Originally posted by michaelab
IME racks and support/isolation products have an influence that's subtle at best and often non-existent.
I really do wonder how people get sucked into the supports or cables myth (that they can make a bigger difference than box components) so convincingly
Michael.
Ah, I've just seen this thread.

I agree wholeheartedly with Michael's comments. In fact, in many cases, all one has to do is just change the crappy feet used by many manufacturers especially on CDPs for one of the after market types such as Superspikes etc and then use a non-expensive but well put-together rack and the isolation will be just as effective as some of the mega-buck racks for hundreds of Euros cheaper unless someone cares to point out the error of my thinking?

Also, what I don't understand and maybe someone can explain to me is when people comment about the 'sound' of a rack. How can a rack have a sound like amps or speakers? Has anyone else noticed this or is it just a case of audiophilia nervosa?
In fact speaking of Mana, two weeks ago whilst on a business trip to the U.S. I came across my first American Mana user in person and about time as well as I'd heard they existed but had never met one. I have met some U.K. users though. Anyway, although this guy uses the Mana rack, not sure what phase he is at, he has changed all the glass shelves for Neuance shelves -
www.neuanceaudio.com He also went on to say that other Mana users he knows have done the same and reported 'remarkable' improvements in sound. So, are there any Mana users on the board that can confirm or deny this or that have have switched from Mana to other solutions? The Neuance shelf is also supposed to work superbly under TTs including suspended designs and in my view, this is the component that most requires isolation from vibration, moreso than CDPs and solid-state amps.
With regard to cables, well I think the differences between them are marginal and nothing to get too excited about. IMO, the power supply region deserves more attention than interconnects and speaker cables. Having said that, whilst in the U.S. I came into possession of some brand new 'highly regarded' audiophile cables (a gift from a fairy godmother) - one phono cable with right-angle DIN for my SME arm, and two pairs of interconnects. One of the interconnects is now on my tuner and at some point, I'll move them over to the CDP to see how good they are and this will be a sighted test as I am not out to prove anything as my money is not at stake.
Enjoy the music,
Lawrie.
