Building an equipment rack from scratch


I need help/suggestions for building an equipment rack that will hold my cdp, int. amp, and down the road, a turntable. I'm sort of limited for space widthwise but the depth isn't a problem. I have a very large Krell kav300i (19"Wx15"D), the cdp is an Arcam CD72 wich is the standard 17" wide. I already have a design in mind but would like some help making it "better" sonically.
My idea is to use 2" thick maple for the shelves which would measure approx. 21"Wx17"D. I also want the system to be modular so each shelf unit will be made seperately. Each shelf will be supported by three aluminum/steel? legs. One at the back in the middle and one on either side close to the front. The legs will come up flush to the top of each shelf and then extend down about 6-8". The first shelf will have Mapleshade threaded carpet piercing brass feet. All the shelves will basically be identical apart from not having the carpet piercing feet, just the regular Heavyfeet. The tops of the legs, which will be either solid or hollow to allow for filling, will have little dimples that the above shelve and brass feet can align up with. The legs will be fastened to the maple shelves using steel? plates welded perpendicular to legs on which the malpe will sit. I will notch out the underside of the maple so that the plates are hidden an then they will be screwed up into the maple. I will also notch the sides of the shelves to receive half of the round legs. The legs will be about 1.5" in diameter.
I hope that I have described this well enough to get some suggestions. The reason I decided on this design is that I can "build on it", meaning I can build another unit down the road and simply sit on top of the current shelves. As I said above, the idea is to eventually get into vinyl. I don't yet know which turntable I will be getting but I am on a limited budget so it will be something like a rega p3. This will obviously make a difference on the size.
One other note. I am also considering making the first two shelves as one unit to save on having to buy three more brass feet.
Any suggestions, especially on materials to use, would be very welcome as I am relatively new to this whole HiFi thing but I want to make sure that all the equipment is properly seperated.
Thanks in advance!
pilotboy

Showing 6 responses by pilotboy

Just a quick addition. I am on a limited budget and also looks will play a role in its final design.
Thanks again
I have actually already made one of those out of 3/4" walnut plywood edged with solid walnut. I used 3/4" threaded rod painted black on all four corners and one in the back middle. Right now I have my tv, center channel, dvd player, receiver, and my cd player and integrated amp on it. The reason I want to build this other rack is so I can lower my tv and have my 2ch stereo equipment seperated from my ht stuff.
Thanks for the feedback. I've never seen the VTI racks before, but they are basically the exact design I had in my head! I'm sure that my rack will end up being more expensive than the VTI racks, but I enjoy building things and I like the idea of building something custom and to my own specs.
Bigjoe, I noticed you have a lot of equipment sitting on your rack; how sturdy is the three leg set up?
If and when I finaly do build this I'll make sure to post some pics.
I have been considering going with a four leg design because of the reason you just desribed. On the Krell int. amp, all the inputs are right in the middle. The set up I have right now has a back center support which does get in the way. One of the reasons I wanted the three leg design was that it seems that all the "spiked feet" come in packs of three. Does anyone know of any manufacturers that sell in sets of four?
I will be building the first part of this rack hopefully this weekend. I've decided on three inch thick maple for the bottom shelf which will hold my integrated amp. I ended up getting a pretty good deal on four Mapleshade carpet piercing footers here on A'gon so I might end up making the rack with four legs??? I'll post some pictures when it's done under "my system". Dylan