PaulJC
New Member
I would say that I am a committed believer in HiFi racks as essential in relation to getting the most tuneful and musical performance out of one's system. Currently I have a Swedish rack called Harmonihyllan which would be 'Harmony shelf' translated into English. In order to get the most tuneful performance out of my system (LP12/Linn Exakt) I rigorously use the Tune method. Although I don't currently own any of his gear, it is the Swedish HiFi maker Fredrik Lejonklou who has inspired me most in becoming a committed user of this method for testing 'what is better' tune-wise in A-B comparisons. Interestingly, Lejonklou uses this method in selecting every single component in the phono stages/amps he manufactures. With regard to the Harmonihylla the method is crucial since the shelving unit needs itself to be 'tuned' (and periodically 're-tuned') once the unit is built. In view of what I have written so far, I hope it's clear that I view the act of listening as most crucial in determining the tunefulness and musicality of a systems performance. Something that Lejonklou claims is that the Tune method is the only method that can (and ought) be used when testing 'what is better' tune-wise in A-B comparisons. If you Google "lejonklou tune method" you'll find a document he has written in relation to this method. I have found this document indispensable. Using the Tune method I am able to discern significant improvements in the tunefulness and musicality of my system when using (and 'tuning') the Harmonihyllan. A subject that has been touched on in this thread, and one in which I am in absolute agreement with, is that 'everything counts' when it comes to getting the best performance out of one's system. I understand that some writers here have also sought to draw from quantitative scientific research methodologies in arguing for their positions in relation to what is most fundamental when it comes to determining whether or not HiFi racks make a difference or not. I have also thought a great deal about the (in my view) significant impact of the Harmonihylla on the tunefulness and musicality of my systems performance. I would tentatively suggest that a perspective called "agential realism" provides a alternative way forward in thinking about how the furniture can so significantly impact a system's tunefulness and musicality. Fundamentally such a perspective would point to the tunefulness and musicality of a system's performance being powerfully bound to the many relationships that exist between each material entity that makes up and surrounds a particular system. In such a view the multiple relationships within and between a HiFi system and its surroundings (including the furniture the system sits upon) ARE important for the music that is created. Note here that in this view it is not solely the HiFi system that creates the music, but every material entity surrounding it as well! Such an idea is consistent I believe with how Lejonklou selects components to his products and how the developer of Harmonihyllan has developed his HiFi rack over more than 20 years - They have sought the material relationships that are most musical and tuneful. Whilst I find this view quite convincing, I am at the same time aware that it breaks significantly with the traditional view of HiFi performance as fundamentally related to preserving a signal and protecting it from distortion/degradation. This is because in an agential realist view, the music is viewed as coming into existence through specific material relationships. That is, the signal is CONTINUALLY RE-BECOMING in the context of specific material relations.