On Wed, 17 Sep 2003 16:01:23 +0100, "John Fryatt"
wrote:

I am in need of a rack or stand to put my hi-fi kit on, and I am thinking
about making one.
The basic design would be the usual tiered shelving unit. I would use it to
hold a CD player, amplifier, tuner, etc. but no turntable.

Therefore (and assuming that your other bits don't contain any
valves), the only parameters you need to worry about a

- do the pieces of kit fit on it?
- is the cabling both accessible and tidy?
- is there reasonable airflow over and around the components?
- does it look nice?
- will it fall apart if the cat farts on the other side of the room?

My question is, what are the main design parameters for a hifi stand?

I would assume that rigidity was important. Is that correct.

Only with respect to the last criterion above; various snake-oil
salesmen (and those duped by them in the past) will make out that a
stand has to be made out of weapons-grade plutonium and bolted to a 1
ton slab of Italian marble using fixings machined from steel plate
recovered from the Titanic ...

This is, of course, nonsense. As long as none of the components are
excessievely microphonic, the materials or methods of construction
used for a stand will make no significant difference to the sound.

I would make the stand out of wood, as a) it's my only realistic option
(don't want to get into welding), and b) because I like wood. Is wood a
good material though? Which wood? Pine or harder, e.g. beech or oak? How
about cherry, to match some Tannoy speakers?
Should shelves be firmly fixed to the 'chassis' or isolated? If isolated,
how? On metal spikes, rubber 'knobs', or what? What should shelves be made
from? MDF? Plate glass?

See the penultimate criterion. Since moving your speakers 3" will
make *far* more difference to the sound than any variation in the
construction of your piece of furniture, go for whatever is the best
match between your DIY/carpentry skills and the appearance of the
finished item.

HTH
Julian


--
Julian Fowler
julian (at) bellevue-barn (dot) org (dot) uk

"Julian Fowler" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 17 Sep 2003 16:01:23 +0100, "John Fryatt"
wrote:

I am in need of a rack or stand to put my hi-fi kit on, and I am thinking
about making one.
The basic design would be the usual tiered shelving unit. I would use it
to
hold a CD player, amplifier, tuner, etc. but no turntable.

Therefore (and assuming that your other bits don't contain any
valves), the only parameters you need to worry about a

- do the pieces of kit fit on it?
- is the cabling both accessible and tidy?
- is there reasonable airflow over and around the components?
- does it look nice?
- will it fall apart if the cat farts on the other side of the room?

My question is, what are the main design parameters for a hifi stand?

I would assume that rigidity was important. Is that correct.

Only with respect to the last criterion above; various snake-oil
salesmen (and those duped by them in the past) will make out that a
stand has to be made out of weapons-grade plutonium and bolted to a 1
ton slab of Italian marble using fixings machined from steel plate
recovered from the Titanic ...

This is, of course, nonsense. As long as none of the components are
excessievely microphonic, the materials or methods of construction
used for a stand will make no significant difference to the sound.

I would make the stand out of wood, as a) it's my only realistic option
(don't want to get into welding), and b) because I like wood. Is wood a
good material though? Which wood? Pine or harder, e.g. beech or oak? How
about cherry, to match some Tannoy speakers?
Should shelves be firmly fixed to the 'chassis' or isolated? If isolated,
how? On metal spikes, rubber 'knobs', or what? What should shelves be
made
from? MDF? Plate glass?

See the penultimate criterion. Since moving your speakers 3" will
make *far* more difference to the sound than any variation in the
construction of your piece of furniture, go for whatever is the best
match between your DIY/carpentry skills and the appearance of the
finished item.

HTH
Julian


--
Julian Fowler
julian (at) bellevue-barn (dot) org (dot) uk

Absolutely - agree with all of that. I'd just emphasise present and possible
future ventilation requirements. I've recently bought a cd recorder which,
you might have thought, could slot in nicely anywhere. The manual states
(from memory) 4" free spaces above and to the sides, which rules out
stacking (in theory) and makes it a pig to fit in my current rack. This may
be of interest:
http://www.tnt-audio.com/clinica/flexye.html
although I think that 'flexy' reference is a bit dubious. And I think it
looks silly.

