New matching center and home made cabinet eye candy

Geoff4rfc

The CSiA6 and XPA-2 arrived last week but needed a new rack to accommodate them. So, after some minor designing strategies, I came up with something short and sweet. Two planks of pine, some birch dowels, cherry stain, some gloss finish and presto! A smaller footprint than before and improved efficiency.







The middle shelf is removable :cool:

Oldfatdogs

Once again nice work,no spikes on your speakers?:eek:

polkfarmboy

Well that certainly looks cool bud

michael1947

Really a nice rack, looks well built... and I love saying that, legally. Where did you get your tall stands for the M40's as front wides. They look nice and seem practical.

Toolfan66

Nice work, but I don't like the sub sitting in that rack, I also don't like the Bluray player sitting on top of the Sub. To much vibration from a sub woofer I see to many things going wrong there..

Outside of that the rack looks great..

DaveHCYJ

Nice looking. Did you make that yourself?

Only complaint is the scrap wood you are using to level it out between the brick and carpet -- you need to cut a round peice to fit under each front leg hidden from view.

Geoff4rfc

Thanks for the compliments!

Oldfatdogs wrote: »

Once again nice work,no spikes on your speakers?:eek:

Spikes are attached, they come with the A9's.

michael1947 wrote: »

Where did you get your tall stands for the M40's as front wides. They look nice and seem practical.

Thanks, I made those also. I had some others made for the surrounds before I went to towers.

Toolfan66 wrote: »

Nice work, but I don't like the sub sitting in that rack, I also don't like the Bluray player sitting on top of the Sub. To much vibration from a sub woofer I see to many things going wrong there..

Outside of that the rack looks great..

Thanks! The Epik is a sealed sub and I don't get too much vibration from it. I thought about installing a small shelf to attach under the top plank to house the player and still leaning toward that, but for now, I haven't had any issues with the set up as is.

ravaneli

That ferari red couch looks poisonous in that color-paradise. Seriously, toss a beige blanket on top or get rid.

Oldfatdogs

The pile on the carpet must be deep,Or I'm getting old and cant see.Anyway nice woodwork.

Geoff4rfc

ravaneli wrote: »

That ferari red couch looks poisonous in that color-paradise. Seriously, toss a beige blanket on top or get rid.

That's an ottoman goof ball, the couch is beige, the ottoman has a matching wrap around chair out of view, yes, quite a color-paradise

Oldfatdogs wrote: »

The pile on the carpet must be deep,Or I'm getting old and cant see.Anyway nice woodwork.

The A9's come with spikes that screw into the bottom of the existing feet and the weight of the speaker drives them right on down. There's no spinning the speaker unless you lift it up.

leroyjr1

Nice work!

ravaneli

Geoff4rfc wrote: »

That's an ottoman goof ball, the couch is beige, the ottoman has a matching wrap around chair out of view, yes, quite a color-paradise

I don't know what 'ottoman goof ball' is, but if you want to call me anything, you need to learn to use commas, punk.

Geoff4rfc

Didn't realize you were so sensitive MR. ravaneli! Goof ball was just in light of your mis perception of a piece of furniture and then your strong judgment on what I should do with something in my own home.

Aren't you the one that gets off on making customer service women cry? And you call me punk? You go boy!

gdb

Tearing up existing hearth and setting a new, extended one in slate, granite, tile etc. next on your to do list? Did you turn those dowels yourself? Very nice work BTW !

pyrocyborg

Great looking rack! I also don't like the sub being there... I know it's a sealed one, and it doesn't shake everything around, but still, there is some vibrations that may be harmful to your components. Or you may try to isolate it more, if you haven't already? Blu-tack maybe?

Anyways, great job

ravaneli

Geoff4rfc wrote: »

Didn't realize you were so sensitive MR. ravaneli! Goof ball was just in light of your mis perception of a piece of furniture and then your strong judgment on what I should do with something in my own home.

Aren't you the one that gets off on making customer service women cry? And you call me punk? You go boy!

Funny you mentioned that. I went off hard on some dude with indian accent the other day, my best material, personal and company insults, but I left him absolutely unmoved. So I cancelled my employer dental insurance because it doubled this year, and I found some other insurance online that LOOKED great on paper. Got it, just to find out a month later from my dentist that the new insurance covers NOTHING! It was a well designed scam, and what they promote is under very special, never happening circumstances. Ok, I think, no big deal, just cancel. Well the dude tells me you can't just cancel over the phone, you have to WRITE A LETTER EXPLAINING WHY! Mail the letter to this address and wait 6 to 8 weeks, during which time you have to make payments. Ha! They didn't write me a letter to sign me up. Didn't even call me. Just took my credit card on a website. Now I have to write them a letter?
So OFF I go, and say this and that, but the guy was absolutely unmoved! Lol : ) That guy was a pro, or this happens to him all the time. You should have heard him after I was done, his voice was not even changed a little bit! He gave absolutely no rats a$$ about my anger.
So I called my credit card and suspended payments myself. I have a feeling this is not over..

