Equipment Rack - How important in the grand scheme of things?

skyscraper has some good questions

Millercarbon, would you know if the BDR Cones and Round Things are substantially better than the Vibrapod equivalents? They are substatially more expensive and I’m wondering if there’s enough difference to warrant that extra expense. 

Haven't compared directly. Couldn't say anyway. For me I could say but nobody but you can decide what's worth it. 
Just to look at them its obvious what they have done. Its just like what I said earlier about granite and sand having faults but being good together. Vibra pods combine ordinary o-rings (rubber) with plastic, with steel. Then notice the shape isn't a straight cone its got an angle change in there and the base has a flange. So its obvious what they have done is combine these materials and shapes and tune them to get the sound balance they consider best. 

DJ did the same with BDR Cones. The main difference being the material is inherently superior. Its like the difference between a semi tractor trailer and a F1 car. Both have suspensions with springs and shocks. One is a whole lot more advanced in terms of geometry and materials. Vibration control in BDR is down to the molecular level. The material itself is inherently stiff and highly damped. It doesn't need a rubber o-ring to damp the ringing of the steel ball bearing in other words, which is what the Vibrapod does.

Most of these things the best use is directly on the component. Not under the component feet. There's nothing worse in all of audio than the feet manufacturers put under their gear. Even ones with impressive looking footers, they are so bad probably even a Vibrapod would be an improvement. 

The best practice is to use three. Three points define a plane and so never any rocking with three. Components are different enough there's no one simple rule to follow on where they go. On a CDP it might be one under the disk, one under the transformer, and the third wherever it stabilizes best. The only way to know for sure where is best is to try different combinations. Usually a difference can be heard. Which in itself is amazing. But so is this whole subject. 

If you look at my Melody, its hard to tell from the pics but the factory feet and bottom cover was removed and three BDR Those Things are screwed in right through the bottom with Round Things screwed onto the bottom. So one inside, one outside. Yes the bottom cover is basically clamped between carbon fiber on both sides. Cones screw into the Round Things. https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/8367 Vibration control is a huge component of system performance. I take it very seriously.

kodak805 is right. The truth is most racks are designed as much for shipping as sound. Sad but true. No one ever does a real stand demo to know for sure how these things sound but one of those Saluda River beauties, they look so sweet, make even me not care about that.

@millercarbon - didn't see your response before posting. I do need a rack since I have limited space for my gear and it has to be organized vertically for the space I have available (other than the power amps).

Well there you go then. You know what to do. If looks are more important then you'll get a better looking rack. If sound is more important then you know to keep the rack you have, or at least not spend much on a new one, and improve Cones, fo.Q, TC, HFT and ECT first. Unless you are really in love with the look. Ultimately its all about you. It is after all your system.

I know the tape and TC sounds funny but I'm totally serious. Whatever improvement you hear from a new rack, and you very well might, but it will at best be enough to have you not feeling like it was a total waste sound-wise. With fo.Q and TC however you will be shaking your head and gaping in disbelief that anything could ever make that much difference. Two sheets of fo.Q and TC will run you about $350. The rack.....?

Why would placing the amp on granite cause issues?

In a word, because granite rings. But like everything else it depends on how you use it. Vibration control is as much about shape as material. Tuning forks ring forever not just because of the metal but mostly because of the shape. Your granite being leftover kitchen counter is probably only about an inch or so thick and fairly wide. So you won’t notice it as much. But if you sit it on edge and hit it with something you will hear the sound it makes. Whatever that sound is you will notice is being imparted into the music of whatever component is sitting on it. Sounds crazy but totally true.

Looking at my system what is hard to see is the amp on the granite has a bit of sorbothane between the granite and the BDR. The granite under the turntable is on a sand bed. Both of these are in order to control the granite.

This is a great example of why its so important to understand what you’re doing is not isolating (of which there is no such thing) but vibration control. Even if you somehow had the perfectly isolated shelf or rack or whatever you will still have the problem of the vibration generated in the component itself, which actually turns out to be the majority of the vibration. So ultimately it comes back to vibration control.

Granite is great for mass and stiffness, but it rings and if untreated will impart a hardness to the sound at certain treble frequencies. But the mass is great for putting the music on a solid foundation. Listen to my system you will be astounded at the degree to which this is true. Would never be that way without that 750 lb under the turntable and 150lb slab under the amp.

Tile is even worse than granite. Isolation footers are a misnomer. They’re vibration control pretending to be something other than what they are. Imposters never are quite as good as the real McCoy. The best rack is no rack so the floor is great, just put some BDR Cones and Round Things between the floor and the amps.

Tube or SS, turntable or CD, everything benefits from vibration control. Don’t think of it as a rack. Think of it as vibration control. Because that’s what it is. Also don’t think of a rack as a piece of furniture. Unless that’s what’s important to you. In that case then yeah sure fine, your system, buy whatever looks good.

But looking at a rack to improve sound then first is vibration control, followed by ergonomics and organization, and finally acoustics. For vibration control you want a rack that is massive, stiff, and highly damped. Materials like glass are awful because of the sonic signature glass imparts. Wood is more natural. Composites are best. But you have to weigh all that against ergonomics, acoustics, and cost.

Ergonomics is being able to get access to components and connections. Organization is being able to route all the cables so they’re not all tangled up back there. Acoustics is not having all the components in a monolithic arrangement that reflects sound and messes up the stage you spent so much money on the rack hoping to improve.

Click here to see what it can look like when you get all these things right.
https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/8367

Bear in mind this is what it might look like after 30 years of persistently chipping away at it. This is not what you do right now. Not unless you have a whole pile of money and a devoted room and tolerant wife and more.

This brings us to the 64 dollar question:

how important is the quality of the equipment rack compared to other upgrades I could consider?

You are right. Everything matters. Not just a little bit either. Still there is an order to these things. First most cost effective step is get Cones under everything. You can try the flavor of the week if you want but myself and others swear by BDR Cones and for good reason, they are awesome for the money. Open, dynamic, revealing incredible inner detail, improving imaging, just everything across the board excellent. Put them under everything, speakers, amps, everything. Look at my system again. Everything.

Next would be a combination of fo.Q tape and TC. These are a bit special situation so PM if you’re serious. In your situation I would also recommend full sets of Synergistic Research HFT and ECT before even thinking about a rack or other component upgrades. Every one of these will give you way more bang for the buck than any component and certainly more than any rack.

I have by the way done exactly what you ask, gone from a cheap rack to a good one. Look at my system. That’s a Target rack over in the corner. There’s a reason its used only for the record cleaner and retired vintage gear. Cheap racks suck.

But notice I also don’t use a rack except for the turntable. Racks in general suck. Racks basically are for guys who want stuff to look good to other guys. Which again if that’s you, its your system, fine. I write only for guys who don’t really care all that much what anyone else thinks as long as it sounds good.