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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?
redkiwi

Showing 4 responses by vantageaudio

vantageaudio
182 posts
 
Try and get two thin pieces (ie two pieces that combined make up the dimensions of one solid piece) of whatever material you select and bond them with a suitable adhesive/sealant (Dow Corning RTV or clear silicone), aligning the two pieces at 90 deg to each other. Use a spiral pattern of adhesive/sealant starting from the center, this way you will get an air/sealant cushion. Good luck! Richard.
vantageaudio
182 posts
 
If you can get two pieces of perspex made up similar to a double-glazed window unit with the air gap evacuated and replaced with an inert gas, this may give you the rigidity and damping/energy release properties you are looking for. If you use Corian then in our experience there is no need to "layer" this material, but use some other material to frame the Corian to vary the damping/energy release properties (you can experiment with large section rubber "o-ring" material set into grooves in the Corian) but this gets expensive! Richard, vantageaudio.com
vantageaudio
182 posts
 
Regarding the use of MDF for shelf material, experiment with two MDF pieces cut to suitable shelf/support size, try one "plain" and get the other one either hand lacquered or two-part spray lacquered in a piano black finish or similar. Use some type of "footer" above and below the MDF whilst you experiment. You may change your mind about using MDF. If you can try this and find that something is happening that you like with just this single "shelf" then let me know and I will let you have some drawings for a very cost effective support platform (we make our own similar, platforms but once shipping overseas gets involved they do not become cost effective - bit like shipping large loudspeakers all the way around the world, you end up paying to ship "air"). Hope this helps..?? Richard, vantageaudio.com
vantageaudio
182 posts
 
Dekay, just to add that we have utilized MDF and found that anything less than 1" don't work so well. As you have two MDF sheets cut already, try mounting them with the off-center hole cut one on top of the solid sheet with a space between the two of approx 1" (use whatever solid footers you have to seperate them). Mount this arrangement on more footers or spikes and place a selected component on top. Listen and trial by varying the "air gap" between the two MDF shelves. If you find that it works for you, then you can start to experiment and fine tune by filling the "air gap" with different materials. BTW, applying a finish coat to the MDF will drastically alter the "sound" of this arrangement. If any of this makes sense and you try it, let me know what you find...?? Richard. www.vantageaudio.com
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