Lietuvis91

You guys don't like the sub being there because you are not use to seeing it there.

But actually, in terms of looks, it's cleaner, because all your equipment fits in the rack, and there is not some big random box sitting by itself on the side. The entire arrangement looks cleaner this way, imo.

Also, as far as sound goes, I would imagine bass distribution is more uniform from this spot. Most of us don't have the ability to have the sub in the middle, but I always thought that this could actually be the best place to put it. So how do you like the sound of the sub being there vs on the side? Better, worse, no change?

tonyb

Guys....jeesh, keep the Monday morning knives in the drawer.

Geoff- Nice rack man......and I usually reserve that comment for women.

BeefJerky

ravaneli wrote: »

Funny you mentioned that. I went off hard on some dude with indian accent the other day, my best material, personal and company insults, but I left him absolutely unmoved. So I cancelled my employer dental insurance because it doubled this year, and I found some other insurance online that LOOKED great on paper. Got it, just to find out a month later from my dentist that the new insurance covers NOTHING! It was a well designed scam, and what they promote is under very special, never happening circumstances. Ok, I think, no big deal, just cancel. Well the dude tells me you can't just cancel over the phone, you have to WRITE A LETTER EXPLAINING WHY! Mail the letter to this address and wait 6 to 8 weeks, during which time you have to make payments. Ha! They didn't write me a letter to sign me up. Didn't even call me. Just took my credit card on a website. Now I have to write them a letter?
So OFF I go, and say this and that, but the guy was absolutely unmoved! Lol : ) That guy was a pro, or this happens to him all the time. You should have heard him after I was done, his voice was not even changed a little bit! He gave absolutely no rats a$$ about my anger.
So I called my credit card and suspended payments myself. I have a feeling this is not over..

A) This is why you have to read all the small print and not just fall for the cleverly written ads.
It still doesn't excuse your horrible attitude with customer service representatives.

Geoff4rfc

gdb wrote: »

Tearing up existing hearth and setting a new, extended one in slate, granite, tile etc. next on your to do list? Did you turn those dowels yourself? Very nice work BTW !

That's an awesome idea, redoing that hearth to accommodate the set up now on the list! I bought the dowels and cut 'em. Wish I had a lathe.

Lietuvis91 wrote: »

You guys don't like the sub being there because you are not use to seeing it there.

But actually, in terms of looks, it's cleaner, because all your equipment fits in the rack, and there is not some big random box sitting by itself on the side. The entire arrangement looks cleaner this way, imo.

Also, as far as sound goes, I would imagine bass distribution is more uniform from this spot. Most of us don't have the ability to have the sub in the middle, but I always thought that this could actually be the best place to put it. So how do you like the sound of the sub being there vs on the side? Better, worse, no change?

Thanks! Neat and tidy is exactly what I was going for and, I did want my sub right close to the middle if not dead center.

I love the sound, the difference small but there. The main concern here so far is vibration, what difference would it make if the sub is right next to the equipment or 2 feet away?

As I was doing audessey set up with the new rack and center, I envisioned a new rack of the same only with a second matching sub on the other side, so then the equipment would be dead center.

pyrocyborg

Geoff4rfc wrote: »

I love the sound, the difference small but there. The main concern here so far is vibration, what difference would it make if the sub is right next to the equipment or 2 feet away?

While I agree it is way neater that way, I think that vibrations (or microvibrations) will vibrate (sorry for repeating the same word, I can't think of any synonym right now) through your rack, thus affecting every component directly in contact with it. When your sub is on the floor, most of what vibrates are walls, not the floor itself so your components are generally safe from vibrations: if your sub is near your rack, your components may still be affected except if your rack is decoupled or constructed to be exempt of vibrations. I tell you that because I think that one of the most common enemy of electronics is vibrations. Even if it doesn't "break" your components, it will affect your sound as most components aren't made to operate well with constant vibrations. You'll probably achieve better SQ by decoupling it.

And... one way to cheaply decouple your components might be using blu-tac under every component, and maybe, under the sub itself. It doesn't have to be a huge amount, just enough for your components to be elevated by a mm or 2. If I am wrong, someone will easily correct me... I know sealed subs can still make your walls shake, so I'm kinda sure that everything in the rack is shacking too.

Anyways, I don't think it could make your components fall... You could use cork squares too, it could isolate your sub from the rest of your components. I do not know if it works when your sub is on a rack, but it might worth a try.

Geoff4rfc

pyrocyborg wrote: »

And... one way to cheaply decouple your components might be using blu-tac under every component, and maybe, under the sub itself. It doesn't have to be a huge amount, just enough for your components to be elevated by a mm or 2. If I am wrong, someone will easily correct me... I know sealed subs can still make your walls shake, so I'm kinda sure that everything in the rack is shacking too.

