Show me your RACK - Page 47

One idea behind rack mounting is compatibility. There's basically two standard sizes, 19" is the most common for computer equipment. 21" is typically only used in commercial telecom installations (like inside a phone company central office). Depths vary. So pretty much any 19" rack is going to be the same as any other, in terms of whether stuff will fit in it (by width). The differences between racks is the mounting holes. Some use threaded holes. Some use unthreaded round holes (designed fr using cage nuts that clip on). Others (sometimes Dell and APC) use square holes designed for a different kind of cage nut that pops into the square hole. An advantage to cage nuts is you don't have to worry about the holes becoming cross-threaded or stripped out.

Swing-out racks are useful in some situations. They're generally not going to hold as much weight as an upright or fixed place would. Swinging out a lot of equipment and wiring is not as trivial as just opening a door or an access panel. You're putting the wiring at risk by moving it a lot. So generally I wouldn't use a swing-out without having all the wires come to wall plates of a patch panel on the wall. That way you'd only be moving easier to replace patch cords.

Also note swing-outs like that one require side spacing for the equipment to pivot. You're not going to use that one for a flush-mounted panel. For flush mount you have to use a slide-out and then pivot kind of setup (or just slide-out).

The rack looks to be usable. 20" deep with standard spacing and 12/24 taped round holes.

I'd neuter the swing out function with a couple of holes with bolts and nuts.

12-24 is the less common screw size. The most popular is 10-32. Nothing wrong with 12-24 other than finding rack screws with plastic washers.

If you have trouble try www.mcmaster.com They have all types of raw screws including black and plastic washers.

Or Ebay.

Oh, man, I was way off.

It's a 20U, 35" tall, 20" depth, wall mount, swing out rack, with threaded holes.

Might be a little on the short side, depending on what you want to put in it, but might work well for your needs.

This rack I built myself, using spalted maple and red cedar, along with tinted tempered glass shelves I had cut and tempered to fit my specs for the cabinet.
I went this route because I had the gear in a room where I planned not to modify the walls/structure for an integrated rack, and I refused to pay $500+ for similar racks in catalogs.
It's got 5 shelves, supports and holds anything I've thrown at it up to and including 301 CD jukeboxes, and flagship AV receivers like the Integra DTR-80.3 and Onkyo TX-NR5009.

I have the rack in my Sun Room right now, adjacent to my living room where my TV and speakers reside. Everything is controlled via RF relay to discrete IR emitters.

This unit is going to be moved into my bedroom shortly, and replaced by a Sanus CFR2136 36U rack I'm going to build into the wall. The rack arrives tomorrow, and the 1U power conditioner and lighting module comes Tuesday.
Then I need to run some lines in-wall for the rack, and start tearing out the window where the rack goes, and drywalling in some space for the rack.

It's going to be quite a project.

Looking at the previous postings here, i see people have bought from Middle-Atlantic, Sanus etc. I have a basic question here - I see most of the racks come with glass doors. For example, http://www.amazon.com/Techcraft-SF50.../ref=de_a_smtd
If i have a rack with glass door on the side of my projector screen (say 2 to 3 feet distance) towards the wall, does that not reflect lights coming from projector? Just want to be sure whether reflection will not be a problem with all these fancy models..

Are there any retail stores that someone can recommend? Ideally i would like to see the piece before purchasing it?

Many audio "stands" come with glass doors, true "racks" may have the option for a glass/plexi door. Most of the true racks you see in this thread don't have official rack doors. If the rack is hidden it's usually behind a panel that's crafted to blend into the theater decor. Or the rack is mounted flush with the wall.

A "stand", like that excellent example built by GlassWolf above (really, really nice job!) doesn't have the components-supported-by-the-rails structure of a true "rack". But we very commonly call any audio stand a rack, especially when its populated with cool gear.

There are a few true racks that are styled a bit to look more like audio stand (a piece of furniture), and racks can also be built inside furniture.

But to answer your question, yes, I would avoid any glass doors on the front wall of a theater setup. May not be a problem at all, but I'd avoid it just in case... I had to do quite a bit of searching just for a console table that didn't have any glass - for the same concern as yours.

Jeff

In my last theater, I used the Middle Atlantic smoked plexiglas doors on the racks (slim-5). They were up front, but facing across the room (not directly at the viewer). Worked great, and the lights on the equipment were not annoying. I would not want the lights facing the viewer up front, even with the smoked plex door in front.

In my last theater, I used the Middle Atlantic smoked plexiglas doors on the racks (slim-5). They were up front, but facing across the room (not directly at the viewer). Worked great, and the lights on the equipment were not annoying. I would not want the lights facing the viewer up front, even with the smoked plex door in front.

I am more worried about light that can possible come from projector screen hitting the glass door and again reflected..

