Show me your RACK - Page 44

Thanks! I went with the RSH custom shelfs/faces. They are on the right side of the Middle Atlantic website under "quick links." I paid about $99 shipped for each shelf/face. They are a little pricey but the look is fantastic! I worked with Chris at customavrack.com He will price match as well which is how I got the best deal! He was great to work with and answered my numerous questions before I ordered. Some of the websites I found to pricematch were smarthome, acmelectronics, and performanceaudio. Some of these have discount codes so do a search beforehand. Hope that helps!

that's sweet

Ooo I wish...

Very nice... thats exactly what I was thinking for my application as far as the way the front looks and the way the back is supported. I would also want a glass front door on mine. How big is your unit? Spaces/U's?


Me too although I'm considering making custom shelves and using the MA faceplates if its possible. Like, maybe I would just buy the front rails of an MA rack to connect the faceplates to. If not, a nice MA rack with their faceplates when I can afford it although spending more than $500 on a rack is not really in my budget.

Got the Isotek Aquarius into place which about wraps it up for now. Heres some rack shots

Unboxing & installing Isotek Aquarius

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Completed rack, front & back

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Equipment cupboard from rear. Solid door, locked rack, lots & lots of wires

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I went with the slim 5 29u rack. They make a 20 and a 26 inch deep model. I went with the 26 inch deep model because my sherwood R-972 is pretty deep. I was concerned that it would be just too much but it turned out to be the right one for me.

nice setup needs a bit of cable management work...

Agreed. Some lacing bars would polish that off

Not sure who replies about cable management are to : ) if me - yeah, will make an effort to tidy up soon - just wanted to get it all going really - its been a LONG 12 months lol

Great, thank you for the info! Maybe I'll be able to post up my rack here soon.

Edit:

The rack alone (on the link you provided) was $50 cheaper than the place I was looking at! whew. Thanks again.

You bet! Make sure to post pics when you get it completed!

It's not as nice as most of the racks in here but I only paid a 100 bucks off Cragslist for it

I've seen several MA WRK racks show up on eBay the last few days, in IL, OH, and Atlanta, if anyone is interested. Some will ship.

Very nice rack James... I actually really dig the red. Just need to get you some faceplates and fillers and you will have a better, more unique rack than any here. I've never seen one in red.

...and I see you're in Winston. I'm from Winston originally now living in Charlotte. Have you been over to the regional forums and discovered the NC threads? We're supposedly having a meet in Raleigh in a week or two at one of the members houses. PM me if you're interested.

-Nate

I really like those cage nuts, instead of the standard screw holes.

Anyone, perchance, seen or heard of a Slim 5 configured with cage nut (square) holes, for the front and/or rear rails? It's not an option on the MA Slim 5 page, but is an option for other MA racks.

I think I'll prob end up contacting MA for that one.

MA says no, Slim 5 cannot be configured with cage nut style rails.

Very prompt response from MA. Good company.

Thanks, radchad3, for posting this.

I'm just about getting ready to place an order for an AV rack and was going to order from either Smarthome or Stayonline or a combo of both when I ran across your post.

I did a quick check of the site you posted and their prices are pretty good, especially on the custom face plates. But how did you get them for $99 each? The price on the site is $109. I spoke with him today just before he left and I said I would send him a quote request.

I may PM you about your purchase as mine seems like it will be very similar.

radchad3, your set up looks really nice.

I am planning a set up that should be very similar.

AV Closet:
We are currently building a HT and I made a dedicated media equipment closet (30"W x 24" D) at the rear.

There is a 2'x4' cut out through the rear wall of the HT into the media closet. The front of the rack and equipment will poke through that front opening into the HT and the rear of the rack will stick out into the closet behind.

There is a door on the other side of the closet so I will have clear rear access to all the equipment. There is a whisper quiet ventilation fan at the top and a air register in the front bottom of the closet that will draw fresh air in from the HT. The air flow will enter from below the rack in the front and exit out the top. The fan is controlled by an in line thermostat.

If I rest the front end of the rack in the cutout so that the rack front is flush with the interior of the HT wall, I think I could squeeze a 26" DEEP rack in the closet, but it would be tight in the back, although with the closet door open it shouldn't really matter. Even so, I just decided to stick with the 20" deep rack. None of my equipment is deeper than that and even if I get something deeper than that I don't mind it sticking past the end of the rack.

AV Rack:
Here's what I'll probably be getting:
Slim 5-29 (20" deep model)
3 x MA Custom plates (for AVR, BDP, and Power conditioner)
1-3 x Emotiva rack ears (for amp(s))
MA Blank plates

Equipment (The stuff I'll put in there):
Onkyo 3009 (MA custom face plate)
Oppo 93 (MA custom face plate)
Belkin PF60 (MA custom face plate)
Emotiva XPA-5 (URE-4 rack ears from Emotiva)
[Possibly 1 or 2 Emotiva UPA-2's. I have 2, but don't know if I will use them in this set up. If I do, they will be mounted with the URL-2 rack ears from Emotiva.]

