not have any exotic materials, but would apear to be made well.

Compared to some of the other Rack companies I've seen around (Massif, TemberNation) Odyssey has a bit more customization available to the customer.
(Color of pillars, Type of Veneer, Thickness of shelves, 2 tier, 3 tier, Stepped tiers, Ect.)

The best thing about working with Klaus, is his cost to the customer, I've worked with Klaus a few times, and he always trys to give a great price. The more you spend with him, the more he will find a way to lower the price.

Don_S · « **Reply #17 on:** 30 Mar 2023, 07:53 pm »

I had a rack made to spec by a local builder. Glued and screwed 1.875" local hardwood. Price was less than Timbernation and no assembly or shipping required. I was so pleased with the results I had another one built to replace the rack in my second system. I found the builder by inquiring at the local store that sells woodworking equipment.

I am not sure what to call the joints. The uprights were dado cut and the shelves were notched on the corners so shelves ended up flush with the outside of the uprights. Anti-Ikea.

I did do the finish work myself and got a great match to my furniture and cabinets. I customize isolation under individual components.

Rob Babcock · « **Reply #18 on:** 31 Mar 2023, 07:32 am »

I do favor a rack that's as open as possible.

JLM · « **Reply #19 on:** 31 Mar 2023, 08:46 am »

The best one is an inflatable bladder with a bag of weight on top. Too many variables in mass/stiffness of floor/rack/component, footers, and frequencies to design the ideal rack (need a PhD in structural dynamics to do it right). But the rack should be between the loudspeakers and kept as low as possible to avoid disrupting the sound stage and minimize speaker cable lengths.