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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
bigjoe's avatar
bigjoe
693 posts
 
ive done the DIY rack thing & in the end it ended up costing more than a factory rack.

do a search on VTI here on the gon or ebay,mel has some real nice racks on the cheap too.

mike.
theo's avatar
theo
2,662 posts
 
Your idea of using the 2" thickness material fro the shelves is a good idea if you plan to have good strong supports. The thick shelve only will benefit you for resonance control if the legs are sufficent. In other words the weak link in the chain should be the shelves as they will only be as strong as the foundation. I would look at using the threaded rod but cut some pipe or tubing of a rest the shlves on and use the threaded rod to keep them tight together. I think once you price this all out you will find that BigJoe is on target.
pilotboy OP
15 posts
 
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.
dlwask
270 posts
 
I would advise against the three leg design, the leg in the back center will just get in the way of cables. It's partly the reason I'm going to make my own rack, but of a different design with the assitance of a furniture builder. Still trying to decide on which wood to use.
pilotboy OP
15 posts
 
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?
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