A rack for a piker
Posted by: kid spatula on 24 March 2004
Hello all.
I want to get something good to put my sistem on but it has to be relatively cheap (£100-£300 max). This rules out the usual suspects, so please don't suggest I get a Fraim because I already know that
Looking on hififorsale I have seen the following in my range:
Alphason
soundstyle
Quadraspire- Q4
Target Audio
Sound Organisation
It's unlikely I'll be able to dem the stuff, so do any of you have experience of these stands?
At the moment, I have a rega p25, 42.5 (soon to be a 72), 90, credos set up all resting on (unspiked / non-modded) ikea lack tables.
Ta
Posted on: 24 March 2004 by seagull
I've got Q4 for my boxes. I am happy with it - it is not as good as a Fraim but I wouldn't expect that.
It has the advantage of being modular, so you can change the number of shelves you have if you buy more boxes.
Looks wise, you either like it (I do) or hate it (it is commonly described here as a 1950's tea trolley).
Posted on: 24 March 2004 by kid spatula
thanks s
how does it sound?
*sorry about the flaky question!*
Posted on: 24 March 2004 by Naimed-In-NY
I went with the Q4 as well and I'm very happy with it. It sounds good to me, it got the wife's OK on the looks, it's modular so I can add racks as I add black boxes, and it is not crazy-expensive (which leaves more money for black boxes).
Sorry I can't compare it to the other racks you mentioned. It is tough to describe the sound of it because I had my stuff on crap before I got it, so naturally the Q4 improved things quite a bit in all areas. The other racks may be just as good, if not better.
MBM
Posted on: 24 March 2004 by seagull
My LP12 sat on top for a while (space restrictions) but sounds better now its been returned to its old dedicated Sound Org table. I have no idea about how your P25 would be affected, it may prefer its own dedicated stand (even if it stays on one of your Lack tables)
Hard to say what the Q4 contributes (positive or negative) to the overall sound as my sistem has seen so many improvements since I bought it 2 years ago. I've not done a direct A/B comparison with another rack.
One trick though is not to tighten up the posts so that it remains slightly wobbly.
Posted on: 24 March 2004 by Alco
I also have a Quadraspire Q4 (well, Q3 in my case
)
It's good (enough) for the money.
Ok, I assume it's not as good as a Fraim, but then again, it's about 4 or 5 times cheaper
Also, the Quadaspire supports are available in 6 different woodfeneer colours, and you can choose between silver or black spacers, and different heights of the spacers.
I paid 600,- euro for my Q4, but if you order only 3 shelves and spacers, you probably will stay within your budget.
regards,
Alco
Posted on: 24 March 2004 by kid spatula
b.l.i.m.e.y
it looks like i have a consensus again!
thanks for the posts.
after seeing a pic, i don't think the rack looks like a tea trolley at all.
Posted on: 24 March 2004 by kevinrt
Posted on: 24 March 2004 by J.N.
Something non-ferrous.
Isoblue is good vfm and sounds good.
What is a piker?
Posted on: 24 March 2004 by Geofiz
I'm using Q4 as well (with a few mods)but still have my LP12 on a dedicated old Target stand (also modded). The Q4 was definite improvement over the old Target stands that the equip was on before.
Cheers,
Posted on: 24 March 2004 by Ancipital
I built a 6 level one early last year on Pine. Never got the change to sand it or stain it as the gear was being installed about an hour after I finished making it! May have to add another shelf though at some point or expand into building another one.
Have to say it was dirt cheap to make, the only thing that took time was putting all the bolts on!
Steve.
Posted on: 25 March 2004 by kid spatula
from the english slang dictionary:
pikey Noun. A gypsy, a vagabond. [South-east England/Kent use. Dialect]
in the particular part of bucks i originally hail from the vernacular is "piker", but it means essentially the same thing.
plus my definition would be more along the lines of "a poor person, often dressing in shabby clothes and shopping at Lidl".
Posted on: 25 March 2004 by Rockingdoc
quote:
Originally posted by ejt:
[Chalk up another vote for the Flexy. I made one a couple of weeks ago from 18mm birch ply. Sanded and oiled the wood and it looks fantastic. Easily the aesthetic equal of Q4/Isoblue/Hutter and far nicer than Target or Sound Org.
Ed
I've made one too, but the threaded bars look grotty. Did you clean or polish yours? I've not seen stainless threaded bar for sale.
Also, did you grind the bottom of your bars to spikes?
I can't honestly say the rack has done much for the sound, but the infinite variety of shelf heights is great.
Actually, I take that back. For some reason my Townsend turntable and Quad valves sound better on this than anything else.
[This message was edited by Rockingdoc on Thu 25 March 2004 at 10:18.]
Posted on: 25 March 2004 by Erik Lidstrom
IKEA, makes some ridiculously cheap tables named LACK (around 10 Euro) that is supposed to work great as a support for TT:s. Haven’t tried on myself thou. IKEA also makes a shelf named Corras that is supposed to be pretty good, there was a thread on the forum about it not to long ago.
Posted on: 25 March 2004 by kid spatula
errr... thanks for the tip!
(see the first post!)
Posted on: 25 March 2004 by Erik Lidstrom
I have to blame my crappy short term memory
this thread is to long for me....
Posted on: 25 March 2004 by kid spatula
short term memory, eh?
i remember when i had one of them.
Posted on: 25 March 2004 by Alco
The IKEA 'Corras' is also a neat alternative.
I've seen several Naim systems in the 'system pics' topics, in/on this so calles 'bedside table'.
regards,
Alco
