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Considering going rackmount
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kal
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Joined: 06 Mar 2006
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Location: Ottawa, Canada

TV/Projector: JVC DLA-NZ7


PostLink    Posted: Wed Sep 05, 2007 2:32 pm    Post subject: Considering going rackmount Reply with quote


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My current home-made rack (picture out of date... some equipment like the HD-PVR and PS3 are missing):



I'm considering replacing this with a "real" rackmount enclosure as I want to go bigger. I'd need a rack that's permanently installed (not rotating or pull out) as I can get behind it. This should make it cheaper too.

What companies do you guys recommend? Is Middle Atlantic still one of the best? Recommendations on where to purchase online? Where do you get speciality surrounds/enclosures for things like a PS3?

Kal

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dc_pilgrim




Joined: 31 Oct 2006
Posts: 225
Location: PA


PostLink    Posted: Wed Sep 05, 2007 2:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Can't go wrong with Middle Atlantic.

I just bought shelves from here:
http://www.buyrackgear.com/
they are the most frequent recomnedation these days (and ship to Canada).

My rack is just rails. 35 spaces was under $50. Its the shelves and whatnot that kills you (especially doors).


From the rear
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kal
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PostLink    Posted: Wed Sep 05, 2007 2:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks DC Pilgrim! Interesting that you can just do this with rails... never thought about that. I'll check it out.

I did do some research and I agree it's the shelves and other things that kill you.. they're often 50-60$ for a simple shelf!

My other concern is weight. I'm likely to put in two very large (2-ch and 5-ch) amps that weight in at 75lbs and 130lbs (Anthem P2 and P5). I know that many of the 40-50" high Middle Atlantic racks can hold 400lbs total but I wonder if they need it spread out somewhat evently. 130lbs on essentially 4 screw points is a hell of a lot of weight.

Kal

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dc_pilgrim




Joined: 31 Oct 2006
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PostLink    Posted: Wed Sep 05, 2007 3:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

You might want the full rack with the rear rails too then. Each of the 3 crown amps are 25.7 lbs each, plus the receiver is comparable, so I have over 100 lbs on my rails, with a few more things to come. But looks like you'll be doubling me. I wouldn't mind having rear rails for aiding wire management.

I think Don Kellogg got a slim5 rack (the worst part of MA is their naming convention) for $2-300 or so from that same source. If you call, they say to ask for Chris EXT 118. I never called (got my rails from nineteeninch.com, which was well priced then, but isn't anymore), but might be worth a shot.
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dc_pilgrim




Joined: 31 Oct 2006
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PostLink    Posted: Wed Sep 05, 2007 3:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Oh, and buyrackgear has all the custom faceplates for $98 each. Most other places were $120-$150. If you want the one for the PS3, it protrudes 1.75" which means you probably won't want a door.

A guy at AVS has pics (not mine but nice):


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wkomassa




Joined: 21 Aug 2007
Posts: 101
Location: Brookfield, WI


PostLink    Posted: Wed Sep 05, 2007 3:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hey Kal - another way to go would be to get 4 rack rails (two for front, two for back) - then do the enclosure yourself.

partsexpress.com or
fullcompass.com

would be my recommendations. Full Compass might be cheaper if you call... and if you do, ask for Barb - she's always hooked me up Wink

Will

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kal
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PostLink    Posted: Wed Sep 05, 2007 3:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks guys. I've got some measuring/research to do it seems!

Kal

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Gary Murrell




Joined: 05 Apr 2006
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PostLink    Posted: Wed Sep 05, 2007 7:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

you can get a MA slim 5 for under 300$, biggest they make is 43 spaces I think, I have also been thinking of going RM soon, I love what you can do with all that stuff, the accessories and etc.

I would order the custom made shelves for the Anthems, that way weight is not a worry at all

the rails can be a nice buy for a DIY who can make a nice setup for much cheaper, but for under 300$ the time and effort vs pre-made wouldn't be that much of a incentive to me

also look at raxxess Thumbs Up

and finally shelves can be had for under 25$ from places like ebay and http://www.pssl.com/

-Gary

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kal
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PostLink    Posted: Wed Sep 05, 2007 8:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Gary Murrell wrote:
I would order the custom made shelves for the Anthems, that way weight is not a worry at all

Why do that? I figured I'd just get rack mount ears for the Anthem stuff and bolt it on the way it's supposed to be rack-mounted no? It would save a hell of a lot of money.

Thanks for the other links!

