Audiophile Base Standard Support review

This rack will help you get the most from your hi-fi system

Different lengths of leg section are available to accommodate anything from slimline CD players to big valve amps

TechRadar Verdict

It’s not cheap and the central rear leg occasionally gets in the way, but sound is resonance-free.

Pros

  • +

    Performs well at dampening resonance

  • +

    Looks good

Cons

  • -

    Quite expensive

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Like many modern racks, this is a modular system and variations are many. The key element, though, is the patented Base. It may look like just any MDF shelf, but employs some clever thinking to make a stable, damped support surface.

Each Base rests on a shelf of the overall support structure, the shelves also being MDF and assembled very simply, but rigidly to the metal legs - three for stability. Different lengths of leg section are available to accommodate anything from slimline CD players to big valve amps, while more upmarket models are also available which take the intrinsic ideas to a much higher level.

Heavy metal

The Base's isolation is provided by a combination of metal and viscoelastic damping, carefully selected to provide rapid attenuation of audio-band vibrations. Both it and the frame are available in silver (a superb finish on the review samples) and black.

We tried the Base system with various components, from simple budget amps and CD players to some quite upmarket valve amps and LP players and found its performance to be strong on neutrality and detail, compared with the others in the group and also familiar references.

Bass is steady and extended but midrange is the most striking area, much less affected by overhang than we're used to hearing. Isolationfor turntables ismoderate: suspended subchassis models are fine but we'd probably prefer something fully spring-decoupled for solid vinyl spinners.

For CD players and electronics, though, especially refined models with high resolution, this is a rack that can help extract the most.

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