Atacama Eris Eco 5.0 (4 shelf) review

Best equipment support, Awards 2013. Bamboo makes this rack a master of shelf control Tested at £460

What Hi-Fi? Verdict

Best equipment support, Awards 2013. Atacama is back with a great-performing, well-built and well-priced kit rack

Pros

  • +

    Allows the innate agility of your kit to shine through

  • +

    modular

  • +

    aggressive pricing

Cons

  • -

    Some rivals will encourage a richer, smoother presentation from your system

Why you can trust What Hi-Fi? Our expert team reviews products in dedicated test rooms, to help you make the best choice for your budget. Find out more about how we test.

When the all-wood Hi-Fi Racks Podium arrived a couple of years ago, it ended the glass-shelved/metal-framed Atacama Equinox’s long-term domination of this sector, winning a couple of Awards along the way.

Atacama is hitting back, though, with two ranges of wood-baced supports. The Eris is the first we’ve seen.

MORE: Awards 2013

It’s a modular design (each layer costing £115) with 40mm thick bamboo shelves. Why bamboo? In tests Atacama preferred the results to traditional wood alternatives.

Trying a range of components including the likes of Marantz’s CD6004, Audiolab’s 8200CD and amplifiers such as Roksan Caspian M2 the results are uniformly good.

Racks don’t actively improve sound; they merely allow the system to perform better by controlling resonances and reducing vibrations fed into the electronics.

Whatever we placed on the Eris sounded more agile, detailed and dynamic than on any of the similarly-priced alternatives we tried.

The house-proud will be happy to know the frame comes in a variety of finishes, too. Add fine build and easy construction to the list of plus points and there’s much to admire here.

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What Hi-Fi?

What Hi-Fi?, founded in 1976, is the world's leading independent guide to buying and owning hi-fi and home entertainment products. Our comprehensive tests help you buy the very best for your money, with our advice sections giving you step-by-step information on how to get even more from your music and movies. Everything is tested by our dedicated team of in-house reviewers in our custom-built test rooms in London, Reading and Bath. Our coveted five-star rating and Awards are recognised all over the world as the ultimate seal of approval, so you can buy with absolute confidence.


Read more about how we test