Archetype 5.0 Walnut

Once I got the hang of how to turn the nuts down the threaded rods (I would say about 30-40 minutes), and balance the shelves so they were level (the packaging comes with a level - the smallest one I’ve ever seen, maybe about an inch, but it does the job), it was actually fun to assemble it. I liked the challenge once I knew how to do it. The rack is solid and it looks great. I mean, really great. Minimalist and functional, can’t beat it. Aesthetically it frames the equipment like a picture frame, so in that sense the rack disappears and you get the pleasure of enjoying the look of your gear, and then you can switch your attention to the rack itself, because it is exceptionally stunning. Standard bookshelf racks just look like heavy and big blocks of wood that take up space. The Archetype is open and airy to let heat escape, yet it is obvious from the material and hardware - metal rods, nuts, and hardwood shelves - that the wind is not going to blow it away! It’s the only piece of furniture that I have ever assembled that is rock solid. And there is no doubt that the Archetype is indeed, as I think they must mean by the name, architectural. The structure itself, with the nuts, threaded rods, and the shelves, accentuate the strength of the rack, and no doubt about it, it is strong, and it is heavy. And with the equipment on it, it is virtually impossible to lift if your equipment is heavy, and the rubber feet on the bottom make it difficult to slide. But these are plusses, they speak to the stability of it. I haven’t done it, but I suspect that if you are in need of sliding it (maybe to plug in cables to the back of the equipment), then I suggest you try tilting it slightly so someone can slide a rag or something like that under the feet so that it will slide easier and not scratch the floor. This should work with wood floors, not sure about carpet. I guess you could try those felt round pads that have adhesive on one side to stick under sofa, bookshelves, etc., to protect the floor. That would work on floor, but I doubt on carpet.Anyway, this thing works great, makes your equipment look great, and it looks great on its own. You can’t possibly go wrong.Read more

I set this up in my office for a headphone rig and it works great. I needed fully adjustable shelves and this delivers. It's a bit time consuming to assemble due to having to spin all those nuts down each rod/post and then to level each shelf, but it's worth the effort. I gave 4 stars for ease of assembly only because the rods could have been graduated to make it easier to get the shelves level. Not a big deal by any means if you have a measuring tape. Beyond that, the shelf does exactly what it is intended to do. It is VERY sturdy and looks nice. It fits my needs perfectly. Most audio shelving systems are not adjustable, which makes no sense and are clearly for people who plan to place only one item on each shelf. That just won't work for most headphone rigs. This was recommended by a friend also in the hobby and I'm glad it was!

I purchased the 36” rack because I acquired a new amplifier that was too tall to fit in my old table/rack. I wasn't sure what kind of spacing I was going to want, as I hadn't even finalized what equipment I was going to use. So having a completely adjustable rack as a temporary or template seemed like a good idea. I was originally going to purchase the black edition, but that version used medium density fiberboard and with that amount of weight it was going to support, history told me it would sag. So I opted for a wood model at twice the price. I selected the Walnut, payed the premium price, and waited for the new stand.When the stand arrived I was very surprised by how small the package was, but that’s not really a problem. The box got beaten up pretty good, but the contents were unharmed.Unboxing the shelves quickly revealed that they were very poor quality. There was zero effort to match the wood so most of the shelves have stripes of very different color and grain. Worse yet the shelves are very badly finished. Actually the finish is terrible! You can see major dark and light spots in the stain. This is not a simple wax it away problem. The shelves are coated and will never look any better unless you take the time to sand and refinish.I was very disappointed. But I was only going to use the shelf until I was ready to have something built. I really wanted to setup my new amp. So let’s go ahead and build it. It’s not a difficult shelf to build and the included hardware had some extras which is always nice.The shelves however do not have sleeves in the holes for the rods, so there is quite a bit of play or wobble. A simple metal sleeve would have vastly improved the stability of the rack. There is also nothing besides the shelves themselves to eliminate twist or wobble.Once all five shelves are leveled and tightened into place the stability is much improved, but this rack will always have wobble and twist. This wobble and twist makes moving this rack with any weight in it a very bad idea. My equipment is in a corner, so being able to move my old rack once things were properly set made it very convenient, and not being able to do so makes this rack quite a chore. I wound up setting three shelves, the bottom leveled in the desired location, then two more temporarily to stabilize the structure, then building the unit as I added the components.The top shelf has caps that fit snugly in the holes of the shelf. (Make the same thing without the tops and you would have perfect sleeves for the shelf.) The caps prevent the surface from being perfectly smooth, but they did not interfere with my setting a turntable on top, it was the twist and wobble that prevented that. I have a Pioneer PLX-1000 turntable (a fairly normal DJ TT) and with the glass mat and accessories it is approaching 40 lbs. It was clearly too heavy for this stand. Would the stand support it, yes, was it a nice stable surface and a good idea, heck no!I am sure the rack will support the weight it claims, but one of the jobs of a good component rack is to eliminate vibration and stabilize everything. The higher you go in this rack the less rigid it will be. The diminutive footprint also makes adding something heavy to the top a bad idea.CONCLUSIONIf you have light equipment and want a quick and dirty stand, it can work for you, but save yourself some money and get the cheaper black MDF version. If your equipment is too heavy for MDF shelves, skip this rack altogether. I am comfortable with my current setup as the only really heavy item is on the bottom, but I could not place all of equipment on the shelves as I originally planned. The lack of rigidity makes the upper shelves unusable for heavy components and undesirable for turntables. The finish is a huge disappointment, and definitely not worth the premium price over the base model. I'm not saying it doesn't work, but for the price of the hardwood versions, you can do better.Read more