Tube amp on the floor or on the rack?


I just bought a BAT VK-60 tube amp yesterday and now I
need to re-arrange my set-up. I don't trust putting
the amp on the floor, so can I put it on the top shelf
of my rack? Every tube amp on a dealers showroom is on
the floor. Any particular reason?
Thanks,
Dave
Ag insider logo xs@2xdave43
Tube amps=floor and try to keep it as immune as possible from vibrations, see that the airflow around it is not impeeded and beware of thick carpets. That's at least what I learnt through the years. Cheers,
Thanks for all the input. I don't have the luxury of a
dedicated listening room, so it doubles as the family
room. For that reason, my amp on the floor isn't really
safe. My rack will actually accomodate the VK-60, and
I would put it on the top shelf. It's an open design,
so air flow won't be a problem. It's either take my
chances on the floor or stow it safely on the rack, so
I'm trying to decide which way to go.
You might want get some type of cage for that thing, if it doesn't have one. Kiddies and pets don't do well breaking tubes and burning themselves. (I don't know your situation). The only problem with "up high" is-it can fall that much farther, not to mention when the heaviest piece is on top it will create more instability should the rack get knocked. Keep it off the floor so it will need be ventilated. And a good amp stand will do that and provide some vibration immunity, of course as heavy as it is its own weight will help that. And some type of cage protection would help.
I've got a mcintosh mc2102 mounted on the top rack of a schroers and schroers lamda, which is a simple steel frame with glass shelves. The spacing between the shelves is not adequate to accomodate the amp so I put it on the top shelf. Very family friendly and can support the nearly 100lbs of the amp, could be a problem if you're an analog type with a turntable though. This amp is so beautiful it just begs to be seen, as do most tube amps these days.
I am sure that most will say that I am in the wrong here, but I can indeed clearly hear degredation from 1 meter of IC to 1.5 meters. I hear more losses running an extra half meter of IC than an extra 10 feet of zip cord speaker cable. I have tried this many times, and have found it consistent with each of my different cable combos throughout the years. When Mark Levinson (the man)started the fashion of sitting the mono ML-2 amplifier next to the HQD speaker, he insisted it was the better way to do it. Most salons and designers of distinction also feel this is the way to do it. They may in fact be correct, but to these ears,the shortest possible distance on the interconnect side, provides the least losses. (that is unless some insanely complex speaker wire is used that demands ultra short lengths).........Frank