2. tech-talk
  3. 1238883454

what is the theory behind maple stands and racks?

I have not "heard" a maple amp stand or rack - using Billy Bags products now, which are made from steel and mdf - but don't grasp why maple would be a good material to use - quite the opposite. Maple is used for some electric guitars because it "rings" - it is very dense and causes notes to sustain, which is to say, it continues to vibrate for a long time. This would seem to be exactly the opposite of what one wants in a stand or a rack. If there is some claim that vibration is "drained away", well, if the rack is continuing to ring, that would likely cause acoustical feedback - the equipment isn't isolated from the thing it is sitting on. Can anyone who is not a vendor of these things explain the why of it, or relate positive experiences that seem to have a basis in fact?
128x128lloydc
ebm
9,311 posts
 
There isn't any sounds soft like wood.
russe41
95 posts
 
You want hard over a soft maple variety. Hard maple comes in with a 1450 harndness rating compared to red maple 950 or silver maple 700. Beech is a nice choice,straight grained and hard,1300.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janka_hardness_test
panzrwagn's avatar
panzrwagn
437 posts
 

Go check out the 'boneyard' of your local granite/quartz/marble countertop fabricator. They'll have all kind of options for very little. It's only when they cut and finish the edges does it get spendy. I like quartz because it's a mineral filled resin that is very dense (25 lbs/ft2) for the 3cm and very well damped because of the resin + mineral composition. 

Guitars are different - you want them to resonate, but in a very controlled way, that's why the bodies are thin wood, usually very stiff, but no one would ever confuse rosewood with mahogany or maple used in the backs or sides. Spruce of varying species is preferred for the tops, with mahogany and maple used for specialty instruments, like a 'Hogtop blues guitar, or a Gibson Maple Jumbo with a midrange voiced to cut through the rest of the band. A neither sounds anything like a Martin Dreadnought. 

But I don't think  most people want to use vibration platforms as tone controls, so dense and non-resonant is the better way to go.

tweak1
3,537 posts
 

For some 20+ years in the middle of my speakers, but set back, I had a vertical Solid steel vertical rack with first the supplied MDF shelving, then over time various thick wooden cutting boards (John Boos, etc), and a couple exotic shelves made with violin wood. However, the height of the rack bugged me as I was convinced it was messing with the sound stage and imaging. A couple years ago I got the urge to go horizontal with maple (IMO) quartz/granite/glass, etc ring: YMMV, but it was way too expensive, but I got super lucky and found someone selling a DIY solid maple table for $200!. The top is ~ 50 x ~ 28 x2. Not only was it more visually appealing, but the both the imaging, sound stage and warmth that was missing from the vertical rack improved in a huge ways

See my Virtual System photos of both

hth

More to discover