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suggestions on affordable equipment stands.

i have a basic stereo system with lots of tweaks because this is part of the hobby i like. my goal is to get the best sound quality for budget prices so i use emotiva amp, pre and cd. music fidelity vdac. magnepan mmg speakers with dual deq velodyne subs. i have improved the performance of my system with isonodes , room tune and bass traps room treatments, furman and ps audio ac improvements and all morrow audio cables. today i put all my gear on a slab of concrete resting on tennis balls and some thick wood butcher blocks between each component. the system was on a glass shelved metal rack from walmart. isolated with vibrapods but still from walmart. the sound quality is improved and i suspect resonance from the metal and glass were a problem. any opinions on this or suggestions about a inexpensive rack that would help ? thanks john
hotmailjbc
schipo
1,267 posts
 
why not rest each component on an ikea lack table with the tennis balls and concrete slab. The tables are cheap enough about 7bucks each. There made of composite wood. There very light weight yet sturdy and will support each piece of gear.I am guessing you have a seperate listening room from the description of various room acoustic materials..good luck.
hotmailjbc OP
571 posts
 
thanks. i like the price and have ikea chairs already. i,ve read that maple wood is a low resonance material. most of the audiophile cabinets i see are really expensive so i like to try and figure these things out thru experimenting.
elizabeth
6,726 posts
 
I found some 'cheap' racks at a local TV megastore. I bought them and filled all the square section metal tubing with oven dried playbox sand, then sealed the openings with 50 year outdoor urethane sealant. They are pretty nice for $100. stands. I have a tall one for the electronica, and a low one for the plasma and Video stuff, and another low one for my two turntables. The shelves are 'wedged' with materials to stiffen the spaces from below each (glass) shelf The shelves are held in slots with dampening material I added.
I try to dampen more than put on tiptoes. So I use a big pile of Chemical rubber bottle stoppers (size 10) and some cut up chemical mats.
I also have antistatic foam in there too.
So I would suggest if you can, add sand or some other dampening stuff into the tubing. Find cheap substitutes for other expensive 'audiophile' products for spikes, tuning dots, dampening.
Like I have a $5 shelf from a floor sample of an exotic Brazilian wood, very much like teak, 3/4 " thick flooring stuck on a 1/4 " base under my Kuzma TT with the base on concrete patio blocks (on thin hard rubber pads) for mass on the glass rack top.
buconero117
2,311 posts
 
Ikea stuff is a great value and if you add half inch granite tops to stiffen the structure you get a great combo. The half inch stuff is generally available for about $40 a square foot. I've seen quarter inch going for about $25 a square foot. Often you can get bargains on scrape granite.
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