Been back in the hobby for a few years now. Taking small steps to try to upgrade incrementally. Room sounds very good with all the major stuff done for now. Still have some untreated areas in the room that I will get to soon....for now it is time to enjoy.
@sbank,
Thanks for the tip and compliment. The space under my listening room is a
garage but it is finished so it is probably more work than I want to take on
right now. Early on I certainly had some trials and tribulations. I did find
that some of the issues that I thought were being caused by the rack had more
to do with cabling which I resolved, but there is no question that the room sounds different with this
rack in it. I saw your rack and it looks great! I wish I thought of a solution
like that. Looks like you have options to adjust shelf height which I do not. I
have a welder / fabricator near my house that built some mounting brackets for
my kitchen speakers, so I sketched up the frame design and he built it out of 1
3/4" steel tubing. Not fun to move but it is heavy and rigid and I got the low
profile look I was going for. Perhaps next winter I will reengage with it and do
some experimentation but the sound is really good right now and other chores
and hobbies have me busy. In regards to the Backert preamp, it is an
absolute game-changer in my system. I started out with the Rhumba 1.2 and then
upgraded to the 1.3 Extreme and I love it. Both of these provided significant incremental improvements that I have not seen with any other component upgrade
in my system. The 1.2 I had was a great piece and with the right tubes got really
close to the Extreme. I always hear people talking about great deals in audio
and that preamp gets my vote for sure. I've never interacted with Bob but have
heard a lot of positive things about his abilities and his integrity and Andy is
super to deal with; looking back I am so thankful I found them. I hope the next
time you see Bob or Andy you tell them about the happy customer you met.Ā Thanks
to you too! I am sure your feedback contributed in some way to the sound
signature I get to enjoy every nightš Take care, /mikeĀ
@mjcmt, thanks for the compliment and info on your experience. I used pine and was considering replacing the shelving with oak or maple, but it seems like those changes are not guaranteed to remedy my problems. Not sure how long I want to chase it for. There are a few easy changes I will try and if I don't see significant change I will I'll probably buy a rack.Ā
Regarding the kitchen setup, we spend a ton of time there so it makes sense and the sound is pretty great for a modest setup.
@milpai, thanks for the compliment. Yes was also pleased with the look but there are unquestionable issues with the coupling or materials. Once I get some help going to try direct coupling. If that doesn't work I may replace the shelves with maple, or just go in a different direction all together.
@frozentundra, thanks..the span between legs is ~63" but there are no issues with mass or rigidity. The frame is a beast. (see discussion in "tech talk" "DIY Rack *fail*). I believe the issue has to do with coupling or materials.Regarding my location, I am north of Boston. Growing chile peppers is a hobby and I like eating chilli too:)
@jond, thanks for the compliment. I'm going to deconstruct the rack and remove the damping material to see if that fixes the issue. If it doesn't, I will likely look to rearrange components in the room and purchase a solution from a manufacturer that understands this better than me. Never would have thought it but there is some weird science involved here. Thanks again for the kind words.
@hendrixinc, thanks. The room was unusable before the treatments and I still need to spot treat a bit more. The realtraps seem very effective and have tamed many of the issues I had in the room.
@frozentundra, thanks. I went from a Parasound P5 so the basic Rhumba was a noticeable improvement. When I rolled in a set of NOS Amperex Bugle Boy tubes it took the pre to a whole different level. The sound was terrific prior to the DIY rack I built. Never in a million years did I think or believe a piece of furniture could have such an impact and in my case it is negative. The sound is still very good but the rack issue needs to be resolved as soon as I have the time to deal with it. Most nights I simply can not get enough and completely lose track of time; it is a great source of enjoyment.
