Forged Audio: A Solid Foundation for Your Hi-Fi

What your system sits on matters more than you might think. A look at the Forged Audio Apex racking and BAM speaker stands.

You spend a great deal of time and money on selecting a setup that suits you, you get it all wired up and sounding fantastic but there's something off. There's a noticeable colouring to your playback, a resonance that isn't present in the music. That can be down to what your components are sat on - often hollow, MDF constructed furniture that was never intended for high end audio gear. We love a kallax as much as the next Ikea fan, but your audio equipment deserves better.

Hi-fi components generate vibrations - transformers, motors and turntables can all introduce mechanical energy into the system, potentially adding unwanted resonant character to playback. This can be exacerbated by improper furniture solutions which then add their own resonant character as the vibrations move through the feet of the equipment, into the furniture and then released back as further colouration to the sound.

Superior support for your audio gear

Every component in your system works hard to faithfully reproduce music. The furniture it sits on should ground your equipment, channeling unwanted vibrational energy toward the ground and away from your equipment. The Forged Audio range does just that, allowing you to enjoy your system without colouration from the components or furniture.

Using isolation spikes at each level, the Forged Audio Apex range delivers a stylish, modular solution. The solid natural fibres of the compressed and bonded bamboo provide strength and stability along with resonance-dissipating properties, with enough clearance to provide adequate airflow to the hottest of components.

Airflow can be particularly important as a surprising amount of heat can be generated by AV equipment. The open-sided design leaves components free to dissipate heat naturally, rather than enclosing it inside conventional cabinetry.

Turntables, which are mechanically sensitive, are designed to pick up incredibly small movements in the grooves of a record. Whilst the feet of the turntable are designed to accommodate for this, placing them on improper hollow furniture can result in unwanted resonance travelling back into the system, affecting playback.

The Apex range at a glance

Every Apex module uses the same 620 x 400mm, 36mm thick bamboo shelf and is measured the same way. The figure to check is the usable clearance - the space from the spike feet to the underside of the shelf above. If your component is shorter than that, it fits.

Every module shares the same thread and base fitting, so tiers can be added, removed and rearranged as your system changes, with mixed heights welcome in a single stack. The four Ø38mm solid steel posts sit in from the edges, leaving 500mm of clear width across the front of the shelf, so measure your equipment against that opening rather than the width of the board. For stability and safety, Forged recommend keeping a stack under 1.25 metres.

We also have a range of pre-made module bundles for more standardised setups, with variants specific to vinyl for each.

Classic bundles

Vinyl bundles

The Vinyl variants swap the APEX-250 for the taller APEX-315, giving 330mm of clearance so 12-inch records can stand upright on the rack.

The rack is part of the system, and your room

The Apex range is designed to tonally disappear but tangibly stand out.

The natural bamboo fibres and soft edges provide a timeless aesthetic that blends well into any decor. The different sized modules allow you to configure the shelving as minimally or as maximally as you'd like with the largest module in the range providing excellent clearance for the biggest of amplifiers or ample storage for vinyl to sit comfortably ready for its next spin.

The shelves are substantial 36mm thick, two-ply bamboo boards rather than the veneered panels commonly found in domestic furniture. The bonded layers introduce a further material boundary through which the mechanical energy has to travel, whilst the density and stiffness of the bamboo provides a stable platform for the heaviest of components. Each shelf is supported by four solid steel posts, adding mass and rigidity.

To the rear, or front if you'd prefer, of the shelving are indented cut-outs intended as either an aesthetic front detail or as clearance for cables if placed to the rear, allowing for even more customisation.

The modular design means that when you're ready to swap out a component in your system, you don't have to re-buy a completely new set of shelving.

Paired with a BAM

To match the aesthetic of the Apex modules, Forged also produce the BAM range of speaker stands for standmount speakers. Available in 500mm and 600mm heights, the BAM uses a single mass loadable column with a bamboo base, with a secondary column for a tidier cable run.

With the same soft cornered bamboo on the base of each, the BAM speaker stands become another easy to match piece of furniture that reliably holds down your audio equipment whilst you enjoy what matters - the high fidelity of your music.

See the Forged Audio range

Browse the full Forged Audio range, or speak to Quantum AV if you're not sure which clearances suit your components.

Shop Forged Audio · Hi-Fi Stands & Racks · Speaker Stands · Talk to us