no, Hicks, you've got it wrong. We don't just hassle people for the sake of it.

Your Post 10 says you think this is in the right category. It's not -- it's in the general question and answer category. A subcategory of that is the "what did you do today" thread. You say this is what you did today, that you've got it in the right category, but you didin't put it in the thread where it belongs.

So it's in the category where people look for help or give answers. We took it as that. Some said it's in the wrong place, some criticized -- after all, it's in the place where a person wants things pointed out.

Your first post did not in any way make it clear that you were in the wrong place, because you hardly commented at all.

You're not in the wrong clique at all. I don't think there's any clique here. All are welcome, but this IS all volunteer so we'd like to be shown what you did today in "What I did today" and given questions, or pictures for comments, in the general section.

Thank Ernie for pointing that out. My mistake, I'll admit it! But that still doesnt make it right for people to bag on you right off the bat. But, oh well. I'll admit I was wrong and let this thread fade away. Thanks again.

I hate hidden racks. Bras suck.

tru dat

39, you and I are fairly close to him area-wise... would your clientele be okay with that install (I know you wouldn't)...

The RSH stuff is really not that expensive.  Take a look at this, and use them on your next stack of receivers.  They work well.  Also, they've been selling black or not-silver sat receivers for a couple years now.  Would look a lot better.

Another good recommendation:  if you can't use rack tabs (why not), take the feet off the AV components, and at least paint them black, or stick the loop side of sticky velcro on them to hide them better.  Gold in a black rack looks cheesy. 

Looks to me like you are using 12-series Elan gear in the bottom of the left rack.  Why use an AMX processor to control it?  The S12 (if you have one) works just fine. 

What's the cardboard box and crap stuffed behind the rack above the sub?  Also, why not pick a good location where the sub won't rattle the hell out of the two big metal racks, one of which it's basically bolted to? 

Last thought:  get a better digital camera.  Practice with it some, shoot your pictures in the morning or evening, lights down lower, turn up the EV to a +0.3 or +1.0, quicker-than-normal shitter speed, maybe a little slower, depending on the ambient light.  Get rid of the on-cam flash.  If you set the EV and f-stop and all correctly, the pics will dazzle instead of distract. 

Other than that, the home looks pretty slick.

Hicks, I gotta say unless you post a higher res shot of the rack refuting the negative comments above it looks like those comments are warranted.

Also, to post pics on any 'industry expert' message board NOT expecting to be critiqued is a bit naive - doesn't matter what forum, thread or site you post on.

I'll wait for the higher res shots before joining my colleagues in questioning your rack design.

I like the decor of the house. Dark wood and stone give it a modern look. The TV's recessed into the panels look great and the pop-up TV is neat. Ive seen a hundred pop-up installs and i never get bored with them. People love stuff that moves. It makes the system feel 'automated'.

The photos are small and have some blur going on so its hard to tell but they look like slide out racks. Maybe even slide out and twist racks based on the bottom slot? IMO.. these are the hardest racks to dress. I just looked at the pic again and i noticed the slide out rails. I totally missed that the first time. I had a crappy 2 megapixel camera in my computer bag all the way up until i confiscated my girlfriends camera last year. I have no idea how to take a nice photo so i aint got nothing to say about photo quality. They look good enough for a message forum IMO.

As for the subwoofer being in the rack... yeah it sucks but what can you do? We have an install where the subwoofer is under the family room floor in an MDF box with a custom made register in the floor. The crawl had a dirt floor and we had to build the freaking MDF box under the floor because there wasnt enough space to bring it down already built. We suspended it and attached the sides together then put the subwoofer in place on the bottom shelf and lifted into place and screwed the bottom board to the rest of the MDF box. Its sealed in the MDF box. The sub sounds like absolute garbage but thats what happens when the client puts their foot down. That sub is staying there forever. If it blows, hopefully no one notices. I might quit my job if get sent to replace that thing.

You didnt ask me to critique your installation or racks so i wont bother listing all the stuff i would do different. God knows i dont want anyone getting a hold of some of my install photos :) You can start any thread you want here, i dont know why anyone is telling you different. If its off topic it will most likely get moved but IMO this thread is definately ON TOPIC. It would have fit better in the "what did you do today thread" but its your perogative where you put it. Like anything we put out in public.. someone will comment on it.. whether its our installation photos or our children.. so make sure to dress them proper.. the kids and the rack :).

As for the thread title.. 'Hidden Racks' seems like a pretty good title for racks that hide behind wall panels. Maybe if you put an exclamation point it would pass the RC-CI grammer & punctuation test? Lets see "Hidden Racks!" Nah.. maybe a question mark "Hidden Racks?" Nah.. now its like were asking opinions or for info about obtaining hidden racks. How about an exclamation point and a question mark? "Hidden Racks?!" Now were cooking with gas!


This problem can be solved by simply sending me $20 via paypal. For your $20 you get this nice URL http://www.remotecentral.com so that you can visit the site easily and the right to pick on, poke fun at anyone who sells AMX or their entry level product PHAST.. PANJA .. PHAST.. erm.. Control4 :). You also get 5 free uses of Ed's "hire a pro" line and 1 post where you are allowed to have typos, mispellings & lack of punctuation where you pick apart someone elses typos, mispellings & lack of punctuation.

Wish my camera had that. With that feature I could get more work done in the time I have!

I'm with Stamp on this one. If you want to share some pictures and get some criticism, go ahead and start your own thread. If nobody likes it, it will go away.
If you are just posting some pics of what you did, not looking for any helpful criticism, you probably did post in the wrong thread.

If you are looking for criticism, I think some better pics would help.

The house looks pretty cool, the rack looks better than some I've seen, I'd give it a 5 outa 10 based on the picture. Closer photos and pictures of the racks pulled out and wire management may result in higher OR lower score.


I think I see a couple blank panels in there, but not sure. I definitely suggest working the RSH shelves into the budget if you can. I understand though that a racks FIRST job is to be functional. RSH shelves retail for about $75 more than a U2 and HBL2 blank. So that can add up pretty fast. And when the rack is behind closed doors, then is it really 'needed'. Probably not, but I would still specify for the RSH first and if the total budget gets crunched there is any easy way to get another couple hundred bucks out.

I dont know about work but i would definately get out of the door faster in the morning.

Here you go...



CJ

That is awesome.. I've got some work to do before the girlfriend gets home from work...

No Laxatives required!