I'm not using a projector so it wasn;t really a concern for me, but the Sanus Foundation racks come with a glass door. Personally I plan to tint the door glass on mine when it goes into the wall, and it's on a side wall to where the Plasma TV is, so reflection isn't a big concern for me, but here are a couple pics of the Sanus 36U rack that just arrived..

This is the 1U power conditioner I also have (not my SOny unit though)


Rack with door open (front)


Rack with door closed (front)


back and side panel shot of the rack with tool-less panel removal and locks


Where the rack is sitting now, is where it's going to reside when I knock out the windows in front of it, and drywall it into place here:



left wall, in front of the tree is where the rack will end up being placed. I also need to put in the 2-gang plate behind the TV for AC outlet and cable drop, so I can hide all the wiring for the new TV in-wall as well.


I just need to re-route some wiring for satellite DVR, speaker wiring (in-wall), and electrical dedicated circuits when the windows come out.

I still dont and never will understand what is with people and having so much money in their racks then you see a pic of their tv and (in most cases) have less money in their TV. Seems redundant to me concerning home theaters. But then again, I would never spend more on my speakers or any one amp than my TV either. No one should but many people do. My question is... why?

Just my opinion but... Put a 70 - 80" on that wall before you spend $2k on a rack bro! You might also want to remount the tv a little higher Just sayin'...

Nice racks either way though...

Racks are a luxury item and to each his own, but disagree on the speaker reference. Speakers are one item in a HT that do not depreciate like electronics and that's b/c the technology doesn't change that quickly. A $2k display will be lucky to be work $500 on CL in a couple of years. Also, speakers tend to get significantly better as you go up in $$ (within reason of course) but with display, the law of diminishing returns kicks in a lot sooner. Even more so with todays technology where its just a few manufacturers assembling them.

I agree on the speaker comment, I have a set of mirage speakers from the early 90's and love them I have no plans to replace them anytime soon. I still think that speakers made today are not of the same quality as they were in the past before china started producing the vast majority of them.

The same can be said for putting 20's on cars, high-maintenance crazy trophy wives, and all kinds of other nonsense. Sometimes it's just "because".

There are potential upsides to using a rack like orderly and secured wiring, better airflow and looks and consolidation of controls. All of which can be done without a rack. All of which can be done poorly with a rack. So while they're not necessary they do have some appeal worth considering. I don't know that I'd go out of my way to spend $2k on one, but I wouldn't insult someone that chose to do so.

Firstly, I have a 60" on the wall and I sit ten feet from it. It's plenty large enough, and ISF calibrated. The room isn't large enough to accomodate a projector, nor have I any intention of going through the hassle of light control for one, either.
I got the TV from a local shop, new, for $580 out the door instead of the %1400 retail price because it's a 2011 model. I got the entire rack setup for under $800 delivered, and the KEF reference speakers I bought for $400 and restored them myself. I don't have tons of money to spend on anything. I'm disabled, have been through 4 organ transplants among other medical issues, and am visually impaired, so while I can enjoy the TV, I have no need to buy a 3D set since I can't see anything in 3D anyway, and I consider that whole fad to be just that. A fad. I'm happy with my choices, and my system, for what I've spent, and the work I've done myself to install it and make it work.

I typically buy items used or even damaged, and do the repairs myself so I can get better gear for less money. Thrift store finds are also a large contingent of my gear, such as the Sunfire sub I picked up from Good Will with some shot capacitors. I re-capped the plate amp, and it's good as new, for next to nothing. My hearing is far better than my vision, so yeah, I spend more on the audio side of things, but I don't get as disappointed trying to find something good to listen to, as I do trying to find something worth watching.. especially more than once.

Everybody has their own priorities. I respect that you'd rather go for better visual than audio. I really enjoy home theaters with projectors and such.. I just don't have the money or space anymore to do a system like that. I am selling a 7350 sq ft home right now, and just moved to one that's 3100 sq ft. None of the rooms in this new home were really ideal for a dedicated HT or listening room, so I made do with what I was given to work with. My intention of using the rack in-wall was simple. It was to hide all the gear away out of sight and give me a clean installation taht left most of my living room usable as a living room instead of having everything racked up on the floor. The KEFs may eventually be replaced with some MartinLogan electrostatics, but I dislike sat/sub setups, so the floor standing speakers are going to stay, in some form. I much prefer them for listening to music.

Yeah I forgot to mention that I have several cats also, and the rack will keep them out of the AV gear. No chewing or peeing on the cables, or leaving fur all over the amps they like to sleep on because they're so nice and warm, etc.. and I cal lock the rack which adds a minimal amount of security in addition to the home alarm system (and attack cat.) I can also manage better controlled air flow through a rack with push-pull fan layouts, and much neater cable management. The rack with a tinted glass door also keeps everything tucked away so the room/install looks a lot cleaner.

