I am looking at installing rack rails with Mid-Atlantic custom shelves and parts.

My questions is what do most people use? Powder coated or black brushed anodized? I assume the latter but I also notice that their very fine filter panels (with very small holes that aren't terribly obvious) only comes in black powder coated. If I went with the brushed for everything (which I feel will match the finish of components better), will the powder coated vent panels look out of place or is the difference of powder coating on a vent panel insignificant.

The other alternative is to do all of them powder coated and save some bucks but then I don't know how that will look with most components.

Another question, can I just get a shelf that accomadates the component and then add the face plates later? I know you can order the face plates separate (AFACE, SFACE) however I am unsure if they fit the universal shelves (U1..U4, U317) or only fit on the RHS4X custom shelves.

Any insight from people that have experience with these parts would be appreciated. I just about have all the things needed to begin construction.

I use the powder coated and it looks fine. The face plates fit on a normal shelf but it has to be the proper height. Check on the Middle Atlantic web site for the proper shelf height for each one of your components then later just put the face plate on the shelf.

I also used powder coated and it looks fine. Both coatings were the same price. The real expense is in the shelf.