The Joy of SVT

Looks lovely HH. I've got a couple of racks of the standard stuff and it's a joy to use, no more losing my balls. My only issue was with trying to source the individual components, which used to be a real nuisance because you had to go through a Quadraspire dealer & couldn't just order over the internet. Maybe things have changed since then.

Hungryhalibut posted:

I've been using Quadraspire SVT for nearly two years now, replacing the Hutter I had previously. It doesn't seem that widely used, which I find quite surprising. It's really well made, itsn't too expensive, needs no adjustment once set up, and seems to allow the system to work really well. It's easy to clean too, and looks nice and neat in the corner of the room. It's the bamboo version, which is supposed to sound better, and has the solid bronze spike upgrade, in order to max it out. The only reason for posting this is that the sun's out, I've done the dusting and I thought the stand was looking really nice, and deserves a bit of bigging up. The Naim boxes sit really nicely on the bamboo.

Very neat. 

Minimalist, at least from a Naim perspective.

HH looks very nice with clean unfussy lines, hopefully if I decide to order a Nova, this will be on the list as well. As you say, not too expensive

thanks

Very nice, neat and tidy Nigel. In fact when you've got 5 minutes could you pop over to my place to tidy and dust my system please?

HH Looks really good. Collected N272 yesterday to go with my 250DR with streaming from a Core. Was thinking of Fraim in due course but the Quadra looks neat. Also need the XPS DR to follow your set up but I don't think I will be able to get the same speakers! What speakers would you suggest that is wife friendly around £2K?

Tony, I'm not going to get into speaker options for the system here - there are more than enough 272 threads going. My only advice is to for for something used; it's the best way to get good value. And if you want to pop over for some choons, just let me know. 

I know of a similar SVT  living a mile or so away;  its in oak but the same black columns,  plus the same top shelf unit as yours on the Quadraspire wall shelf brkts.    The jury is out on how it looks,  he loves it but his wife says its a hostess trolley.  To me it looks great & is really well made,  but I struggle with the lack of cable tidy facilities.

I've had two SV2Ts (the double width version) for a few months - a four shelfer with the bronze spike upgrade for Hi-Fi and a three shelfer for my Home Cinema equipment (I use my loudspeakers as Front L and R channels in my 7.1.4 Atmos system).  Both are in the bamboo finish.

I agree it looks really good but am struggling to anchor it well to the floor.  It's very wobbly at present on a carpet which is probably a little thicker than HH's.  I don't know if six legs rather than four makes this harder.  My dealer has ordered custom longer spikes from Quadraspire.  How rigid is your SVT HH?

Once I've got the duster out I might post a photo or two. 

The SVT will never be totally rigid as it's part of the design, but mine sits absolutely firmly on the floor with no wobble at all. Beneath the carpet is thick traditional felt underlay, so that together with the hessian backed carpet it's actually quite thick. The key is to cut slits in the carpet and underlay using a really sharp Stanley knife. Once you are happy with the location of the spikes, remove the stand and shove the blade of the knife right down to the floor. It may sound harsh, but it makes far less damage to the carpet than ramming the spikes through. If you ever move the rack, a quick rub of the carpet and the holes vanish. 

HH : Many thanks for the kind offer. Will run my 272 in over the next month or so first. Appreciate what you mean about speakers - hunting second hand regularly but no success. Besides I have to keep my dealer sweet to keep getting demos.

Bryce Curdy posted:

I've had two SV2Ts (the double width version) for a few months - a four shelfer with the bronze spike upgrade for Hi-Fi and a three shelfer for my Home Cinema equipment (I use my loudspeakers as Front L and R channels in my 7.1.4 Atmos system).  Both are in the bamboo finish.

I agree it looks really good but am struggling to anchor it well to the floor.  It's very wobbly at present on a carpet which is probably a little thicker than HH's.  I don't know if six legs rather than four makes this harder.  My dealer has ordered custom longer spikes from Quadraspire.  How rigid is your SVT HH?

Once I've got the duster out I might post a photo or two. 

Bryce, I been using a QAV Quadraspire rack this is the earlier double width version with 4 legs

When I had a new system installed last year I wanted to lift the rack up a few millimetres more  off of the floor to give clearance for the Music Works Distribution Box the standard spikes weren't long enough for this.

I found a company on the famous web site that made various speaker spikes and they manufactured a set of 75mm spikes they have an extremely sharp and slimmer taper and these have penetrated directly through a thick carpet and underlay the rack certainly feels a lot more rigid with these fitted. I think they cost £8.50 for the set which when you look at how well they a made and finished is a bargain.

