HT/Listening room rack design

[pdhanwada]

My front wall is 12ft by 9ft

My rack will be 7 ft approximately wide and 31 inches in height.

It is divided into two different racks. Right four comparments will make one piece and the left four will make another piece.

In the center depression I want to insert my center channel and cover it with ply.

I picked the 20' width because most amps are 17' in width.

I have more headroom for Monoblock amps as they generate lot of heat.

Want to create a frame using Mild steel or Iron over which plyboard planks get placed.

In the side of the Mono block comparments will leave 3 to 4 in opening to make sure the heated air passes out.

In the back side I want to most of them open so that we can change connecters and power cables easily.

I also want to keep both the racks on rollers such that they can be moved back and forth easily.

suggestions welcome.

 

[pdhanwada]

Front of the rack will have glass doors/Plywood except for the center speaker. Doors will be opening outside.

 

[Kevian]

Hi Pdhanwada,

Good luck with your venture. Recently, I got my wall unit finished. It is 7ftX6ft. Total budget on this was 15k. All made of plywood and glass



Take a look at it. If you have not finalized on your design, and there is room for expansion, some ideas may trigger for you.

If your place is dust free, then go ahead with opening in the back. Else you can have door system in the back made of 12mm plywood or particle board.

Btw...apart from ply and metal frame, are you using MDF panels or wood for rest of the cabinet?

 

[pdhanwada]

I had another rack made with doors on the backside. But it is still inconvieniant. A portion of it needs to be open so that our hand moves easily. 4 to 5 inches on the bottom side of the portion needs to be open. On the other hand if it is a Amplifier based compartment, then we need top portion needs to be open such that hot air passes out.

I have thought of metal frame such that we can decrease the thickness taken by the plywood. I need to see how it can be implemented. I have a good carpenter on my hand. Let me see how it goes.

I cant increase the height of the rack as I have Projector screen comming down hanging right over it.

Also I will have a space of 30' to each side of rack. In one of the sides I will place my REL subwoofer.

With respect to sizes I might go 1 in +/-. I am not sure about the look of the Rack too. Will take his opinion on it or may be will find some thing on the web.

Thanks
pandu

 

[Kevian]

Good...kindly post picture of your final blueprint..

regarding metal frame...make sure you have that rust free...you have many metal workshops in ranigunj area....near Sai Baba temple to be precise..good luck bro

 

[aminder]

check out mine

plz keep one point in mind and that's proper ventilation

you can use antec av cooler
or can have cooler master equipment for the purpose

 

[pdhanwada]

Any changes on the Rack design. Do you think that functionally it will be good. Any improvements welcome.

I just checked online. standard A/V racks they are all 19 inches in width. I have 4 20 in bays. May be I will decrease couple of them to 19 and the other two I keep them at 20 inches.

I checked with my carpenter, he suggested that it be done on 100 percent plywood. Using metal frame and plywood is going to be more work and more expensive.

I know these guys are not good at doing such stuff. But I am fine. He did my whole house carpentery and the work was pretty good.

 

[Kevian]

I kinda guessed it....a metal frame can be used if you use teak or rosewood frame....but these days carpenters are more inclined towards plywood and nuwood for they are easy to work on and they are more experienced on plywood. Even I had plans of a nice shiny brushed metal frame...but my carpenter said then he'd need wood which means costly affair. And please make sure that he sprays Terminator before you have it primer/painted.

talking about width....try to have it uniform if the partitions are prominent to eye....else its a small matter.

 

[Kevian]

Hey it just struck to me that it'd be a nice idea if you have a green or black granite slab just above cd and dvd player bays...where you intend to put your center channel....it'd be awesome

 

[pdhanwada]

Any inputs on the size of each bays. I have 4 compartments of 20 inch bays and 4 comps of 19 inch bays. 19 inch bays are standard in US. All the equipment made in US fits into 19 inch bays.

The depression in the center is designed for my center channel to fit in.

I have 8 compartments ( too many per current requirements) in the rack. These will probably get used in future in case I buy some mono blocks. That is some years down the line.

If 8 comps are too many then 6 would be the way to go. In such case I will not get a depression for the center speaker. I would need to place it over the table. 4 comps are too few so ruled out.

Another question is size of 7 ft wide by 30 inches height right inbetween the front speakers. What will be the impact on the sound quality.

Suggestions needed.

 

[GeorgeO]

Pandu

With ss equipment I think ventilation needs will be a lot less than tube gear. Also I find that dust generation is a problem, so to keep stuff clean, easy accessibility is a good idea.

 

[magma]

build the rack with a teak framework
the carpenter will be more comfortable, he will be able to use self tapping screw instead of nut bolts that he will use for the metal frame+ply thing
nut bolts are not exactly ideal

ideally the rack is better open but i understand you may have children and hence want the doors

look at myriads setup here
http://www.hifivision.com/my-audio-video-setup/1167-showcase-your-audio-video-setup-here-78.html

 

[gobble]

Any inputs on the size of each bays. I have 4 compartments of 20 inch bays and 4 comps of 19 inch bays. 19 inch bays are standard in US. All the equipment made in US fits into 19 inch bays.

The depression in the center is designed for my center channel to fit in.

I have 8 compartments ( too many per current requirements) in the rack. These will probably get used in future in case I buy some mono blocks. That is some years down the line.

If 8 comps are too many then 6 would be the way to go. In such case I will not get a depression for the center speaker. I would need to place it over the table. 4 comps are too few so ruled out.

Another question is size of 7 ft wide by 30 inches height right inbetween the front speakers. What will be the impact on the sound quality.

Suggestions needed.

20" is bare minimum and should fit most gear.

As long as the speaker cone is at least one feet above the height of the top rack including gear, it may not impede soundstage.

Plywood may sag over time with the weight of the heavygear without bracing. Using 19mm ply will eat up too much space.

I would place the transformer/stabilizer on a totally separate and independent platform as sometimes a bad Trafo can cause mechanical vibrations and hum when switched on.

HTH