Need in-wall component rack ideas (1 Viewer)

[Andrew Pratt]

If you can I highly suggest building an access door on the back as its the single most useful feature I did in my HT design.

 

[Aaron Smithski]

Scott -- Glad you like the rack! I ended up at 18.5" wide for the shelves based on a bunch of component measurements I made...but I would go 20" if I were to do it again since it will give a bit more working room. I have a Parasound HCA-1205A with the rack mount faceplate that measures 19"W...it just barely squeezes in between the inner walls!

The depth of the shelves is 20", and I left a 3" gap between the back of each shelf and the rack's inner back wall to run the cables.

 

[ScottATL]

Thanks everyone, I think I took bits and pieces from everyone's post. I'm going to spec it out this weekend and probably construct it in the next couple weeks once all the framing is complete. I may end up putting a smoked glass door on it to keep all the blinking lights from being a distraction, not to mention to keep my kids out

 

[Andrew Stoakley]

Ah yes, the dreaded "kid shield." Luckily mine's only 9 months right now and hasn't figured out the enjoyment of pushing every button he can get his hands on! Now, if I could only put the remote under glass so my wife couldn't mess around with things... Just kidding.

Cheers,
Andrew

 

[ScottATL]

Just wait till they can walk, that is where it gets dangerous. With kids younger then 3 it is a must to have a door. Turn the DVD player on, they'll turn it off. Finished, well come back later everything is on again. To fix the wife, just put the batteries in backwards when you're finished Or perhaps a dummy remote that you pretend controls the equipment, but only you have the real one

 

[James Gurney]

Based on the posts in this thread, I built a component stand this weekend. You can see the finished result on my HT gallery page (haven't made enough posts to be able to put a URL in my post yet). The filename is 'shelves.jpg'.

It's not in the final location yet - it will be moved under the stairs out of the way when the room is complete.

Anyway, it's made up of laminated particle board from Home Depot. I personally didn't find it at all hard to iron on the laminate edge strips. It was handy that HD also sells this board with pre-drilled shelf holes.

The shelves are 20" wide by 16" deep. I added a 2" wide vertical strip on each side down the back to stop the shelves from sliding out (you can just see this below the lowest shelf in the photo). This leaves the back basically completely open so accessing the rear panels is very easy. I also left plenty of space for expansion/storage at the bottom.

So, thanks for the tips.. and if anyone wants more info on this, feel free to ask.