2 weeks ago I rearranged the components on my home-made, wooden rack. The earlier arrangement (top-bottom) was:
CDX
-------
32.5
-------
NAK DR3
-------
NAP 160
-------
A SNAPS sits on it’s own wooden support to one side of this rack. The gap between the160 and the shelf above is quite large so I used to have the SNAPS sitting on top of the power amp. I moved it to its’ new position quite some time ago and found a big improvement by doing so.
The new arrangement is:
32.5
-------
NAK DR3
-------
NAP 160
-------
CDX
-------
The SNAPS is untouched. The gap between the CDX and the shelf above helps maintain a reasonable distance between the CD and the poweramp. This gap has also enabled me to use a separate spiked shelf arrangement for the CDX in order to get it exactly level. I’m using 12mm MDF for this shelf so the CDX is only slightly raised. The 160 is also far enough away from the 32.5. I’m not bothered about any impact the proximity of the poweramp has on the DR3 since I don’t use the cassette deck anymore and haven’t used it for ages. The DR3 merely fills a shelf.
The music sounds much better like this.
People have mentioned putting the CD on the bottom shelf of a rack, and paying better attention to cable arrangements has also been discussed often. I’ve addressed both of these simultaneously and it’s been a very worthwhile exercise. By rearranging the boxes in this way has enabled me to do a much better job of cable dressing. I’ve now made sure that no two cables are touching each other.
1. The loudspeaker cables from the NAP160 go straight down to the floor and are then angled to one side under the rack well away from power cables.
2. The interconnect from the CDX to the 32.5 runs up the rear side edging of the rack and then is right angled along the top shelf rear edge to the preamp. The cable is not ‘hanging’, rather I’ve attached it to the wooden edging of the rack.
3. The SNAIC from the pre-amp drops straight down to the bottom of the rack. On its’ way it is attached to each shelf in turn until it reaches the bottom shelf where it is right angled and attached and runs along the edge to the side of the rack. It then appears outside the rack and goes over to the SNAPS.
4. The SNAIC from the 160 travels down the rack at a different point. To keep this apart from the other SNAIC I’ve taken it directly from the back of the rack to the skirting board and attached it to that. It then runs along the skirting to the SNAPS.
5. The mains power cables (using a MAPLIN 4-way plug) have been wound into a figure of 8 and attached to the skirting board behind the rack. Just enough cable is left to reach the input to the SNAPS, CDX and the 160.
This may sound as though it took a long time but in fact I did this in about an hour. The benefits have been out of all proportion to the effort put in. Every CD I play has a more solid feel to it, the music simply flowing in a much more coherent way.
Just thought I’d mention that, for me, this has been a big success.
I think the only way I can improve upon this now would be to use 2 racks. One for the 160 and SNAPS, another for the 32.5 and CDX. I may do this sometime.
Brian
Posted on: 07 July 2001 by BrianD
Steve
I haven't seen Kimber cable close up although I have seen pictures.
To answer you question, instead of allowing the 'spare' cable to simply look messy behind the rack I tied up each one into a fairly small '8' shape. That's all. Is Kimber cable any better than the standard power cord supplied? I have reasons for being a bit wary.
All my post is for is to tell people that I've followed others suggestions and achieved a result.
I think Maplins 4-way plug is great for just £6.99!
Brian
Posted on: 07 July 2001 by Allan Probin
Brian,
A few suggestions:
quote:
A SNAPS sits on it’s own wooden support to one side of this rack
which side of the rack ? If its not in the main rack then ideally it should be off to the RHS. Because the transformers in the 160 and CDX are on the right (looking from the front), consider the RHS of the rack 'dirty', LHS 'clean'
Similarly, to which side of your rack is your mains socket or block (if you use one) ? Try and get the rack as far as possible to the left of the mains socket/block. One of the reasons for this is that the mains leads will enter the rack from the right and not have to cross any interconnects en-route. Also, consider the position of the rack wrt any mains cabling within the wall.
quote:
I’m not bothered about any impact the proximity of the poweramp has on the DR3 since I don’t use the cassette deck anymore and haven’t used it for ages. The DR3 merely fills a shelf.
