The TNT FleXy Table is a truly great project: it is inexpensive, fun to build and sonically effective. And (depending on your building skills and taste!) it looks cool.

Due to MDF's relative lack of stiffness, I wouldn't recommend it to house monster power amps. But that's all.

TNT audio is an italian-based website (www.tnt-audio.com) maintained for free by a group of international audio enthusiasts (some of them of great calibre, as Werner Ogiers or Thorsten Loesch). They don't just review products, they also have some very interesting DIY projects, such as this support and a delightful air suspension support called TNT Aria, which works wonders under my Rega Planar 3 (shamefully, instructions on the latter are in italian only, so you should take intensive training on italian as soon as you can:-)) The FleXy is made as the previous reviewer rightly indicates, but you'll be missing out if you don't use rubber washers between the metal ones and the shelves. They do make a difference. The same goes for the damping: the recommended material is nothing less than an automotive "chassis protector" - a bitumen-based black compound that stinks(!) and takes ages to dry, but it's worthwhile if you really want to kill those last residues of feedback-induced colouration. The table looks very smart: I used a single layer of gloss over the untreated MDF, so it wouldn't look too bright, and it turned out very fine (no, it isn't an Aavik A4, but then again it costs a tenth of the former's price). Anyway, its sound quality is surprising: in my case, I used to have a heavy granite and steel support, which never really got 'round to convincing me. The colourations I heard before were all gone, soundstage is much better defined, image is wider and deeper, treble is smoother and bass is both powerful and fast. Dynamic contrasts are very good, and there's plenty of detail - not of the "in yer face" kind, but a natural and unforced presentation of INNER detail. The sound is full and relaxed, sounding altogether very natural and involving. One of the finest attributes of the FleXy table is its sheer inertia: put your hand on a component installed on it while playing a really bass-heavy passage, and you'll feel no vibration at all. Knock a shelf with your knuckle, and you'll hear just a fast, brief thump - no resonances or ringing. This does certainly contribute to the smooth, neutral and uncoloured presentation of a system when placed on a FleXy Table. If you, just like me, abhor the idea of spending a fortune on a "rack", you must try this little great project. It's worth every penny... and every little bead of sweat you drop!!!

Similar Products Used:

Floor, stacks and an expensive and a rather unfortunate DIY granite support...

Excellent, rugged, very simple design.
Functional and fashionable, WILL NOT break the bank!
Completely modular!

None!

They guys over at TNT Audio are simply awesome! The design for this DIY rack is so simple, it's one of those things that make you say, "Why didn't I think of that?!!"

Since there's no pictures here, let me describe a basic FleXy rack for you. The shelves of a FleXy are made of MDF of your desired thickness, (3/4" is recommended). These shelves are supported by three threaded rods. Each shelf is held by 6 nuts and 6 (or more) washers, 3 on each side of the shelf, thereby sandwiching each piece of MDF. This is a beautifully simplistic desgin which works great!

The design on their site calls for you to add plastic washers between the metal washers and the wood as well as noise/vibration dampening material to the underside of each shelf. I didn't do this because I had trouble finding plastic washer large enough, and well it works great for me the way it is!

The beauty of the FleXy is it is completely modular. You can have as many shelves as your threaded rods can hold or as few as makes it stable. Currently I have 5 on my FleXy and it works great for my transport, DAC, preamp, amp, and some CDs.

Cost of all this? At Home Depot in Canada
- $20 - 8' x 4' 3/4" MDF
- $14 - 3 3' threaded rods
- $8 - Nuts/Washers

Even including cutting costs, this comes out to less than $50 CDN. You can't beat that! Even if you add damping and plastic washers it doesn't cost much more. What are you waiting for, go and build yourself one!