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So-called vibration control devices fall into two classes - subtractive and additive. By definition, tuning through addition or experimental redistribution of vibration is the opposite of removing or minimizing, across the broadest possible band, parasitic mechanical energies. Certain products in this sector deliberately aim to have no sound of their own. Others -- notably by Combak and ERaudio for example -- aim to tune a system by balancing, notch filtering or selectively attenuating/increasing vibrations to achieve pleasing results. This could mean introducing colorations to warm up the sound or shave off the edge, fill out the bass or add bloom to the midrange.


In other words, these two approaches are diametrically opposed concepts to better sound. EquaRack's entire conceptual background belongs into the subtractive class. I say conceptual because if using this rack changed the sound, how would you truly know whether it happened by way of addition or subtraction? For example, if the bass got louder, did the rack add bass or remove something else to make the bass appear more pronounced? None of us knows what things are supposed to sound like. We lack true north or zero on our scale. All we can do is report on changes. Making a definitive statement on what caused this change can only be speculative in most instances. In this sector and audio in general, clear cause/effect relationships more often than not cannot be established beyond a reasonable doubt.


However, there are a few pointers to help us. Subtracting the broadband overlay and intermodulation of mechanical vibrations from the signal enjoys parallels with lowering the operational noise floor of active electronics. You expect less blurring, less veiling. As a result, you expect more clarity, more definition, better articulation, deeper transparency, more speed, enhanced dynamics, more micro detail retrieval. Of course, removing mechanically induced distortion could perhaps also imbalance whatever earlier tuning we applied even reflexively and unconsciously. In fact, theory predicts that since we assembled our system with these mechanical noise makers in place, removing some or all of them would allow us to hear more, some of it possibly not perfectly pleasing until we had revoiced the system afterwards with perhaps different cables or what-have-yous to optimally integrate those changes. Put differently, hearing more could occasionally also include noticing what was compromised before but masked by noise. At least cautious predictions would say so.


The most powerful mechanical pollutants obviously occur in the bass range. Just as with room acoustics, the 20-100Hz band is far more difficult to attenuate through absorption/conversion than midrange and treble energies. Conversely, any advances made in cleaning up bass muck should be rather obvious. Hand in hand with this goes tonal balance, i.e. the relative distribution of weight or prominence across the audible spectrum. For example, cleaner and more articulated bass can simultaneously sound lighter in weight. Any changes in the bass will also affect our subjective perception of the midrange and treble. Etc. Lastly and unlike the additive approach, the subtractive concept is predictable and repeatable. Regardless of what brand component you set atop such a rack, it will do its job in exactly the same way, with the only variable being the scale of this action. Scale will be affected by things like the mechanical integrity of individual components, some of which may already incorporate their own deliberate vibration attenuation solutions. Scale, obviously, will also be affected by how well your previous rack did its job. If it was a mere functional piece of furniture without any true performance features, the differences could be positively huge. Think about turning off your car in the garage adjacent to your sound room. Your system will sound leaps and bounds better in one second since your background din suddenly dropped by some 15dB or more.


Additive concepts of vibration control in general are far less predictable. They are different from system to system and component to component. In short, tuning is application-specific and neither EquaRack nor Grand Prix Audio are about tuning. Since my Monaco stand is a truly superior example of this breed, I didn't really expect big changes during my swapping sessions. Shy of actual improvements, no changes in fact would be a highly complimentary outcome for the Equa rack in my book. The gent of audio salon ne plus ultra in Austin/TX who introduced me to the Monaco had previously sold Finite Elemente's best Pagoda stand. He pronounced the stock Monaco even without optional Carbon/Kevlar shelves in a different league altogether. He's sold GPA ever since. Using the Monaco as my base line thus meant that even coming in a close second would be quite the accomplishment for the challenger. By now we have sufficient background, both conceptual and practical, to deal with arguably the most important question: How well does this massive Equa rack perform?

Very well indeed. What last year had seemed like a distinctive additive coloration, specifically a "metallic" emphasis on transients, has been completely banished or subtracted. Whatever fabrication inaccuracy or combination of materials caused it I don't know but today's Equa rack plainly does not suffer it. The wait was worth it. Before I get into details, two practical observations. The absence of shelves means cables need not snake around deep obstacles to get unneccessarily shortened in the process of routing. This is a very practical advantage of this open architecture. Two, the 3-inch height of the fully loaded mounts (bearings plus blue pellets) requires a bit of caution upon approaching with whatever component you wish to install. If you inadvertently knock against the footers before a load is applied from above, their upper half not bolted to the frame will simply topple. Don't ask how I know. Thankfully non-reviewers won't constantly exchange components. Once everything is sited, things are rock-solid and secure. The more weight is applied, the less the floor-interface bearings want to move even when pushed. Put differently, it requires higher and higher shock inputs to lift up the entire stand. After all, that's what moving a ball inside a curved race implies. Moving equals lifting even if we're talking a mere millimeter or less. At about 200 lbs in my case, that's still very significant work. In practice, it means you won't ever see anything move unless you touched an individual component that's mounted atop bearings. The major jitters thus belong solely to the pre-loading period of assembly.

