Improving a stone rack


Hi all, I have a large stone rack for my system, in beautiful granite, which works great for stability, but maybe not so good for other aspects of the sound. I wonder if it contributes to some treble ringing and harshness. I want to improve the sound, thinking of felt damping on the wall behind the rack, some form of cloth to cover the reflective surfaces of the shelves, and adhesive rubber type mats on the bottom of the stone shelves. Is this the way to go? Experience based advice is very welcome. My rack weighs a ton. It is not easy to compare to a wood or composite rack. I need advice on how to counter the sound problems of stone or similar polished surface shelf racks. I want to try this, before I consider a new rack or shelf arrangement.

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Showing 1 response by mulveling

I share experiences with others, whereby adding granite slabs under components or (especially here!) speakers has had a significantly deleterious effect on sound quality. Harsh, bright, brittle sound. Just awful. 

Of course there are also known quality products where granite slabs / sheets have worked wonderfully. HRS incorporates granite in their platforms. Acora speakers (granite cabinets) sound awesome. I've got a friend with granite bases (sandwich design) for his Vandersteens - works great.

I think the most common theme for success is that damping needs to be applied over the full granite surface (at least 1 side). Iso Acoustics feet on 4 coroners isn't enough - I even tried that with my speakers and the granite slabs - no help. 

Herbie's sells (no idea of current availability) his "grungebuster" material in sheets cut your needed size, and I believe that's what my friend suggested for use in a sandwich with granite platforms. Seems reasonable to me! At least cover the top of each rack shelf, in your case.