Final resting place in the two channel rack. From top to bottom: VPI Scout, currently with an AT VM740ML on it, Yamaha BD A1060 universal disk player, Mcintosh C49 Preamp, Behringer patch bay for patching things in and out for testing, Behringer FBQ3102HD for EQ’ing non streaming sources, Panamax M4315-Pro 8 outlet conditioner with ethernet card and 12v switching for outlets 7 and 8, ART USB interface for recording/ Grace Design internet radio, my new server that apparently really should be a used minicomputer or old laptop. The bottom shelf has an out of sight 8 port managed ethernet switch. Also hidden on the back of a shelf is a Raspberry Pi in a metal enclosure with a HifiBerry Spdif HAT on it running their Roon endpoint image. The power amp is a Rotel RB 1582 mk II that sits in the AV rack, doing double duty. Call it perverse but I wanted a server PC that looked like it belonged on a stereo rack. Now y’all can tell me how patch bays make no sense and analog EQ’s are useless.
The Panamax was an ebay find at $80. Every other one I saw that cheap had the $200+ ethernet card removed. This one had it. You register the MAC address at their web site and you can turn each outlet off and on individually with a phone app. I’ve used that function but not often. I do use the 12v triggered last outlet to power the EQ which has relay input-output bypass when it’s off. The Mac has multiple triggers which can be programmed to input selection so the EQ is only in the circuit for the inputs I set. The Grace radio is just an easy way to listen to streams Roon doesn’t support. The Mac says “passthru‘ on the display because my AVR is on and that 12v trigger, sent to the Mac, automatically selects the AVR inputs at unity gain. It’s expensive, though not stratospheric, but it is capable and very convenient to use.