Great fan of SVT racks. I also have the bamboo wall shelf for my LP12 which looks much nicer than the black all steel and glass thingy I used to have. My racks sit on Linn Skeets to prevent them drilling holes in our wooden floor

I should also add - dead simple to assemble and to add additional shelving units too. Alistair at Quadraspire was also very helpful re advising on the LP12 variant of the wall shelf and when I ordered the racks my dealer arranged for Quadraspire to deliver to my home address.

I met Alastair at the Bristol show, he was one of the few that had any enthusiasm, and was more then happy to answer questions and demonstrate the range of racks available. 

Unfortunately the very best rack was the X reference, which did sound good but a about 1k per tier, seemed somewhat overpriced ...

The SVT is definitely a rack that looks better in the flesh as opposed to a picture... 

A happy SVT user here too. Performance is excellent; rigidity on my suspended floor is good; I like the looks; and it very rarely needs any maintenance. 

So HH, your brass spikes attach to an empty shelf but mine just go into the vertical supports with no shelf. Am I missing a trick?

TonyK posted:

HH Looks really good. Collected N272 yesterday to go with my 250DR with streaming from a Core. Was thinking of Fraim in due course but the Quadra looks neat. Also need the XPS DR to follow your set up but I don't think I will be able to get the same speakers! What speakers would you suggest that is wife friendly around £2K?

Used s-400's.

Bryce Curdy posted:

So HH, your brass spikes attach to an empty shelf but mine just go into the vertical supports with no shelf. Am I missing a trick?

Bryce - you can do it that way, but I think it looks weird. The way I have it is supposed to sound a bit better too, though I've not done the comparison. If you decide to order an extra shelf you need to ask Quadraspire to supply a set of 'long bolts', as the ones that screw into the top of the columns aren't long enough to go through the shelves. 

Hungryhalibut posted:

Bryce Curdy posted:

So HH, your brass spikes attach to an empty shelf but mine just go into the vertical supports with no shelf. Am I missing a trick?

Bryce - you can do it that way, but I think it looks weird. The way I have it is supposed to sound a bit better too, though I've not done the comparison. If you decide to order an extra shelf you need to ask Quadraspire to supply a set of 'long bolts', as the ones that screw into the top of the columns aren't long enough to go through the shelves. 

The empty shelf is meant to give an additional degree of stability. I initially had the spikes installed without the extra shelf, and subsequently added one (well, two, as I have two stacks).  I could hear the improvement, though part of that was probably due to swopping the SVT MDF shelves for SVT bamboo at the top.

MDS posted:

Hungryhalibut posted:

Bryce Curdy posted:

So HH, your brass spikes attach to an empty shelf but mine just go into the vertical supports with no shelf. Am I missing a trick?

Bryce - you can do it that way, but I think it looks weird. The way I have it is supposed to sound a bit better too, though I've not done the comparison. If you decide to order an extra shelf you need to ask Quadraspire to supply a set of 'long bolts', as the ones that screw into the top of the columns aren't long enough to go through the shelves. 

The empty shelf is meant to give an additional degree of stability. I initially had the spikes installed without the extra shelf, and subsequently added one (well, two, as I have two stacks).  I could hear the improvement, though part of that was probably due to swopping the SVT MDF shelves for SVT bamboo at the top.

I must agree with both I was also under the impression that the extra shelf gave beneficial isolating properties of the equipment placed on the top shelf.

I am considering a SVT rack mainly for my WTA turntabe to sit comfortably on the top shelf.

Just a quick question: SVT rack can be leveled per shelf? or you level base and thats it?

And another one: is it earthquake friendly? shelfs are just sitting one on top for the other or are bolted together?

charnik posted:

I am considering a SVT rack mainly for my WTA turntabe to sit comfortably on the top shelf.

Just a quick question: SVT rack can be leveled per shelf? or you level base and thats it?

And another one: is it earthquake friendly? shelfs are just sitting one on top for the other or are bolted together?

Level the base unit all bolted together unless you opt for the SVT Bronze top shelf upgrade look up the Quadraspire website and you will be able to see various configurations and build up a rack on line.

As promised (links in bold):

Hi-Fi

Home Cinema

Off topic but I don't care!

The Home Cinema rack probably needs some rearranging.  Will add a few more pics in System Pics 2017.

Glad to see so many people are enjoying their new SVT design after Quadraspire's previous models had suffered from serious anorexia!

Lovely, contemporary  design and a great alternative to Fraim.