Looks interesting but somewhat impractical! I admire the chaps who design this stuff and their striving for 'perfection', so all power to them but what slightly concerns me is that the continual development of these supports means that owners are constantly upgrading and changing things, and spending more and more money, in order to have the 'latest' version...
It's the same with the leads and mains blocks.
It's not a mindset that I'm personally comfortable with. I like using a rack, or mains set-up, that's 'sorted' (as far as I'm concerned) from the outset, then one can simply plonk kit on, sit back and enjoy music, and forget all about such concerns!
I do rate QS reference acrylic stuff, though.
Marco.
Main System
Turntable: Heavily-modified Technics SL-1210MK5G [Mike New bearing/ETP platter/Paul Hynes SR7 PSU & reg mods]. Funk Firm APM Achromat/Nagaoka GL-601 Crystal Record Weight/Isonoe feet & boots/Ortofon RS-212D/Denon DL-103GL in Denon PCL-300 headshell with Funk Firm Houdini/Kondo SL-115 pure-silver cartridge leads.
Paul Hynes MC head amp/SR5 PSU. Also modded Lentek head amp/Denon AU-310 SUT.
Other Cartridges: Nippon Columbia (NOS 1987) Denon DL-103. USA-made Shure SC35C with NOS stylus. Goldring G820 with NOS stylus. Shure M55E with NOS stylus.
CD Player: Audiocom-modified Sony X-777ES/DAS-R1 DAC.
Tape Deck: Tandberg TCD 310, fully restored and recalibrated as new, by RDE, plus upgraded with heads from the TCD-420a. Also with matching TM4 Norway microphones.
Preamps: Heavily-modified Croft Charisma-X. LDR Stereo Coffee. Power Amps: Tube Distinctions Copper Amp fitted with Tungsol KT-150s. Quad 306.
Cables & Sundries: Mark Grant HDX1 interconnects and digital coaxial cable, plus Mark Grant 6mm UP-LCOFC Van Damme speaker cable. MCRU 'Ultimate' mains leads. Lehmann clone headphone amp with vintage Koss PRO-4AAA headphones.
Tube Distinctions digital noise filter. VPI HW16.5 record cleaning machine.
Speakers: Tannoy 15MGs in Lockwood cabinets with modified crossovers. 1967 Celestion Ditton 15.
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I agree with you to a point, especially as I am one of those who have been spending the money on the changes over the years.
However, each change has brought a significant improvement to my ears, warranting the outlay. Also they do offer discounts and trade-in schemes to those who already own Music Works stuff.
Posts: 191
That is one gay stand!
Roksan Xerxes X/Morch tonearm/VdH Frog Gold
TEAD Groove phono amp
MF passive preamp
Border Patrol SE300B power amp with Western Electrics valves
Merdian 500 transport
Chord DAC64
Audiovector Mi3 Signature speakers
Various Chord cables
Target equipment stand
Yes well it looks all stylish, but I can't help thinking it is merely the sum of a few parts screwed together ie. a couple of peices of perspex and some alloy bars. Now, that is what a lot of racks are I hear you say... true, but a lot of racks are not claiming huge sonic benefits and special wallet emptying abilities also...
Just my 2p.
They swim... the mark of Satan is upon them. They must hang.
FLAC / WDTV Live / Cambridge Audio / Tannoy VX12
I am less interested in how stylish it looks than how they managed to come up with a solution to use only acrylic in the design while maintaining rigidity, robustness and stability.
Even those bars are acrylic.
There is only one way to evaluate its sonic performance, i.e: that of the ethos of this forum.
Posts: 191
Roksan Xerxes X/Morch tonearm/VdH Frog Gold
TEAD Groove phono amp
MF passive preamp
Border Patrol SE300B power amp with Western Electrics valves
Merdian 500 transport
Chord DAC64
Audiovector Mi3 Signature speakers
Various Chord cables
Target equipment stand
Location: California (San Francisco Bay Area)
Posts: 170
I'm Mark.
I'm not sure about the look of that new rack .
I currently have a StudioTech rack in glass which I like,I probably should add another
level just to get the pre-amp a bit higher off the power amp than it is now,however it all
sounds good so I'm not going to disturb it all until I move.
A hi-fi rack is not about looks.
That Spectral combo will unleash its true potential on an acrylic stand. My experience to date with my own stands suggests that more acrylic and less metal raises the performance considerably, notably in the areas of dynamics, timing and tonal colour.
My Spectral pre hated sitting on glass - it killed the upper frequency resolution. Whilst Spectral equipment is never going to sound awful, yours may only be firing on seven of its eight cylinders.
You owe it to yourself to try an acrylic stand of some description with your Spectral pre and power. For a fraction of its cost you may double its performance.
There really is only one way to find out.