Quadraspire Sunoko Vent-T help

Hi everyone,

Hoping you can help me. I recently purchased a Quadraspire Sunoko Vent-T two-shelf rack for my components. I had been using a bargain Sanus stand with hollow metal columns, two MDF shelves and some Golden Sound Cones I glued to the bottom of the posts as makeshift footers.

Well, the Sunoko has been nothing but disappointment so far, both in terms of stability and sound quality. There are circular metal decouplers that are set into the shelves and extend perhaps a 1/4" above and below the wooden shelves. The posts have a screw on the end that slips through the decoupler and screws into the female end of the post above. This makes for a very, very small metal on metal contact point that provides little to no stability. The posts can rotate 360 degrees even after being tightened up (this may be by design). But the rack easily shakes side to side, front to back, and even twists with even the slightest pressure. Worst of all is that the impact on the sound has been extremely negative - thin, sibilant highs, an overall lack of warmth, and a lack of bass.

I know that many like this particular rack, so I'm trying to figure out how to make it work. Perhaps I should pull the decouplers out of the shelves and tighten down right on the wood? Put rubber washers over the metal to allow better tightening? Just use it as an expensive plant stand?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Scott