Building my first EQ Rack

BrentMcGhee · 08-08-2005, 01:57 PM

I am about to emabark on my first DIY project and need some help. I am wanting to build an equipment rack. What are some good designs i should be looking at, what type of material, where to get the material, etc,etc.

I would like the rack to have vibration dampning in mind. I have 12 peices of equipment and one is a record player so the rack can not be to tall becasue i need to be able to look down on the record player. Becasue of this i thought i could either build two seperate towers with 6 shelves each or just build one tower with 6 shelves but have it a double wide. Has anyone had any luck or misfortunes with either design?

Any and all help would be tremendous. Like i said i have not done anything DIY before and have no idea even where to start.

amulford · 08-08-2005, 02:29 PM

There is alot to consider. What kind of look are you looking for? How much isolation? Size of the components. Cooling, wire management.

Building the rack is easy. Designing to fit your wants and needs can be difficult.

BrentMcGhee · 08-08-2005, 02:35 PM

Well in my head i was invisioning a completly open design so cooling would not be an issue. As for wire management i do not need any built onto the rack becasue i plan on making the shelves custom height to my equipment and i use very short cables so hiding wires will not be a problem.

The rack does have to be pretty deep though becasue 6 of the 12 peices of equipment are 400 disc changers and those guys are really deep.

As for the vibration i dont really know much about hwo to design a rack around that concept short of brass spikes.... are there other methods or proper ways to implement the brass spikes?

Really my big question right now though is what kind of wood to use for the shelves and what material to use for the uprights. I am going to stain it so it has to be a wood with grain to it.... i.e. no particel board ply wood etc etc.

amulford · 08-08-2005, 02:46 PM

I built one from edge glued pine and regular white pine from HD.

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20956

Isolation can be high mass, isolators, spikes.... Alot of options to explore.

gatemplin · 08-08-2005, 02:59 PM

You sound like a good candidate for a flexi rack, very easy to make. I built one out of birch ply for about $150. You can use rubber washers for isolation. Do some searches.

BrentMcGhee · 08-08-2005, 03:04 PM

that is a really good idea amulford for the tt, i really like the sliding shelf thing.

BrentMcGhee · 08-08-2005, 03:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gatemplin

You sound like a good candidate for a flexi rack, very easy to make. I built one out of birch ply for about $150. You can use rubber washers for isolation. Do some searches.

what is a flexi rack?

tryrrthg · 08-08-2005, 03:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrentMcGhee

what is a flexi rack?

http://www.tnt-audio.com/clinica/flexye.html

I've also built a flexi. quick and easy project. They look great too.

unc2701 · 08-08-2005, 04:17 PM

I got your vibration isolation right here... I hung the whole damn thing from the ceiling on steel screw rods. $40 in rods, $90 is birch ply, $?? in Oak 1x2's to finish the edges and about $20 in rubber blocks. Yes, the whole thing floats w/o touching the floor.

I don't have any current pics with everything finished and the system I have now (damn, I miss those 565's), but you get the idea.

Pablo · 08-08-2005, 04:42 PM

I agree with the flexi rack (it's basicaly shelves with holes in the corners with threaded rods & nuts holding them up [rubber washers to prevent vibrations]). Using either Oak or Birch plywood is also probably your best bet (although you can get almost any type of ply from a real lumber store). I used birch with mahogany edging (the oak looks a little "Ikea" for me). They also may an iron edge if you want to make it easy. A sheet of birch or oak should cost you about $45 ($44.95 for birch as of yesterday at my HD). For a fancier wood ply, it would run from at least $50 to over $200 a sheet.

unc, that's very nice. Is the TV also hanging from the ceiling? How do you hold up that much weight?

unc2701 · 08-08-2005, 05:16 PM

Yep. TV, amps, turntable, everything. I reinforced the joists in the ceiling above and everything is over engineered. Each rod will hold a minimum of 600 pounds and there's 8 of them. The TV only weighs 75 pounds, but I wanted to be sure that someone could put a CRT up there if they needed to.

amulford · 08-09-2005, 02:42 AM

I like the hanging idea. It wouldn't work for me, not much will. It's hard to isolate when your moving the whole house

95Honda · 08-16-2005, 10:25 PM

I built this rack last week. Total cost was around $200. I laminated two pieces of 3/4" MDF together to get 1 1/2" shelves (Sturdy with little vibration) I then laminated black Formica to the top and wrapped the edges with 1/2" Mahogany. The rods are 1" aluminum I cut, then drilled and tapped the ends. I used bolts for the bottom, exhaust studs for the middle and allen screws for the top. The feet are some cast steel pieces I picked up at a metal distributor for about $2 each. The whole thing wiehgs about 200lbs and doesn't bend, flex or vibrate much at all. I have about 400lbs of equipment on it. The picture is before finishing the trim and painting the rods. A design like this would be good to put a turn table on top I would think..

nellis8166 · 08-18-2005, 07:37 PM

UNC2701,
That is brilliant...love it!

95Honda · 08-19-2005, 01:02 AM

X2... Very very nice....

08-08-2005, 01:57 PM	#1
BrentMcGhee Polkazoid Member Sales Rating: (1) Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Spotsylvania, Virginia Posts: 553	Building my first EQ Rack I am about to emabark on my first DIY project and need some help. I am wanting to build an equipment rack. What are some good designs i should be looking at, what type of material, where to get the material, etc,etc. I would like the rack to have vibration dampning in mind. I have 12 peices of equipment and one is a record player so the rack can not be to tall becasue i need to be able to look down on the record player. Becasue of this i thought i could either build two seperate towers with 6 shelves each or just build one tower with 6 shelves but have it a double wide. Has anyone had any luck or misfortunes with either design? Any and all help would be tremendous. Like i said i have not done anything DIY before and have no idea even where to start.