Anyways, I don't think it could make your components fall... You could use cork squares too, it could isolate your sub from the rest of your components. I do not know if it works when your sub is on a rack, but it might worth a try.

Duly noted. I've got just the thing to place under the feet of all 5 components. As you said, certainly worth a try. Thanks for your input!

Geoff4rfc

tonyb wrote: »

Geoff- Nice rack man......and I usually reserve that comment for women.

Thanks for noticing Tony, I've been working out!

pitdogg2

pyrocyborg wrote: »

While I agree it is way neater that way, I think that vibrations (or microvibrations) will vibrate (sorry for repeating the same word, I can't think of any synonym right now) through your rack, thus affecting every component directly in contact with it. When your sub is on the floor, most of what vibrates are walls, not the floor itself so your components are generally safe from vibrations: if your sub is near your rack, your components may still be affected except if your rack is decoupled or constructed to be exempt of vibrations. I tell you that because I think that one of the most common enemy of electronics is vibrations. Even if it doesn't "break" your components, it will affect your sound as most components aren't made to operate well with constant vibrations. You'll probably achieve better SQ by decoupling it.

And... one way to cheaply decouple your components might be using blu-tac under every component, and maybe, under the sub itself. It doesn't have to be a huge amount, just enough for your components to be elevated by a mm or 2. If I am wrong, someone will easily correct me... I know sealed subs can still make your walls shake, so I'm kinda sure that everything in the rack is shacking too.

Anyways, I don't think it could make your components fall... You could use cork squares too, it could isolate your sub from the rest of your components. I do not know if it works when your sub is on a rack, but it might worth a try.

^^^^^exactly well said

now let me add that if your player is playing a disc would you want to grab it and shake it? I wouldn't but in essence that is what is happening. For me the Amps really is not that big a deal but if you really want it there(BR player) good god get some thick sorbothane feet for under it like say some pangea amp feet for like 80lbs. I'd move it personally

nice work

WagBoss

Take the blu-ray player off the sub or you're going to scratch discs :O

Toolfan66

It's your stuff do as you wish, I personally prefer to eliminate as much vibration as I can. A bluray player on top of a sub is not a good idea let alone it setting in the rack.

It is fact you will get better sound decoupling your player as much as as you can. who ever said the sub needs to be centered to the room anyway? I have a sub to the left and one behind me and they blend so well you would never know where they were if you couldn't see them..


what difference would it make if the sub is right next to the equipment or 2 feet away? considering it's in your rack? it would make a big difference...




Like I said it's your gear so have fun!!!!

ravaneli

The first thing I learned in audio was that the low frequencies don't travel directionally. I challenge anyone to walk into my room with eyes tied and tell me where the sub is.

That doesn't mean it doesn't matter where you put it, but it is a matter of how it sounds, not where the waves come from.

I have all kinds of stuff rattle on my bookshelves when I turn the 660 up. Yes, the 660 is ported, but i thought that actually reduces the vibration of the sub itself because you don't get the kickback when it hits. Blue ray on top of it is naturally not a good location but I see your problem - nowhere else to go if you want to keep the center ... centered ( I see the tautology here but hard to avoid)

tonyb

ravaneli wrote: »

That doesn't mean it doesn't matter where you put it, but it is a matter of how it sounds, not where the waves come from.

UH....where the waves come from determines how it sounds.

Geoff4rfc

Okay, for the time being, I have installed some "anti-vibration" pads. These are various diameters of felt pads for furniture. Doubled thickness on the sub and doubled and tapered on the player.

My plan is to install a small shelf under the top shelf above the sub to house the bluray player. Hopefully, this will minimize any unwanted vibration.

Geoff4rfc

Just for fun, I put in my Stealth bluray, volume at -23, sub at +5 and set a short glass of water on top of the sub. Disc audio; PCM. I threw multiple explosions, jet thrust after burners, more explosions and more jet passes at it and nary a movement from the water. Sound waves transferred through the floor but no vibration in the sub cabinet itself.

So I pulled out my heaviest hitter, Tron Legacy. Went straight to the grid, low and behold, "some" vibration in the water. I backed the sub down to +3 and the vibration was minimized greatly. There was no mistake, the LFE from that movie transferring though the floor and vibrating the couch was evident. But the sub itself only created a handful of ripples throughout the entire grid scene.

Now that is one awesomely sealed sub!!

Oh yeah, my wife got all excited about this whole deal, she wanted to video the experiment saying, they won't believe you. If anyone wants proof, I'll get it, but my feeling is, I did the test, I saw what it takes to make it vibrate with subtlety. I don't know of too many other movies (not in my library anyway) packing as much LFE as Tron, so I know I'm safe from vibrating my bluray player into oblivion.

All that said, I do appreciate the concern of others for my gear, I know the comments wouldn't have been made without genuine care for a fellow Polkie. Thanks!

Sherardp

I would still pull that sub out into the room so it could breathe, and for better placement. That's just me though. Your setup looks really nice, and that room looks awesome.