Pioneer Spec Rack Build

[FireGuruMN]

After years of scrounging around craigslist for values on Pioneer Spec equipment, I finally have enough bits to put together a proper looking rack. Only to learn that the Pioneer Spec racks (JA-R2S) are unobtainium. I pretty much saw that coming. So I developed a plan to make one out of hardwood. Walnut seems a good choice.
So I ordered some rack rails:
Amazon: NavePoint 20U Vertical Rack Rail Pair DIY Kit with Hardware, Black
I have a feeling that I will run into issues because the screw holes in the Pioneer rack appear to be drilled in specific locations for pioneer equipment. But I will burn that bridge when I come to it. Worse case I buy some angle iron and tap my own holes.

Note: This rack rail came with 5mm tapped holes. It said it came with 12/24 but that was not what showed up. Its not a big deal for most people because it comes with a pile of screws that correctly. But I ordered 12/24 silver screws. More on that drama later.

I got 4 of rails because I need about 30U for all my equipment. Either I make 2 racks or one tall one. The original JA R2S rack appears to be 21U of rack space plus wheels and top shelf. The manual says 1140mm which is 45 inches more or less.

Each U is 1.75 inches to 30 will be 52 inches. Round it up to 60 inches for wheels and top shelf. That's probably reasonable for a tall person like me to still run a turntable on the top shelf. It's also cool that Google will convert rack units to inches just like millimetres to inches. Win for Google.

What I want in the rack:
Spec 1: 4U
Spec 4: 4U
RT701: 5U
TX-9600: 4U on a shelf
CT-F1000: 4U on a shelf
CT-F950: 4U on a shelf
Timer: 1U
SG-9500: 3U on a shelf.
Total: about 30U.

I also have some reverb units that would be eye candy.

Here is a diagram from the manual for those that like pictures:


I ordered a couple of shelfs for the equipment that does not have rack ears. Rack ears are another unobtainium item I find. Like $400 for a pair. Oh my. I saw someone who actually forged his own because it was a good value decision. How's that for supply chain issues.
StarTech.com 2U Server Rack Shelf - Universal Vented Rack Mount Cantilever Tray for 19" Network Equipment Rack & Cabinet - Heavy Duty Steel - Weight Capacity 50lb/23kg - 16" Deep Shelf (CABSHELFV)
I let the shelfs sit in the box while I went down the internet rabbit hole searching for screws to match the originals. Here is a picture of original screws from another AK thread that I cannot find anymore to reference:

According to the installation manual these are M5x16 screws.

The screws are pretty easy to find on the interweb. now a search for "angular washers" will get you no where:

A search for "finish washers" will get you stamped versions of the washers that will not work because they will tear up the face of your equipment even if you have the plastic washer.
Eventually I found these:
https://www.wkooa.com/product/stainless-finish-washers-countersunk-solid/


I debated whether to order the M4 or M5. I opted for the M4. These appear to be flared out more than the originals and they were getting pretty huge by the time you went up to M5.

But honestly there appear to be lots of typos in that chart. Like 2 M6 rows? and M5 rows with the same D size an M6 rows. These parts are solid Chinesium so who knows how many translations that chart went through before I found it going down my rabbit hole. Currently these are on the slow boat "speed-pak" from the other side of the world. I may never see them. But WAIT, there's more. . .
I decided to open up my overpriced stamped metal shelfs and lookee what was in there:

I was more excited than those guys on The Curse of Oak Island when they find another rusty ox shoe.
So I went down a different rabbit hole and found these:
StarTech.com M5 x 12mm - Screws - 100 Pack - M5 Mounting Screws for Server Rack & Cabinet (CABSCREWSM5)
I bought them for $39.99 for 100pack and it said it was the last one. Then I went in to take a picture for this write up and suddenly there are "only 18 left" and the price is $46.82 each. I have trust issues with Amazon.
Pictures. I like pictures too.


