Salamander Designs A3/M Archetype 3-Shelf Audio Stand (Maple)

Works great. Looks great. Very solid design.

On the stand itself...I recently built a computer from scratch and when I received the new Tower I realized it was much bigger than the Dell it was replacing (prettier too) and storing this bad boy off in a corner of my desktop wasn’t going to work. On the other hand, I didn’t really want it directly on my floor as I didn’t want a lot of dust being sucked in. I looked at a lot of solutions, such as little rolling carts that you could clamp around the tower, straps you could hang from your desk, etc. I also looked at side tables and other furniture I might re-purpose. I didn’t like the carts / straps because they all made accessing the side panels a nuisance (and why build a computer you can’t easily get into?) I didn’t like side tables because none of them seemed to quite have the dimensions I wanted and a second shelf which would allow me to both raise the tower off the floor and put something else on the top shelf. I was surprised how many little tables like this there were not. After this stand, Ikea came closest to having something that might work, but it was a distant second and, while cheaper it was, well, cheaper. I chose this one for a few reasons:1) The size was exactly what I needed. As you can see from attached photo, this table is within an inch of the height of my desk. (And I actually prefer it slightly lower as the printer on top didn’t need any help with height.) I also needed it to be fairly narrow, as to the right I have drawers facing towards the desk that I still wanted to, you know, open. The CPU tower is pretty large, roughly 9” x 18” x 21” (WxHxD). As you can see, it fits perfectly. (Note, there is ~ 5 inches behind the tower, I have it about 1.5” forward from the front edge of the table to improve the access to the USB ports on top, not because the table wasn’t deep enough.) I did have room on each side for backup drives, as well as on top for a portable drive. It was also just the right width for my printer on top.2) I really wanted flexibility on shelf height. The computer is about 7 inches off the floor, which was right in my target distance. Before purchase, I debated between three and two shelves because that bottom shelf was not going to get a lot of headroom, but in the end I figured a small shelf underneath to shove some paper one would work. And it does look tidier this way. That said, I figured I’d get a bit more space on that bottom shelf, but in the end, decided it was better to have more space above the CPU to avoid whacking my hand when pulling USBs out of the top of the tower. So I could have lived without the third shelf. Of course, I didn’t realize I’d want that middle (CPU) shelf a couple of inches lower, so being able to make that sort of tweak after putting it all together was appreciated.3) It is a solid, non-vibrating table. As I built my computer for near-silent running, it didn’t make sense to put it on something that would work against that goal.4) It didn't hurt that the particular color complements my desk, though my desk is actually laminate whereas this is solid wood (and as such it does look far better than the laminate, with slightly richer tones.)The stand has not disappointed, all of the above are met with it. Putting the desktop and printer on this side table gave me a huge amount of extra real estate on my actual desk, it looks nice and it really does feel solid.On Delivery / customer service / assembly...It did take a while for delivery, most vendors who sell this table apparently all order it from Salamander Design, who then builds it after the order comes in and sends it directly to you. (At least for the 3 shelf version) I did find a handful of online retailers who sold it for less than the $349 most are asking for, but as they mostly got customer complaints, I decided to stick with Amazon, who could at least facilitate a resolution with a third-party.The customer service is all you could hope for. After the wait, I was a bit disappointed that one of the legs came rusty. I contacted Salamander, they were very nice about sending me a replacement leg at no cost (with another wait of several days, Amazon Prime really has spoiled me.) Still, after being told by the reseller that I was waiting for “quality control”, I was not impressed, especially as the other 3 legs also had minor blemishes, such a sliver shining through the black, though insufficient to actually justify asking for a replacement.It came well packaged, and the table itself was relatively easy to put together, though I needed some extra hands from other members of the household for a couple of steps, especially when you first put the legs through a shelf. Certainly threading the bolts took a lot less time with several pairs of hands. The boards are sturdy, and the legs are heavy (and very very solid.) There are rubber stoppers for the feet, which my hardwood floor appreciates. You don’t need any extra tools that don’t come with it and the instructions fit on a single page, so even someone who isn’t particularly handy will not find this difficult. The most difficult step (and really it is more tedious than difficult) is getting the shelves level, which is aided by the mini leveler that came with it, and hindered by any minor variations of your floor.For now I am quite happy with this table, it is exactly what I wanted. But I also like that this table is going to last forever and could easily be placed in just about any room and look good.

This is a long term review. I love these stands from a design perspective, very sturdy and nice looking. Extremely versatile with the adjustable shelves. My McIntosh equipment looks right at home on these.The bad: My system is in our living room which faces due north. Yes, we do have windows but the system is on an inner wall that does not get direct sunlight. Even with that, the shelves have faded terribly on the edges that are exposed. I guess it's time for a refinish. I would not buy again, I'll build my own.

Solid, attractive, works well. Equipment is well ventilated. Would like the shelves to be slightly thicker and less resonant - thinking about doubling the shelves, but at $100 per shelf the cost rises quickly.