MangledLeg Posted January 14 Posted January 14 Was having trouble working out where to post this, so move it along if need be I’m looking to put together an AV rack as a DIY project for a new hifi setup - my main concern is balancing strength and cost, plus wanted to try my hand at building something to suit my needs that’s within my skillset as an average DIY’er. I’m thinking of an open design for airflow/simplicity, but the top of the cabinet needs to be strong enough to house a 68cm CRT TV (around 50kg last time I checked, used for old video games and video sources like laserdiscs/VHS) plus a 55” flat panel display (which isn’t heavy at all!). I was going to put all the heavy components on the bottom row (preamp, multi-channel amp plus an older integrated amp), then spread out the other components over the next two rows. Ikea sell benchtop slabs in 2.45m lengths which tick the boxes for length/depth and I imagine strength, so I was thinking of grabbing four of those, then use galve pipe at regular intervals across to support the benchtops and divide the equipment spaces up. I was tinking of putting one row at the front of the benchtops and one at the rear, but wasn’t sure if I should also be putting another in the middle for additional strength. As the pipes will be threaded and set onto flanges, this would allow some adjustment to level the height and I can get them pre-cut to size and threaded as well, all I’ll need to do is wash and paint them. I’ve drawn up some rough plans, and placement thoughts (see the image, I don’t have all those components as that’ll be part 2 after the room and cabinet are done!) but keen for feedback as I expect others here will be more knowledgeable if this is too much/too little for what I need in a practical sense.
MangledLeg Posted January 23 Author Posted January 23 On 20/01/2025 at 8:51 PM, Type 1 said: Consider building it from Timber slabs… Thanks for the suggestion! I thought it was going to be easier using MDF kitchen slabs but have had second thoughts since drilling in the MDF may impact the structure of it... Will check with some timber places. Bunnings has some 2400 x 600mm hardwood slabs for around the same price as the Ikea slabs I was looking at, so that's an option too. I'll put it out here - recommended depth, should I be shooting for 400mm instead of 600mm? I've measure both AV cabinets in our place (one from... (far out) 20 years ago which still houses my old CRT in the back room, the other housing the modern equipment is still 400mm deep), but 600mm is popular for benchtops. Might do some research on that :)
Kaynin Posted January 23 Posted January 23 Mine are custom made and both are 600mm deep. 400mm may work fine with current gear, but you never know what you’ll have in the future, especially centre channels. I chose 25mm MDF. Yours will weigh a lot and, depending on length, likely sag in the middle. I’d put your amplification/air flow equipment all on one side, and then use a backing board on the other side. This will improve strength immeasurably. Unless you’re using a metal frame that’s screwed together I’d have serious concerns about strength and stability, especially with a tv on top. Don’t forget furniture sliders on the bottom, they’ll make your life a whole lot easier.
Type 1 Posted January 23 Posted January 23 So, I had this made from timber slabs, originally we had planned to put a TV on top, but then realized that we don’t watch TV!!! If you lived in Brisbane I could get the company that I work for to make you a lovely Birch plywood flat pack that you could assemble! 1
Type 1 Posted January 23 Posted January 23 Please ignore my experiments with making anti vibration plywood under the components…..
MangledLeg Posted January 23 Author Posted January 23 @Kaynin, thanks for the feedback, really appreciate it. Based on that I think I'll stick to 600mm depth. Your comment around stability was interesting though - I was hoping that having the five steel supports across the length (one at the front and another at the back) would do the job, though the reference image probably doesn't do a good job illustrating that - each of the supports illustrated are 25mm galv pipe threaded into a drilled flange. Adding some vertical support on the back sounds like a good idea though.... Hmmm, perhaps an alternative would be to create two units and pop them side by side. This might assist with the potential bowing from using a single 2.4m slab. I should have posted this earlier, but this was my inspiration for this project, noting I have decided to flange each level instead of relying on the clamps as used in this video because I was concerned how they'd handle the weight. His depth is close to 40cm, but width is around 130cm, so my project's a bit wider. Appreciate the suggestion on furniture sliders - yes, I'll definitely be needing those! @Type 1, that's some lovely timber! Your MacIntosh amp would weigh a fair bit, do you notice sagging, though the slab looks quite thick! 1
Kaynin Posted January 23 Posted January 23 (edited) Looking at your diagram again, re-consider the position of your centre speaker. It's low and off-set from centre. You'll very likely notice this when listening. Remember that speaker placement is more important that adjustment via an AVR/AVP. The first cabinet I designed with a cabinet maker had the centre speaker centered, but within the cabinet - so low. To offset this I had him make the cavity for the centre speaker angled so it fired to ear level which, although not perfect, worked well. That's the main reason why you see my centre speaker where you do in my current set-up. If you can at least get the speaker higher and more central to LP, you could at least prop the front of it should you need to get it firing to ear level. Edited January 23 by Kaynin
Kaynin Posted January 23 Posted January 23 3 hours ago, MangledLeg said: I was hoping that having the five steel supports across the length (one at the front and another at the back) would do the job, though the reference image probably doesn't do a good job illustrating that - each of the supports illustrated are 25mm galv pipe threaded into a drilled flange. Yeah you may be right on that. That's certainly different to what I've dealt with in the past, which is just a timber frame.
Craigandkim Posted January 23 Posted January 23 5 hours ago, Kaynin said: re-consider the position of your centre speaker. 5 hours ago, Kaynin said: speaker higher and more central to LP Defintely 100%
MangledLeg Posted January 27 Author Posted January 27 Thanks guys - I went back and re-measured everything, including all my components, to try improve things despite probably trying to get this cabinet to do too much so there has to be some compromises The tweaked design now uses three units which I'll bolt together. I can move the centre speaker up by another 5cm, was curious if I should allow a bit of room between the top of the unit as this would allow me to add anti-vibration pads under the speaker in this current setup. I'll also be keeping the 600mm depth, and potentially will add some extra bracing on the rear of the unit supporting the CRT. (I also forgot I had a HD-DVD player lying around, so added that in!).
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