Is it idiotic to stack an amp and tuner directly on top of a CD player?


Would it be idiotic to place a very heavy and solid Electrocompaniet CD player directly underneath a heavy vintage Accuphase integrated amp and tuner? Would the vibrations degrade the CD player performance, or would the weight mitigate that issue to a large extent?

The amp runs quite warm, so I'd rather it be on top.

Also, if it is an obvious mistake, are there any stand-alone isolation shelves, or other work-arounds, that would look nice, and wouldn't cost a small fortune?

Thanks for your input!

Tony
whipsaw
Idiotic no, but definitely not the right thing to do. Like your amp, the CD player needs to breathe and more than likely has air vents that are blocked or partially blocked by placing anything on top of it.

If you need/want an extremely good audio video rack that is highly customizable and relatively inexpensive as far as high-end A/V racks go, look no further than Salamander Designs.

http://www.salamanderdesigns.com/
You can also warp out the drawer and its mechanism causing it to not open or close properly. This kind of damage can be permanent and the unit would have to be serviced.
Thanks. I have owned Salamander equipment before, and it is excellent. But I am attempting to work with a nice vintage wood piece of furniture.
I have a nagging suspicion the significant magnetic field and or the vibration produced by the transformer of the amp would probably have deleterious effects on the performance of the CD player. Not to mention on the amplifier itself. However, the two components could be fairly easily isolated from each other, both magnetic field wise and vibration wise.

Thanks. I think that, as a temporary solution, I will stack the amp on the bottom, then the tuner, with the CD player on top. The tuner won't be on when the CD player is in use, and there will be enough space between the latter and the amp to reasonably disperse the heat.

Don't know about vibration issues, but it should be safe enough until I find a more elegant solution.
I am still wondering, though, if anyone knows of a high-quality single isolation shelf. In other words, a shelf on four legs that would fit over the bottom component, and be strong enough to hold one or two relatively heavy components above. 
Never stack components. Period. What you could do since you want to utilize a particular piece of furniture, is place Herbie Audio Labs "Big Tall Tenderfeet" between each stacked piece. This would give each component in the stack some breathing room and absorb a good bit of vibration between them. I’ve experimented with Many different types of "footers" in my system and Herbie’s tenderfeet have given me the most consistent results. There are two types of Tenderfeet. "Tendersoft" are intended for lighter components, "Extra-firm" for heavier components. You can check them out here: http://herbiesaudiolab.net/compfeet.htm
Steve and Robert Herbelin are great guys to work with. You can email questions to them and get a very fast response.

Thanks hifiman. As it happens, I have used Herbie's decoupling devices, so I already have a good association with their products. And I agree that they are excellent to deal with.

I appreciate the suggestion.
Whipsaw - I like hifiman's suggestion to try the Herbie's Tenderfeet in your non-ideal arrangement.  The owner's manuals often recommend a minimum amount of space around a given piece of gear.  I doubt you will get that space even with the larger Tenderfeet but at least check what the recommendations are.   Be that as it may,  if it were my gear, I would NOT put the amp on the bottom.  That's the piece that likely needs the most ventilation and in that bottom position will also be serving to heat up the gear above it - even with the air-space provided by the Tenderfeet.  If worried about too much weight on the CDP, I'd go with Amp on top and CDP in the middle position.  Use the corners of the CDP to position the Tenderfeet since the case corners will be the strongest "load point" and possibly have adequate rigidity to prevent the warping someone cautioned about.  
I have a Yamaha A-S1000 integrated amp (48.5lbs) sitting on top of a Yamaha CD-S1000 CD/SACD player(33.1lbs).  No air vents to worry about with player on top of amp.  Feet are positioned about 1 inch off the corners.  So far no reason to think any ill will come from this.  What do you think?

Thanks,
Bill
Thanks ghosthouse. As it happens, the Electrocompaniet EMC-1UP that I own is remarkably heavy and solid. I can't imagine that it would have any problems holding even both Accuphase components.

I actually have had both sitting directly on top of a well-made Dennon CD player with no noticeable adverse effects over about year, and the EMC is far more solid and robust.

But, as you say, far from ideal. I suppose that I should consider a dedicated stand, but the vintage wooden table is both very stable and beautiful.
@whipsaw I am a little confused by your original cd player on bottom proposal because isn't the EMC-1UP a top loader? And I would be wary of putting anything on top of your Accuphase if it's a class A amp it really needs adequate ventilation.
Gottasay, since you've got good gear AND experience with Salamander and Herbie's product, it seems like you already know the answer!;)
@jond

The EMC is a top-loader, but the loading area is recessed a bit, and there would be adequate room to load and unload CDs. The roof above the platter slides in, and exposes it. And as there are two wide sections on either side of that mechanism, the feet of whatever is sitting on top would be well away from the moving parts.

The Accuphase that I am using is not a contemporary Class A, it is a (superb) vintage E-303x (class B or A/B, not sure which). It does run warm, though.
Correction in my post above, "no air vents to worry about with player on top of amp."

Meant to say, no air vents to worry about with amp on top of player.

Bill
@chazro 

I hear ya, but I thought that perhaps a single isolated shelf might solve the problem. And, having just pursued Salamder's site (it has been a while), it appears that I might be able to use one of their offerings for just that purpose. I'll contact them on Monday and see.
You may be able to find a solution using Mapleshade products. They can work with you to figure out what would work best. 

@whipsaw Understood about your player and glad to see your exploring alternate solutions. If you just need a shelf check the classifieds here under stands there are plenty of amp stands and other isolation shelves and tweaks there.