The 5-29 has a 29U height.

The components above are 15U worth of stuff. Plus another 2 for each UPA-2 that I add. Plus I'll probably have some stuff like a Roku box hidden inside but not showing from the front, so another 1U-2U for hidden stuff.

I was thinking of just getting the 5-21, but felt that it would just be too tight and not really leave any room for expansion.

On the other hand, the height of a 5-29 will not fit in my 2'x4' opening, so I will have to reframe the height of that opening. It's already drywalled and painted, but not trimmed out or carpeted, so a pain, but not horrendous.

But I figure I should just bite the bullet now rather than (probably) continually regret it later, and constrain myself to almost no room for expansion (especially if I end up installing both UPA-2's).

I will pad the width of the opening to more closely fit the 19 1/8" width of the Slim 5 rack before trimming.

I'm getting ready to put in an order too- got quotes from ACMElectronics and CustomAVRack- I'll try not to talk price too much but Acme seems to be cheaper per unit while Custom seems to drop ship from more locations which saves a bit on shipping. There seems to be a little wiggle room in pricing, and depending on where you live, I'd go with the one who's closer to your location. Both provided comparable service and alerted me that MA is planning on an across the board price increase on 1 April.

Performanceaudio has a good deal on the custom face plates. Then use take5 for another $5 off and free shipping. This makes it 103.96 minus 5 equals 98.96. I ordered from Chris simply because he matched the price and well as a couple of other prices and he was very fast in answering emails. I felt that he earned the business!

Also, if you can fit the 26" deep model it may be worth it. The emotiva amps I think are 19" deep. If not, don't sweat it, you can look at the offset lacing bars to give you some room if you got the 20" deep model. I think the 29U model is the right choice though even if it is alittle more work to fit it in. I also have about 15U for components but by the time you account for upgrades in the future and some ventilation space for the receiver/amps you are about right!

Thanks for the info, radchad3!

The only thing is that after I add the code, it drops below $100 so the free shipping goes away.

I guess I can add a blank insert or something to the order to help pad it out and in the end it may not matter if Chris can match these prices anyway. But just in case he can't and I have to order things from different sites, I'd like to bundle things into groups of close to $100 to essentially get 5% off.

I'm assuming this TAKE5 promo allows multiple uses?

I think deep components can stick out of the back of a 20" deep rack without an issue, if it's a fixed rack and nobody will see the back. The offset lacer bars provide adequate cable management to keep it tidy for the owner (the one person who will see the back).

Also, I was going to ask you what were the exact dimensions for the finished opening you framed in your cutout opening to get the rack to fit?

Yours looks pretty snug with the trim right up against the edges of the rack.

I was going to make the opening about 1/4"-1/2" larger than the rack (whose outer dimensions based on specs are 19 1/8"W x 54.5"H). That would make it 19 1/4-19 3/8"W x 54 5/8-54 3/4"H. I figure the 1/4"-1/2" extra would give me just enough room to slide it in (and out if necessary later) without too much trouble.

I was going to add the facing trim flush with the edges of the cut out (the inside of the opening will also be finished and trimmed out so it would be OK if it showed). Or I could make the facing trim overhang the inside of the cutout a bit so that it you can't see any gap around the rack frame.

I'll try to post some pics of the rough opening that is currently there if I can figure out how to post pics.

Thanks, both, for your input.

Yes, I could fit a 26" deep model in there, but only if I have the front of the rack rest inside the cut through to the HT and have the front of the rack flush with the inside rear wall of the HT, which is about 5 1/2" thick (it has 2 layers of 5/8" drywall on the HT side).

I was going to do this anyway, but it would be a little tight with respect to accessing where I positioned the outlets for power and AV wiring along the one side wall. Plus, I would like to leave some flexibility in case I want my rack to sit further back and not flush with the HT wall (not sure why I would do that except may to mount some kind of glass door that sits just inside the cut through opening.

Yes, and I think the Emo amps are my deepest components for now, which are 19", so they should fit. And as Neurorad indicated, if I get something that is deeper than 20" down the line and it sticks out a bit in the back, I don't mind as nobody but me will really see the back.

Yes, shipping is definitely a factor to consider. Chris at CustomAVRack also alerted me to the MA price increase on April 1, so I'll definitely be placing orders somewhere probably tomorrow or Saturday at the latest.

I am just about finished deciding on how to layout my rack and am getting ready to order everything. However, I would greatly appreciate any comments, advice, and suggestions any of you all could make before I order (probably tomorrow 3/30/12 to avoid the impending price hike).

More details about my set up are described in several posts right above, but here is a summary:

I'm getting a 5-29 Slim 5 with 29U rack height.

I currently have 15U of components (+2U of "hidden stuff") = 17U.

Plus, I may very well end up adding 2-4U more if I end up adding 1 or 2 smaller amps to this rack.

