A Long Overdue Addition to Our Family: the Artesania Audio 3-level AV rack in black

Philip O Hanlon said:

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We have been big fans of the Artesania Audio triple-suspension shelf-less rack systems and have been importing/distributing their Classic Line (the Exoteryc, Prestige, and the Mini’s) for many years. We were a little late to the party to incorporate their AV rack into our demo fleet as we felt we may not like the potential resonance from the shelves on these racks vs the rest of the Classical Line. Oh man, oh man, oh man, what were we thinking?

With our recent renovations to our listening rooms, (see our latest post for On A Higher Note Update and Upgrade, Part I), with one of the rooms doubles up as a mixed media room where we also watch TV there, we thought it is high time to install one of their AV racks into our living space and try it out ourselves but we didn't know we would be in for a real pleasant surprise.

First off, we love the clean lines.

It's functional as it comfortably houses the needed six components (we squeezed in 7) on the rack without feeling crowded. The middle shelves are height-adjustable. They are made of glass, with a constrained layer of dampening material in the middle of the glass shelf. The spikes to the floor rest on 60mm Decoupling Discs, while the glass shelves rest on a rubber interface.

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This three level Artesania Audio “Audio Video” rack with shelves retails at $4,600 for standard graphite finish (with an additional 10% surcharge for any other custom color, including black as shown above), a terrific value for the more budget conscious audiophiles and a fantastic 2nd or 3rd rack in a house with multiple rooms with electronics, or for any hybrid room system. While not offering quite as much mechanical isolation as the more expensive, triple-suspension shelf-less Classic Rack Systems, these Artesania Audio AV racks offer terrific sound quality at a reasonable price.

Give your other components the rack they deserve. By allowing all the music come through once the components are isolated from mechanical resonance, you would be surprised how much better the bass sounds. They also look really smart.

Recommended.

For more:

Go to our “Music Session with Steve Williams” for more details about inexpensive tweaks we made to hear vinyl on the Bergmann Modi playing through the Graham Audio’s LS8/1’s, a flexible system we recommend to install to almost any system, whether you want to gain more musicality, deeper bass, or HF resolution.

See “Early First Listening Notes for Graham Audio LS8/1” for our music notes of music played from this curated Midrange Magic system.

See “On A Higher Note Update and Upgrades (Part I)” for the system used and the room description where this rack is installed.

Philip O'Hanlon
On A Higher Note
(distributor of excellence)
window to the true sound through imported synergistic high end audio components: N. American Importer/Distributor - Artesania Audio, Graham Audio, Gryphon Audio, Moonriver Audio. Formerly Eclipse TD, Luxman, Vivid Audio, Merging Technologies

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Philip O Hanlon said:

You are kidding right ?
Yes, they are both black and are both made of steel. Just as a VW Beetle and a Porsche 911 are both cars, both are available in black. Both would transport you to a petrol station. There are differences, however...


The Artesania columns are filled with crushed marble to dampen out resonances.
The rack rests on spikes, which in turn sits on Decoupling Discs (with interchangeable floor interfaces) to break the servo loop resonance between the floor and the rack.
The shelves themselves sit on a constrained dampening footer to eliminate resonances.
The glass shelves have a constrained layer of dampening in the middle to further reduce resonances.

Sonically the inexpensive rack sounds dramatically different from the modern high-end rack which while considerably more expensive, gives a HUGE improvement in sonic perfromace. The carefully engineered modern rack delivers better bass, more coherent & articulate. The midrange is quieter & plays from a blacker background, while the highs are more extended.

Twenty years ago many audiophiles were sceptical that cables, power cords, line conditioners could improve the sound quality of a system. Nowadays they are considered essential. So Too with properly engineered racks. An essential component in a reference-quality audio system. If you are serious about pursuing the best sound quality, you should investigate Artesania components further..

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