$659 each vs $9, though more is better
Ebay has Granite placemats and coasters
Be patient and you can pick up some cheap 2nd hand.
I wonder if a house brick or similar, with the equipment protected of course would do just as well - for the living in a building site look ![]()
I have an all black system so granite fits in well and spreads the load - which may also be relevant
My friend Jason who runs The Cable Company once told me that granite is actually not good to use in audio. He told me plain maple is better.
I ended up with a very complicated but quite worthy Artesania Rack system. It sounds very good.
Better than “nice”, then…
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I’ll have to check out their wares.
I have also read (more than a few times) that glass was not great/preferable under sensitive audio components. I see that Artesania does have a line of products with glass shelves. But they also offer other materials. ![]()
Apropos of nothing (?) – for those that might be new to dedicated audio component stands, I recommend that you stay away from designs that only incorporate three legs/posts.
While that might be optimum for some physical reasons, that one leg smack-dab in the middle of the rack on the back side interferes with access to component connections with all but the shallowest kit boxes and most flexible connectors.
FWIW,
SEE
FWIW, here’s a nuanced view of granite’s potential use in audio racks. Adona laminates a thin slice of unique granite with a wood layer for their platforms, something I’ve not seen done elsewhere. I’ve not had occasion to hear their products personally but their design philosophy makes sense.
Have delved into this matter intensively, including comparing the same performances in their Octave Records’ 45-rpm vinyl and dsd versions (with various dacs). The vinyl here was produced from the dsd master.
Although vinyl has a buttery warmth, I have concluded that the preponderance of the difference is equipment, particularly cartridge vs dac.
Eg, my 20-year-old cartridge produces richer sound, more depth, and wider stage than the lastest crop of pro Sabre dac chips and the new flagship AKM AK4499EX dac chip (which is richer etc than pro Sabres.)
Those most credible to know after ‘extreme’ investments in time, content, access, and money recommend that DACs for $20,000+ come close and ultimately match vinyl.
Even with his incredible system, though, @aangen says that vinyl is superior to digital. “Vinyl is King, Silver Discs second, then Streaming.”
He recently shared his system with us…TechDAS Air Force 3 Premium with My Sonic Lab Signature Platinum Cartridge. Output to Gryphon Legato Phono Stage. Stealth Audio Sakra V17 LE balanced cables to BACCH-SP adio. Output BACCH-SP adio DAC to Gryphon Commander Preamp via Stealth V17 LE balanced interconnects. Stealth V17 LE balanced interconnects between Gryphon Commander Preamp and Gryphon Apex Stereo Amp. Stealth Dream 18 Speaker cables, two pair to each Vivid G1 Spirit Speakers. For digital the difference is a Grimm MU1 as Roon Server and endpoint into a top of the line Stealth SPDIF cable to the BACCH-SP.
Stratosphere components to be sure.
Undoubtedly, good digital equipment can exceed less than good vinyl equipment. Notably, the ‘best’ cartridges are more expensive than the DSD MkII and the mountaintop turntables are beyond reach or rationality for most as are the top dacs (the word is that the DSD MkII is a good value, performance surpassing its price and is parity or better than turntable setups of many forum members).
As for the LPI product, my placing a similar and heavy stainless-steel platter weight on my dac dampened the airiness if anything. However, it does make sense to reduce vibrations of cases and what’s inside of them.
Pushing the envelope, assumptions, dogma, and orthodoxy is a good thing.
Exercise has never let me down…other than producing a few aches and pains. So I swim in the pool as well as in audio…and in the case of audio, significant spending.
It is not an objective determination, merely a subjective preference of what one likes.
Of course, outside of equipment design and quality control we don’t listen to oscilloscopes
My point is much broader than this.
No matter how much one spends neither vinyl nor digital will be “best.”
Digital betters vinyl; Vinyl beats digital. It is mere preference.
So is mine
I recently finally went to an Adona rack solution, after having had various wood based racks (including maple) over the years. The improvement was obvious. While not in the uber-rack territory, my own experience tells me Paul at Adona knows just what he’s doing. The solution is all good, doing nothing bad to the sound. Quieter, no detriment to the music, no apparent sonic “signature”. I’m sure there’s better (or maybe just different?), but I don’t really care
at this point. The Adona rack has taken any further rack considerations out of the picture for me.
Maybe so, but George Winston was the best gal-darn, new-agey, piano-playing artist ever.
And that’s a fact!
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My rack, I have two of these:
There are points that go into cups in each foot, the “shelves” are connected to the rods that are floating on points into cups into delrin cylinders at all four corners. The “feet”, four per piece of audio gear, have cups inside and they use points to connect to the shelves. The circular discs on top of the cups come in three types of materials. I use the top rated birch discs. These are what the audio gear sits on. The cups are positioned to make contact with the base plate of the audio gear, avoiding contact with the audio gear feet.
Vibration has no chance with this setup. It’s a bit of a chore to use all of the possible ways to adjust for level. But once it is done it is good to go. The shelves can easily be raised or lowered infinitely. At one time I had four shelves in one rack and three in another.
On top of each rack I have turntable platforms, one for my turntable and one for my Gryphon Ethos:
The one in this picture is designed for a specific TechDAS turntable. Mine are flat topped. The shelf is a very heavy piece of some sort of vibration resistant material. The four corner stands end in points into mating cups in the top of the four main rack upright posts.
For situations where a shelf would be preferred, say four small power supplies and a picture of mom, many types of shelves are offered made from a range of materials.
Thankfully, it is all really expensive.
I did say I guessed there was better, Al. ![]()
I don’t really know my friend, in my opinion Adona is a fine choice as well. And whatever @minnesotafats chose is fantastic looking and performing as well. His is just stupidly expensive.
Fortunately when you order one like his there is a 67 month waiting period.
Of course
He does have a nice looking rack! No, wait, that didn’t come out right.
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I use Salamander stuff as well. Yummy!
Those racks are some serious eye candy. How are you able to load those megaton Gryphon pieces into those spots?




