Can I use the Makara on its vertical cart?
tl;dr, no, the Makara vertical cart is for transport only, with the grille facing up. Read below to find out why:
We offer two wheelcarts for the Makara, one vertical and one horizontal. The Makara isn’t square, and the challenge with using a horizontal cart with the Makara is that it will not fit through many doorways in that orientation, but if it’s desired that the cabinet(s) remain in an operable position on the cart, the horizontal cart is the appropriate cart. For the SSP218 and SSP215, which are also not square, there’s not a vertical cart available. The relevant difference between the SSP218/215 and the Makara is the cabinet depth, which, being 6.5” narrower, allows the cabinets to pass through narrower doorways. In order to allow Makaras to roll through doorways less than 3’ wide, it’s necessary to face the cabinets upwards, like the ZV28, or downwards, which introduces another set of challenges.
If horizontal is considered to be with the output facing horizontally, and vertical is with the output facing vertically, what about with the cabinets standing upright with the output facing horizontally? In my view, based on what I’ve seen in how speakers are handled in a production environment, standing it upright on one end would tend to make it too unstable because the wheels can’t be mounted at the extreme corners of the cart. The wheels have to trail behind their vertical central axis, which puts the pivot point at least 6” back from the leading edge of the cart.
When a ~300lb, 4’6” tall speaker is being pushed along on a cart with the leading support point 6” behind the leading edge, and it hits a cable, a threshold, a rock, a connector or a pavement transition, it’s entirely too likely that the whole thing will topple over. Someone could get seriously hurt if it was transported in this position. Thus the solution that allows the Makara to be rolled through most doors, and allows it to travel safely on a cart, is to orient the cabinet vertically, face up.
Don't the ZV28 and VS21 allow operation on their vertical carts?
Technically, the ZV28 cart was designed to allow the cabinet to transport in a vertical orientation, facing upward. The ZV28 does have an additional set of feet which allow the cabinet to be placed on the cart with the drivers facing to the side, but the handles are not accessible in that orientation. The ZV28 is square, and originally didn’t have feet on one side. Since people wanted to use the cabinets standing on one side, feet were added there to protect the cabinet finish, and the addition of the feet on the sides is what makes it possible to use the cart from the side as well.
The VS21 is also square, and when horizontal, it is the same width/depth as the Makara. Its vertical cart allows it to be rolled through smaller doorways, but because it’s square, face up or face forward makes no difference to the dimensions of the cart. The VS21 is also asymmetrical, and so had a distinct top and bottom. And since the VS21 already had 12 feet, with 4 on the bottom, adding 4 more to the back of the cabinet didn’t seem practical.
Due to the size and weight of the Makara, and where its center of gravity is located, we do not recommend using the Makara vertically while on a wheelcart.