Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Help choosing an in-wall component rack/shelf.

Looking good!

Looks good Cam. I would love to have a cabinet like that for my HT gear.

Things are looking good Cam!! This brings back memories, I was working on mine a year ago January as well.

Re: suggestions, here are a couple that come to mind...

- If you haven't already, think carefully about the order in which you place your components (i.e. mounting the disk player at a comfortable height, etc). Once you've done all the work to build the face plates you won't be too inclined to change things around One tip I'd read is to mount the hottest running components at the top.

- The other tip involves the placement of the screw holes. It's possible, no matter how hard you try, that the frame may not be perfectly square and/or the shelves perfectly level. I was very careful but in the end things were slightly off. Not a big deal because you can account for it when you cut and file the face plates (or shim a component up if necessary). However, what I didn't appreciate was the impact on the placement of the screw holes. I had built a template so that each hole would be the same distance in from the edge on each plate. However, when I attached the plates to the frame I noticed that the screws didn't exactly align vertically from plate to plate (you can see it if you enlarge my gallery pic). Again not a big deal because everything is black but there's room for improvement. If I were to do it over again I think I'd first attach all the ready-to-paint plates to the frame with some 2-sided tape and then run straight lines parallel to the left and right edges of the frame (however far from the edge you plan to attach the screws i.e. 1/2"). You can then use those lines as a guide as to where to drill your holes and they'll all align nicely on the vertical axis.

Also, since you're about to start your aluminum work I thought you might enjoy seeing a photo of this sub from Funky Waves. Very nice workmanship I thought.

Looking forward to seeing the next set of pic's.

Bob

Bob, thanks for that info. As far as my components go, because of my disability, the only one that I would possibly be able to load on my own is my BDP-83. Your suggestion about placing my CD carousel and other DVD carousel within reach makes sense, but because I can't use them, I placed them at the bottom.

Regarding your suggestion about placing my hottest components at the top of the cabinet (those would be my receiver and RPA-1 amp). I currently have my receiver in the middle of the cabinet so I can access it, and my amp is on the bottom shelf with 2 inches of clearance. I could easily move it to the top shelf if you guys don't think that's sufficient air flow. I don't really like the idea of my receiver and amp on the top two shelves because the heat from one could generate problems for the other. Maybe I'm wrong, but I would think it's better to have them separated by a couple shelves so the heat is dispersed?

Any thoughts?

Thanks

That cabinet is looking good Cam.

I wouldn't worry about heat issues with your amp on the top shelf and the AVR below or visa versa, you have lot's of ventilation room for cooling. I have my amp on the top shelf and the AVR immediately below it and have an enclosed cabinet and have never had issues, even prior to installing the PC cooling fans. You are keeping the back and sides open, correct?

Thanks, Rick. I really wish I could keep the back and sides open, but with only having the aluminum face plates on the front of the cabinet, they won't block any sound whatsoever from my furnace, HEPA, and HRV; it was loud prior to having that hole in the wall.

I unfortunately need something to limit the amount of noise coming into my entertainment room, and building a cabinet around the back is the only way I think I can achieve it. It did cross my mind that I could try to fill the gaps around each component with that sound absorbent insulation from Roxul, but I don't think that it would be a good idea. I also thought about using something other than aluminum, like wood for the face plates, but it would protrude too far, as everything is set up to allow just enough room for a thin piece of aluminum.

Hey Cam, just looking at your pics I had an idea to help with the sound isolation. Can you have a 'frame' built around the backside of the shelves out of 2x4 or similar that you could use to insulate the sound. Depending on how it's built you could then put Roxul in that. And if built not too tight to the shelves I think you'd have enough room for air circulation too. I'll post a couple of sketches to illustrate what i mean (working on those now)

Here's a picture of my furnace (I've labeled the three things that are loud; along with my furnace obviously). It's approximately 2.5-3 feet back from the cabinet (basically the edge of the cabinet would be pretty darn close to the right edge of the picture).

Wow i really suck at Sketchup - haven't used it in years. Anyway, while crude I hope this conveys what I mean:


The white shelves are supposed to be your equipment rack, then build a 2x4 wall with or without 'roof' to slide in place around the shelves to block the sound from all your HVAC equipment.

Dan, that's an excellent idea, thanks for taking the time to draw that out for me.

Next time I'm up, I'm going to take some measurements. I know that there is enough room to build an enclosure behind the cabinet and leave breathing room on the sides, I just have to make sure that there's enough room to access the furnace easily.

Thanks again for the input, guys.