Home made HIFI shelves

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I have currently got all of my equipment stacked on top of each other with isonodes on the feet of cd and tuner and the roksan turntable on a chopping board on top of the CD player!

I can't buy a hifi rack as my wife does not like the look of them.

Therefore I am planning to make some shelves to go in an alcove at the side of the fireplace to put everyting on. I was planning to affix some batten to the wall and affix some thick shelves to this. Is this a good way to do it. Is there anything else I need to do to make the shelves good for the HIFI?

Marantz PM7001KI, CD6002, ST7001, Monitor Audio GS10, Roksan Radius 5, Ortofon 2M blue.

 

[Andrew Everard]

Sounds fine - and will be so much better than the arrangement you have at the moment!

 

[idc]

Sounds great, it is what I have done in the past and although it is not for the hifi, I have a friend who is doing the same as you for my TV. Solid wood fixed with batons as opposed to shelf brackets and put a batton/strip of wood accross at the front as well, makes for a vibration free support. Another cheap form of isolation are granite chopping boards and place mats. I have two place mats, one on top of the other with little rubber feet between to support my amp. It works as the amp's valves are particularly suseptible to vibration. Any vibration causes a high pitched ring. Since using the granite place mats, that vibration sound has all but stopped.

 

[gbhsi1]

..Or replace the wife....you do have options you know! Please don't let your wife read this as she might actually hunt me down!!

 

[Anonymous]

A batten on the back as well as each side, plus as idc says on the front will make for a solid fixing.Perhaps make cable cutouts in front of this rear batten then so that it all looks tidy. If you are not a diyer there are good instructions on how to set this up on the web, places like the screwfix messageboard are also really helpful too.

 

[idc]

Sadly, it is a common theme that wives etc oppose hifi upgrades. I am lucky that way. When I appeared at the supermarket checkout with two granite place mats and the wife asked what they were for and I explained that they were a perfect size to put the amp on, she was pleased for me.

The alternative is to tell her that instead of hifi you are going to take up another hobby such as cross dressing Satanism.

 

[knacker]

idc:

The alternative is to tell her that instead of hifi you are going to take up another hobby such as cross dressing Satanism.

You as well

 

[idc]

With all of the smoke, make up, fake blood and masks it is hard to tell who the other club members are. At least since I joined the speakers have been moved, granite plinths installed and sound quality of background music has improved. But someone keeps stealing the cables.

 

[hawardn]

2 tips - cut out the back corner of each shelf for a cable run (I assume you have power in or near the alcove) and make it big enough for the biggest plug. Consider a decorative strip along the front of the shelves - easy to glue and pin - for 2 reasons; make wife happy with the look and allows you to use blockboard which gives a very sold shelf. good luck .. cheers ... oh and make sure they're horizontal !!

 

[Drummerdave]

I made cupboards & shelves for my hifi which are built into an alcove. The doors are folding to expose the whole hifi when open. The main shelf in the middle which holds the cdp and amp is sitting on battens fixed to the sides at each end - the shelf itself is a piece of 75mm thick reclaimed pine which, due to it's size, can easily span the distance without flexing and also looks fantastic. It's set forward from the back of the cupboard to allow cables to travel down the back to behind the lower shelf and under the suspended timber floor to the speakers. The lower shelf is removable and fully supported on 4 edges - it holds my turntable. The QED hub stays underneath the lower shelf. The back wall of the cupboard is painted matt black which hides most of the untidiness of the cabling.

The top shelf (which is more like the top of a sideboard) is another wider piece of reclaimed timber, about 45mm thick. On top of this are a series of narrower shelves which hold my cd collection. I'm pretty happy with how it all turned out (there's an identical version in the other alcove) considering I'm not a joiner. If I ever figure out how to post photos I'll let you see it.

Cheers. DD