I also placed an order for these which I will no longer need but in case someone just needs bolts, here you go:
M5-0.8 x 25mm Stainless Steel Oval Head Machine Screws, 304 Stainless Steel 18-8, Phillips Drive, Bright Finish, Full Coarse Thread UNC, 50 PCS
They might be a bit long at 25mm but who cares. The 12mm ones from Startek might be a bit short.
oh my what a ramble. I'm starting a new post, This is getting too long.

 

[FireGuruMN]

Next thing was to find those nylon washers. Another brick wall of internet searches. Then somewhere I discovered that they are called "shoulder washers". And a flood of hits came in that were almost useful.
Eventually I ended up back with Amazon (no, I am not sponsored):
The Hillman Group 58205 0.437 x 0.201-Inch Nylon Shoulder Washer, 25-Pack

Now, the dimensions they give are pretty strange. The .437 is the large diameter. basically 11mm. The .21 is the hole in the middle. basically 5mm. But they do not give the shoulder diameter or the shoulder thickness. So the shoulder diameter is 7mm or 0.23 inches. It fits perfectly in the slots of the Spec equipment. The thickness is 2.6mm which is pretty thin compared to the original washers. There are other sizes on Amazon but this is what I ended up with. I found some company on the interweb that had an entire catalog full of these things. But I suspect they wanted to sell thousands of them for a minimum order. No thanks.
So here is what I will end up with:

The clear washer came with the rack screws. It might be good enough to protect your precious Spec equipment with out the need for the white nylon ones. Honestly I would have stopped there if I had not already swallowed the red pill.
I stopped in at Rockler and got some 1.25 think walnut boards. That's the most expensive bit so far.
I ordered these casters. I don't like the blue but I used these on my shop tools and they are awesome. Bearings everywhere. This will be a VERY heavy rack.
Online Best Service 4 Pack Caster Wheels Swivel Plate Stem Brake Casters On Blue Polyurethane Wheels (2 inch with Brake)
They are available without brakes also. I ordered both. Decisions are harder than earning money lately.
My shop drawings:

I'm going to do a test-build out of construction lumber before cutting into the expensive walnut.
Usually I don't write things up until I am finished but it seemed that the screw information I found might be valuable.
I am a slow man and I am easily distracted so don't hold your breath for any progress. I gotta find my way out of this rabbit hold first.

 

[FireGuruMN]

CRS kicking in again. I forgot to mention:
Screws are also available from Oak Tree Vintage. Scary price but if you only need a few if might be the best price option.
http://www.oaktreevintage.com/Chrome_Rack_Screws.htm
I honestly don't think they are a perfect match for the originals but then again neither are the ones that I found.

And I don't know who runs their web site but it is easier to do a Google search filtered to their URL than it is to find anything on their website. Do they even have a search function? I can spend a long time bouncing around their web page which is often enjoyable but but not when I just want to find one thing. Just saying. Moving on. . .

 

[FireGuruMN]

I held up the new rails to my Spec1/Spec4 and it appears that the screw holes will line up perfectly. Another miracle of modern standardization. I tried to take a picture but it does not show up well due to perspective issues.
Here is a picture of an original rack from the interweb . I think Pioneer just got lazy and did not drill out all the holes since they would not line up with any of the spec equipment anyway. Interesting that this picture shows black screws. Hmmm. I'm sticking with silver.

 

[xlbee]

This thread may provide you with some ideas and guidance:
https://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/my-first-spec-system-finally-finished-pics.154083

It is unlikely your communications rack base will be able to handle the weight of all of the gear with only 4 casters. I put 6 on mine. One in each corner and one directly under each upright rail.

 

[FireGuruMN]

Well, BOTH my followers insist on more content so I guess I have to provide some updates. To be honest, I think one of them is my son who was searching for information on JBL 4435's and found my post and realized the basement picture was his basement picture. I hope I didn't say anything in there that he should not be reading. . .

