Equipment Supports
Quadraspire Q4 Evo
The Q4 Evo is a modular rack system that is both beautifully crafted and very stylish. The shelves are available in a variety real wood veneered and available in Cherry, Maple, Oak, Black, Dark Oak and Black finishes. Glass is also available as a no cost option, although for best sonic performance we’d recommend the wood for most systems.
Each tier comes with a set of legs or feet finished in either Silver or Black with heights of 100mm, 140mm, 180mm, 216mm, 256mm and 326mm, the legs are available in either 19mm or 32mm diameter.
The shelves have an external width of 59cm and depth of 39.5cm (from the tips of the corners to the rear), with an internal width of 49cm (assuming the 19mm legs are chosen).
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Quadraspire have an excellent ‘product builder’ section on their Quadraspire website, which makes designing a rack very easy.
The Q4 Evo is fully interchangeable with its predecessor, the classic Q4 rack, the difference is the new Evo version has some resonance reducing slots machined into the underside of each shelf (pictured below), which are effectively invisible in normal usage.
Quadraspire Q4L
The Q4L is a deeper Quadraspire rack with the same appearance and finish options as the Q4 detailed above. The depth is a more substantial at 47cm from the tips of the curve to the back.
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Something Solid EXR equipment support
The EXR has been derived from the reference XR rack detailed below (EXR actually stands for Economy XR). This equipment support features many of the revolutionary elements found in the bigger version, including the tensioned shelf supports. The frame uses a thinner steel skeleton but it’s still made from solid bar rather than hollow tube and is available with veneered MDF shelves rather than the more expensive Dissipating shelves found on the XR. The bottom shelf can also be placed directly upon the frame when using it for less critical items, saving the cost of another tensioner.
This rack is remarkable, as it offers real hi end performance at a very reasonable cost. Equipment placed upon it sounds more dynamic, unstressed and refined with improvements in timing and speed. It is also remarkably adept at extracting a lot more performance from budget items than you’d ever expect, and is one of the first upgrades we’d suggest for the audiophile on a budget. What’s more the rack can easily be upgraded as your budget and system allows.
The EXR rack measures 76cm tall (excluding spikes), 58cm wide and 42cm deep. The shelves are 46cm wide and 36cm deep (deeper pieces of equipment can overhang the shelves if necessary).
This rack is available either as individual parts or as a packages that are ready to go. The costs are as follows:
EXR special 3 tier package price Everything required to support most systems, price includes EXR frame, 2 x tensioners and 3 x veneered 19mm shelves and floor spikes: £350.
EXR special 4 tier package price Everything required to support most systems, price includes EXR frame, 3 x tensioners and 4 x veneered 19mm shelves and floor spikes: £400.
EXR rack components
EXR frame in Black: £200
19mm veneered MDF shelves (Cherry or Maple finish): £35
DS2 Dissipating Shelf (Balsa and plywood laminate) the best sounding shelf option: £125
Tensioner to support and suspend shelves: £25 each
Missing Link feet (optional) to support the rack for best performance: £130 for four.
Creaktiv Basic 1: from £300
The Creaktiv Basic 1 may not reach the ultimate heights of sound quality we get from the Something Solid racks, but these are a very valid option where a high quality modular rack is required with large shelf sizes. The width of 60cm and depth of 48cm means it should house all but the most gargantuan pieces of equipment. The shelves are real wood veneered and the uprights made from aluminium. As standard the shelf spacings are 2 x 180mm and 1 x 210mm, with extra shelves available if required.
A choice of finishes are available, the standard Natural Ash finish shown above costs £300, black and Cherry wood finishes (below) are available for £345.
Something Solid XR equipment support
Regular visitors to the store (and even this website) may have noticed that we are big fans of the Something Solid range of speaker stands. We use them under almost all of the speakers we recommend and feel they represent by far and away the best value for money of any design available today.
However, until now Something Solid have not offered an ultimate equipment support, instead concentrating on affordable entry level racks. But the XR featured here changes all of that.
The basic frame has many of the ideas already seen in the XF speaker stands (i.e. Steel rod skeletal construction), yet it is the shelves and their supports where things start to get really interesting.
A variety of different types of shelves are available (see below) but for the best performance the Dissipating shelf is mandatory. These are constructed from end grain Balsa on an MDF base, edge veneered with a Maple real wood veneer. Each shelf includes a set of dissipating feet which use Carbon fibre pads attached to yet more balsa end grain to go underneath the individual item.
The shelves themselves are suspended on a tensioned Polythene chord which is exceptionally strong (many times greater than steel) that can easily be moved to vary the spacing between shelves for different components.
Above: Shown with one shelf removed, you can see the shelf support with adjustable tensioner just visible at the back
When compared to conventional (or many other hi end) racks it becomes apparent that they are adding an awful lot of colourations which tilt the tonal balance in a very false manner, placing an emphasis and resonance at particular frequencies.
The overriding impression of the XR is one of a very natural sound that is unforced
yet in no way lacking the dynamic contrasts of other designs -
The mid band quality is especially stunning, with voices sounding very real and present, both tonally and spatially.
The XR rack measures 81cm tall (excluding spikes), 59cm wide and 42.5cm deep. The shelves are 46cm wide and 36cm deep (deeper pieces of equipment can overhang the shelves if necessary).
Despite the very high performance attainable, the pricing for this rack is still very reasonable, and is available as packages or as component parts:
XR 3 tier Package price, includes the frame in black, 3 maple edged DS2 shelves and 3 tensioners for £685 (+ £130 for the optional Missing Link feet)
XR 4 tier Package price, includes the frame in black, 4 maple edged DS2 shelves and 4 tensioners for £790 (+ £130 for the optional Missing Link feet)
Purchased individually the prices are as follows:
XR frame in black costs £300.
Tensioner costs £25 each.
DS2 Dissipating Shelves cost £125 each.
Missing Link feet, designed to replace the spikes underneath the rack, they use the same tensioned string and make an amazing difference when used. Price £130 for a set of 4 (plus they can also make a huge difference when used underneath speakers too).
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