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These super high-end systems that sit on the floor

MikeCh

MikeCh

Super Member
Why do lot's of people with high end boutique equipment seem to place all the amps and sources on the floor in a dedicated listening room? Usually, the equipment is on a 2-6" riser. Are these risers typically an isolation device of some sort? Are there advantages to this practice?
 
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Yes there are advantages, the dealer can sell fancy, high-performance, short amp stands and such. These do isolate teh equipment but I don't know the benefits. I can't figure it out as the ladies usually don't hang around when the serious listening is going on so it is not a 'floor activity'.

Seems it would be a major pain to change software in the player each time it is needed with the equipment below knee level.

So:
1) doesn't take up valuable wall space where sound treatments can be used
2) keeps speaker wires nearly flat only going up on the risers between the amp and speakers (but this doesn't seem to offer good direction for the wires for the connections to the amp/speakers in most cases)
3) allows the equipment to be placed on stands and such that cost $$$ so the system total can be higher
4) allows viewing of the equipment while watching the space between the speakers as ones head lowers in respect for the $$$$ spent or engineering purchased
5) provides an opportunity for some exercise, crunches, when changing software, records, tapes or CDs, etc.
6) maybe it is WAF as it is not in their face when they walk in the room.

I really don't know but I guess you can see it has been a issue I was wondering about.
 
I have my amps low to the floor because they weigh lots. I think it's just esthetic reasons otherwise also keeps them running cooler.
 
Cooler air down low. Helps keep the gear alive. Downside is there's more dust getting kicked around in the boundary layer near the floor. If sound room is kept clean, is not an issue.

I also agree that fall distance is a factor. Especially out here in earthquake country :(
 
I have a Hafler DH200 which compared to a "super high end system" is, I'm sure, a POC. But it sits on the floor.
 
Amps and equipment on the floor or near the floor shows no respect for the equipment IMHO. Glad you brought this up MikeCh it bugs me every time I see it. I know dust is a problem no mater how clean your room is and I cringe at the thought of running your foot into a unit or spilling or dropping something. As far as lifting the unit up , that's one time ,bending over is every time..Bla, Bla Bla
I feel better now.
 
I often trip over my Peavey CS-400, but if I put it anywhere else, it will scratch whatever it's sitting on, so it's on the carpet. It has survived until now perfectly...
 
At the risk of being serious, I think there are several reasons. One is indeed that amps are too big, heavy, or heat-producing to go in a rack - I've used a low (4" or so) amp stand myself. A second is that it may be convenient to put the gear that requires interaction (preamp, TT, CDP) in a rack some distance from the speakers, while the amp is placed to minimize speaker cable length. A third is that gear between the speakers on a higher rack may be perceived as a source of diffraction, compromising the imaging. And, of course, there are always the dedicated followers of fashion who've seen such setups elsewhere ...
 
In my case it has to do with,
the weight of the amps (150lbs each)
They run very hot, so they need to be in the open.
They are to big for almost every rack I have seen (plus the weight issue again)
If you put them on the carpet heat becomes an issue again so amp stands is the way to go.
They are easier to deal with, and longer runs of speaker cable are higher $$$ than long runs of ICs cable. (in my case anyway)

Anyway, heat issues, ease of use, and saves me a little coin, to keep them on amp stands on the floor.
 
Nothing like attitude toward people who use newer equipment.....
 
If I had the space, I would probabally keep everything closer to the floor. There is a school of though that says the higher up a piece of equipment is the more susceptible to vibrations it is. This is because a small movement at the base translates to a large movement at the top.

IMO makes perfect sense. You have to understand that many systems are no-comprimise situations. The inconvinence of putting in a CD is nothing compared to what some very extreme audiophiles will go through.

These are the same guys who make fun of the people who have a walmart rack crammed with 400lbs of stuff! lol.

Evan
 
They sit on the floor because apparently most audiophiles have no friends to help them lift their gear into the equipment rack.
 
Mine sit on the floor at the moment. They used to occupy the space between my speakers. The downside to that was my Ohms need that back wall to bounce off of. What a difference it makes.

Still don't know how to get around it but I don't like them on the floor for just the reason people's feet are way too close to the faces.
 
I think aesthetic trends ride on a waveform of fuzzy socioeconomic ebb and flow, ie. fads; strong passion for pseudo-Newtonian physics, in direct regard for super-human thresholds or phsycology. It'd be informative/interesting to see some quantification of causal agents and quenching effects in even less than well defined environments, but I think maybe it'd suck some of the fun out of the balloons...chalk one more up each for mystique and vanity.
love a good milkcarton boat race
 
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