I finally got some time to make progress on this rack. The first step was to build a prototype out of cheap 2x4's. Here is how that went:
This was a bad idea:

So I decided to just make a frame out of 2x4's laid (layed?) flat. That would be stronger and once there was a bottom board no one would ever see it.
I used biscuits to keep the up/down aligned. They don't really add much strength. I always number the joints to help things go back together more easily.

I've never been one to take good advice so I stuck with 4 casters. I can always add more.

In my haste I screwed the casters to the same side that I was made line up perfectly with the biscuits so when I flipped it over the warped, uneven side with glue slopped all over it was showing on top. Like I said, its a prototype. The casters are divided across the miter in the base so the bolts on the casters will hold the base together some. And distribute the weight across the corner. I did try half-lapping the corners but I just did not have the patience to do it right and this is just a prototype. But I will probably still miter the final one. I will probably router a grove on the inside to accept a nice board for the base but its to late for that to be easy not what it is all glued up. So much for planning.
There was absolutely no way that I could make the uprights strong enough without some angle support. So I squared it up and cut the 45 support like you can see. I lined up the back side of the base with the miter so there are fewer lines for your brain to interpret.
When sizing the base, I was not sure exactly how 19" rack equipment fit into a 19" rack. Turns out the equipment is 19" side to side on the face. Like this mockup shows:

I set the rails back a little from the face of the uprights so more of the walnut will show on the final project.

I need to trim up some more 2x4's to build the top where the turntable goes. By trim I mean square up the edges and get rid of the rounded corners that come from the raw wood. yes, its a prototype but still square corners are nicer to work with.
Here is how a rack thing looks in the rack:

And here is the circuit breaker my table saw is on after ripping all the 2x4's. I really should have had more 20 amp circuits run to the garage. oh well. More exercise running to the basement to reset it. Imagine how useful this thermal toy will be finding hot things inside amplifiers. I can't wait to get back into that side of my obsession.

Weekend is over, back to punching keys for the overlords.

 

[FireGuruMN]

So prototype is complete. Mostly.

Me: So what do you think?
Internet: The color is awful.
Me: I'd like to get a second opinion.
Internet: The angle supports are hideous too. buh-dum-ching.

The pine was never going to take stain well. Even if you get the color right, The grain is too wide and everything looks like zebra stripes. But messed up and did not stir the stain well. After the first coat I realized that there was pigment stuck to the bottom of the can. Apparently ugly orange pigment floats to the top and nice brown pigment sinks. I did a second coat with the stain mixed properly but the first stain coat usually ends up being the primary color.

And the angle supports have to go. The whole idea of a spec rack it so show off the spec equipment. Front and back. So here is the current plan:

Its some sort of joist support for decks. Its pretty sturdy but I added 4 extra holds around the joint to make sure the joint is held together tightly. The bottom cross will be hidden under the bottom shelf and the upright will be behind the rack rails. I have a smaller one that will hold the top turntable shelf in place. I've see other items like this that are more decorative. Like for holding fences together. They have a black finish that might be nice. But some spraypaint and sharpie for the screws will be good enough for me. I got screws that tightly fit in the holes so there is no wobble there. I might epoxy it in place once I know it is good.

Oh, and the little blue wheels gotta go. I think 3" wheels will look better. And they have to be black. The ones that are there are also annoying. When you set the break, The break lever hits the surface it is screwed to. Its a complete fail on the caster design.

But this rack turned out super nice. And is more useful in the summer:

And made wifey far happier. . .

 

[Blue Shadow]

Interesting. When I needed rack rails, I bought ones long enough to do both projects, and cut them as needed. Worked out great. Penn-Elcom from Parts-Express and got a box of bolts with plastic washers to get stuff mounted. These were 'mericun measured bolts.
Does your rack rail use metric hardware?

