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Which Rack Is Better?

I am in the market for an audio rack, and I've narrowed my options down to three: in order of increasing cost, the Atlantis Reference, the Polycrystal, and the Zoethecus Reference. As I see it, the advantages of each are as follows:

1) The Atlantis Reference is very heavy and sturdy, it has a larger space at the bottom for a power amp, all shelves are 3/4-inch MDF and are spike-decoupled, and the price is only around $500.

2) The Polycrystal has anti-resonant shelves, and has adjustable spacing between shelves. It has been very well reviewed, and costs a lot more money.

3) The Zoethecus has the anti-resonant z-slab shelves, is superior aesthetically to the Polycrystal, and is even more expensive. I would need to special-order it, unless I could find one with a larger space at the bottom on Audiogon.

I believe that my system (Denon 1650AR/Bryston BP-20/Aragon 8008BB/Thiel 3.6/Pro-SilwayII/Oval9) is good enough that I would hear any significant sonic differences between the racks.

Which of these racks would be the better choice, i.e., would there be enough of an improvement over the Atlantis Reference to justify the higher cost?

Thanks for your input.

Alan
a_hayman
paulwp
585 posts
 
For a turntable or cdp, I think the ideal stand is a 1000 pound concrete post sunk into the ground. When you try to place either on a suspended floor, I dont know what's the right thing to do. I think as heavy and massive as possible to try to keep the floor from reverberating through the stand, but I don't know. I'm ok with what I have. Anyway (pay attention Kelly and whoever that was you were arguing with), I am ignorant of the sound of the Synergy stand on a hardwood floor. So, don't flame me if it doesn't work.
dekay's avatar
dekay
2,959 posts
 
Drubin: John at Studio Tech said that they had the PA-06 in stock and I think he said that they will be making them again.
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drubin
3,240 posts
 
They had some left in rosewood, which I do not want. None in black, and they didn't say anything to me about making them again. I did not speak directly with John, and this was before I read your last post, dekay.

The current PS line does not have spiked support for the individual shelves. This is key if you want to use Neuance. The modular offerings from Standesign and Apollo (UK, via May Audi in N.A.) fit the ticket, however.
fpeel
446 posts
 
Not familiar with the PS line, but have you thought of refinishing one of the rosewood racks in black? Might be worth the effort if it is a good deal and a nice rack.
dekay's avatar
dekay
2,959 posts
 
Drubin: I mentioned to John @ Studio Tech that the upturned spike design feature (for all of the shelves) is what most of us are now looking for in equipment racks as it opens up the possibilities quite a bit. Perhaps if you reiterate this to him he will consider coming out with a "new" design using this feature. I also pointed that one piece frames are also desirable, but of course are more expensive to warehouse and ship. I doubt if I would have had a problem though with the stock rack, though, as is was very solid, but decided to follow the Neuance formula and welded it into a one piece unit. I also mentioned to John that the hook on the PA series was the "price" as it had the features (upturned adjustable spikes for each shelf) that I needed at way less that what the competition charged for the one piece units equipped with such.
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