Fellow Outlaws!

This is my first post. It has to be brief because I'm submitting on company time I just recently purchased the 990/7125 combo along with an entertainment unit. Everything came this week and last night was the first opportunity I had to set everything up.

When measuring the entertainment unit prior to purchase I was sure it would be deep enough to accommodate the 990. In fact, I was right! Unfortunately it is not deep enough to accommodate the 990 AND the cables connected to the back (Blue Jeans audio interconnect cables specifically). I now have to purchase a new unit or modify the one I have.

The question I pose is: What depth are your entertainment units? How have you guys accommodated the size of the 990 and interconnect cables in "standard" entertainment units?

Any advice would be appreciated. You can probably appreciate the frustration at 9pm last night when I finally heaved the 990/7125 into the entertainment unit and it did not fit - not to mention telling my wife I screwed up!

Thanks in advance!

Bryan

My cabinet is an inch or so deeper than the 990, and I accommodate the 990 and the 7500 by cutting out openings just large enough for the body of the unit to slide through the hole. This makes wiring much easier (I can pull the cabinet forward about six or eight inches and easily get to the entire rear panel of the 990 and the binding posts of the amp).

I use a Salamander cabinet/rack with removeable rear panels. Still had to cut out as gonk suggests. Salamander makes an optional rear panel that adds several inches to the cavity. Might be worth looking at.

Thanks guys!

I appreciate the comments. I am also considering cutting out enough of the unit's backing (thick cardboard/thin particle board - not actually sure) but wanted to solicit comments first. My wife shuddered at the thought of me pulling tools out to cut away at a brand new entertainment unit I shuddered a little too!

The one issue I face is that the entertainment unit consists of two piers (left/right) and connected by a bridge spanning the top of a rear-projection TV. Getting everything positioned just right took some time and now I'll need to disconnect so that I can get behind the unit to cut away!

On another note - with little space to the rear/left/right of the receiver/amps do you find they tend to heat up?

Does the cabinet have doors on the front? A bit of breathing room above the amp or processor should take care of you, doubly so if there are doors on the front.

On my old entertainment cabinet, I took the cutting approach, but to a smaller degree. I hooked up my 1050 (which had issues in this entertainment unit) first. I then put the wires to the side or onto as appropriate and pushed it into the cabinet. I then pulled those wires that hooked up externally through the back of the cabinet hole and routed them to the cable box, TV and power amp (which was outside the cabinet to avoid heating problems.

I cut holes in the back of my cabinet to accomodate the cables and other wires. The holes I cut have a slightly smaller dimension then the 990/7700, but are large enought so that with the cabinets pulled out I can get to all of the rear hookups. I cannot see the holes from the front. Both units seems to run much cooler than my previous system

I'm weekend woodworker so I built a cabinet to fit the 990 and my other equipment. The shelves are 22" deep to accommodate the 990 and the cables. I use Outlaw's balanced cables and they are pretty stiff so they take more room than the cables with RCA connectors. Even with the deep cabinet I planned on cutting an access hole in the cabinet back behind the 990 so I can run all the wires along the cabinet's back and out of sight.

Cable management can be difficult given the number of cables from all the components that connect to the 990 and the cables only come in a few standard lengths. I ended up making my own RCA cables to specific lengths based upon the way I arranged my components in the cabinet I built.

As odd as it may feel and after careful planning, I'd get the saber saw out and cut a retangular hole about an inch less than the dimensions of the 990 in the back of your new cabinet.

I might suggest a hole that's more like 1/4" or 1/8" less than the dimensions - it's a little less conservative, but when you go to connect to an input or output near the edges of the unit you'll be glad you did.

icehawk21,
I took the cutting approach, first for the mega-CD changer and then with the 990, but still found that it was aesthetically unpleasing. In addtion my M2200 would overheat with the doors closed and the open door masking some of the drivers of the adjacent speaker. I went with dsandfort and just got a Salamander rack which looks great and has optimal (shelf) adjustment. If you have a chance don't mind the fairly steep price tag I would exchange your unit and go with the Salamander stuff. Good Luck!

There are a few pictures in my 990 review that show the results of my cuts. In my case, the cabinet door is almost always shut and the glass is slightly tinted so you really can't see the rear of the cabinet at all. With the door open and the camera's flash, you can see a lot more, but even still there's really only one angle that gives much view of the cut.