When I first built my theater, I set up my equipment rack and I was pretty happy with how I dressed and organized the wires...

Over time, however, components were added: An HD-DVD player, PS3, HD-DVR, HDMI switcher, Network switch, Slingbox, etc. I was so excited to use each new toy that I just made the connections and didn't think much about making it pretty...

It was clearly time to make it look good again, even if I'm the only one who ever goes behind the scenes. First, I used a basic Brother labelmaker to label each wire before I pulled them all apart. The only wires I left in place were the speaker and Buttkicker wires, since my receiver and BK amps would sit in approximately the same spots in the "new" rack.

Then I took out each rackshelf and component and began rebuilding the rack from the bottom up. This also allowed me to clean each shelf and component thoroughly...

I loaded up the components, but now I had no room for the old monitor that I was using in the rack (to quickly set up Tivo/DVR shows). I mounted the monitor to a new board that I put up next to my equipment rack. I also mounted the Slingbox, Switch, HDMI Switcher, MRF-300 (RF-to-IR router for my MX-3000 remote), the RF antenna for the MRF, an extra IR distribution block, and a simple A/V switcher so that I can switch between DVR and Tivo on the mini-monitor...

I tied up the wires in groups. First I routed and tied up all of the power cords, which all go into a Panamax conditioner. Then I did one component at a time, keeping everything labeled, organized, and routed in a way so that I can easily disconnect components for repair/replacement/etc. It's still a huge bundle of wires, but now the back of each component is clearly visible, and the "logic" of my signal flow is more obvious thanks to the labeling and routing. Some of the wires are custom terminated, but most of them are pre-terminated interconnects. That made it pretty difficult to tie up any extra slack and keep it out of the way.

That's my photo story. My wife sure didn't seem to care, so I thought I'd share it with some fellow enthusiasts who might be interested in such a thing.

jj

I'm jeolous. Can you come do mine next? ;)

As a neat freak - beautiful. Functional and organized.

Where did you get your shelves?

Nicely done. You must work as an IT somewhere!

Where did you get your shelves?

A few different sources. I had gotten some of it from Markertek a couple years ago when I built the rack. I just bought two new ones from someone on Ebay that was looking to get rid of a couple of custom shelves (for components that I don't own). One of the Ebay shelves fit the PS3's depth and height, so I bought a faceplate from stayonline.com for it, and voila! I had a custom shelf for the PS3 for about half the normal price. The other Ebay shelf fit the height/depth of my HD-A2, and the faceplate that came with it was very close in dimensions to it as well. So it has an "almost" custom faceplate shelf, although I had to raise the player up a bit to fill in the opening on the faceplate cutout.

jj

Nicely done. You must work as an IT somewhere!

Nope. But I have watched a top-notch rackbuilder at work, so I got some ideas about how to do it. My work pales in comparison to his, but I'm still happy with the outcome. It's actually not that difficult. You just need a lot of patience, a lot of time, and a crapload of zipties (oh, yeah--and a plan).

jj

I admire your dedication, but I've accepted the fact that the rear of my equipment will always be a mess.

WOW! Great work!

Looks wonderful.

CJ

Looks good! Neat and logical. Just how much time did you spend doing and redoing your rack? BTW I can fully understand the need to come here and share with those who will appreciate your work.

My wife while indulging me in my HT endeavor, just does not appreciate the small nuances like a well laid out (equipment) rack or HD-DVD Bluray etc. etc.

Well done.

Regards,

RTROSE

Looks good! Neat and logical. Just how much time did you spend doing and redoing your rack?

Thanks! I'm not totally sure how much time it took. All in, I would guess that it was around 8-10 hours to do it all, including labeling, taking it all down, and then putting it all back together. The biggest downside is that the system was essentially off-line until I put it all back together (although that did give me an incentive to get it done). I had the rack plan drawn out ahead of time, so I knew where everything was going to go. That helped eliminate extra time spent trying to figure out how to set up the shelves (see attached).

jj

Man, I wish the back of my rack was that organized. Good job.

if you switch the zip ties for velcro wraps it makes it much easier to thread additional cables into existing bundles later. Just an idea.

if you switch the zip ties for velcro wraps it makes it much easier to thread additional cables into existing bundles later. Just an idea.

My thought also. Otherwise beautiful work.

VERY nice and neat cabling work!!! I wish I have half of your patience...... :p

Show those pics to a pro AV company and watch how quiclky they offer you a job...hard to find guys that do work that good. Nice job!

Frank

I agree with every one, the back of this AV rack looks really good and VERY neat. Those are the things I will personally enjoy working on once my HT project is completely finished.

Excellent job....looks really clean!

Jeff,

What a coincidence! I have been dying to do this after seeing all the tidy racks here and elsewhere... I have to say your's looks great - one of the best I've seen. I'm envious - I'm was trying to figure out the best way of doing ths this task myself! I have to return my Pioneer Elite 74TXVi amp for a ROM upgrade, so I thought what better time to do it since I have to take my equipment down anyway...I've attached a couple shots of my equipment rack, although it's more of a cabinet. My wiring is definitely in need of re-routing.

I constructed this cabinet myself out of birch plywood and maple for the face frames, with moveable shelves, and I really like it. I have space on the back side for cable management components and power strips. Like you, I'm also planning to add the additional panel similar to what you have done for my network gear and video/RG6 wiring and any components that don't go in the rack. The panel will go in the space between the studs behind the rack in the last shot below.

http://www.visi.com/~pwwiebe/house/img_1005a.jpg
http://www.visi.com/~pwwiebe/house/img_0156a.jpg
http://www.visi.com/~pwwiebe/house/img_0159a.jpg

I live in Apple Valley and would love the chance to come and see your rack sometime - do you think that would be possible?

Thanks,
Peter

Sure...drop me a private message and we'll set something up. Maybe this Saturday...I'm home alone with the kids while my wife is off scrapbooking all day.

jj