With audio furniture, it seems I can never find something that fits my both my practical and aesthetic requirements. Consequently, I've developed a habit of building my own pieces over the years, and have circumvented my lack of a creative gene by leveraging existing designs that are in the ballpark, then modifying them to meet my needs. The two most recent projects are the vinyl storage cabinets and the equipment stand.
Vinyl Storage
Growing tired of turning my head sideways to read the spine of an album on a shelf, I built these out of Maple plywood. The bottom drawers are on full extension sliders that enable full access to those LPs without squatting or sitting on the floor, they are perfectly sized for my little "library" which is conveniently accessed via the media room, and with 12' of linear shelf space, are sufficient for my current collection while allowing room for future purchases. The end result turned out well. After a couple of years in use, there aren't any aspects I wished I tackled differently -- always a good sign.
Here are some photos mid build, and completed. An Excel file with the various dimensions and cut sheets can be downloaded here. Although it's free for non-commercial use, if you build the storage unit based on this Excel and are happy with the results, please give a little something to the charity of your choice.
Vinyl Storage
Growing tired of turning my head sideways to read the spine of an album on a shelf, I built these out of Maple plywood. The bottom drawers are on full extension sliders that enable full access to those LPs without squatting or sitting on the floor, they are perfectly sized for my little "library" which is conveniently accessed via the media room, and with 12' of linear shelf space, are sufficient for my current collection while allowing room for future purchases. The end result turned out well. After a couple of years in use, there aren't any aspects I wished I tackled differently -- always a good sign.
Here are some photos mid build, and completed. An Excel file with the various dimensions and cut sheets can be downloaded here. Although it's free for non-commercial use, if you build the storage unit based on this Excel and are happy with the results, please give a little something to the charity of your choice.
Equipment Stand
I searched high and low for an equipment stand that was very stable, allowed good cooling, met a specific aesthetic, and was reasonably affordable. I struck out, so built this. Inspired by the racks from Timber Nation, the design addressed some areas that I felt were insufficient. Specifically, they have open backs (I don't want to see the wall or the cords) and I felt that construction was a little compromised to meet a price point. My stand is made from solid Maple, with glue laminated 2-1/4" thick top shelf (68 lb) and 2" thick middle and bottom shelves (53 lb each). The front of the shelves are cut in an arc to add a little visual interest and lessen the perception of bulk. This reasonably subtle detail is visible in the first and last photos. The solid Maple legs have through dadoes to accept the shelves, then everything is screwed together using HeadLOK lag screws which have a very high clamping force. The top shelf floats on Herbie's Audio Labs Square Fat Dots, while the legs sit on Herbie's threaded Gliders. Total weight is 200 lb.
To solve the problem of an open back while still allowing for good air flow and cable management flexibility, I got a little creative. The problem with most sealed backs is they impact air flow and the pre-drilled holes for cabling dictate where the equipment should be placed. The latter is fine in a narrow unit, but in a wide shelf design it limits where you can place everything. Given my equipment has varying widths and will likely change over the years, I didn't like this approach. To solve it, I used a piece of Maple plywood behind each shelf opening, but stopped it about 1" below and above each shelf to aid air flow, then added a false back behind the bottom gap (i.e. top of each shelf). This creates a shadow line that fools the eye into thinking it's a solid piece when viewed from the front, but affords significant cable routing options. It's a little hard to describe in words, but picture 2 shows the false back, and picture 3 shows the shadow line. That photo was taken in a well lit shop, so it stands out, but in the house (picture 4), it's nearly invisible.
I searched high and low for an equipment stand that was very stable, allowed good cooling, met a specific aesthetic, and was reasonably affordable. I struck out, so built this. Inspired by the racks from Timber Nation, the design addressed some areas that I felt were insufficient. Specifically, they have open backs (I don't want to see the wall or the cords) and I felt that construction was a little compromised to meet a price point. My stand is made from solid Maple, with glue laminated 2-1/4" thick top shelf (68 lb) and 2" thick middle and bottom shelves (53 lb each). The front of the shelves are cut in an arc to add a little visual interest and lessen the perception of bulk. This reasonably subtle detail is visible in the first and last photos. The solid Maple legs have through dadoes to accept the shelves, then everything is screwed together using HeadLOK lag screws which have a very high clamping force. The top shelf floats on Herbie's Audio Labs Square Fat Dots, while the legs sit on Herbie's threaded Gliders. Total weight is 200 lb.
To solve the problem of an open back while still allowing for good air flow and cable management flexibility, I got a little creative. The problem with most sealed backs is they impact air flow and the pre-drilled holes for cabling dictate where the equipment should be placed. The latter is fine in a narrow unit, but in a wide shelf design it limits where you can place everything. Given my equipment has varying widths and will likely change over the years, I didn't like this approach. To solve it, I used a piece of Maple plywood behind each shelf opening, but stopped it about 1" below and above each shelf to aid air flow, then added a false back behind the bottom gap (i.e. top of each shelf). This creates a shadow line that fools the eye into thinking it's a solid piece when viewed from the front, but affords significant cable routing options. It's a little hard to describe in words, but picture 2 shows the false back, and picture 3 shows the shadow line. That photo was taken in a well lit shop, so it stands out, but in the house (picture 4), it's nearly invisible.