08-08-2005, 02:46 PM	#4
amulford Polk Expert Member Sales Rating: (3) Join Date: May 2003 Location: Southern New Jersey Posts: 4,369	I built one from edge glued pine and regular white pine from HD. http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20956 Isolation can be high mass, isolators, spikes.... Alot of options to explore. Last edited by amulford; 08-08-2005 at 02:51 PM..

08-08-2005, 04:17 PM	#9
unc2701 Polkologist Member Sales Rating: (4) Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 2,829	I got your vibration isolation right here... I hung the whole damn thing from the ceiling on steel screw rods. $40 in rods, $90 is birch ply, $?? in Oak 1x2's to finish the edges and about $20 in rubber blocks. Yes, the whole thing floats w/o touching the floor. I don't have any current pics with everything finished and the system I have now (damn, I miss those 565's), but you get the idea. Attached Thumbnails __________________ Gallo Ref 3.1 : Bryston 4b SST : Musical fidelity CD Pre : VPI HW-19 Gallo Ref AV, Frankengallo Ref 3, LC60i : Bryston 9b SST : Meridian 565 Jordan JX92s : MF X-T100 : Xray v8 Backburner:Krell KAV-300i Last edited by unc2701; 08-08-2005 at 04:20 PM..

08-08-2005, 04:42 PM	#10
Pablo Polkazoid Member Sales Rating: (0) Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: SW CT Posts: 716	I agree with the flexi rack (it's basicaly shelves with holes in the corners with threaded rods & nuts holding them up [rubber washers to prevent vibrations]). Using either Oak or Birch plywood is also probably your best bet (although you can get almost any type of ply from a real lumber store). I used birch with mahogany edging (the oak looks a little "Ikea" for me). They also may an iron edge if you want to make it easy. A sheet of birch or oak should cost you about $45 ($44.95 for birch as of yesterday at my HD). For a fancier wood ply, it would run from at least $50 to over $200 a sheet. unc, that's very nice. Is the TV also hanging from the ceiling? How do you hold up that much weight? __________________ Denon AVR-3803 RTi-70 Fronts FXi-30 Surrounds RTi-38 Back Surrounds Csi-40 Center PSW350 Sub Panasonic PT-56WXF95 HDTV Denon DVD-2910 Xbox, Gamecube, PS2

08-16-2005, 10:25 PM	#13
95Honda Polkster Member Sales Rating: (0) Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Germany Posts: 77	I built this rack last week. Total cost was around $200. I laminated two pieces of 3/4" MDF together to get 1 1/2" shelves (Sturdy with little vibration) I then laminated black Formica to the top and wrapped the edges with 1/2" Mahogany. The rods are 1" aluminum I cut, then drilled and tapped the ends. I used bolts for the bottom, exhaust studs for the middle and allen screws for the top. The feet are some cast steel pieces I picked up at a metal distributor for about $2 each. The whole thing wiehgs about 200lbs and doesn't bend, flex or vibrate much at all. I have about 400lbs of equipment on it. The picture is before finishing the trim and painting the rods. A design like this would be good to put a turn table on top I would think.. Attached Thumbnails

08-08-2005, 02:35 PM	#3
BrentMcGhee Polkazoid Member Sales Rating: (1) Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Spotsylvania, Virginia Posts: 553	Well in my head i was invisioning a completly open design so cooling would not be an issue. As for wire management i do not need any built onto the rack becasue i plan on making the shelves custom height to my equipment and i use very short cables so hiding wires will not be a problem. The rack does have to be pretty deep though becasue 6 of the 12 peices of equipment are 400 disc changers and those guys are really deep. As for the vibration i dont really know much about hwo to design a rack around that concept short of brass spikes.... are there other methods or proper ways to implement the brass spikes? Really my big question right now though is what kind of wood to use for the shelves and what material to use for the uprights. I am going to stain it so it has to be a wood with grain to it.... i.e. no particel board ply wood etc etc.

08-08-2005, 02:59 PM	#5
gatemplin Polkhead Member Sales Rating: (1) Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 1,591	You sound like a good candidate for a flexi rack, very easy to make. I built one out of birch ply for about $150. You can use rubber washers for isolation. Do some searches.

08-08-2005, 03:04 PM	#6
BrentMcGhee Polkazoid Member Sales Rating: (1) Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Spotsylvania, Virginia Posts: 553	that is a really good idea amulford for the tt, i really like the sliding shelf thing.

08-08-2005, 05:16 PM	#11
unc2701 Polkologist Member Sales Rating: (4) Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 2,829	Yep. TV, amps, turntable, everything. I reinforced the joists in the ceiling above and everything is over engineered. Each rod will hold a minimum of 600 pounds and there's 8 of them. The TV only weighs 75 pounds, but I wanted to be sure that someone could put a CRT up there if they needed to.

08-09-2005, 02:42 AM	#12
amulford Polk Expert Member Sales Rating: (3) Join Date: May 2003 Location: Southern New Jersey Posts: 4,369	I like the hanging idea. It wouldn't work for me, not much will. It's hard to isolate when your moving the whole house

08-18-2005, 07:37 PM	#14
nellis8166 Polkateer Member Sales Rating: (0) Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: New York Posts: 291	UNC2701, That is brilliant...love it! __________________ RTi10 CSi5 RTi28 SVS PB12-ISD2 Denon 2106(pre/pro) Adcom 5503(200x3) Audioquest Diamondback ICS Kimber Kable 8tc biwire(mains and center) "Don't let your silly dreams fall in between the crack of the bed and the wall." -J. James

08-19-2005, 01:02 AM	#15
95Honda Polkster Member Sales Rating: (0) Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Germany Posts: 77	X2... Very very nice....

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