Best Rack & Stands Available in USA?

Posted by: Le Chef on 18 December 2000

It's a question, not a slight on Brit M**a fanatics. I have an old Tripod system that is pig-ugly. Are there any good rack/shelf systems for my stuff? LP12/Lingo/Aro + 72/HICAP x2/NAXO/NAP135 x4. To survive (Sound of fiancee sighing and rolling eyes at the current setup) it needs to look as if someone from Ligne Roset or B&B Italia designed it, yet meet the needs of Hi-Fi dom. Any suggestions greatly appreciated...by my fiancee...

Le Chef

Posted on: 18 December 2000 by Peter Litwack

You should definitely check out the pARTicular racks. They are really beautiful - very modern, and IMO the best looking racks out there. There are several types of shelves available. I highly recommend the Black Acrylic type. The Birch shelves sound sort of boring. You can also fill the support posts with sand or lead shot. Volmar (pARTicular's owner/designer) makes a model called the Novus, which is available especially sized for Naim components. I have my system (CD-X,102/PSC/HICAP/250) on a semi-suspended Novus, and it sounds great! I've also had very good impressions of the Ypsilon, which is really cool looking.

Here's his web site:

http://www.particular.com/

Posted on: 19 December 2000 by Willem van Gemert

If you like Ligne Roset, check out the Finite Elemente Spider range. I suppose it's easier to have them send to the US as well than the Pagode racks.
You can have a look at the Stereophile review Peter mentioned on the same site under the link "Press". As for the Martin Colloms review, which does not appear (yet) on the site, I read it, but it wasn't clear what he used. Was it a normal Pagode rack or a Pagode heavy duty rack? The latter are nearly twice as expensive!
For a Forum member's experience with Finite Elemente, do a search on "Richard van der Laar" and Finite Elemente, you will find his (negative) experience with Finite Elemente.

Good luck!

Willem