Yea, I was thinking I might have to give those a try for Rock music to get that edgy midrange, but also with piano pieces, any thoughts on this?

I find that Grados excel at making bad/old recordings sounding better, but that with decent/good recordings Sennheisers still rule.

For relatively unprocessed music (ie classical or piano or solo guitar), Sennheisers are far more realistic and IMO more pleasing.

I like the grados with piano and also with rock, blues and Jazz vocals. I was just listening to some Rebecca Pigeon and Patricia Barber with the MS Pro's and just kept listening. I also think some piano music sounds good but some does not, at least to me. Most rock piano music (Billy Joel, Elton John, Randy Newman) sounds good but classical pieces are very hit and miss. Again this is in my opinion. When I listen to classical in my den, I usually use the speakers. I really need to get a pair of HD600's.

Cool, I must give the MS IIs a try then. 'Cause when I said piano and rock, I was thinking Alicia Keys: Songs In A Minor (R&B but context fits).

Two thumbs up (It pays to be married to a younger woman, in so many ways)

I use a rack that's very similiar to the Salamander rack, cept it's made out of cheaper materials (I think).


Have some sorbane feet and some towels to prevent dampening.

Wishes? Same as A&M. Make one out of marble, sweetness...

Well I got my rack and it's a bit dissappointing. The surface finish is rough and fragile looking. I guess I'll have to build my own in a couple of years....

http://www.audioadvisor.com/store/pr...20Video%20Rack

I ended up buying this Salamander Archetype rack. I thought, at 5 shelves it would be sufficient, but it is only 36" high. So I ended up buying another 2 shelf system and stacking them. Now I have a 7 shelf, 5 foot tall rack. It is very solid and the fit and finish is excellent. There are vibration absorption washers around each of the support standards where the shelves are secured.

Last year I replaced my 20+ year old wobbly, glass-doored, solid-walled rollered cabinet/rack with an open five shelf Sanus audio rack. WHAT A DIFFERENCE!

The Sanus is 90# to start with, is filled with 60# of graphited steel shot (just like a big dead fall hammer), and I've got it topped with a 50# slab of Italian marble under the turntable. Each MDF shelf is independently isolated and the whole thing is spike mounted onto a concrete floor.

While I did a bunch of interconnect magic after the rack change, the rack change itself improved the sound quality to the point the She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed accused me of getting all new CDs.

FACT: IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A GOOD, SOLID, ISOLATED SURFACE UNDER YOUR AUDIO COMPONENTS, YOU DO NOT HAVE THE BASIS FOR GOOD SOUND REPRODUCTION.

I don't have a rack for my headphones per se.

Although I do have a rack for my system. Everything shares the one rack. I have a specially manufactured wall rack for my Rega turntable.

My headphones are usually stored, hanging from one of the supports on the rack and Itake them off there when I need to use them. I don't get too anal on the storage of my 'phones.



I do recommend that to get the most from your system, a decent rack is a must.

Personally I use a double-width three-shelf stand with quarter inch plate glass with a tubular steel frontage that has been chrome finished. The stand was manufactured by Ash Designs here in the UK. I got mine half price as it was an ex-demo unit from a local dealer. The difference in the sound when I got it was very clearly audible - to say I was shocked was an understatement.






The system has changed since this photo but it give an idea of the rack. Sort of?



Sound As Ever
Listening to OH SUSANNA - I've Got Dreams To Remember
via Krell MD10/Studio DAC thru Stax Lambda Nova 'Phones

Hi,

I use the Townshend AV Seismic Sink rack.

It is absolutely amazing - the shelves are all suspended via an air bladder. The background is dead silent and the bass room-filling when it's "pumped up".

Unfortunately, it does rock (all directions) and so when my 18month old son decided to use it as a climbing frame, we had to take the air out of it, reposition it and place various obstacles around it to keep it and him safe.

I tend to keep my headphones packed away in their boxes - with children around it's only a matter of time.

Some pics:

http://www.sanghaservices.co.uk/rack.jpg
http://www.sanghaservices.co.uk/phones.jpg

--Jatinder

jatinder, two words: Yummy. And more yummmy.