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Do you use a Rack?

Chris Brown

Chris Brown

Super Member
I'm curious how many of you use a rack for your equipment at home?

I don't have a rack right now, and I mostly just stack stuff on top of each other.

Out of the 4 Yamaha amps that I have, 3 are meant to go in a rack. I like the idea of not putting so much weight on whichever unit happens to be on the bottom of the stack, and I like the idea of the units being less likely to fall down in the event of an earthquake. That is why I'm personally interested in a rack now.

One thing I noticed is that many smaller racks have closed sides. My Yamaha amps are all passively cooled with very large heatsinks on the sides. It doesn't seem like it would be a good idea to put them in a rack with closed sides. Are racks with open sides common at all?

How does equipment that isn't meant for a rack work in a rack? Just sits on top of whatever piece is below it in the rack?

Final stupid question: Are computer racks and audio racks compatible in terms of size? Seems like computer racks can be found cheaper.
 
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I use a rack. Lets the components breathe and gives it a good foundation against vibration.

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There's a gazillion different styles of racks. I think most rack mount computer and sound reinforcement gear 19". Interchangeable in that regard, afaik.

You can get shelves or even slide out shelf/drawer type arrangements for racks, for using non-rack gear in them.

Want to be sure heavy stuff is supported in the rear too with rail adapters or something.

When things are rack mounted directly above or below another component sometimes they can scratch as you slide them in and out. Also, need to be sure to use plastic washers under the rack mount screws so you don't scratch up the faceplates too much.
 
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There is something that falls between a rack with rack mount gear and stacking; shelves like in Art's picture. I've always used shelves and never had any problems, although I admit that I'm not in an earthquake prone area.

As whoaru mentioned, there are rack accessories available for purchase like shelves and drawers that will accommodate just about anything.
 
I use lots of 19" racks in both studio and home applications (as well as rack cases for road).

Very handy if your gear has rack ears, and the flexibility can't be beat!
 
I use those cheap racks that were sold with a matching system back in the 80's and 90's for storage only, when I am not using the gear. I rotate my gear every couple of months or so.
 
I use an antique library table for my TT's, and a DIY FlexiRack below it that was customized to fit below the table, and over its leg spanner support bar.
The TT's weigh in excess of 175lbs apiece. The table is extremely sturdy. It used to hold an aquarium show tank that was the entire width of the table, and probably 150 gallon size.

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No rack here, but I do use some wooden blocks and Sorbothane to give the components a little breathing room. I don't put anything on top of an amp that is in use except for the Crowns as they are class D and stay uber cool even when pushed.


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I have a off the stereo rack/cabinet. probably from the 70s based on the design on the front glass panels. I'd like to replace it though.
 
My two channel system resides on a Bell'O AT-423T "Audio Tower" which is essentially a multi-tiered glass shelved L-shaped stand:

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However, I don't have just one component on each shelf as it was designed for because I think that just looks too "spaced" and silly; my receiver takes up the next-to-last shelf by itself so it can breathe, while the CD changer, CD recorder and dual CD mixing unit (a Numark DJ component) stack on top of each other on the shelf above the receiver, respectively. The final top shelf is being reserved for a turntable someday...

In retrospect, I don't really like this "rack;" the "cable management" channels on the left side of it are RIDICULOUSLY difficult to fish cables through and the whole thing just looks way too "open" and "exposed"...originally, this "audio tower" was being used in my previous residence as the rack for my home theater and audio gear, but since moving to a new home I have been able to dedicate a separate room to a two channel rig so I am using the Bell'O for that...
 
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Yup, I have a bunch of racks.


One of them is named "Barbie".



:naughty:



(I cannot believe this thread went this far without a boob joke).
 
19 inch old school rack

I still use an old school 19 inch rack mounting setups. Most of my gear is rack mountable, so it is bolted in with plastic washers as noted to prevent marring the equipment.

You can buy slide out trays and all sorts of accessories for the traditional 19 inch racks. I do have a rack mounted fan unit blowing nice cool air on my amps heat sinks to keep them nice and cool. :thmbsp:

A old photo of my SAE setup.

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Chris Brown said:
I'm curious how many of you use a rack for your equipment at home?
Click to expand...

Ah yes, the ol' rack thread. Racks are one of my favorite topics. Oh yeah, to answer your question, count me as one who uses a rack for his equipment at home. At one point, when I had all of my entertainment electronics in my living room, I had twelve racks squeezed in there. I could only fit three humans in there like that, so it had to change. I now have just seven racks in my listening room. Studio has a bunch more. Oh wait, I forgot a couple, looks like I have nine in there right now.

Chris Brown said:
One thing I noticed is that many smaller racks have closed sides. My Yamaha amps are all passively cooled with very large heatsinks on the sides. It doesn't seem like it would be a good idea to put them in a rack with closed sides. Are racks with open sides common at all?
Click to expand...

Yes, open sided are available, but perhaps not as necessary as you are thinking. Heat typically flows up, and most manufacturers specify at least an inch of space to the sides of their heatsinks. In most racks you end up with more space than that. I have racks designed for tube gear and they are closed sides and back. The sides do have louvers spread out along the height. If a closed rack is OK for tubes, your amp should be no problem. For lots of rack space and open sides, you could use a network rack from your local computer supply shop. I use one for my power amps, currently, for just the reason you suggest. But, I did use a closed one for years and years prior to this one.

Chris Brown said:
How does equipment that isn't meant for a rack work in a rack? Just sits on top of whatever piece is below it in the rack?
Click to expand...

Non-rack mount gear annoys me and I make it a point to avoid it if possible. But, sometimes you just end up with gear that wasn't designed to be bolted into a rack. In those cases, whoaru99 covered the options well. I'll confess that I have done (and currently do) exactly what you asked, where one non-rackable box sits on top of another that is bolted in.

Only slightly less annoying than non rack mount gear is rack mount gear that is non-standard size. Why, oh why, do companies insist on playing the part of a bafoon and make something a non-standard height? I have a collection of standard height spacer panels, but my collection of non-standard height spacers is highly valued by me and is quite useful for compensating for the errors of foolish companies.

Chris Brown said:
Final stupid question: Are computer racks and audio racks compatible in terms of size? Seems like computer racks can be found cheaper.
Click to expand...

By and large, the most common rack size you'll ever run into is the 19" rack. There was only one other standard width (24"), but the chances of finding those are rare. Also, a modern trend seems to be omitting the middle screw hole in each "U" of the rails. Admittedly, this hole is only officially used in 2U and some 1U devices. AND, a huge majority of 2U devices ever created have the screw holes in the wrong location, making the middle screw hole unused in virtually all racks (well, unless you have some non-standard height boxes).

Finally, to finish up with my useless information on racks, my experience has been that the depth of racks usually comes in multiples of 6", and the deepest I've seen is 36". Most computer racks are 24 or 30", but 18" depth is not unheard of.
 
I use chromed wire racks,the kind that are frequently used for storage.I think mine will support 350lbs. per shelf,you can buy different sizes.Plan accordingly.I particularly like these because I can store vinyl as well.Turntable is on a wall shelf separately.
 
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