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Introduction

Equipment support is big business, and for a good reason: It does make a difference. There's considerable science and research involved in well-designed equipment supports. There are many fine examples of quality racks and shelving units out there, if your budget permits, investing in one these would be a smart thing to do. However, if you're a bit short on cash, or you require something of custom size and/or finish you may consider building a system rack yourself.

Enter, the homemade Audio Component Rack:

There are many variations to this one, and it has been featured on a number of other sites. Our version is going to be based on tweak ref# 2, which happens to be one of the first tweaks submitted. For the most part we're going to stick to the instructions therein and add a bit of our own to spice things up. If you've made something similar, we would love to hear from you and post your take on this interesting project.

The Basics

Fundamentally, an audio component rack is meant to support and store audio equipment. It usually provides for vertical storage of components with some degree of shelf adjustment and spacing. The rack and the shelves come in different sizes, configurations and materials. There are four pillar racks, three pillar and even one-pillar racks. Shelves made out of different wood products, out of glass, marble, steel … you name it; it's probably been used.

Also fundamentally, an audio component rack is meant to provide a good level of isolation and vibration control. It's supposed to eliminate, or more likely reduce, harmful vibration throughout your audio system. Ironically, the main culprit is actually the audio system we are trying to isolate. As we play music sound waves excite all that surrounds us, with some objects resonating more so than others. The floor, the rack, the shelf and the components themselves will resonate and vibrate to varying degrees inducing impurities into the audio signal. Unwanted vibration can also come about from what is known as "Foot Fall". If your system is in a room with a suspended floor (the case with most of us), stomping or sometimes even walking heavily will make the floor spring sending miniature shocks throughout the room, up the rack and into your system.

Not surprisingly, many of the tweaks in the industry and in our collection deal with controlling vibration (i.e. minimizing it to the point of elimination). Naturally we can never eliminate all the vibration but minimizing it is highly desirable and necessary. A good audio component rack will therefore provide significant levels of isolation and vibration control: It will not shake when the floor trembles and it will not wildly resonate as music plays.

The Design

In principle our audio component rack is very simple. It will be made out of wood shelving and doubled up with MDF slabs for rigidity and extra dampening. Four threaded steel rods, drilled through four corners of each shelf, will serve as supporting pillars. The shelves, secured with appropriate nuts and washers, have dual function: To support our audio equipment for one, but also to hold everything together. Add some simple feet at the bottom and that's it.

The Ingredients

We will be making a fairly low rack, one that could have three shelves at most and therefore store up to three audio components. This particular implementation will have only two shelves allowing more breathing room for the lower audio component. You can easily alter the recipe and build a rack of grater stature, however assuming you place your rack mid way between your speakers, there's something to be said about tall structures blocking your sound stage. Sonically it could be a disadvantage, perception wise it's like someone standing up in the movies and blocking your view. We perceive music as happening between, behind and beyond the speakers. I prefer my sound stage to be as deep and as unobstructed as possible. So, if you have lots of gear, consider spreading it out with lower racks and amplifier stands as opposed to building a single, tall column.

Here are the materials you will need:

Shelves:

Two (or three) wooden shelves measuring 24" x 16". You can get really nice ones from woodworking shops or furniture stores. Alternatively you can get what I did: Simple vinyl covered ones from Home Depot. What ever your choice make sure the shelves are wide and deep enough to accommodate your audio gear. Add extra width and depth for the threading on each corner. I would say 24" x 16" is about right for most equipment.
Two (or three) MDF slabs measuring exactly as your "nice" shelves above. I bought mine and had them cut at Home Depot to perfect measure. I used 11/16" thick MDF which should be the minimum. You could go for thicker stock if you wish, but over 1" could make the whole shelf combination visually overpowering.
Variant A: Two (or three) cork sheets measuring exactly, in width and depth, as the above two. These come in rolls and are usually 3/16" thick. I picked up mine from, where else, Home Depot. We will place a sheet in-between the wood shelf and the MDF slab. Think of it as a sandwich: You got your nice wood on top, cork sheet in-between, and MDF slab on the bottom of each shelf.
Variant B: Instead of cord sheets use bits of Blue Tack or sticky putty. I used one (2 oz) pack per shelf and cut the stuff with scissor in little bits.

The Audio Component Rack