If you want a real 19 inch relay rack (basically they're kinda ugly for living room) and you want to support your heavy amp, but not on the bottom, MIDDLE ATLANTIC and others have shelves which will hold over 100 pounds. I didn't want glass shelves for my "stuff" so in one installation at home I took a surplus 19" relay rack from a TV station ($35) and put "firring strips" on it and to those nailed with brads pannelling, available at any hdwe store. The outside corner trim. Varnished the raw trim. Total cost for the 74 inch steel rack which will hold hundreds of pounds [and, to which the wife doesn;t object] around $80...and it's all vertical so the footprint isn't wide.
and wife happy

nfaguys - how'd you come across a surplus relay rack from a TV station? Any advice for those of us looking for one?

Thought I would follow up on my furniture post now that I finally got it in.

Finally got my furniture in from Diamondcase. It is designed to hold just about any amount of weight, has casters, and I had exhaust fans installed in each cabinet. Now if I just could get that 50" 600U to replace my current TV.

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about a month ago Sluggo wrote:

nfaguys - how'd you come across a surplus relay rack from a TV station? Any advice for those of us looking for one?

My appologies, Greg, I haven't looked at this thread since you wrote. To answer the question: I called the station and asked to talk to one of the tech guys and simply asked whether they had any used or surplus 19 inch racks they wanted to get rid of. He said that they were going to do so and had some in the garage. I made an appointment and went with pickup truck. $35 and it had two pullout trays, like writing desks or something.

Cleaned it, put on "firring strips" to which I attached panel from hdwe store and outside trim. Was ugly before. Looks ok now.

I sure would have liked the outlaws to have provided 19" mounting option. Still, extremely pleased with their eqpt. And if I needed to I could get a 19" heavy duty shelf. They're not that expensive.

Good luck and let us know what you do.

I was thinking about mounting a four shelf stand on this dolly .

The stand is $150 at BB and the dolly $25 at Lowe's.

The bottom shelf would sit on the dolly with the amp on that shelf. Power center above that. Denon next. DVD player on top.

I had some difficulty finding a rack that suited my needs. I did the web search and actually went into some stores, but could not find anything that I liked. So I built my own. I like the use of steel and aluminum. The steel you can paint any color and aluminum checker plate looks cool. So here is what I did. I used 1 1/2 angle for the base, I had to be able to mount wheels on to it. I made an identical base for the top except mounted it upside down. From there I used 1 x 1 square tubing braced with a light gauge angle (for shelves). This was sprayed a flat black. The shelves were all aluminum checker plate 1/4 ". To mount the shelves and prevent any vibration, they were "glued" using polyurethane. The sides were covered with aluminum checker plate. To prevent any vibrations, some small fabric furniture feet were used to isolate the sides. It looks very cool and many people actually thought I bought it from somewhere. Yes it took a little time (6 hours plus paint drying time), but I made it the way I wanted not someone elses concept. Additionally it will hold ANY amp I put on it. ( It was built with the possibility of buying a larger (deeper) amp. If anyone has some problems with finding the right furniture have it made for them. Total cost for me was less than $200.00 but I can weld. The steel was cut for me (better to use thier bandsaw than mine). In this day and age, having custom built racks or tables or speaker stands is actually very inexpensive and you get want you want not someone elses idea. (speaker stands are so easy to make or have made. A lot of my friends have speaker stands made by me). You just have to convince your wife that it will look alright! I am pretty lucky, my wife does not really care what I do in the basement, but can still pass a sincere complement.

Could you post a picture.I envy you, as I am a novice welder, with all the equipment to do so, my weilding sucks.

Still learning about digital cameras. So I will see what I can do. There is only one thing that makes a good welder - practice! There were lots of projects that I had to throw out or sell cheap. But the more practice you get, the more creative as well. My racks for DVD's and CD's are also homemade. Very sturdy. I do have to think about a better colour scheme. Everything is black.

wow, NMBGS, can you make me some small ramp like structures that will help me invert my front wall-mounted speakers inward towards the listener? They're too far apart. Moving them in isn't an option due to windows. buying towers isn't an option because I have perfectly good speakers...lol

seriously though...little ramp-like things that could hang on the wall. same size as my speakers. and then hang the speakers on them. I've envisioned this easily enough. But I have neither the tools (i.e. a lathe) or the skills for that matter to do this. simple enough project though.

[/end_hijack] sorry.

RedSIinPA,

What you want can probably be fabricated from wood easily enough. If the speakers have a wood grain finish the 'ramp' could be stained and finished to match.

The 'ramps' could be attached to the wall and your hanging brackets for the speakers attached to the ramps.

There are a lot of variables. The ramps could even be made somewhat adjustable to give you flexibility in the aiming pattern. A picture or two would be a help if you're interested in farming out such a project. Of course a lot depends on what you're willing to spend. But isn't great sound priceless?