Components:

-Onkyo 3009 (5U)
-Emotiva XPA-5 (5U)
-Oppo 93 (2U)
-Belkin PF60 (3U)
=15U of components

Plus:
-2U for a SH-5A shelf hidden behind a blank face plate for things like Roku device, router, etc... that don't need to be accessed or seen from the front.
-2U-4U if I add 1-2 UPA-2's to this rack; I haven't decided if I'll use them here or somewhere else.

Here are the configuration options from top to bottom that I'm considering. They are basically the same except for whether the vent at the bottom will be 1U or 2U high.

Option A:

-2U = Blank HBL2 (the SH-5A with the router and Roku and maybe a Mac mini will go here)
-3U = Blank HBL3
-2U = Oppo 93 (Custom RSH4A)
-2U = Blank HBL2
-5U = Onkyo 3009 (Custom RSH4A)
-2U = Blank HBL2
-3U = Belkin PF60 (Custom RSH4A)
-2U = Blank (HBL2
-5U = XPA-5 (Emo URE-4)

-2U = Blank HBL2
-1U = Vented Blank VTP1 Option B:

-2U = Blank HBL2 (the SH-5A with the router and Roku and maybe a Mac mini will go here)
-3U = Blank HBL3
-2U = Oppo 93 (Custom RSH4A)
-2U = Blank HBL2
-5U = Onkyo 3009 (Custom RSH4A)
-2U = Blank HBL2
-3U = Belkin PF60 (Custom RSH4A)
-2U = Blank (HBL2
-5U = XPA-5 (Emo URE-4)

-1U = Blank HBL1
-2U = Vented Blank VTP2 Since I have so much empty rack space, I figured I would distribute the empty spaces among the components to help with ventilation. There is active ventilation in this closet. Fresh air in from the HT from below the rack and out the top via a whisper quiet Panasonic bathroom fan.

The air in will be via primarily a register cut in the wall below the rack (which is situated about 18" above the riser in the rear of the HT). However, I figured it wouldn't hurt to have another vent in place of one of the blanks at the bottom of the rack.

I avoided putting a vented blank at the top of the rack in case that would short circuit the bottom to top air flow.

If I added any of the 2 UPA-2 amps, I would put them at the bottom with the XPA-5 and replace 1-2 HBL2 blanks.

I think I prefer Option B as it has a slightly bigger vent and it would leave me with a combo of 1x1U, 4x2U, and 1x3U blank plates which should give me a little more flexibility in terms of being able to expand without having to buy more blanks later.

With this combo of blanks I can accommodate any single component that is 1U-12U high without having to buy any more blanks and retaining the vented plate at the bottom. If I went with Option A, I could accommodate any single component from 2U-12U, but I think I wouldn't have as much flexibility in which blanks to replace in case I add more than 1 component down the line.

Thanks!

I think either option works! The thing about racks is it is all owner preference. I may be wrong but I don't think there is a universal order for components. I have mine (from top to bottom) as: Future Belken PF60, cable box, BDP, receiver, amps. There are no right or wrong answers though!

As far as my cutout, I tried to put my 2x4 framing and drywall cutouts as close to the rack frame as possible. I slid my rack in from the front as the back is pretty snug. I think I probably have less than an 1/8 inch on either side. Then I left the rack out about 1/8 to 1/16 inch from the drywall and pushed my trim right up against the rack. This way you see no gaps or the drywall. It turned out exactly as I hope. Let me know if you need close up pics!

Seems that many blank plates are available on craigslist and eBay.

Can anyone confirm that the black color and texture are difficult to match, if MA branded?

Also, michaeljoo, take a look at the MA Trim Strips, to cover the screwheads. And, consider some lacer bars and wheels. Figure out the number of screws you'll receive with your parts. You seem to want to buy everything at once.

Anyone think wheels might be a good idea, for a rack that will rarely, if ever, be moved?

Yes, I think you are right about that.

In general, the guiding principles I used in determining the order of components in my rack were:

1. In general, bigger, heavier things towards the bottom (hence, the Emo XPA-5, which weighs a ton, and any other heavy amps will likely go towards the bottom). I would imagine this would be something of a general rule of thumb most people would use? I'm thinking it's not a good idea to put all the heavy stuff up top?

2. Put the components that I have to fiddle with more frequently at the most comfortable position for access. The opening starts about 18" off the riser in the rear of the HT, so the components towards the top half (about 4-5') will probably allow comfortable access without having to bend down. So the BDP and the AVR, the two that I'll access frequently will be in those spots.

3. If space is available, space/distribute the components vertically to aid in ventilation and minimize heat build up.

4. I suppose it would be better to put components that generate a lot of heat towards the top vs. bottom, but I'm sure this criterion will sometimes conflict with some of the others and then it's about prioritizing. Since my components will be spaced out and I have active ventilation, this wasn't as big of a concern for me.

If others have other rationales or criteria by which they organize and order the components in their racks, I'd love to hear them.