Particular Rack

I am using the 6 tier Particular rack with black acrylic shelves with Isodiscs. Initially when I bought it I found the sound to be quite dark and not so lively, but after I did some levelling and retightening of the screws the sound is much much better than the Mana racks that I am so used to. The Particular racks are semi-suspended so there is a tendency for some rocking motion when you give it a medium to hard jolt. I placed my Roksan TMS record player on the top shelf and found it to be suitably effective. The sound is not as bright as the Mana racks. It's just my personal opinion.

Best regards,
Idris Mohammed.

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Originally posted by Idris Mohammed:

Initially when I bought it I found the sound to be quite dark and not so lively, but after I did some levelling and retightening of the screws the sound is much much better than the Mana racks that I am so used to

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Yes indeed, the Manas are good at detail retrieval, but in the process they change the tonal character, and when pushed really loud, you get bleeding ears. Best for low to average volume playback ... The Particular/Isodiscs, on the other hand, just get better and better as the music goes louder, and really induces one to lose control. I finally heard my 135s clip with them, and some DBL tweeters burned up with the 500s ...

The Naim Fraims have come into our shores, though. Gotta check them out ...

[This message was edited by JosephR on SUNDAY 23 September 2001 at 17:55.]

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Originally posted by lobo:
Joseph and Idris

I like the look of these racks a lot. How much did they cost you?

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Lobo,

Prices may differ across countries. Recommended US retail prices are at www.particular.com. I use the Basic model, but I opted for the high-performance red acrylic shelves (also in black) instead of the default birch wood shelves. And if you use Naim, they have custom-built racks for Naim. So there are a lot of options, you should ask for a quotation from them ...

naheed

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Originally posted by Naheed:
Joseph, i'm intrigued as to your Mana comments, have you owned Mana ?, is so do your comments refer to a basic amp rack or a _Phased_ Version ???

_naheed_

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Of course I've owned Mana, but not phased, except for the Mana Reference Table which is Phase 2. A friend phased his to 4, and regretted, as it made his CDX sound even more revealing, but not to his liking.

And of course I got it all set up correctly, got the instructions and some help from the Mana website.

Anyway, all these are my personal opinion. I still think Mana is a good rack, but only for low and average listening volume levels. The Particular blows the Mana away in tonal accuracy, detail, bass, and musicality, IMHO, and "unphased" too.

Maybe I should add Soundstages to my Particular
:-) ?

[This message was edited by JosephR on MONDAY 24 September 2001 at 00:34.]

Disagree with your "only for low and average listening volume levels. The Particular blows the Mana away in tonal accuracy, detail, bass, and musicality" comment...

I've found progressing through various levels, gives less hash/distortion allowing you to listen at higher levels - strangely though my knob range is limited to say 11 o'clock after that it gets way too loud too listen (not through distortion JUST WAY TOO LOUD - my SBLs won't be last much longer i fear).

For me Mana compliments Naim perfectly, i'm after more detail and subtleties (isn't that why we upgrade ???)...

I dont care much for all the wordy summations (PRaT, Tonal Accuracy, etc...), i just go with what i sounds good.

naheed

I guess we listen differently ... SBLS at at 11 o'clock is still soft for us (CD or LP I guess, sorry have only heard NBLs and DBLs)

Well, you have not tried Particular yet ... but I understand you adamantly sticking to Mana. I sold my Mana, and later on wanted it again. But when the Particular came in, I was very grateful that no one wanted to sell their Mana to me when I was looking for it again.

Well, I'm more open-minded towards these things, like although I use Naim and would like the full-blown Naim setup like 3 NAP500s and the DBLs, I have heard a system that's even more super. Problem is it's 5 times the price of 3 NAP500s/DBLs ... and just having a full-blown Naim is going to take years of struggle, if I get it at all ...

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Originally posted by Peter Litwack:
I've got my kit (CD5/FLATCAP2/102/PSC/HICAP/250) on a semi-suspended pARTicular Novus rack with the black acrylic shelves and Isodiscs (forget about using any of the cheaper shelves - they don't cut it). It sounds great - musical, detailed, plenty of PRAT, very neutral tonal balance. I love their look too!
http://www.particular.com

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The red shelves are the same quality as the black ones. IMHO, they must be combined with the Isodiscs to really get the most out of them. You mean Particular now stocks them ? I found them at www.secondbeat.com ...

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Originally posted by Vuk Vuksanovic:
You've all been exposed. We now know who the real forum millionaires are.

Vuk.

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Hi, Vuk, not really. The Basic rack + red/black shelves + Isodiscs are still cheaper than full-blown phased Manas. A significant improvement already, no need to think about the higher models ... unless one's a millionaire ...

P.S. You're right that the real millionaire here use them in their systems, though. But they only use the Novus model + black shelves + Isodiscs and some amp stands on their US$ 300K to 400K systems ...

[This message was edited by JosephR on TUESDAY 25 September 2001 at 17:09.]