Sanus NFA245 Conclusions and Overall Perceptions
The Sanus NFA 245 is a component stand that is both highly functional and great looking. The high quality hardwood and finish and the steel and glass construction materials will easily mesh with other furniture-grade pieces in your room. Also, the height of the stand makes using the top shelf ideal for anyone who needs to set up their projector behind their seating area. This stand doesn't just look good; its deep shelves and open-air design also make it highly functional as well. When you're ready to trade in that cinder block and plywood AV rack you've been using since college, the Sanus Foundations Natural Series is well worth consideration.
The Score Card
The scoring below is based on each piece of equipment doing the duty it is designed for. The numbers are weighed heavily with respect to the individual cost of each unit, thus giving a rating roughly equal to:
Performance × Price Factor/Value = Rating
Audioholics.com note: The ratings indicated below are based on subjective listening and objective testing of the product in question. The rating scale is based on performance/value ratio. If you notice better performing products in future reviews that have lower numbers in certain areas, be aware that the value factor is most likely the culprit. Other Audioholics reviewers may rate products solely based on performance, and each reviewer has his/her own system for ratings.
Audioholics Rating Scale
— Excellent
- — Very Good
- — Good
- — Fair
- — Poor
| Metric | Rating |
|---|---|
| Performance | |
| Stability | |
| Build Quality | |
| Ease of Setup/Programming/Integration | |
| Features | |
| Fit and Finish | |
| Performance | |
| Value |  |
See also:
Recent Forum Posts:
Dezoris;531948
Gary!
Where are the pictures?
The stock photo blows and all I can see is a foot, and parts of the back of the unit on the pictures attached.
Yeah, Anyone have a better picture of this thing?
Where are the pictures?
The stock photo blows and all I can see is a foot, and parts of the back of the unit on the pictures attached.
Still, the review pretty much applies exactly to my stand, too.
Okay, it wasn't a lie. I just got excited to almost see my rack reviewed right here at the center of the AV universe.
It does sway slightly, especially if I'm standing there, pressing buttons on my receiver (a Pioneer VSX-82TXS - or whatever). It's on the second to top shelf (I wanted a tall stand so I could finally put my turntable out and not worry about my two-year old daughter playing with it).
But, with that heavy load of the turntable up high, and no real counter-weights at the bottom, it does feel a little top heavy.
I think it could be an inch or so deeper, too, to give you a bit more room in back to plug in banana plugs and interconnects. Some of mine have to make a pretty severe Z between the holes in the back piece and the places where they plug into my receiver.
Casters would have been nice as I had to do most of my connections with the receiver about a foot further out from where it now sits, but I know that would have added to the stability issue.
Still, it's good looking, and the top shelf lines up perfectly with the top of my old-ish (fall, 2002) Sony 57-inch RPTV.
Best part? I only paid about $200, with about $45 shipping, for mine. I ordered it on Wednesday, and it was sitting by my back door that Friday (and that was after the shipping method I elected to use promised an 8 to 12 business day turnaround).
Nice rack. Not perfect, but in this economy, I'm not complaining.
I guess, though, to stabilize the weight issue, what I really ought to do is buy a bunch of massive amps, put them on the bottom shelves, and then use my receiver as a pre-amp. I'm sure my wife would go for that.
