Component Stands & Platforms
Our Amish-crafted, solid air-dried Maple Platforms and Component Stands are an integral part of the Mapleshade Vibration Control System that has transformed the sound of thousands of audiophile systems over the last decades.
How You Mount Your Gear Affects How It Sounds
You can transform its sound by mounting your A/V components on a really good “sink”—that is, on a base that receives and dissipates the component vibration thoroughly without reflecting it back. Our painstaking listening panel R&D tests proved that using maple as a sink material sounds warmer, clearer, punchier and more detailed than granite, slate or glass (all are edgy and bass-dulling), hi-tech damped composites (very dead sounding), and myrtle or exotic hardwoods (more colored and less detailed).
We Use Hand-Selected Maple Air-Dried For 3 to 6 Years
Because finding air-dried 2" to 4" thick, old-growth maple at ordinary lumber yards is impossible, Pierre turned to a local Amish sawmill in 2001. They find us logs of very special maple indeed: 75 to 100 year old, slow-grown Ambrosia maple that sounds distinctly warmer and clearer than commercial, force-grown Canadian rock maple. These old trees yield wood of gorgeous character: much tighter and more variegated grain, lovely nut-colored contrasts, subtly shimmering curl, birdseye and tiger stripes—and, strikingly, our tests show that variegated maple sounds better than featureless clear maple. After our rough-cut maple air-dries for 3 to 6 years, depending on thickness, our Amish craftsmen meticulously plane, bevel, shape and sand the wood. Ben, with his sons Crist and Uri, take particular pride in how their finishes show off the dramatic character and grain of our hand-selected, old-growth Ambrosia maple.
Finish Options to Suit Any Decor
We exclusively use air-dried Ambrosia maple as the sink for our Vibration Control Systems and offer four handsome finishes to suit a wide range of decors. Our stock Platforms and Component Stands are hand finished with Clear Satin that beautifully enhances the striking natural grain character of our air-dried maple. We also offer three made-to-order toned finishes: Natural Cherry, Deep Rosewood, and Satin Black.
