Slate hifi racks

[vegman1973]

I've been looking at getting a new hifi rack for as long as I can remember. I see one, read up on it and then think maybe I'll wait something else will come along that's better.
My current hifi stand is a Sound-style metal with glass shelves. Glass I know isn't the best but it looks well enough.
Now my thoughts have been turned towards slate? I've seen a couple of sites that sell the aforementioned. But it's not cheap and I'm wondering if anybody on here has had any experience with it? Anyone's thought will be greatly received
Thank you

[awkwardbydesign]

I make my own stands, and slate paving slabs make good shelves. I think I bought mine from B&Q, and I cut them with a tile cutting saw. I imagine you could get them cut, or buy them the correct size. The surfaces are rough, but that doesn't bother me. They are certainly less resonant than granite, marble or glass, using the infallible knuckle test.

[Jimbo]

You could try Northwest Analogue for slate Hifi racks.

[The Black Adder]

+1 Jim...

I couldn't remember who it was who did them. They look great but are quite expensive.

[The Black Adder]

All done... :)

[vegman1973]

Yes I've seen North west analogue and they are very dear. My D I Y skills are something of a joke and would probably make my rig sound worse if anything
I was just interested if anyone had got one and noticed a sonic improvement?

[StanleyB]

I designed and built my rack from perspex. and metal rods. It cost me a small fortune several years ago. Thick perspex does not come cheap so I would not advise anyone to go that route.

[vegman1973]

Did it improve the sound of your system though?

[StanleyB]

Did it improve the sound of your system though?
It improved the sound from my TT.

[StanleyB]

http://www.homehifi.co.uk/aos/rack.jpg

Excuse the mess. I am busy doing some layout changes to my room right now.
For a quick explanation of the reasoning behind the design, and the eventual end product:
The TT cover for my turntable is quite big! I'll never understand why Micro Seiki made it that big. But because of its size a standard hifi rack would not do. So I was forced to design something that was big enough. It is based on the idea of having two racks merged into one. The outer rack is for the turntable. The four solid steel rods in each corner have dome nuts fitted at the bottom. I did not fancy putting spikes through my wooden floor. The "inside" rack is suspended between the top and bottom TT rack. The shelves sit between nuts, which can be adjusted to give the required height for each shelf.

I have put a PDF file of it at http://www.homehifi.co.uk/aos/rack.pdf
There is also a drawing at http://www.homehifi.co.uk/aos/rack.vsd that I did in Microsoft Visio2007.

It would have been far cheaper if it had been wood that I had used. But I have some additional work to do on it that involves coloured LEDs :eyebrows:.
Feel free to use any of the drawings as a template or inspiration for your own design. I found all the parts on eBay and the perspex seller cut the holes for me at hardly any extra cost.

[clive7164]

John at Slateage at Fence near Burnley is the man to contact. He supplies NWA
and others with the racks. He is just about to sort me out with slate stands for my
Harbeth HL5s
http://slateage.com/hifi/hifi-racking-system/

Clive Smith

[vegman1973]

That is one beast of a hifi rack [emoji6]