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Isoblue racks

F

FC united

pfm Member
Hi,
Anyone using isoblue racks?
Just after a quick review of them.
Never seen one in the flesh, what is the build quality and finish like?
How do the legs and extensions fit together? I've only seen photos and it looks like they use wood dowels?
Are these racks solid, or do they move a bit?
Thank you in advance
 
Build quality is pretty good I'd say, solid and no wobbles when giving the rack a nudge.

The legs I think are dowelled (been a while since I assembled mine) and shaped like long sections of cheese, with the pointy bit as the base that sits in the groove on top of the shelf below, allowing the shelf to be pulled forwards and backwards.

What I find a bit of a pain with mine (and really I should have seen this coming but hey ho, it looked pretty and I wanted one) is that because the sides of the unit are the legs there's no access from the sides, so to get behind any bit of kit to fiddle with cables involves me crouching down, reaching behind said bit of kit and fumbling around.
 
I’ve had an Isoblue rack for years. Finish is good, and the rack’s steady. I did have extensions fitted on one level for a while, and it was all firm as anything. Very quick to strip down ( obviously!). As @deebster says though, no access at the sides, which could cause an issue for some, although not for me.
My only regret is going for black rather than oak!

Mick
 
Had mine for over 12 years. As others mention it's very easy to strip down and rebuild and nice and easy to keep clean. The only issue i've had was the rubber feet on an old NAP250 left marks on one of the shelves. Other than that it's still nice and solid and i think it looks quite nice compared to some of the other options.

HSNP3bP.jpg
 
Had mine for about 15 years too. Very heavy and well made and very easy to assemble/disassemble as already mentioned. I don't have any extensions though so don't know what they're like. It will slightly rock from side-to-side (not back-to-front) if you use force but not sure that really matters. When I had a Trampolin/Urika, I had an LP12 on top which sounded good.

Dug out some old pics inspired by coupe-sport's very neat system above...

IMG_0596.JPG



IMG_3213.JPG
 
I think most hifi racks look horrible and blingy. The isoblue ones are the only ones in the flesh that I’ve seen that look attractive. Their turntable wall shelf was also a thing of beauty.
 
Had mine 15 years, sturdy and well made. Easy to assemble and ‘sound’ good too. No access from the side, but the way in which they are assembled means that you can gently slide the upper level(s) forwards to facilitate access to the rear. Depending on the height of the stack, you may need to be something of a contortionist to reach the lowest level, but that really depends on the configuration of your system. Good value compared with most alternatives too.
 
In general, I’d agree with the comments - my only issue has been that I got an additional shelf several years after buying my original set and I think they changed wood/veneer supplier as it’s really quite different (it’s the walnut finish) and it looks quite distinct from the rest. They told me it would age and deepen in colour, but that’s not really evident yet (nearly 1 year later). So buy all you need as a batch if that bothers you!
 
wiresandmore said:
In general, I’d agree with the comments - my only issue has been that I got an additional shelf several years after buying my original set and I think they changed wood/veneer supplier as it’s really quite different (it’s the walnut finish) and it looks quite distinct from the rest. They told me it would age and deepen in colour, but that’s not really evident yet (nearly 1 year later). So buy all you need as a batch if that bothers you!
Click to expand...
That's a good point. I ordered an additional ash shelf later and it was slightly different. You can see the top shelf in my first pic is a bit lighter. Sounds like you had an even bigger variation in appearance.

Ref ventilation due to enclosed sides. one of my Linn power amps would run quite hot. The fan rarely came on and it never cut out, but cooling could be an issue for some amps.
 
I've had my Superuniti on Isoblue with no extension blocks.
Was a bad idea as the SU became far too hot when operating.

No problem with my other items unless you try to squeeze a top-loaded CD player in, because top-shelf is occupied with turntable:cool:.
 
I’ve had Isoblue 60 racking for 15 years. The triangular legs locate into the underside of the shelves with a couple of dowels. The triangles then locate into grooves, allowing backwards/forwards adjustment movement.

It is important not to glue the dowels and legs, because it is a ‘lossy’ design to dissipate music-robbing micro vibrations.
 
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