 

[Bone Yard]

I wonder if you could find a bare server rack and finish to your liking, they have more of the industrial look with all of the metal and could be finished off with wood shelves. Here's one but I'm sure there's dozens of variations you might have to take it to a welder to move the supports to your liking. There used to be an a-la-carte audio rack company in the 70's where you could build your own, some looked close to the Pioneer Racks.
https://www.toolots.com/4post-20u-600-600mm-open-rack.html




Rockler, and probably McMaster Carr, have the raised washers, MMC might also have the plastic spacers.
https://www.rockler.com/decorative-washers-choose-finish

The uprights might have a lot of weight on them, maybe a metal solution? These are for log racks but could be reconfigured, I could see using one and getting square metal tube instead of wood.

 

[FireGuruMN]

Oh no, Gonna need a bigger rack:

Got this in CL for $200. Minty with original manual and that little fake plastic cassette thingy that you never get. Needs belts and maybe a clutch but its so pretty.
I got to work on building this with real walnut. First router out slots for the metal plates.

I later figured out that it is much easier to glue the frame together and then router out the grooves for the plates. That way everything is locked in place and the whole groove can be done at one time. I put a metal bracket in the top also. I'm not sure if it will need it but better safe than sorry. I included a mitered filler that mimics the original spec rack. It probably adds some strength also. I put one at the bottom of the rack also. It looks nice and offers more support down there also.
There are a few places where several screw holes line up with the wood grain. DO NOT put screws in all those holes. You will split the grain. Or if you are super anal, drill the holes out and put in dummy screws. This is what the progress looks like after the blue dried and before I cut out in all the grooves for metal. Just doing a sanity check to make sure everything lines up.

Here is what a bottom plate looks like. Yes, I put in dummy screws. Just satin black self priming spray paint to paint the metal. Be sure to wipe it down with acetone to get all the oil off first.

Sharpie marker to paint the screw heads:

My groove cutting leaves much to be desired.
Eventually there will be conflict between the rails and the metal plates and the bottom shelf but I'm ignoring all that for now because Its too much for my simple mind to process.


Continued. . .

 

[FireGuruMN]

I built the bottom shelf our of plywood. This has to be strong because it is the primary lateral support to keep the rack from bending before you get all the amplifier equipment screwed in.

I added a couple extra braces inside that are not shown in this picture. You will see them later. I sized this shelf so there was a 1/4 inch reveal (is that the right word?) all around the bottom board of the sides. And because I was not thinking all the way through, I made the reveal on the bottom also. That messes up installing the casters eventually. But its not a big deal.

A side comment:
I purchased screws that are big enough to fill the holes in the metal plates. I did not want any slop in the holes that would allow the metal to slide around on the screws. For my plates that ended up being #12 screws. And those have BIG HEADS so I had to go through this process to get the bottom shelf to sit flat against the side boards.
Line the bottom shelf up with the bottom side board where you want it. Then hit it with a hammer.

The sharpie leaves a very satisfying mark on the plywood. Then use a 1/2" brad point bit to drill a hole for the screw head to fit into. I'm sure there is some way to use countersunk screws to eliminate this step but that did not happen for me. The plates are really too thin to make a proper countersink. Maybe thicker plates will be needed when the weight of the spec equipment turns these to scrap metal.
Screws, screws and more screws:

As I mentioned previously the little blue casters I tried on the prototype were unacceptable. I found these on Amazon:

"2 inch Caster Wheels (casters Set of 4) 5/16 inch Valve stem and Rotating top Plate Installation Options,Heavy Duty casters Total Load Capacity 1000LBS, Replaceable Wheels for Furniture(Black)."
1000 pounds should do it. They are a lot of plastic but they seem to be THICK plastic in the places that matter. We will see. They have the right look. You really have to hit them to set the caster onto the post:

Eventually I will put a filler in under the other two screw holes and put screws there. But I have the patience of a 4 year old on Christmas Eve or the patience of the quarterback on prom night or the patience of Prince Louis of Cambridge at the Jubilee. So I really had to see how all these bits fit together even though there is a lot of finishing to do.
I made the top out of 3/4 and 1/2 plywood glued together. That's about the right thickness. And much easier than the frame and routing that I did on the prototype.

