Putting- 2 inch Patio pavers under feet of Rack??

bebop86

Well-Known Member
Apr 1, 2013
79
1
83
I have the Finite Element Master Pagoda rack with the cerabase footers sitting on carpet over a cement floor- The rack seems to have a little wobble to it when you slightly push it( checked and it is level) and also has a little vibration heard when I tap on a piece of equipment-
So my question is if I put a 2 inch thick patio paver under each cerabase footer therefore removing the them from the carpeting would that solidify the unit??- Or should the rack move slightly when pushed- thanks
 

stehno

Well-Known Member
Jul 5, 2014
1,585
456
405
Salem, OR
I have the Finite Element Master Pagoda rack with the cerabase footers sitting on carpet over a cement floor- The rack seems to have a little wobble to it when you slightly push it( checked and it is level) and also has a little vibration heard when I tap on a piece of equipment-
So my question is if I put a 2 inch thick patio paver under each cerabase footer therefore removing the them from the carpeting would that solidify the unit??- Or should the rack move slightly when pushed- thanks

Your post is a bit old but since nobody attempted a response, I'll give it a stab.

You mention concerns but you don't mention goals, e.g. extracting max performance, improved aesthetics, or just a bit more confidence knowing your racking system is more solidly connected to the floor i.e. no longer teetering. So I'll attempt to address each a bit.

1. Performance - With the Canadian hard maple and perhaps a few other chosen materials and designs, you should not expect to do cartwheels with any performance gains, even under ideal conditions. Nevertheless, given your current situation, your best hope of extracting max performance would be to:

a) Ensure the rack is solidly mounted to the sub-flooring system so there is zero teetering. So long as the rack is teetering you have instability and lack any hope for a superior mechanical conduit that could allow any mechanical energy entering the rack (from the components) to drain into the sub-flooring. So long as the instability continues, most of the energy captured at the rack will be trapped at the rack and also risk trapping it at the components too.

b) I've no idea the superiority of the footers that come with your rack. But whatever materials and shape / design chosen, they need to pierce thru the carpeting / carpet pad and make solid contact with the concrete sub-flooring. If you need to loosen one or 2 footers to keep it from teetering, try installing a thin washer or 2 on those specific footers. This is so you can tighten those loosened footers at the new adjusted height. Tight or taut fasteners translates to improved means of transferring mechanical energy more efficiently. Movement (teetering), loose parts, etc will severely compromise any mechanical conduit.

c) Assuming extracting greater performance is a desire, it's important that each component makes solid contact with their associated shelf. IOW, if you're using stock components footers, regardless of what they are, they need to be by-passed by using something of a very hard material, preferably steel, between the bottom plates of your components and their shelves. Again, this would allow your rack (and shelves) to act as a mechanical conduit to drain allow previously trapped mechanical energy at the component and allow that energy to travel between normally disparate objects i.e. a component, a shelf, a flooring system, etc. Without this critical piece, your rack is really little more than a pretty platform (think grandma's antique coffee table) for which to showcase your components.

2. Aesthetics - The Pagode is a reasonably attractive rack. Putting 2-inch pavers underneath ain't gonna do anything to positively improve its aesthetics. Besides the pavers will most likely just create other variations of the teetering you're already experiencing. And with the pavers resting on the carpet, most any potential performance gains that could be had will once again be compromised.

3. Confidence - Aesthetics and solidity / rigidity can provide confidence even if the equipment lacks performance. Do what is necessary to keep the rack from teetering, preferably by locking the Pagode's footers solidly to the concrete sub-flooring. It's your best bet all around.

If per chance performance is your ultimate concern, ensure every connection / fastener at the rack is tight or at least taut to maximize its ability to transmit mechanical energy down to the sub-flooring. And of course, no teetering or rocking.
 

fas42

Addicted To Best
Jan 8, 2011
3,973
3
0
NSW Australia
Just to add to stehno's advice - I've used those concrete pavers a number of times as a means of transferring the energy of vibration from audio components, and my immediate thought on reading your post was to add spikes to the concrete paver. Messy to do, but something I've used with great benefit; make sure the spikes pierce the carpet, and touch the sub-floor, just use 3 spikes to ensure stability. Then the paver is an extremely stable platform for the rack.
 

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