Rob

"Julian Fowler" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 17 Sep 2003 16:01:23 +0100, "John Fryatt"
wrote:

I am in need of a rack or stand to put my hi-fi kit on, and I am thinking
about making one.
The basic design would be the usual tiered shelving unit. I would use it
to
hold a CD player, amplifier, tuner, etc. but no turntable.

Therefore (and assuming that your other bits don't contain any
valves), the only parameters you need to worry about a

- do the pieces of kit fit on it?
- is the cabling both accessible and tidy?
- is there reasonable airflow over and around the components?
- does it look nice?
- will it fall apart if the cat farts on the other side of the room?

My question is, what are the main design parameters for a hifi stand?

I would assume that rigidity was important. Is that correct.

Only with respect to the last criterion above; various snake-oil
salesmen (and those duped by them in the past) will make out that a
stand has to be made out of weapons-grade plutonium and bolted to a 1
ton slab of Italian marble using fixings machined from steel plate
recovered from the Titanic ...

This is, of course, nonsense. As long as none of the components are
excessievely microphonic, the materials or methods of construction
used for a stand will make no significant difference to the sound.

I would make the stand out of wood, as a) it's my only realistic option
(don't want to get into welding), and b) because I like wood. Is wood a
good material though? Which wood? Pine or harder, e.g. beech or oak? How
about cherry, to match some Tannoy speakers?
Should shelves be firmly fixed to the 'chassis' or isolated? If isolated,
how? On metal spikes, rubber 'knobs', or what? What should shelves be
made
from? MDF? Plate glass?

See the penultimate criterion. Since moving your speakers 3" will
make *far* more difference to the sound than any variation in the
construction of your piece of furniture, go for whatever is the best
match between your DIY/carpentry skills and the appearance of the
finished item.

HTH
Julian


--
Julian Fowler
julian (at) bellevue-barn (dot) org (dot) uk

Absolutely - agree with all of that. I'd just emphasise present and possible
future ventilation requirements. I've recently bought a cd recorder which,
you might have thought, could slot in nicely anywhere. The manual states
(from memory) 4" free spaces above and to the sides, which rules out
stacking (in theory) and makes it a pig to fit in my current rack. This may
be of interest:
http://www.tnt-audio.com/clinica/flexye.html
although I think that 'flexy' reference is a bit dubious. And I think it
looks silly.

Rob

Dear John
It appears you have had the response of if its not valves or vinyl it will
make no difference. This is not what I have found although the differences
between stands are not as big as other system changes you can use your stand
to give different sounds. Manufacturers appear to go to either the heavy is
best camp intending to damp down vibration or the keep it as light as
possible and get any vibrations to transmit away from you components. The
later is more suitable for manufacture in wood. I would recommend using a
tripod design of a light rigid and attractive wood/wood veneer. I would
suggest making the whole thing from wood, I think that glass shelves give a
very hard sound. If you follow a transmission of vibration route I think
that solid shelves are fine but you can use Oak cones to support the
equipment (make your own , rather than buy from Russ Andrews). Putting the
stand on spikes or better still Oak cones will work well on carpeted floors,
if you are on hard floors put a coin below the spike to avoid damage to the
floor. Currently I still have each of my shelves covered with a piece of
triple polycarbonate which seemed at the time to "improve" the sound. This
is cheap, light and rigid and would make good shelves if you choose to
suspend them on your frame (This is the design of the DNM shelving)

Note none of the above is based on DBT and uses no measurement other than
listening to different stands in my system and friends systems. If you have
the skills you can make a nice piece of furniture that will be good for your
Hi-Fi without paying huge amounts of money to someone else.

