Lovan: Stereophile recommended disappointment.

As always, a gentleman and a scholar... :-)

Is this the Lovan Classic or Sovereign amp stand? Their Sovereign series is significantly better than the Classic. I have the Sovereign filled with lead shot and it supports my 50 pound amp easily. I replaced the stock steel cones with Walker Valid Point cones and I am very happy.

Lovan Classic II, that is. I don't mind their stock shelf--it is a good *template* for my future real shelf. I want to use a steel shelf bolted together to a piece of non resonant, Caribbean Moca wood. I have a Moca board that I'm experimenting with. Below it are four Sound Quest Isol-Pads.

My Clear Image T4 is supported by three Goldmund cones which effectively pierce the wood and drain vibration away. Anything I do to the transformer based T4 affects the music signal downstream. Simply stunning. I was talking to Albert Porter about this, since he also owns one of them T4's--it is true! That's why I bought the Lovan and the Goldmund cones. I want the T4 by itself, totally isolated from the rest of my gear (looks really cool and impressive on the Lovan, BTW). What really pisses me off if the excessive play on the threads. It's going to take a lot of threadlocking compound to patch that. Real sloppy work...

Never worry, the Psychic is an accomplished tweaker!

How about a Heli-coil thread repair kit? Can be found at most auto and hardware stores. I don't TWEAK, I POOGE
POOGE = Progressive/Optimization/Of/Generic/Equipment.
Its a under ground movement which take much more heat than tweakers do. We would love to have a guy like you in are organization I'll even give you the secret hand shake. Can you tell me where I can get info on T4?

I have to agree with the Lovan assessment...

I believe I purchased the same rack Kal is speaking of(Pyramid). I use it for my fiance's system. It was bought at an unbelievable sale, way less than 50% of retail. It seemed that Lovan was doing that a lot last year.

I was astonished to see the poor construction, ala the AWFUL alignment of the legs. Plumb they are not. Nor even close. The rack IS usable, but I do expect a rack that retails for $650 - $700 to fit together. The spikes do not come close to lining up with the impressions they are supposed to fit into.

As mentioned, the flimsy board was also something to laugh at. To think, it's actually something they advertize. "(6 or 7?) mm New Zealand pine MDF" Huh??? There are 25.4 mm/inch, and most audiophiles consider 3/4 inch the minimum for a shelf.

I concur with Kal's assertion that a sheet of Dynamat would be worthwhile, which the Stereophile Recommended Components caption points out. Good advice there.

I could have gotten rid of it easily for at least what I paid for it(and bought a superior rack), but I would have a hard time selling such a piece of junk to another human being. And, besides, my fiance is not an audio neurotic, she thinks it's the highest of high end, and feels it greatly complements the family room. On the plus side, it holds her TV, Jadis, SACD player, DVD player, VCR, and satellite receiver. Then again, that's what a double wide rack is supposed to do.

My experience with VantagePoint racks is on the other extreme. GREAT product. Excellent design, quality, and rigidity. Also overpriced(though much cheaper than Lovan), but isn't every rack?