I made it big enough for a 1/4" reveal all around. Its not lined up correctly on this picture. I will probably add some walnut to make a complete frame underneath. That will hide the LED light that I want to put in the front. On the original spec rack the front was cut off square with the face of the spec equipment. I chose to have mine overhang because it looks nice to me. And I have a space for the LED. And it seems to me that the bottom shelf sticking out farther than the top shelf is a real ankle buster.
I gotta say "WooHoo":

I made the rails 46" or 26U (rack units=1.75"). I think the original was about 44" for the tall one. 39" for the short one. [edit] The original tall rack had room for 21U. So I have room for 5 more U's. I was looking at the overall height of the original rack. My rack is 54-1/2" to the top of the top shelf. (until it cracks, falls over, burns and sinks into the swamp). I'm 5' 16" (6' 4" if you miss the joke) so that's fine with me. And it provides better visibility to the spec equipment and better access to the turntable on top (for me).
Some detail pictures:
Got the reveal just right;

Most of the bracket is hidden. But its painted and all the screws are black!

Continued. . .

 

[FireGuruMN]

Tight joints.

I'm so used to working on pine and rough framing Its nice to see joints that don't get all bent up when you assemble them.

The top shelf and bottom shelf will be painted black for now. I might veneer them eventually. Or maybe Formica then in black. We will see how the paint looks first.

Yes, the vertical frame looks flimsy now that it is done. But it is solid walnut that is 1" thick. And the rails will actually be holding and distributing the weight of the equipment along the length of the frame. I will definitely put the heavy things at the bottom. I think that is normal for these installations. But interestingly the amplifier is not on the bottom of any of these diagrams:

I wonder if it is an issue with needing cooling breeze for the amp? Maybe I'll have to cut a vent in the bottom shelf if the amp ends up there. . .
So lots of sanding and staining and sealing to do. And rails to mount. TTFN.

 

[FireGuruMN]

Rockler, and probably McMaster Carr, have the raised washers,

I'm pretty sure those washers are stamped metal and are hollow on the back side. That would be a disaster for scratching up the spec face plates even if you had plastic washers.

I wonder if you could find a bare server rack and finish to your liking,

I did look into a lot of server racks. I even considered applying veneer to the metal to get a wood look. But every path seemed to run into a roadblock that my internal quality control could not accept. So here I am building my own out of wood because I don't do welding. Maybe someday.

I think one of the original goals of the spec racks was to be minimal. Less rack, more spec equipment. Show off the fronts, sides, back and make the rack disappear. Adding a back support post on this rack would obviously make it stronger. But for now I'm going to try to make this work. I definitely am showing off the walnut in some ways. The screw rails will be mounted inside the walnut side posts, Not on the face like the original spec equipment was mounted.

 

[FireGuruMN]

Sanding was super easy. I used a random orbit sander (big 6" porter cable) and 180 grit. That was good enough to smooth out all the imperfections in the joints and polish up all the other surfaces. I did not see any need to go to a finer grit. Even though this walnut from Rockler says it is "sanded" on 3 sides, you really need to polish it on all surfaces. Some of the surfaces would have been easier to sand before assembling everything but it was not impossible to do a good job. I took pictures but you really cannot tell any difference in the pictures so I will not post them.

My preferred finish is Danish oil. I have light walnut, medium walnut and dark walnut so I need to make a choice. First step in finishing is put on gloves. Second step is get rid of these freaking safety caps:

I did samples:

But wait you say, Those samples all look the same. You are quite right. They do.
All the pigment is still on the bottom even after vigorous shaking. And some of these are new cans. So I stirred them up and ended up picking medium. I always pick medium. It seems to have some warm pigment that always looks better. I soooo much love putting on the first coat of stain.

