Why are equipment racks so expensive?

I tried making a stand out of Lack tables back when that was the inexpensive craze.

I bought five or six tables, drew up my diagram, marked the legs and proceeded to cut.  Then I found out the legs were hollow.  Nothing I read back then indicated there would be air where I anticipated wood/glue solidness.

I ended up with an apartment filled with Lack end tables.

My current rack started life as end tables used in my home.  They have the top along with a shelf located near the bottom.  I also have steel frame rack with glass shelves.  Looks nice, but wanted to get away from the glass.

So I stacked the wood tables, placed spikes under the bottem legs, added a few of those blue antivibration squares between the bottom and top shelf.

Some of my gear is stacked and with my VPI table on top, it makes for a really solid and stable rack.  I've also used Isopucks under most of my components on the rack.  

Might a mega-dollar rack sound better?  Maybe.

Am I willing to spend the money, reorganize my gear, and take the time to listen for the (possible) subtle improvements in sound?  

Nope.

Too lazy for that.

Yep.  I'm one of those audiophiles.

lalitk - I didn't realize my post was a rant.  Good to know.

mingles - That's a great looking rack!

I'm not willing to A/B an audio rack to see if I can hear any difference in the sound between different rack systems.  I figure as long as it's solid, has spikes and/or antivibration devices, it should work for me just fine.  IMO, Ikea furniture can work extremely well.   

I don't do well with A/B comparisons normally because while I do feel I can hear subtle differences between some components, my ears adjust to the new sound within minutes and whatever I'm listening through sounds good.  My auditory memory sucks compared to golden eared folks.

Or just maybe my gear quality is all pretty decent and the differences in sound are subtle at best.  After all, I'm not comparing a lawnmower to a Porsche.  

Whenever I do get into a new rack, I'll probably just DIY it as I need five shelves and the top as to be a certain height.  I do not want to bend over or down in order to play records.  

Cheers, all.  And stay safe.

 

I do think 3k is expensive for a rack.

I didn't see the prices of their racks, but with their footers costing $425 each, I'm guessing astronimical.

They do look nice.