A Budget DIY Rack for little DAC's, AMP's etc.

[Basic]

Hello nice Forum.

I have read for weeks and weeks in this Forum and I must say thank you to Amirm and to all the people for the great stuff that I found here.

So I bought a Topping D10 and a JDS Labs Atom Headphone Amp for my pleasure. That was I missing all the years.

I'm very pleased with this components. I know there are Mini-Racks to buy on the Market. E.g. the iRack and the Topping Rack.

But i have the Idea, to build a Rack on my own. It shouldn't not expensive, easy to build and so I found this here on Amazon.


And here are some pics of the result.




Best Regards and many thanks for all the information here,

Hans

 

[Ben_Vee]

What a funny idea - a rack out of Lego-like stuff. Really brilliant!

 

[Berwhale]

Good luck with the dusting!

I use one of these glass monitor stands... https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B079HL8QFK

 

[Count Arthur]

Neat idea, does it improve the sound?

I quite like the look of some of the DIY "flexi racks", using threaded rod:

Minimal woodwork involved, three legs, four legs and pretty much any shape, size or layout you like.

 

[Ben_Vee]

Neat idea, does it improve the sound?

I quite like the look of some of the DIY "flexi racks", using threaded rod: ...

Minimal woodwork involved, three legs, four legs and pretty much any shape, size or layout you like.

I always wonder, whether these racks are stable enough to carry the weight of my gadgetry without starting to swing and vibrate? The word "flexi" would make me nervous...

 

[HemiRick]

I built a threaded rod plywood rack 30 yrs ago and its still serving me fine....When the nuts are tightened these units are very rigid, w no or very little Flex.

 

[dmac6419]

Good luck with the dusting!

I use one of these glass monitor stands... https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B079HL8QFK

I use the same stand

 

[Ben_Vee]

I built a threaded rod plywood rack 30 yrs ago and its still serving me fine....When the nuts are tightened these units are very rigid, w no or very little Flex.

Can you tell us, which size rods you use and to what height the whole assembly goes? Would be helpful, as I have been contemplating new racks for a while. The glass monitor stands are too small and the height of their feet way to limited for my stuff. And then there is the question of how to cover all the cabeling...

 

[Count Arthur]

I always wonder, whether these racks are stable enough to carry the weight of my gadgetry without starting to swing and vibrate? The word "flexi" would make me nervous...

In this instance I think the "flexi" part is referring to the flexibility of the design, rather than the flexibility of the structure.

Threaded rod is readily available from hardware shops: https://www.screwfix.com/c/screws-nails-fixings/threaded-rod/cat840126, Ebay, Amazon, etc. and it means you can position the shelves anywhere along the length of the rod, so that it exactly fits your equipment.

Can you tell us, which size rods you use and to what height the whole assembly goes?

You can get the rod in a variety of diameters, I would think that 10 or 12mm diameter would be plenty, but you could get thicker stuff if you wanted to make something really substantial that will support something like massive power amps. You can get it pretty much any length you want from some suppliers and in either BZP (bright zinc plated) steel, or A2 stainless steel.

 

[HemiRick]

Can you tell us, which size rods you use and to what height the whole assembly goes? Would be helpful, as I have been contemplating new racks for a while. The glass monitor stands are too small and the height of their feet way to limited for my stuff. And then there is the question of how to cover all the cabeling...

Sure its 7/8th inch 3 ft. threaded rod I got @ Home Depot. I used washers w/the nuts and 1/4 inch thick 7 ply birch skin plywood. I don't worry about neat or unseen cables.

 

[Berwhale]

I quite like the look of some of the DIY "flexi racks", using threaded rod:

I like the look of that Dual CS505-2, I miss mine. It was the first bit of hi-fi I bought - I think it was from Laskys, I would have been 14 or 15 at the time.

 

[somebodyelse]

In this instance I think the "flexi" part is referring to the flexibility of the design, rather than the flexibility of the structure.

One writeup I saw used rubber, foam or silicone washers on either side of the shelf explicitly to make the structure somewhat flexible, with a low resonant frequency (at least in the horizontal plane) when loaded with equipment. I can't see it making much difference to anything but a turntable, and that interaction would vary a lot with the specifics of both.

 

[Ben_Vee]

Sure its 7/8th inch 3 ft. threaded rod I got @ Home Depot. I used washers w/the nuts and 1/4 inch thick 7 ply birch skin plywood. I don't worry about neat or unseen cables.

Thanks for the details 7/8th inch should be massive enough for almost anything.

 

[Count Arthur]

I like the look of that Dual CS505-2, I miss mine.

I had a Dual for a short while, a few years ago. I'm not sure which particular model it was; I bought it used for very little money. It was very plastic-y and looked and felt pretty cheap, but I was very pleasantly surprised by how nice it sounded.

 

[Bald1]

A much bigger scale rack than the OP's.....

I've had this DIY flexi-rack now for almost 2 decades. First picture is from when it was first built. And yes, rubber and metal washers on both sides of all the adjustment nuts on the threaded rods. The outboard sides of the dual rack have two rods. They are joined in the middle with just a single rod. Quite sturdy.

Only thing I've done since this was built was to add to the turntable support and stain the shelves. And of course some equipment upgrades. Bottom pair of pictures reflect these changes.

It's worked out very well.

 

[adams-78]

Very good idea indeed guys Thank you very much. They selling that kind of racks for a lot of money sometimes

 

[Count Arthur]

That looks neat, what have you used for the shelves; is it glass or acrylic of some sort?

 

[dmac6419]

https://www.amazon.com/Computer-Mon...2&sr=1-1-80ba0e26-a1cd-4e7b-87a0-a2ffae3a273c

https://www.amazon.com/FITUEYES-Com...&keywords=monitor+riser&qid=1604763897&sr=8-6

 

[adams-78]

That looks neat, what have you used for the shelves; is it glass or acrylic of some sort?

It's some kind of acrylic. Here you got everything i used:

3mm Perspex Grey Tint Gloss Acrylic Plastic Sheet
M5 (5mm x 100mm) Pozi Pan Machine Screw (Bolt) - Stainless Steel (A2) (Pack of 10)
M5 (5mm) Nyloc Hex Nut (Type-P) - Steel (Pack of 40)

 

[adams-78]

That looks neat, what have you used for the shelves; is it glass or acrylic of some sort?

Your picture of that big glass/acrylic rack inspired me