Its hard to believe there are people that get paid to do that all day. Maybe it gets old.
Before and after:

I let that stain setup for a few hours. Longer would have been smarter but I wanted to move on. I applied wipe on satin polyurethane. Then let that setup over night. In the morning it was still sticky which surprised me. Usually that setups up quickly. But I ignored it and moved on.
The top and bottom shelf got several coats of flat black spray paint. I really like how you can still see the wood grain through the paint when the light catches it just right. I will eventually regret using flat paint but that is what I had on hand and it looks awesome until it gets dusty and scratched. I sanded the plywood first. Again, factory "sanded" for plywood really just means it was in the same room as a sander for a while.

I put a couple more coats on after that picture. Here is my band-aid to fix the caster mounting:

Continued. . .

 

[FireGuruMN]

Here is a detail of the casters. That's some pretty serious plastic so we will see how it holds up.

One last step is to mount the rails.

I needed two sections of rail because my rail was only 20 units long. So I added another 6 units on top. I used another section of rail to make sure the screw holes lined up exactly between the two sections. Here is where some planning a long time ago would have helped.

Setting the metal brace for the top shelf back another 1/2 inch would have kept those top 3 screws out of the way. Or I could have set the rails a 1/8" farther forward. But it is what it is. I drilled new holes in the metal plates that align with the holes in the rails so that there will still be some strength there. I think I would have preferred rails that did not have markings on them since some of the rails will be showing on my rack since I do not have the fancy face plates for my tuner and EQ. And no rack mounts for the cassette either. Those are also crazy money. Maybe I'll get may sharpie out again. Or maybe I will make some walnut filler plates since this is a wood themed project. Hmmm. . .
Here is the money shot:

Notice I added a cross piece at the top shelf. There will be a LED light behind there to light up the equipment. I brought the rack inside where it is a bit drier. Hopefully that will let the poly setup faster. Now I have to find all my spec equipment. Its spread out in 3 rooms. Then I will load it up and you can all listen for a loud cracking sound of splintering walnut coming from the Minneapolis suburbs. I should do a survey and take bets on the outcome. Is there a way to do a survey on AK of both people that read this posting?

 

[cuda440]

Great job. Would have been awesome as a YT video ala Thomas Johnson Furniture Repair videos.

With this attention to detail, even for things not seen (which the OCD in me appreciates), why didn't you make a jig for the routing?

The reveal on the bottom shelf looks perfect.

I agree with you on the Formica idea for the black shelving. I think a matte finish is available. Alternatively you could use some heavy vinyl "contact paper" , but it would be hard to get it just right, especially the corners/edges.

Since it sounds like you'll have more rack than gear to fill it all, you'll have room for a rack drawer.

Looking forward to seeing it populated.

 

[FireGuruMN]

Oh my!

I'm going to swap the cassette and preamp. The timer is going under the amplifier. It will barely fit if I take the feet off. I ran out of room at the top. The amplifier could go down another unit if I took the feet off. If I had done a test run on mounting the equipment, I would have installed the rails about 1/4 inch higher and the amp would have fit at the bottom. It would fit now if I took the legs off but then it would have no ventilation. With the timer under the amp the amp will get better ventilation. I might swap in my CTF-1000 with the analog meters instead of the florescent blue ones. That would match the other meters better. The faceplate on the amp does not quite have the same "sheen" as the other pieces. I know that amp had a rough (rock band) life.
The rack us a bit over 19" wide. Its hard to say where the extra width came from. I don't think I will put any effort into making it skinnier.

The rack screws are perfect in my book.
I REALLY want to find rack mounts for the cassette deck. Epray has some for $300 from Hungary. The pucker factor on that is a bit to high. I'll keep looking.

