New racks from YG Acoustics! [w/ impressive video!]

Thanks for posting this information. It is interesting how YG and Magico are both offering vibration/isolation products. I wonder how these racks compare to Critical Mass and to HRS. I would have liked to see vibrations of different frequencies hitting the rack at different locations and what happens when the entire floor vibrates like suspended floors do with loud speakers or concrete floors with low, inaudible frequencies. Perhaps a video of their rack in their listening room with sensors on the shelves while the milling machines and music are on.

I could place a penny on end on the plinth of my turntable prior to any additional isolation, but I noticed a big improvement in sonics when I added a Vibraplane underneath my turntable.

While these racks are certainly impressive, for that price I wonder if investments in other parts of the system do not offer greater benefits.

And when it comes to vibrations, taking care of vibrations that have direct acoustic effects, loudspeaker vibrations and glass vibrations (if you have windows), may be more beneficial. For glass vibrations, lamination of windows will minimize these, perhaps additionally aided by curtains.

asiufy said:

Can you keep the penny there with that much vibration going in the same rack, in the shelf below?

Everything I've heard/read about the active systems (Vibraplane, Herzen, etc) is indeed fantastic. But this is a fully passive solution.

As with a lot of things in audio, there are many ways to get "there"!

Clearly, the goal here is to show that any and all vibrations are dealt with, even ones coming from within the rack itself. That's why the video shows massive vibrations being generated just one shelf below the CD player with the glass on top and the coin...

Ah, interesting thing: the most expensive YG rack costs the same as the cheapest Magico rack...

PS: I'll have more info after CES!

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Asiufy, I don't know about keeping a penny on my turntable with that much vibration one shelf down. I've never tried it, but I did just get a penny and did three less severe tests. I placed a penny on end on my armboard, on my top plinth shelf and on my platter. I banged by fist on the second shelf on my rack and got no movement from the penny. I then banged the front and side of the rack and with no movement. I then tapped my turntable top shelf on the sides and top with no movement from the penny. I did not tap or bang the platter or the armboard for fear of causing damage. The SME and Vibraplane seem to pass these tests.

I'm sorry that my point with the coin was not made clearer. I could place a coin or a glass of water on the plinth of my turntable and not notice any movement with either, implying that the plinth surface, on which the armboard is mounted, had no visible, or detectible, vibration. Yet, with the addition of a dedicated isolation platform, I was able to notice a significant audible improvement. That implies to me that a visibly still coin or glass of water is not an indication of a vibration free surface.

I have not tested my DIY audio rack with air bladder isolation platforms against something as expensive and scientifically engineered as these YG racks. And I am not claiming that one outperforms the other, simply that that marketing video may not tell the whole story about the effectiveness of these devices. Minus-K has a similar video with a glass of wine on a platform sitting on a highly agitated surface. There is a video of a Magico Q7 blasting out low frequencies with a glass of water on the speaker's top plate with no ripples. I think there may be a more convincing ways to demonstrate the effectiveness of these racks similar to the vibration attenuation/isolation graphs on the websites of Herzan and Vibraplane showing results with different cycles of vibration.

I am pleased that more manufacturers are attempting to address the issues of vibrations and how they effect performance of audio components. It is an important topic.

A couple of observations:

1. The video is a bit frustrating as it does not show specifically how the shelves work...are the inserts on tip toes? On sorbothane? How does one adjust the mix of direct couple versus isolation?

2. They look purty but $15K for a small rack is stupid expensive.

Lee said:

2. They look purty but $15K for a small rack is stupid expensive.

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I am not even sure if I like the looks. I prefer something more straightforward, like my Solidsteel rack (not that it can compare ).