Mapleshade Samson V.3 Rack
 

Recently, I placed an order for a Mapleshade Samson rack. I'm very impressed with everything from the packaging, to the finish, to the ease of putting it together.
I ordered a two component wide shelf with 4 inch shelves along with platforms on top for the top two components (turntable and sacd player or dac). The air dried maple shelves are finished in the custom rosewood color, as are the top platforms. Not pictured are two amp stands, finished in black. I know some people knock this rack (myself included) at the expense versus replicating it oneself, but I can't imagine making this any better than what arrived at my door. I had some anxiety about whether the rack would ship safely, and if it would go together without a hitch, but that worrying was for naught. My expectations have been exceeded.
The first pic shows the 700+ pounds worth of delivery and the next couple of pics show how safely packed each box was. Everything was fully enveloped in 2 inch styrofoam, virtually ensuring safe delivery.
I'd say it took about 2 or 2.5 hours total, between unpacking the boxes in the garage, carrying everything upstairs, and putting everything together.
Absolutely no tools are necessary except for the included, small tool (think allen wrench type) to tighten the brass nuts past hand tightening.
The rack is solid and is likely as immune to footfalls, as anything else near the price. I made the error of ordering a competing rack that has been written about on this forum, and it was far more difficult to construct, and in my opinion was unsuitable for less stable floors that transmit vibration, such as the hardwood in my condominiumum. I've privately explained my experience with that rack to a few people on this forum. My goal has been to isolate my VPI Aries Unipivot tonearm from the dance it did just when I walked on the floor. I'm not sure how much better I could do than this rack.
I think I was initially wary of the simplicity of this Mapleshade rack, but I should have gone with my intuition from the start; THIS WAS THE WAY TO GO. I love the way it turned out! Now I just have to wait until after the new year when I get back from the holidays to put the gear back. BUT, I have my new cable loom coming as soon as I return so I'm looking forward to the new year!



http://www.audioaficionado.org/attac...k-img_7536.jpg

Wow. It looks great. The color and finish looks awesome. Congrats!!!!

Nice write up Christian. I've always been a fan of Mapleshade racks which are the real deal. I don't have the room for such massive racks in my situation, but can fully appreciate their beauty and purpose given the right room. Your V3 looks terrific in the custom Rosewood finish. Look forward to seeing the photos once your system is set up :thumbsup:

What is the spacing between shelves?

As assembled the spacing does look tight, I do however believe these are adjustable given the full length threaded rods (uprights).

Definitely. It's been a few months when I looked into getting those racks, yes they are adjustable, my bad. I was going to get that finish, but I did not want to wait close to 2 months out. The shipping at 500 lbs I bet was horendous.

Congratulations. That is a great rack, and you will be impressed by it's sonics. I also have a four shelf Rosewood Samson v.3 rack, with the bottom shelf 4", and the other 3 shelves at 2". I ordered the 48" steel bars to allow more spacing, since my two Pass Labs x600.5 amps on the bottom generate some heat. I also have a 5 shelf Samson v.2 with 60" rods for the HT/surround system.

Christian.......She's a beauty. Looking forward to seeing the new rack populated with gear.

Looks great, would love to see it once you have it loaded.

Thanks for the well wishing! I customized the height, a bit shorter than standard so that my turntable would be at a comfortable height. I think the uprights are about 40 inches high. Although not evenly spaced at the moment, each shelf will have 7.5 to 8 inches of clearance. This will allow me to play with 1 inch spikes (should I decide to) under my C500T and whatever power solution I decide to upgrade to from my PS Audio PPP. Otherwise there isn't any gear i have or am considering purchasing that exceeds 7 or 8 inches in height. Most gear is in the 6" range. As I mentioned, my amps are going elsewhere. But if my system simplifies or reconfigures, I can always remove a shelf and have more than adequate spacing for what remains. The shelves are adjustable to whatever height i need. The other option is taller uprights, either through Mapleshade, or on my own, if the need arises. I'm very happy I went with the 4" shelves. I don't have to second guess if I should have gone 4" instead of 2". Shipping, via standard UPS ground, was reasonable for a shipment that totaled 707 pounds, in my opinion. It was about 8% of the total cost. The humorous part for me was that UPS sent 3 people to deliver it!
I will definitely post pictures when I load up the rack!

And thank you Dan for enlarging the photo!