Quote: my experience w the dcs stuff as a 'house sound', a bit analytical and artificial sounding. great 'hi-fi'. 

Quote: although there are places here that will cut to spec, this above is exactly what two of my friends ended up doing. there was a great collection of scrap soapstone for them to chose from, and it was relatively inexpensive.

Quote: would you consider finding someone who does do stone work and paying for shipping? it won't be cheap, but ground shipping won't be the end of the world either, and you'll get exactly what you want

Quote: that sucks. there were several sources here that would cut to measure; can't believe no one will do that wherever you're located.

Quote: 3 points of contact will be just as 'sturdy' as 4 - but guaranteed level, that's all. no big deal.   as far as your comment 'I DON'T NEED A COUNTERTOP. I JUST WANT SOME SHELVES', not sure what you mean by that.

Quote: if i could make a suggestion on the platforms - don't use marble or granite. neither sounds good. soapstone is a great choice, and is very close to the proprietary silent running platform on the their craz racks. may not look quite as cool as granite or marble, but guaranteed to...

Quote: i'm sorry i didn't buy one of those when they were much less expensive. the price has doubled in the last 7 years.  they have a budget version - only 7.5k. hah! the craz has some cool construction, which is documented in some of the reviews. titanium endoskeleton, etc. i've examined...

or go old school ortofon sound - get one of the SPU's; i promise you'll play it and not think about hifi. 

my favorite:   http://www.silentrunningaudio.com/products/craz_isorack.htm

Quote: my reaction too. one possibility - it seems the really high priced stuff mostly has one thing in common - increased digital processing/manipulation, and typically, to boot, delta-sigma style DAC's.

Quote: makes sense, good points. 

Quote: and btw, out of curiosity, what behemoth 'regular/non-headphone' gear are you running?

Quote: no, i'm not, although i've spoken to him on the phone a few times way back when, and owned some of his stuff - the SM8 monitors, one of his turntables (the model name is escaping me) and a strain gauge cartridge (never worked properly, sent it back to him, and never did hear it...

hi guys have not been to one before - is there usually a posted rough gear list beforehand?

Quote: no, unfortunately not. i've been looking for an original, but they are quite pricey and rarely come up. not sure how good the remakes are. i spoke to the owner of the reissue company - he's in pro audio, and a big audiophile, but i guess i still want the original.