Try getting rid of it from the rack. Its probably steel-bodied (here we go!), adds unnecessary mass to the rack and brings an unnecessary mains lead into the environment. I would try the SNAPS on this shelf instead, I know it contradicts some of the things I've just mentioned but in a straightforward system like this its sometimes advantageous to have all boxes in the same rack. It's something to do with 'sympathetic' vibrations (frequency and timing) and not resulting in dissimilar characteristics imposed within the chain. Worth trying. Put the SNAPS on the 'dirty' side' of the rack, the 32.5 on the clean side. Having the SNAPS within the rack also avoids the Snaics to/from the SNAPS crossing any mains leads (or vice-versa).
quote:
The cable is not ‘hanging’, rather I’ve attached it to the wooden edging of the rack.
I'm worried by this. now you have a clean and dirty side, just let the interconnect/Snaics hang down naturally. No cables should be attached to the rack (or the skirting board).
Having messed about with homemade racks myself I can't finish without mentioning that you really ought to try one of the 'profesional' alternatives. Although I admit I havn't actually heard your rack, IMHO there's scope here for some significant benefits.
Allan
Added later as an after-thought: I've got a couple of BASE01 isolation platforms sat in my loft doing nothing. If you feel like experimenting, borrow them next time you come over.
[This message was edited by Allan Probin on SATURDAY 07 July 2001 at 15:32.]
Posted on: 07 July 2001 by BrianD
Allan
The points you make are very interesting.
1. The mains socket is directly behind the rack. I don't think I can do much about this without re-arranging furniture in my living room and I don't want to do that. However, I have thought about trying the speakers along the 'long' wall rather than the 'short' wall as they are now. This would get the speakers away from the shallow fireplace but would place them either side of a bay window.
I'm not sure about how they'll work in this situation but if I tried this I would be able to get the rack away from the mains socket. I would also be able to use 2 racks instead of 1 and this would really sort out the cable arrangment.
2. I'm not using a mains block. The Maplin 4-way plug has the mains for the CDX,160 and SNAPS. The DR3 really is a shelf filler. It's not even plugged in, I just haven't put it back in its' box yet.
3. The SNAPS is to the RIGHT side of the cabinet as you look from the front.
4. The reason I've attached various cables to the rear edges of the rack is to stop them touching each other. I realise this has potential to introduce other problems but the benefits seem to outweigh any negatives compared to how they were arranged earlier.
I'll try your ideas out this coming week when I have a couple of days off work. I'll report back with my findings after a decent trial.
RACKS
quote:
Having messed about myself with homemade racks myself I can't finish without mentioning that you really ought to try one of the 'profesional' alternatives. Although I admit I havn't actually heard your rack, IMHO there's scope here for some significant benefits.
Metal racks are a no-no although I have shown my wife pictures of Base because I think it looks ok. She didn't smile nicely and say "that looks nice, why don't you get one". I also like the look of the Quadraspire stuff I saw at Sound Org', York but my wife doesn't and I'm not sure I like the look of Hutter and Isoblue. In fact the design of the Isoblue looks a bit 'wobbly' to me. Anything would have to be after a home-demo and I think that would be difficult to arrange for these items.
I've owned pre-built racks in the past (Soundstyle and Sound Organisation). I know that these aren't at the cutting edge of rack performance, but I can assure you the wooden rack I'm using enables my system to sound better than when used on those supports I mentioned. This is my third home-made rack. The other two were made from MDF and chipboard respectively. These didn't sound any better than the 2 pro' racks I had, but interestingly neither did they sound worse. The one I'm using now is made from 19mm plywood with a veneer finish. It doesn't look great (because I made it) but I have an idea that it's better because it's ply'. I don't know of any wooden supports on general sale made from anything other than finished MDF, or at least I don't know of any made from plywood.
The bottom line for me is that I'd hate to buy a rack made from what is basically MDF with a nice finish, get it home and find it sounds worse than mine because it's not made from plywood.
Brian
