Bassocontinuo now on demonstration!

I’m pleased to announce that my initial order of Bassocontinuo demonstration stock arrived earlier this week and it looks like it is going to go down very well based on the initial feedback I’ve received. The first installation of a stand will be any day now so we’ve hit the ground running which is great, I’ve a feeling it will be the first of many.

Equipment racks frequently get dismissed by people as an unimportant aspect of the sonic chain and but the reality is they just as vital as the other system building essentials we deal with on a daily basis (such as Entreq, Shunyata Research and Stillpoints). I frequently come across great systems that are housed in poor stands that ultimately hold back or even detract from the performance of a system, often the oldest part of a system, they almost always get forgotten about.

n reality a rack that adds nothing and takes nothing away is the ultimate goal. We have done really well with Entreq’s superb Athena, but for many it is simply too much wood to work in their room. Stillpoints have proven themselves time and time again and work on anything, but there was definitely space for an alternative supplier of high end furniture here at Audio Therapy.

Bassocontinuo are Italian and they design and manufacture an extensive range of equipment racks and amplifier stands, there is 6 different ranges starting with the Classic Line, Reference Line, Aeroline, Revolution X and the Ultimate Line, there is also B for Bassocontinuo which is a bespoke service where a rack can be built to customers specification and finish.

Bassocontinuo place as much emphasis on the performance of their racks as they do the aesthetic, each range is visually quite different and they each employ different technology to counteract the vibrations that are present within the equipment and also the floor. They carry out extensive measurement testing so they can see how each rack performs, the following link compares 2 of their racks to a standard alternative, it makes for interesting reading

I have Classic Line and Reference Line on demonstration, with the carbon fibre Revolution X coming soon.

The Lyra XL2.1 is form the Classic Line and it is the extra large version of the standard Lyra, with larger shelves and 4 legs (as opposed to 3 on the standard Lyra) it is much more flexible, especially for larger, deeper components.

The shelves are 25mm thick and you have the choice of 5 leg heights (90mm, 140mm, 190mm, 240mm and 290mm), there are 5 finish options for the shelves and the legs can be stainless steel, black or white so there is plenty of choice for most people. It’s fully modular so adding an extra shelf as your system grows is no issue.

Each shelf can be cope with up to 70kg (that’s more than a Vitus SIA-030) so more than enough for the vast majority of equipment. The overall width is 660mm and the depth is 560mm, internal space is 565mm wide x 560mm deep so big enough to accommodate most things. Each shelf is decoupled by use of a red PU ring which sit directly underneath each shelf. The Black Lyra you can see in the images is made up of a bottom shelf, 2 x 190mm shelves and a 140mm shelf and this configuration is priced at £2455

Moving up to the Reference Line this was the original range Bassocontinuo launched with and we are now onto its second generation.

Reference shelves are 30mm thick and can cope with up to 100kg, on the underside of each shelf is 4 harmonic damping resonators (HDR) designed to reduced resonant frequencies, there is also a small spirit bubble at the back of the shelf for easy levelling adjustment. The Bandura is 660mm wide and 560mm deep so large enough to cope with all but the very largest of amplifiers, the Vitus SIA-030 fits with plenty of room to spare.

There are more elaborate finish options with carbon fibre, rusted and wooden options, the Bandura 2.0 amplifier stand you can see in the pictures is in the Moonstone finish, it works superbly – I always keep my amplifier on the floor between my speakers so I can use the shortest speaker cables I can get away with and for this application the Bandura is perfect, it looks superb with a Vitus amplifier sitting on top it really sets it off, this amplifier stand in the Moonstone finish is £1235, a 4 shelf rack like the Lyra but in the Reference range starts from just over £5000 – not expensive in the context of someone with 3 or 4 boxes that easily add up to £70,000 or more.