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Hi-Fi Racks are no longer in business by the looks of it

vacuum_tubes said:
I'm sure that was part of their downfall.

I bought a nice 4 shelf walnut ref rack from them about 15 years ago and it wasn't that expensive. When I contacted them a few years ago (pre covid) for a new shelf the price had gone up by a massive amount.

Sure that the massive wood price increase during covid would have hit them hard as well though.
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Businesses like this have been hit so hard in the last few years. Firstly as you mention wood prices have increased massively in the last 4 years. Factor in the huge increases in other raw materials (e.g. metalwork), energy costs, rents and shipping as well as the pressure on wages as a result and I am sure their costs must have seen a huge increase. Trouble is that at their price point customers aren't going to wear huge price increases as they already see these as being high ticket items, which to an extent they are. Sad for the business and its employees and of course its loyal customers, but not a surprise given the kicking that small businesses are getting with zero help from the bunch of millionaires we have as a government of course.
 
As others pointed out, the average hifi buyer looking for all-in-one box to be placed on his Ikea furniture.
Market for racks isn't large.
Another issue is surely Brexit, the crazy trade complications involved must be really hard for many UK companies.
 
Even you're not a woodworker, I imagine it wouldn't be difficult to find someone who could 'knock up' extras etc.
For e,g, my neighbor had an LP 12 with one of the fancy wood finishes and managed to drop the platter onto it, taking a couple of inches out along a curve in the grain. Another neighbour owns a furniture restoration business ,and had no difficulty effecting a repair which was completely invisible.
I imagine a similarly competent person could make legs or shelves and match them to existing.
 
Any decent DIY wood worker or joiner/carpenter @Mullardman especially if they've worked with solid wood kitchen worktops or in shopfitting . Finding and getting one to do it may be a different story, Time vs money.
There's no magic or science involved in these products, it's pretty basic cutting and finishing.
 
fill yer boots !!

pinkfishmedia.net

HiFi Racks - old stock for sale at Yorkshire AV

Hi I have the following available from HiFi Racks: 1 x Podium Platform (turntable wall mount) in Walnut - brand new / boxed with accessories @ £399 1 x Podium Platform (turntable wall mount) in Black Ash with 22mm turntable isolation plinth - brand new / boxed with accessories @ £449 1 x...
pinkfishmedia.net pinkfishmedia.net
 
pfbaat said:
As others pointed out, the average hifi buyer looking for all-in-one box to be placed on his Ikea furniture.
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I am the middle of reorganising my system. As it's a Naim tri-amp system I have rather of boxes to accommodate. My plan was an initial setup on an IKEA Besta TV unit to test arrangements and I had intended going to HiFi Racks for a more attractive and bespoke final solution. I always thought the HiFi Racks products looked very good and I liked the idea of being able to tailor shelf height to minimise overall height.

The Besta unit looks like it might be longer term solution than I planned.
 
There are some great carpenters out there who have made bespoke furniture for us at very reasonable rates when compared to a bespoke rack. If one is careful with material choice - you can get exactly what you want without being limited to “off the shelf” solutions :)
 
Mullardman said:
Have to say I always liked the look of their stuff, but I did think it was overly expensive. I got the impression they were trying to set themselves up as the hi end rack suppliers, with prices to match.
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I recently made some Oak isolation plinths for my Podium Reference rack. Buying from them would have set me back nearly £1k, made mine for about £200 but, to get them nice with a good finish took a lot of time, if I didn’t already have the tools etc, then this would have cost a lot more so based on my own experience, their prices wasn’t too bad when factor everything (including costs) in.

I got lucky where-by someone local to me was selling a huge solid Oak butcher block style work top which saved an absolute fortune.
 
Well I didn't get my quartet of legs from Yorkshire AV, waited a week or two after ordering, enquired and was told they had oversold them, even though I was first on the draw (ordered the 125mm oak set). Hopefully other people here had more luck.
 
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