Vintage Hi-Fi Rack Restoration

[45Revolver]

Been looking to upgrade cabinets on my vinyl rig, from the go-to IKEA solution, to an era-correct vintage offering. Had my sights set on a Mana Acoustics, but the eye-watering cost of importing to Australia put an abrupt end to that.

 

Found this oddity on marketplace for cheap, as it was listed incorrectly as being pot-plant bases. Not sure of the original manufacturer, but it’s similar in design to VTI, Denon and Lovan racks from the eighties. Would really appreciate if anyone knows anything about the origins of this particular stand.

 

 

 

It was looking rather sorry for itself and in need of some serious cleaning. Polished up all the tarnished brass components, making a significant visual improvement. Cleaning off years of DIY house paint splatter to try and preserve the original paint. I’m really vibing on the vintage aesthetic and honest wear.

 

 

 

Managed to buy a set of turned brass bases - which, coincidentally, were identical in profile to the originals. Having a new set of shelves being made up in a faux black teak MDF, that I’m currently still waiting on. That’s pretty much where it stands.

 

 

 

Overall, pretty stoked with how well it’s all come together and can’t wait to finally get the system situated in place. Will post up a video, once I’ve got it all set up and rotating again.

 

[ Also, I’m missing a single spike. So, if anyone has a similar 9/16 brass spike, roughly 40mm in length - that’d be awesome  ]

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 28, 2022 by 45Revolver

[The Mad Scientist]

On 22/11/2022 at 2:31 PM, 45Revolver said:

[ Also, I’m missing a single spike. So, if anyone has a similar 9/16 brass spike, roughly 40mm in length - that’d be awesome  ]

 

Do you have a local machine shop that could fab one up for you?

[45Revolver]

On 8/12/2022 at 6:46 AM, The Mad Scientist said:

 

Do you have a local machine shop that could fab one up for you?

Had some help from my father who was able to turn down a bolt to the same profile using a bench grinder. It’s not brass, but suffice to say, it does the job  

[45Revolver]

The shelves are finally back in! I made an executive decision to deviate from the original design in that the outer profile no longer wraps around, nor extends beyond the steel frame. My thinking was the greater the tolerance, the more of an air gap surrounding the perimeter and presumably would offer better isolation against unwanted vibrations. It also has the added benefit of being cheaper to produce! As well as, accentuating those spindly steel legs  

 

 

Which is fitting, as it’s strictly been a self indulgent exercise in achieving that retro stereophillic aesthetic. And to that effect I am very pleased with the result. The exposed brass buttons have already began to tarnish up a nice warm gold and the overall extent of wear is congruent with the age of the system components.

 

 

Still need to get the rack perfectly levelled out and the deck and stylus dialled in, before I can soundcheck the system. I really don’t expect to hear that much of an improvement. Seeing as I had previously had been running a wall mount turntable shelf. This is my first experience operating a rack and remains to be seen if I will need to sandfill the frames to dampen down any tinniness.

 

Either way, super stoked to be one step closer to my system being in active rotation once more! 

Edited December 14, 2022 by 45Revolver

[The Mad Scientist]

Nice work!

[audiofeline]

Very nice work.  I would sand-fill the legs, you don't know how much it will improve it until it's done, but I filled the legs on my steel tube racks because I thought it wouldn't do any harm, and possibly some good. 

 

I'm curious about those buttons the shelves sit on.  You could remove them and fill the arms with sand as well, leaving a cavity around the hole.  Then put a nutsert in so you can insert spikes to sit the shelves on. 

 

[TheBlackDisc]

Prob not much help - but it’s likely Australian (or UK/NZ) as “organiser” isn’t spelled “organizer”. 
 

More likely Oz due to tariffs at the time.

 

Super awesome kit though - reminds me of atacama.

Edited December 13, 2022 by TheBlackDisc

[45Revolver]

17 hours ago, audiofeline said:

Very nice work.  I would sand-fill the legs, you don't know how much it will improve it until it's done, but I filled the legs on my steel tube racks because I thought it wouldn't do any harm, and possibly some good. 

 

I'm curious about those buttons the shelves sit on.  You could remove them and fill the arms with sand as well, leaving a cavity around the hole.  Then put a nutsert in so you can insert spikes to sit the shelves on. 

 

 

I believe the brass caps are pressed in friction fit. I had previously considered prising them out to access the cavity. There’s telltale signs someone had the same dumb idea at some point. I since noticed when disassembling that the screw-holes punch all the way though. So, I assume they’re intended to be inverted to fill the uprights - which, hermetically seal after re-inserting the spikes.

 

I suppose now is the ideal time to do so. Before I’ve already set everything level and will likely have to tear down the system, again. Is there any particular product that is more affordable / effective? 

Edited December 14, 2022 by 45Revolver

[45Revolver]

Those buttons the shelves rest upon are just cheap silicone adhesive dots I applied to lift them up off the steel runners and create a buffer. I actually bought these 5mm brass spikes with the intention to do exactly that, at a later point. 
 

[audiofeline]

2 hours ago, 45Revolver said:

...I suppose now is the ideal time to do so. Before I’ve already set everything level and will likely have to tear down the system, again. Is there any particular product that is more affordable / effective? 

I'm assuming you are referring to a product to fill the stand with?  River sand and/or leadshot, here is what I wrote in another thread...

 

On 05/02/2021 at 1:36 PM, audiofeline said:

For the record, some of my experience filling speaker stands and audio racks:

 

Sand:  I used river sand from Bunnings.  I put it on an old oven tray, and put it in a warm oven before filling so it was dry.  Expected MrsFeline to object, but all was OK!  I wanted to ensure there was no moisture so there wouldn't be any rust or mould growth. 

The health warnings for the sand are real, but sensible precautions should be OK - wear a dust mask (we should have lots of these around now), wear gloves/wash hands and hose-down the area used to fill (if done outside, which would be recommended).

 

Filling:  when filling, tap the side of the stand with a rubber mallet (or a hammer buffered with cloth so it won't mark the paint).  This will settle the fill, it's amazing how much more space is created.  After I filled to the very top, I then poured a layer of PVA glue to seal, so no moisture could get in, and they wouldn't spill if knocked over.  The PVA would be easy to remove if you wanted to empty at a later date. Would also reduce concerns of lead poisoning.  I filled the audio rack upside-down, and didn't completely fill because I had to leave space at the bottom for the spikes to retract into the stand.  The PVA worked well as a seal. 

 

When I had steel speaker stands, I filled them with lead shot.  If I were to do it again, after filling with lead shot I would then put dried sand in to fill the gaps to make it ultra-solid (which might be over-kill). 

 

 

[Houston6]

Hi, your Mana stand was made by John Watson who started making them in the 80's from recollection... Very expensive new and were primarily used with Naim/ Linn systems ....google Mana Acoustics.

Cheers 

[45Revolver]

Used my cool new vintage mana acoustics levelling tool to perfectly zero the system today. Turns out it was fairly level to begin with and only needed some minor manipulation.

 

 

Was also able to download a pdf copy of the original SME 3009 instruction manual. The tone arm angle is now perfectly dialled in, per factory specifications. Did a wee bit of mcguyvering and used an old, unloved CD in place of a mirror to square up the headshell attack.  
 

Edited May 9, 2023 by 45Revolver