Hi all, this is mainly for the high end guys i guess. I'm looking for objective opinions on how i do my racks. Basically, the way i do them and handle cable management is by forming my own methods over time and i'd like to know how my methods shape up.

I'd also love to see how others do thier racks

Simon.

the job looks very nice and clean. I wish all my clients had setups that would allow for a rolling rack...and a place to put it that was not crammed in a cabinet area barely deep enough to fit the components.

side note
Recently finished up a job where the customer had custom cabinets made (ordered) before I was brought into the project...my first advice was at least 20" deep...when it came time for me to go back out to finish the project, I got to see the nice new 16.5" deep cabinets that all the gear was to go into. not fun to squeeze.

I usually don't zip tie as tight unless it is a similar situation to what you are doing in which things wont move, or change over time. The other thing I do slightly differently is I always use Banana termination when ever possible. makes my life much easier if I do have to change things around...plus none of twist twist twist in the tight places...also another area for $ (people like their jewelery even if they never see it. I will also usually color code my speaker wire pairs to help with quicker referencing (though I only have 9 colors of electrical tape so sometimes I run out, or use a combination of two colors for more runs), and then make a legend that I keep in my file of what room/area each lead goes to.

Like the slide out laptop piece too.

The interconnects look pretty small, but all in all your work looks excellent.

You probably can't tell properly but all the speaker cables are all labeled. I agree that the interconnects look thin but they are decent quality nonetheless. If i use anything heavier, it becomes too difficult to keep neat and deal with the bulk. The " slideout laptop" is actually just a keyboard and monitor for the sound server, although you can buy a pretty good laptop for the cost of one.

Thanks for the input.

Simon.

Simon,

I consider most of my systems to be midfi (ie. no racks, just crammed up adjustable shelving). When I do get the opportunity to wire from behind I like to make the wiring look like under the bonnet of an exotic race car.

Your work is quite impressive, very clean, easy to follow signal path, labelling looks very readable.

Kudos to the man from the land down under.

Simon,

Your work is that of a professional. Congratulations.

Very nice work Simon.
I just had a job where we used a Rack Technologies rack.
At first we were going to have it powder coated, but went natural colour after a stuff up by the distributor.

Our installers used 2 - 10 way horizontal power boards and used clipsal for all the pugs where possible.
Installed the 4 fan option and installed a thermostat.

Thanks guys, thats pretty encouraging.

Cheers
Simon.

over all it looks great, and i dont want to be the nit picker around here anyways, truely nice work.

just because i would do things a little different doesnt mean it better.

you can wire and trim my house anytime.

ed

Woo Hoo........i must be a Pro.

Thanks Ed

Looks great Simon.

Just wondering, are all cables cut to length or do you keep some slack just in case you need to move components or replace with another brand that has the connectors in a different spot.

I'm just about to look at the middle atlantic RSH custom face plates for each component so you end up with a smooth look and better air flow. The distributor in Aus is www.illusionaudio.com.au

if you need me to give the stamp of approval its a sad day for sure.

Very Nice and clean rack. My only recommendation is use Velcro instead of Zip ties.

Thanks Karmann and SDZD, Always looking for ways to improve.

I have to thank everyone again here for the kind words. I was very uncertain about posting pics of the rear of a rack as i have never seen it done here before and was worried that i might get flamed for the way i do things, sort of feeling a bit exposed i guess.

I'd still love to see how others are doing thiers.

Simon.

To qualify we normally don't do racks, there are too many custom cabinet companies around here. But I will give my impressions anyway.

Looks very good. Clean & tidy. My rule with my techs is to make it look pretty. I would second the banana plugs and the velcro. If you had to replace a piece of equipment with a different brand/model all those zip ties with be a major pain. Also, I would have put some blanks at the top to hide the colored wire you see. I know the rack manufacturer probably charges an arm and a leg for them, but you could easily have made your own with some black plexi or even 1/4" plywood painted black. On a job like this I would have been more consistant with the labeler. You can see several runs that are hand labeled. Not a big deal, but is the the 11 on the volume knob, "just that little bit more."

It's not so much a matter of "needing" the approval as i do take pride in the way i do things, but it's nice to have anyway. Lets face it, had you told me to "hire a pro", it wouldn't have exactly made my day so to speak. As i said earlier, i feel a bit exposed by putting the pics here in the first place.

Simon.