Currently all the equipment is actually supported by the rack. However I plan on putting a wood spacer under the back of the amp so that the rack does not support the amps weight in the back. Seems like a no brainer even if it is a bit of a cheat. But the rack is seriously solid. I can roll it around and there is no wobble, creaking, snapping, crushing or other bad things.

There is not a lot of diagonal support across the rack so I mounted the bottom 3 rack mount pieces loosely with the amp laying down on the floor. Then I tipped it up and centered the pieces and racked the rack (pun intended) to it was square with the equipment. Then tightened the screws. It was a simple process to square it all up.

I am going to make some walnut fillers to fill in the gaps on the sides of the things that do not rack mount. Like fill in this area:

I will cut a slot so the walnut fits over the rails. And yes, I feel a little wasteful having run rails all the way to the top only to cover them up with filler plates. But I did not know where the equipment was going to go when I started. The best road trips don't have a destination. Heck, I had to dig through 4 rooms to find all the spec equipment. Don't ask. Its getting pretty bad around here. I will post more pics once I get a turntable on top. I have two nice ones with wooden plinths. I forget the models. PL-XXX. duh.

Currently the EQ, tuner, reverb and cassette are all resting on the RT701. It bounces a bit as the sheetmetal flexes. So I want to make that stack a little shorter by moving the cassette to sit on the amp. That blocks a bit more of the amp vents than the preamp does but there is still some room to breathe. Maybe I will make the walnut fillers offer a little support instead of just beauty treatment.

I'm going to take a break from this project and cleanup the workshop. Its pretty bad again. I wanna build some speakers with curved side panels just because it is harder. . .I think I saw a set of Amiga speakers done like that. That's a good sounding speaker.

 

[FireGuruMN]

So I'm going with this layout (for now):

It puts the preamp up high and that is where most of the user interface is (volume knob). Unless you are the type that maxes out the volume and controls the loudness with your streaming device. No, I do not advocate doing that. Something learned: the screws on rack rails ARE NOT evenly spaced. They are off by just enough to be super annoying. But I found that if I removed the plastic centering spacers I could just barely get the preamp mounted outside the designated rack spots.
I like how having the non-rack mount equipment spread out among the rack mount makes it almost like the pioneer gods intended it that way.

Full mug shot set:




I put in the LED light but I am undecided as to its value. I'm sure it will increase the number of questions like "what's that blue thing on top" since the reverb is hidden otherwise. But if the top shelf did not stick out in front you could see all that stuff more easily without the light. That reminds about why pro bicyclists need padded pants, its because the pro bike seats don't have enough padding. It's funnier when Dilbert tells it.
The polyurethane eventually dried once I got inside the air conditioned house.
I suppose the next step is wiring it all up. I have lots of "vampire wire" cables that will look super nice. Got a whole pile of them included with a stack of that beautiful pioneer elite with the rosewood. The cables are worth more than I paid for the whole stack. But they have clear plastic so the copper shielding is visible. That will look nice. But I will still need some cable management. Does anyone have any suggestions on cable management systems? Pretty pictures are worth 1000 words. . .

Oh, the turntable is PL55DX with a nice grado cartridge and a cracked cover (see rear mug shot). The walnut matches nicely.

On the side shot you can see that my tuner is more grey than black. It was a rust bucket so I sanded it down and sprayed "hammered black" on. Apparently some paint is more black than other paint.

 

[Kingbleu]

Looks great. I wonder what the total weight is?

 

[FireGuruMN]

I was wondering that also.

EQUIP WEIGHT
SR303 4.3 KG
SPEC 1 11.2 KG
SPEC 4 24.5 KG
RT701 19.5 KG
PL-55DX 11.2 KG
SG-9800 7.1 KG
TX-9500 9.1 KG
CTF-1000 12 KG
THE RACK 25 KG (a guess)
TOTAL 123.9 KG
Translating to American: 271 lbs. Which is incidentally the same thing my bathroom scale said for me this morning. Time to buy a lottery ticket.