I went with a black walnut rack from Massif Audio (who is located in Waterloo, Ontario, and ships to the US). While I like maple, it’s hard to beat the look of black walnut. I like it way better than the Quadraspire and the Solid Tech racks I’ve previously owned.
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Interesting. Thanks! Didn’t know about Massif. And it turns out that my local buddy hifi guy here in the hinterlands in Santa Fe NM is one of the few US distributors.
So I wrote to Maple Shade and here’s what they said:
Well, the literal answer to your question is that we guarantee air-dried maple will not transform into Wyatt Earp over time.
Seriously though - what you’ve heard is a somewhat ignorant, gross oversimplification of the behavior of solid wood products.
All wood, whether kiln dried or air dried, will adjust (i.e take-in or release moisture) based on the humidity of the climate where it
resides.
So long as your home is climate controlled, the outdoor humidity is of little importance.
Since wood is an organic product, there is always a possibility of an individual piece warping or cracking or otherwise malforming.
This is why we cure our air-dried platforms and SAMSON shelves for 6-12 months after they are manufactured, to help ensure the wood does not malform after it is shipped to customers.
Additionally, each SAMSON shelf is literally locked into place in all four corners as an inherent part of our rack design which also greatly inhibits “Earping”.
Wow, that’s lovely wood and very chunky design, really like it.
Me too! I almost hate putting equipment on it.
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Timber Nation, you design it and they will build it. The staff is great and will even send you pictures while they are building it. Mine is solid Tiger maple shelves in black stain with several clear coats mirror finish. Posts are Maple with black stain.
Was $2800 but well worth it and will last a life time.
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Beautiful…!
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So I think I’ll do the Maple Shade or Massif…
Also, I forgot to mention and do not see it mentioned above- all my gear on the Maple is also on IsoAcoustics. One more step in making sure my amp and DAC are not Dancing with Myself…
Best of luck and enjoy the tunes…
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Yes I plan to as well…