Does it make a difference ? The test recommended by Russ Andrews is to put
a cushion under your CD player and compare the sound to how you have it set
up now. If you cannot tell any difference then your equipment does not need
a special stand. If you hear a difference you should visit a few Hi-Fi
shops and /or the Hi-Fi shows to hear different solutions to displaying your
Hi-Fi. Once you have listened to all the theories you can make up your own
mind which path to follow.

Regards Richard
New Ash Green Hi-Fi Club

"John Fryatt" wrote in message
...
I am in need of a rack or stand to put my hi-fi kit on, and I am thinking
about making one.
The basic design would be the usual tiered shelving unit. I would use it
to
hold a CD player, amplifier, tuner, etc. but no turntable.
My question is, what are the main design parameters for a hifi stand?

I would assume that rigidity was important. Is that correct.
I would make the stand out of wood, as a) it's my only realistic option
(don't want to get into welding), and b) because I like wood. Is wood a
good material though? Which wood? Pine or harder, e.g. beech or oak? How
about cherry, to match some Tannoy speakers?
Should shelves be firmly fixed to the 'chassis' or isolated? If isolated,
how? On metal spikes, rubber 'knobs', or what? What should shelves be made
from? MDF? Plate glass?

Finally, am I pursuing a fools errand, and should leave it to the pros?

Any ideas, thoughts gratefully received.

Thanks, John

Dear John
It appears you have had the response of if its not valves or vinyl it will
make no difference. This is not what I have found although the differences
between stands are not as big as other system changes you can use your stand
to give different sounds. Manufacturers appear to go to either the heavy is
best camp intending to damp down vibration or the keep it as light as
possible and get any vibrations to transmit away from you components. The
later is more suitable for manufacture in wood. I would recommend using a
tripod design of a light rigid and attractive wood/wood veneer. I would
suggest making the whole thing from wood, I think that glass shelves give a
very hard sound. If you follow a transmission of vibration route I think
that solid shelves are fine but you can use Oak cones to support the
equipment (make your own , rather than buy from Russ Andrews). Putting the
stand on spikes or better still Oak cones will work well on carpeted floors,
if you are on hard floors put a coin below the spike to avoid damage to the
floor. Currently I still have each of my shelves covered with a piece of
triple polycarbonate which seemed at the time to "improve" the sound. This
is cheap, light and rigid and would make good shelves if you choose to
suspend them on your frame (This is the design of the DNM shelving)

Note none of the above is based on DBT and uses no measurement other than
listening to different stands in my system and friends systems. If you have
the skills you can make a nice piece of furniture that will be good for your
Hi-Fi without paying huge amounts of money to someone else.

Does it make a difference ? The test recommended by Russ Andrews is to put
a cushion under your CD player and compare the sound to how you have it set
up now. If you cannot tell any difference then your equipment does not need
a special stand. If you hear a difference you should visit a few Hi-Fi
shops and /or the Hi-Fi shows to hear different solutions to displaying your
Hi-Fi. Once you have listened to all the theories you can make up your own
mind which path to follow.

Regards Richard
New Ash Green Hi-Fi Club

"John Fryatt" wrote in message
...
I am in need of a rack or stand to put my hi-fi kit on, and I am thinking
about making one.
The basic design would be the usual tiered shelving unit. I would use it
to
hold a CD player, amplifier, tuner, etc. but no turntable.
My question is, what are the main design parameters for a hifi stand?

I would assume that rigidity was important. Is that correct.
I would make the stand out of wood, as a) it's my only realistic option
(don't want to get into welding), and b) because I like wood. Is wood a
good material though? Which wood? Pine or harder, e.g. beech or oak? How
about cherry, to match some Tannoy speakers?
Should shelves be firmly fixed to the 'chassis' or isolated? If isolated,
how? On metal spikes, rubber 'knobs', or what? What should shelves be made
from? MDF? Plate glass?

Finally, am I pursuing a fools errand, and should leave it to the pros?

Any ideas, thoughts gratefully received.

Thanks, John