It's a crying shame that this sector of audio devices is so riddled with band aids in the form of cups, cones, footers and widgets and further weighed down with outrageous claims. No wonder the average audiophile regards the entire subject with a high degree of suspicion. Snake oil tastes no better than cod liver oil. Unfortunately, this also prevents discovery of the truly good stuff. Audiophiles won't think twice about dropping a few grand on cables, cords or 'real' components like amps or preamps. In that time-honored fashion, enormous sums of money are wasted to futz around with low-level incremental improvements when the same money could accomplish a far more serious improvement by way of properly executed vibration isolation. Make no mistake - while EquaRack's execution isn't nearly as elegant as Grand Prix Audio's engineering, it works just the same. The basic ingredients -- lateral isolation and load-specific damping -- are all there to do what they're designed to do, whether it'd be a railroad car, an Abrams tank or a Lockheed jet: attenuate mechanical energy. The latter doesn't come in audio and military flavors but concerns itself with frequency, amplitude and directionality. If it works to deaden the vibrations from metal rims on tracks inside passenger compartments; if it works to lessen the rebound of a fired tank into the operator area; if it minimizes turbine roar and shake from transmitting into the wings and cockpit; then it also works to knock down audio system vibrations. It's all the same science, just the applications are different.
A good way to illustrate the effect is the sonic decompression that follows a flight if you didn't wear ear plugs. While you're flying, you pretty quickly begin to tune out the constant noise. When it stops, your ears literally open and you simply hear more. Same here. The improvements aren't specific to any particular frequency. You simply hear more of everything. That seems like a pretty unqualified generic statement but it's in fact - well, factual. Everything feels louder without being louder. Definition goes up without the intrusion of any artifacts of hardness. Differentiation of not just pitch but texture especially in the bass improves. You can clearly tell apart a bass tabla's initial strike and the resonance of its cavity such as on the brand-new, marvellous and self-titled album by Kiran Ahluwalia [Triloka/Artemis 82055], of contemporary Indian ghazals. How much smearing and mud usually settles in the bass is
known by owners of Wilson speakers whose extreme cabinetry performs a wholesale subtraction of mechanical distortion in that regard. Unless it's effectively isolated on something like this Equa rack, the lower your speakers go and the louder you play them, the more acoustical/mechanical energy you generate in your room and hence expose your equipment to.
"R'N'Bis" on Double Jeu [Romane & Stochelo Rosenberg, Iris/Harmonia Mundi 3001883/87] is Django Reinhardt meets bass'n'drums. Two monster guitarists swing on steroids while low drums and growling double bass accompany them. Removing certain resonance effects of bloat and blurring means Marc-Michel Le Bevillon's contrabasse ripples harder when he lets a string ring out, cracks when he let's one snap on the board. The Emers and Dupont gypsy guitars also gain in heat coming off the ripped strings but instead of getting edgy, they get sort of sweet. Strange but true. 300Bs into 101dB full-range single-driver speakers (disregard the hornloaded super tweeter for a moment) can do far better bass in terms of precision, impact and slammage than seems kosher when you don't overlay the proceedings with subtly time-delayed echoes.


Aficionados of monster-current high-power Class A transistor amps revel in their impact and LF grip but tube lovers approaching from the opposite direction may relate to this type of bass as unnatural - cyborg bass I call it. Equaracking gets you that kind of bass without the cyborg part. Believe it, from $2,800/pr speakers and 300Bs without sub no less.
The Druids are natural speed demons and dynamic attack dogs, with that transient exactitude that comes from zero crossover-induced timing confusion. These exact qualities were emphasized by Mr. Equa but rather than polishing edges to a gleaming but nasty point, everything got simply clearer and cleaner but not in any way misbehaved, exaggerated, hyped or skewed. A simple test for naturalness can be to goose the volume and see whether what appears like precision and exactitude starts to slap your ears around at higher volumes. Not here. The reverse was true as well. The quality of heightened presence remained alive deeper into receding volumes, exactly like what hornspeakers do. In short, all good stuff, no shadow sides. I let all of Double Jeu play
just because it sounded so good and swung so goddamn hard. The double bass didn't just slap, rumble and punctuate but had distinct tone. The guitars didn't sound all metallic with no wood. Drum workouts weren't just clashing noises but tones themselves connected to specific materials - a wooden stick, a metal rim, a resonating body, a drum skin. This was the first time I'd moved my Druids into the main room. Since I purchased them outright rather than requesting review samples, they'd arrived without break-in and had to get hammered in our video system. Whoa Nelly. I'm in no hurry nor under any obligation to pen their review but when I do, it will clearly be a major love fest. Let's just say for now that they completely lack any kind of peakiness which bedevils this genre in general; are fleshy and full-bodied; do excellent bass to 40Hz; do real treble; and can play insanely loud without breakup, always sounding gutsy, agile, fast, dynamic and solid.