Have your say & ask the experts

Let me start off by saying WHF learned me a lot about hifi, and proven my assumptions wrong more than once.

That said, looking at reviews of equipment racks I'm baffled to see all kinds of sonic qualities being attributed to racks. I'm not talking about speaker stands here, but racks for players and amps. Example taken from the review of the WHF award winning Hifi Racks Podium:

"Once placed on the Podium, Cyrus’s Award-winning CD 8 SE CD player is fed the Ramsey Lewis Trio’s energetic Wade In The Water.
It serves up a muscular sound that times well, and is able to handle production dynamics and subtleties with ease.
This is a fast-paced rack that will give your kit a full sound along with a wide soundstage. Detailing here is also more than capable, and right on the nose for the money.
Tonally, the Podium doesn’t disappoint the listener either, with a propulsive, firm bass, smooth and fluid midrange and well-integrated treble."

Apparently, placing a Cyrus cd player in the rack somehow causes the signal that the player sends out to improve. How is that possible? The only thing I can think of is that this topend cd player vibrates and that this vibration has an appreciable effect on the signal that the cd player sends out (seems unlikely). Even if the rack could improve the signal by countering vibration, it sounds unlikely that it's possible to distinguish detailed sonic qualities from a rack, the way it's done in the review mentioned above. 

Another question pops to mind: Does the equipment rack only exhibit these sound enhancing qualities with components that have any chance of inducing vibration (like cd players) or does the rack also improve the sound of components that have no moving parts (amp, DAC)? If so how?

I'm eager to learn something new once more.

Thanks for your reply Andrew. I'm a bit sceptical though. Are you saying that it's conceivable that said Cyrus deck in any old rack (or dare I say it: on a plain old bookshelf) vibrates so badly that it affects the signal appreciably?

(Edit: some typo's)

I bought a Target rack with a metal fame and wooden shelves. I bought it because I was feeling flush and I wanted a nice piece of furniture to put my kit on. Before my CD, amp, Cassette deck had been piled ontop of each other. I did not kown about the potential for a change in sound, but there was. Clarity and bass depth improved. I thougth at the time I had wired up my system incorrectly before. But it was the rack.

The reasons are vibration, particularly for CDPs and turntables, potential EMI between equipment close together and better ventilation. My amp further benefited from wooden blocks placed under it to further aid ventilation.

Different racks, particularly different shelves (wood/glass) will have different isolation properties. So, it seems reasonable, particularly if your are a professional reviewer who listens to loads of music in the same environment, so only the rack chamges, that there will be a difference.

I personally think that the language used when reviewing products in general, not just racks tends to suggest a bigger difference than say you or I would initially find.

Ah yes, EMI, didn't think of that.

I think your statement on the language used in reviews is spot on here. It's not that I think a rack makes absolutely no difference at all, it's more that the very detailed descriptions of the sonic properties of racks in some reviews, like the Podium one, seem almost unbelievable.

Oh and thanks for your experience, I'll take equipment racks more seriously because of it (eventhough I'm still a bit sceptical about the large improvements that some reviews attribute to them).

KevinOK:

Ah yes, EMI, didn't think of that.

I think your statement on the language used in reviews is spot on here. It's not that I think a rack makes absolutely no difference at all, it's more that the very detailed descriptions of the sonic properties of racks in some reviews, like the Podium one, seem almost unbelievable.

Oh and thanks for your experience, I'll take equipment racks more seriously because of it (eventhough I'm still a bit sceptical about the large improvements that some reviews attribute to them).

Believe. When I bought my first hifiracks rack I put on a CD that I'd had for 20 years and sat open-mouthed listening to it as it was so much clearer, the bassline was much more prominent, more detail etc etc

Just ordered another (Podium this time) as it happens as I didn't want to lose what I'd gained. 

Ha, coincidence has it that my equipment is on an Ikea Expedit. I think it's the same crappy material as the Lack. The individual boards weigh next to nothing.

Your replies have certainly rid me of some of my initial scepticism. In a rainy weekend I might put my equipment on the floor and see if makes any noticable difference to the sound (floor is thick oak boards). 

Clare Newsome:

If you're referring to the fabled Ikea 'Lack', then it's not built as it once was - as you dismissively acknowledged in this recent thread.

not dismissively at all clare nor acknowledged it just seemed a pointless argument as i clearly indicated

in fact my old lack and newer corras are both built of the lightweight material the other poster said was not good and its the lightweight material that apparently makes the lack and its successor the corras so good 

have your experts tested the corras and lack table as equipment stands

might be a good idea then noone would dismiss them at all 

Kevin, you now sound one of us, putting your kit on the floor to see if it sounds better! Bear in mind that your floor needs to be level or else there will be vibration caused by micro rocking and dont pile the components one on top of another.

The original Lacks tables were modified by cutting the legs and fitting spikes to them. Apparently the legs now will not cut cleanly and just come apart.

one off:

Clare Newsome:

If you're referring to the fabled Ikea 'Lack', then it's not built as it once was - as you dismissively acknowledged in this recent thread.

not dismissively at all clare nor acknowledged it just seemed a pointless argument as i clearly indicated

in
fact my old lack and newer corras are both built of the lightweight
material the other poster said was not good and its the lightweight
material that apparently makes the lack and its successor the corras so
good 

have your experts tested the corras and lack table as equipment stands

might be a good idea then noone would dismiss them at all 

Back in the day we did in a reader feature (rather than formal review), but not recently - could/should be worth another look, especially if the names/materials have changed.

one off:

Clare Newsome:

If you're referring to the fabled Ikea 'Lack', then it's not built as it once was - as you dismissively acknowledged in this recent thread.

not dismissively at all clare nor acknowledged it just seemed a pointless argument as i clearly indicated

in fact my old lack and newer corras are both built of the lightweight material the other poster said was not good and its the lightweight material that apparently makes the lack and its successor the corras so good 

have your experts tested the corras and lack table as equipment stands

might be a good idea then noone would dismiss them at all 

Wait. You're saying I might have the best possible equipment rack already? JoelSim, want to trade your new Podium for my Expedit? It has the transparant plastic boxes too, for extra bass weight and a wider soundstage.

KevinOK:

one off:

Clare Newsome:

If you're referring to the fabled Ikea 'Lack', then it's not built as it once was - as you dismissively acknowledged in this recent thread.

not dismissively at all clare nor acknowledged it just seemed a pointless argument as i clearly indicated

in fact my old lack and newer corras are both built of the lightweight material the other poster said was not good and its the lightweight material that apparently makes the lack and its successor the corras so good 

have your experts tested the corras and lack table as equipment stands

might be a good idea then noone would dismiss them at all 

Wait. You're saying I might have the best possible equipment rack already? JoelSim, want to trade your new Podium for my Expedit? It has the transparant plastic boxes too, for extra bass weight and a wider soundstage.

Funnily enough...

JoelSim:

KevinOK:

Ah yes, EMI, didn't think of that.

I think your statement on the language used in reviews is spot on here. It's not that I think a rack makes absolutely no difference at all, it's more that the very detailed descriptions of the sonic properties of racks in some reviews, like the Podium one, seem almost unbelievable.

Oh and thanks for your experience, I'll take equipment racks more seriously because of it (eventhough I'm still a bit sceptical about the large improvements that some reviews attribute to them).

Believe. When I bought my first hifiracks rack I put on a CD that I'd had for 20 years and sat open-mouthed listening to it as it was so much clearer, the bassline was much more prominent, more detail etc etc

Just ordered another (Podium this time) as it happens as I didn't want to lose what I'd gained.