redwiki: you've already received some excellent advice, which i have no intention of undercutting or disparaging. in my younger days, i, as you, had a compulsion to create for myself bits of my audio system that seemed within my means, ability and understanding to produce. among these were shelves and racks for my equipment. as i've grown older and, unexpectantly, have less leisure time than i did in my younger days, i've relied less on my own abilities and more on those i judge as "experts" in whatever field is necessary to my ends at that juncture. hence, i've looked toward commercial developers of racks and the shelves that go with them. the company i've come to trust in for this aspect of my audio system is zoethecus. their shelves are top-notch and manifest the qualities your last 2 posters recommend. they are not, however, what i would call lightweight (actually, not figuretively). you can, tho, come close to replicating them. as with others, they comprise a "sandwich" of several materials. the idea is to use different "dead" materials of varying intrinsic resonances, all of very low hz., to cancel out the resonace of any single layer. i do not know the actual formulation used by zoethecus in their "z-slabs," but suspect that they include alternating layers of mdf-like pieces and absortive layers resembling sorbothane. these layers, topped off with a metallic uppermost platform that can withstand the weight of heavy "spiked" equipment, are wrapped with what i expect is a heat-activated edging that makes a tidy, handsome package. you can find these shelves alone on audiogon every so often. you might wish to buy one (or "borrow" a copy from your nz dealer) to investigate their properties. i've found nothing better for all equipment, from tt's to amps (my main amp weighs in at > 150#). in any event, i wish you good hunting. your posts are invariably among the most useful, interesting and polite among all of the "regulars" on audiogon. i hope someday to visit your island that, in my mind's eye, must be a heaven on earth. cheers.
Shelf Material
I have tried so many different shelf materials, and some are better than others, but I feel like I am just spraying bullets that always miss the bulls-eye. So far, I cannot live with the brightness of glass, the ringing of marble or granite, the sluggishness of acrylic, the muddiness of mdf etc. Light and rigid seems better than heavy and dense - in that I can live with the downsides more easily. I use heavily constructed welded steel racks - spiked to the floor and upward spikes supporting the shelves - and I reckon this is right. I like the way bladder products get rid of the resonances that plague shelves, but find that the way they slow down the pace of the music is hard to accept. Does anyone have some answers on this?