I used a 5 shelf AV rack prior to this Sanus model, and while it works great, it also gets very dusty on the glass shelves and gear, and there is literally no protection for any of the gear, from anything, be it peoples' kids, the pets, or the clumsy vacuum cleaner bumping into things occasionally.

In regards to the speakers vs display, I also agree on depreciation. I buy a new TV about once every 10 years. I went from a 27" Mits tube set to a 46" Mits widescreen RPTV, then to this new Panasonic plasma, and every time, the prior TV was practically given away, or tossed out. They retain hardly any value beyond about 2-3 years in most cases.
Speakers on the other hand.. My KEFs for example, are still considered really good speakers, and still sell on eBay for $500-1000/pair vs the $3000 they cost new back around 1984-1993. The speakers I have, are ones I wanted since I first heard them in a store in Va, back around 1990 when I worked as a car audio installer, and fell in love with them. Now that I have them, I have no desire to upgrade to something else for the time being. I haven't heard anything I feel sounds much better for under about 5 to 8 grand per pair, and I just don't have the money to spend for those. The ESLs I'd like also require a larger room with better sound treatment and are more picky about positioning, which is just more hassle than I'm prepared to deal with now too.

Anyway, I'll post pics when the rack is in the wall and everything is done.

What types of IR blasters are people using when it comes having the RSH or DIY faceplates on your rack? I'm currently looking at one Niles makes because I think I could slip it between two plates and have it support itself:

Here

Any other alternatives? I'd like to avoid having individual emitters stuck on the equipment.

I use a logitech harmony 900 remote with the included RF blaster that takes RF from remote to blaster, then converts back to the normal IR at the emitters. I also use an 8-emitter Sewell IR dual-band repeater so the single Logitech emitter relays to 8 disrete emitters on the devices.

I hope that makes sense.

Why? They're cheap and the most reliable method of IR blasting... They still allow direct IR control (transparent), and if you need to, you can cover them with a shield to prevent interference.

Although it probably doesn't apply to your setup, if used with any 'routing' function, individual blasters allow multiple instances of identical components without resorting to multiple IDs.

Jeff

if you don't want discrete emitters, look at a harmony 900 or 1100 remote with the logitech RF blaster. It allows 2 or 4 IR "blasters" which each have 3 IR emitters in them fired in a 90 degree or so radius, to be used. The blaster is optional on the 1100, included with the 900

question on equipment rack:
I need to install a 24 port internet switch on the A/V rack (middle Atlantic), can anyone suggest a make/model except from Crestron and Garret with connection on the back to obtain a clean look of the rack? Marco

Just pick any regular switch, rack-mountable or not. They're usually shallow, so either mount it facing the rear on the rear rails, or set it on a half-depth shelf (mounted on the rear rail). Fill the gap in the front with an appropriate blank plate...

I just velcro'ed a small switch to the underside of an existing shelf. Attaching it to the top of an un-vented component is also an option.

These options also allow you to push the switch in a few inches from the rear rail, if you have limited space for cable egress.

Jeff

I use the small emitters on my equipment right now. They do work well. I used them because of that exact reason. I had 3 Blu-ray players that were all the same model. I recently changed them out so now all my equipment is unique though. Personally, I find the emitters ugly and want to get rid of them. Wires coming coming through the rack doesn't work with the look I'm trying to achieve. I tested the blasters before I gave up my Harmony remote and all the equipment works without a hitch. I do have a white wall directly across from my rack, so maybe some reflection was involved. Either way it works just as well as individual emitters.


I actually just got rid of my Harmony 900 because I didn't like it. I was thinking of using the logitech blasters, but they're pretty big against the equipment rack. So far the Niles one I linked to is the only low profile one I can find.

Txs Jeff

another option is to stick with discrete emitters, and just open up each component you have, and attach the emitter directly to the IR receiver on the inside of the component face, so the wire comes out the back of the case, and the emitter is unseen.

That is the most invisible way! I'd also suggest the Xantech designer emitters. They are extremely small, and with some careful cable routing, are almost invisible... The new "pro" designer emitter is even made to be attached and dressed - with a pigtail cable to make it easier to do...

Jeff

Considered it, but changing equipment and moving them around becomes hard. The emitters I have are 4 branching off from one wire, so it essentially tethers 4 pieces of equipment together.


Wow, I never new those existed. Very cool!

The link to them:
http://www.xantech.com/Infrared/Infr...tters/283DPRO/

yeah I'm using a 36U rack with everything mounted, so I don't swap out gear that often, really.. and I use an IR repeater with 8 discrete heads, so it works out. Technically I can just leave the screws out of the sides of the gear, since each component is strapped to teh shelf it's on, then held in place additionally with a backstop to prevent it from moving.
If you're swapping out gear more often, you'd be better off with the custom emitters.