I have a media closet immediately adjoining the main theater room.

The dimensions are as follows: 64" by 68" by 97" high.

There are 16 outlets to power all components rack fans and any other item that comes up.

1 plain old telephone line.

2 Cat5e Lines.

1 Coax Line.

I will add any other utilities that are necessary (Any suggestions are welcome)

It has dedicated HVAC to keep it cool (it is tied into the main HVAC that controls the main level in the home).

There is 1 can light in the closet for visibility.

The front AV opening in the theater room is 83.5" tall by 21.25" wide and the bottom of the opening is 12" from the floor now to accomodate the riser that will be installed in the theater room.

I would like suggestions on where to get Rack Materials to customize my own Rack system with the following in mind:

I do not have many components that will be screwed into the rack.

I do not need the rack on a sliding system to pull out and accewss wires because I can easily access them from inside the closet which has rear access.

The floor will not have a riser in the closet unless absolutely necessary.

It will not be on casters unless absolutely necessary.

Here is a view of the back of the theater room the AV closet is on the right, to the left of it is the air return, then the media closet then the original air handler.


http://i556.photobucket.com/albums/ss4/sdiaz911/Basement/ViewofAVClosetandMediaCloset.jpg

Here is a view of the door for rear access to the cables of the AV equipment. As you can see there is a dedicated duct in the closet to control temperature.


http://i556.photobucket.com/albums/ss4/sdiaz911/Basement/RearEntry2.jpg

Here are some of the outlets and utilities


http://i556.photobucket.com/albums/ss4/sdiaz911/Basement/OutletandUtilitiesnAVCloset.jpg

More outlets and the return ducting into the theater room

http://i556.photobucket.com/albums/ss4/sdiaz911/Basement/8out3.jpg

The light just over the Rack


http://i556.photobucket.com/albums/ss4/sdiaz911/Basement/lightinavcloset2.jpg

Another view of the rear access


http://i556.photobucket.com/albums/ss4/sdiaz911/Basement/Rear5.jpg

So where do we go from here?


http://i556.photobucket.com/albums/ss4/sdiaz911/Basement/NewOpeninginbackwallforRack.jpg

http://i556.photobucket.com/albums/ss4/sdiaz911/Basement/8outlets.jpg

I framed it out, similarly to yours and then mounted some rack rails to the sides. I then filled it out with shelves, drawers, and blank panels.

The most important thing I wish I had known but found out after the fact... if you plan to door (such as glass), make sure you set the rack rails back at least 2.5-3" from the front of the opening. You need room for knobs and devices that stick out a bit.




During framing:
http://www.mostlyharmless.org/theater/rack1.jpg

http://www.mostlyharmless.org/theater/rack2.jpg



Semi-finished:
http://www.mostlyharmless.org/theater/av1.jpg


Finished, though hard to see since it is a dark picture:
http://www.mostlyharmless.org/theater/arack3.jpg

Thanks Jamis

May I ask where you purchased the rack materials?

Thanks Steve

cableorganizer.com
stayonline.com (shelves with custom face plates here)
computercablestore.com

The rails I grabbed from the dumpster at work... though you can find decent rails online for around $60-75 a pair. `

I used rails only in my old space. They were like $50-ish. Stayonline is where I got my shelves, and they were as good as it got on MA stuff.

Not having rear rails mad my cable organization a little less pretty than some folks do around here, but it was very functional. I'd do it again if I had the room.

Jamis -

Do you have any detailed instructions on how you did the door for your rack? Do you have any IR problems with the door?

I framed out an extra-wide rough opening and then built an MDFcarcass to slide into the opening to serve as the equipment rack. I attached rack rails to the sides of the carcass. I found this to be easier than trying to make certain the framing was exactly the proper width, square, plumb, etc ....

Jamis -

Do you have any detailed instructions on how you did the door for your rack? Do you have any IR problems with the door?

I had a local glass cutting shop make the door for me. Once it was all framed out with the rails and a few shelves mounted, I measured the opening again and subtracted 1/8" all around for the dimensions of the glass.

Total cost was about $75 for the 1/4" tinted plate glass and about $15-20 for the no-bore hinges, strike plate, magnetic catch, and no-bore handle from rockler.com

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=131&filter=no%20bore
http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=136&filter=no%20bore
http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=134&filter=glass%20hinge
http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=142&filter=magnetic%20catch


As for IR, the rack is behind and to the side of most of the seating. Because of that, I use a Powermid IR repeater with an extra external IR emitter for relaying the IR signal to the equipment rack. The emitter is between the rack and the glass and is pretty good. If the remote is aimed right at the rack it also doesn't have a problem with the signal getting through.

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-iOAOGA1pMaf/p_009PM5900/X-10-PM5900.html
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_009RX569/X-10-RX569.html?tp=1899

I'm doing something similar, but instead of rails I'm just doing an MDF cabinet with adjustable shelf rails... the rough-in and edges covered by door trim... instead of face plates, I'm putting a door on the back and cable conduit coming out one side for each shelf. I'll be removing one stud to fit it in, so a header and jack-studs will be required, but nothing too difficult. Total cost should be around $60. Haven't decided whether to paint the inside flat-black or the future wall color ("creme brule", a medium goldish brown)... I'm leaning towards "creme brulle" since I already have plenty of the paint. I'll post back this weekend as I build.

I am building two a/v racks in the front of my HT. They have both been routed for shelf brackets and installed. I plan on purchasing my door through professionalplastics.com. It will be a 1/4 smoke tint acrylic door.

I copied Jamis setup, but also added in a oversized base as well as more conduit for organization:

old pic before texturing and priming. The garbage bag is full of wires:
http://forums.posdsm.com//imagehosting/356497d07e3b981c.jpg