Back in November I published a review of the 33 Rackit Modular Record Storage Unit, a replacement for the original Per Madsen LP racks. Afterward, I was contacted by Ryan Tinsel who informed me that he also was making a replacement for the Madsen racks.
Per Madsen in San Francisco made a modular storage system which included modules for LPs, 45s, CDs, and a variety of other formats. His record racks could be found in the homes of many record collectors and audiophiles, but also in record company offices and mastering studios.
In 2008, Mr. Madsen decided to retire and was unable to find anyone to take over the business. All the jigs and special tooling that were used for his rack products were discarded. But the demand still remained and a lot of people who invested heavily in the Per Madsen Rackit system over the years have been looking for additional modules to go with their existing racks.
A company called TwoCan HiFi briefly sold replacement CD and LP racks, but stopped making them after a fairly short period of time. Then a Canadian company, 33Rackit, started making some excellent replacements for the LP racks (HERE)
As I mentioned above, I received a message from Ryan Tinsel (at http://ryantinselwoodworker.com and https://www.etsy.com/shop/RyanTinselWoodworker) who is also making Rackit replacement modules. He is selling both an LP module and a 180-unit CD rack (and interestingly it seems he was subcontracting the CD rack for twocanhifi when they were selling them). I ordered one of the LP racks online and it arrived a few weeks later.
It seems that both Ryan and 33Rackit are making these as ordered, rather than keeping many in stock, so they are both taking a while to ship. For US customers, the shipping from Ryan Tinsel in Portland is a little bit cheaper than ordering from 33Rackit in Winnipeg, but the difference is not a huge one.
The difference between the racks themselves is not huge either. Fit and finish on the Ryan Tinsel rack is perhaps a tiny bit better than on the 33Rackit rack, and the finish is a little closer to that of the original Rackit racks. The screws used are a better match to the original Rackit ones (although they do take a bit more work to drive into place than the narrower ones used by 33Rackit). The prices are comparable. Both are solid.
In addition, something that is very cool is that Mr. Tinsel is selling the CD storage unit. I can't say anything about the design or quality of that, having never seen one, but it's something he has that 33Rackit doesn't. On the other hand, he is selling only the LP racks and the CD storage units, no tops or bottom dollies. Whereas 33Rackit sells a complete set with tops and bottom dolley together as well as the individual LP racks. (Unfortunately neither one of them are selling the 45 racks or the 90-unit CD racks.)
On the other hand, Mr. Tinsel has individual LP rack modules available while 33Rackit sells them only in a set of two.
So, I can highly recommend both of these company's products. Both are solid, well-made, and perfectly compatible with the original Madsen designs. Which one you should buy depends entirely on which parts you want and there is no reason not to buy the modular storage unit (two LP modules, dolly and top) from 33Rackit, and then add a couple of the CD storage units from Ryan Tinsel to it. That is the beauty of standards and modularity (which is something we are painfully in need of elsewhere in the high end community).