Kal

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Gary Murrell




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PostLink    Posted: Wed Sep 05, 2007 9:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

well if Anthem makes ears for them then it should be ok, however I would worry about simply attaching a heavy amp via rack ears with nothing under it like a shelf, that would be alot of stress on the ears and the rack

-Gary

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kal
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PostLink    Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2007 12:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Gary Murrell wrote:
well if Anthem makes ears for them then it should be ok, however I would worry about simply attaching a heavy amp via rack ears with nothing under it like a shelf, that would be alot of stress on the ears and the rack

-Gary


Yeah, thanks Gary - that's why I'm asking... I know that the Anthem ears will be fine as you can order the 130lb monster P5 amp with rackmount ears. What I'm wondering about is the actual rack: Most say that they can support 300-400 lbs, but I'm not sure the rack would like 130 lbs all pushing/pulling in within a 9" area on a couple of vertical braces on the front where it's screwed in.

I'm completely new to rackmount stuff and never really paid attention closely to the server racks at work... Smile When you rackmount something this heavy with rack ears screwed in 4 places in the front, is there a way to also hold it up the back somehow? I mean, can I have it so that it's 100% screwed into the rack but then *also* sits on a shelf of some sort? Is that sort of combo possible sometimes?

Kal

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Curt Palme
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Joined: 08 Mar 2006
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PostLink    Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2007 1:11 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yep, amps like Crown have additional support in the back of them which you bolt to the back of the rack via rear rail accessories. Also note that if you guys do a sliding rack, put the heavy amps at the bottom, so the rack isn't top heavy. Nothing like rolling a rack out from the resting place only to have 300 lbs of top loaded amps tip the damn thing over.
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kal
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PostLink    Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2007 2:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks Curt! Yeah, I wouldn't do a sliding rack mostly because it's not needed. They're more expensive and I can get at the rear of the rack just fine through the back room.

The rear rail accessory thing is interesting. I'll have to look into this. I can't imagine otherwise how someone (let alone 3 people) could possibly hold a 130lb amp in place while you screw in the bolts. Sheesh. Smile

Kal

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Gary Murrell




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PostLink    Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2007 9:06 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

lots of amps like Curt mentioned have rear rack attach areas and there are a whole host of shelfs made for this, with amps I really do consider the front mounting ears mostly cosmetic, when it comes to 75+ pounds at least, not only would mounting a amp via front ears only be hard on the rack, I think it would be even harder on the amp, rack rails are made out of 10 guage steel so they are quite beefy, just make sure they are securely fixed to whatever is holding them

rack ears are perfect for all types of gear like source components and they save you a bundle, I love them

-Gary

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kal
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PostLink    Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2007 1:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Gary Murrell wrote:
rack ears are perfect for all types of gear like source components and they save you a bundle, I love them

Yeah, the problem however is that you can't buy rack ears for most source devices. I've never heard of rack ears for any HD-DVD or Blu-Ray players, or satellite boxes, etc.

Right now I have a PS3, an ExpressVu 9200 HD-PVR (same as a Dish 942), and maybe a Toshiba HD-DVD player in the fall. Can't add rack ears to any of those so you're forced to spend $100+ on each for a custom cut rack shelf.

Kal

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Gary Murrell




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PostLink    Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2007 4:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

yep, raw deal if you got quite a few components, I was looking at my gear and alot of it is rackmount, I think I am going to go this way soon as well, I was looking to get 5 of the Outlaw Audio 2200 monoblocks soon and those are rackmount

Integra is releasing a high-end version of the Toshiba XA2 soon and it will certainly have rack ears as Integra is custom install Wink

lots of my gear has rack ears:

Velodyne SMS-1
DVDO VP50pro
Onkyo PR-SC885P
above mentioned Outlaw amps
URC MSC-400

I would be looking at 500$ in custom shelves though which is a no can do for me right now Sad

-Gary

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kal
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PostLink    Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2007 5:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yep. It's all the SOURCE devices that don't have rack ears available. Oh well. More measuring to do...

Kal

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Gary Murrell




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PostLink    Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2007 7:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Kal, I have actually been thinking about offering custom rack faces as a addition to all my other "custom" products, these would be sourced from my same high-end panel maker that I use for my power conditioners, 100% custom engraving and all, price is great also Wink

I will probably use these for my rack setup I plan to do in the near future

-Gary

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fuzzybee




Joined: 26 Sep 2006
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PostLink    Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2007 7:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'd be interested in that sometime in the future. $100 is crazy for these.
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kal
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PostLink    Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2007 7:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Interesting Gary. I would certainly be interested as long as they're standard black powder coat made to look the same as the rest of the stuff like this:



You could then also do some cool custom engraving on a blank 1U or 2U filler panel like this:



Kal

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