I have a rack mount fetish of sorts...
So any gear I aquire that
can be rack mounted ~
gets rack mounted.
If I had to explain it I'd probably suggest it's an OCD sorta thing.
As of now I have four current rack systems.
The largest is my Adcom rack enclosure rig,enclosure is an OmniMount 27ru unit.
At the time of this pic the GTP-502 pretuner was being used in another system temporarily.
And if you look closely you'll see a 1ru vent panel under and a 2ru vent panel above the amp for ventillation.
What you dont see are the two large fans at the top of the unit that removes the hot air as it rises.
Also not visible is the Raxxess 3ru 120 cfm 29 db dual fan unit that's aimed right at the GFA-555 Mk1 heatsinks.
That's the beauty of a nice dedicated rack enclosure,for every concern there is usually a product to address it.
Next is my headphone / nearfield system.
The NAD 106 preamp is mounted in it's own 2ru carpeted rack case,this also doubles as a monitor riser in this rig.
Below is a 6ru vertical rack bracket that mounts the gear on top of the lower shelf (note: the EQ was'nt needed so it's gone).
Underneath the shelf another 2ru vertiacl rack bracket was used to mount the Parasound D/AC-1000.
If you look closely you can see 1ru vent panels above & below the EV-7100 power amp for cooling purposes.
Here's a close-up shot of those rack brackets just for good measure...
And yeah I know I said they were VERTICAL rack brackets...
But wth I was born to break the rules LMAO !!!
Yep I just went ahead and use 'em horizontally.
Seemed the simplest answer ie: to how to do what I wanted to do.
The next rack is my Sansui AU/TU-217 rack,this uses a Middle Atlantic 12ru laminate rack.
Now this is a much more basic rack set-up.
And since this pic I managed to squeeze in a Magnavox CDB-470 CDP as well.
The CDP has recently been "borrowed" for use in my LR system.
Still managed to have plenty of room for the AU-217 to stay cool too (it really does'nt get hot @ all).
Rack accesories visible include a Middle Atlantic PD-915R power unit and a NADY 1ru rack light.
That light was needed as the TU-217 tuner's dont have that famous Sansui tuner lighting as SOP.
Now the last rack is the most utillitarian rack of the bunch,it's a generic "TELCO" style open rack.
It's used in conjunction with my workbench as a sorta defacto "bench mule" set-up for testing gear and whatnot.
As you can see this one is WIDE OPEN...
So cooling really is'nt a concern just so long as one does'nt stack gear right on top of each other.
Accesories here are the Tripp Lite isobar power unit and not much else @ the moment.
Here rack shelves are being used more-so than actually rack mounting the gear (except for the Nikko EQ1)
That's because the NAD rack mounts have a screw that gets in the way with this rack.
And I just never bothered to deal with that situation.
And I probably have a couple more in the works should I ever get the funds / time / ambition to build 'em.
I have a bunch of NAD Monitor Series gear that needs a home,so that's one more right there.
So yeah,my vote is if you own rack mount gear,you really owe it to yourself to dive in and explore the subject.
JMO ~ FWIW
Bret P.
