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In-Wall AV Rack Ideas

post #1 of 11
6/25/06 at 10:34pm
Thread Starter 
Moving into my new home this upcoming week. The room has no windows and is 18.5x16x9. There is floored attic space on 3 sides of the room, which makes it great for access from the other side of the room. My question is, how easy is it to install an av rack into the wall, so that the equipment sits flush. My plan is to access the rear of the equipment from the attic, as there is a door to the attic right next to the HT room. I've seen some of the slide-out racks, but I'm trying to find an option less than a grand that will look nice and be functional. I'm not a carpenter nor am I even close, but I do have some friends that will help if needed. Any ideas? Pics of existing AV racks would be great. Thanks in advance.
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post #2 of 11
6/26/06 at 3:48am

Re: In-Wall AV Rack Ideas

Hi Byron. I can tell you that I used this website http://www.devotionsbyerik.com/E-Cinema.htm as a reference for building mine. He had some great pictures and examples. I built an in wall A/V shelf. You can have a look at my pics and get some framing ideas. Depending how high you want the A/V area you have build a wall behind a wall or a blind wall. Two walls spaced apart. Take a look at the resources I gave you and you should be well on your way.

Don
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post #3 of 11
6/26/06 at 9:01pm
Thread Starter 

Re: In-Wall AV Rack Ideas

Thanks for the information Don. Checking it out now.

Thanks,

Byron
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post #4 of 11
6/27/06 at 6:21pm

Re: In-Wall AV Rack Ideas

do a quick search for the FineRack on the 'net.
here's a pic of mine...
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post #5 of 11
6/27/06 at 9:57pm

Re: In-Wall AV Rack Ideas

I stuck a middle atlantic rack in the wall. Here is a link to a pic in the HTF gallery: http://www.hometheaterforum.com/gall...g2_itemId=3130 At the time I was still finishing the baseboard, so ignore the small missing pieces.
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post #6 of 11
6/28/06 at 7:25am

Re: In-Wall AV Rack Ideas

Hi Byron,

I too built a custom rack for my AV gear, you can see pics of it if you follow the link in my signature. I used 3/4" shelving wood and then used laminate strips to cover up all the exposed sides. I made a paper jig with all the dimensions and used that to copy over to the wood on both sides. I then glued and screwed it all together before putting it into place.

Give me a shout if you have any other questions.

Cheers,
Andrew
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post #7 of 11
6/28/06 at 4:32pm

Re: In-Wall AV Rack Ideas

Lots of dust in an attic. Do you plan on having a removable or hinged back on the rack? Might want to think about installing a cooling fan also. I have access to the back of my rack from another room. Makes it easy to change or move stuff around.
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post #8 of 11
6/28/06 at 5:29pm
Thread Starter 

Re: In-Wall AV Rack Ideas

This is the look I'm going for. Seems like each of you have a different rack setup, but the same concept. Flushed with nice molding. I hadn't thought about the attic dust. Good point. I wish I had another room to access the equipment from, but it's all attic space. The 4th wall is the entry way from the hall. There is an adjacent storage space, but it would be too far from my gear, which would mean more cable. Right now, I'll have a 30FT HDMI cable running from my projector to a VP30. I both a 35FT subwoofer cable and several hundred feet of speaker wire. I know I can figure out the rest of the AV gear, what I'm confused on is how to best integrate my XBOX 360 and eventually PS3 into the mix. Ideally, I wouldn't mind all of the gear being hidden in the attic, but then that would mean going into the attic I want to change a game or DVD. I'll also be running an HTPC, so I would like to not have interference or too much space to use my wireless keyboard/mouse. The in-wall solution seems to be the best bet. Anyone have pics of a rack incorporating their video console? Thanks for the pics and info. I'm getting way too exciting about this stuff. I just sold my motorcycle to buy more gear. :-)
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post #9 of 11
6/28/06 at 5:47pm

Re: In-Wall AV Rack Ideas

I guess I owe you and Larry Fine an apology - I linked a pic of the back of his rack, not mine. you get the idea how he framed in a "window" with door frame material and used trim around the face of it on the outside, his rack is just shelves sitting on normal shelf hardware.

however, here's a front view of mine, I used the dead space under my stairwell, there's a door on the left to access the rear of it. same setup

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post #10 of 11
6/29/06 at 3:48am

Re: In-Wall AV Rack Ideas

I know that I have a hinged door on the back of mine that doesn't close flush against the back of the rack. Instead I made the side a little wider that the shelves top and bottom so that when I close the door it allows for a space for all of the wiring to go when the door is closed. This allows for venting, and easy access. You may have an issue with heat in at attic. Mine is in a very cool basement. I know there are fans that are very quiet that you can integrate into it. BTW. I used all MDF for the side and shelving. The sides top and bottom are 1/2" and the shelves are 3/4". This is great stuff to work with if you are painting. If you are staining natural wood then obviously this isn't an option. One piece of advice. Make very very very sure the framing is as square as possible. Mine is a little out from front to back.

Don
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post #11 of 11
2/23/08 at 10:04am

Re: In-Wall AV Rack Ideas

Anybody know anything about the FineRack BenCh posted a pic of? Can't find it on the net.
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