An ear-opening experience...

[RoyY51]

I recently completed a DIY component rack (pictures in the DIY photo gallery) and have been listening to the installed components for about a week and a half. I tried to make it as vibration-free as possible (2x4 frame, 1 1/2" thick MDF platforms on brass footers), and was prepared for a difference in sound quality over the same components sitting on a glass-shelved Wal-Mart special. What I was not prepared for was the extent of the difference.

Everything has tightened up. Treble, mid-range and bass have all become more of a unit, more life-like. I know that it's hackneyed to say, but I'm hearing things in old, familiar recordings that I've never heard before. It's like my CD's have all been remastered. I'm getting nothing done around the house, and my wife has taken to sticking her head in the door every hour or so, and asking "everything all right in here?".

The point of this post is to encourage everyone with less-than-ideal component platforms to consider upgrading. I had no idea how much life was being sucked out of the music by those brittle glass shelves. It was worth every bit of time and money that I put into making it.

Now, if I could just get this s**t-eating grin off my face...