Modest Home Media Rack

Scott28

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Just finished installing my new dedicated media rack, as with most things it is a continual work in progress and as my knowledge in home AV improves I update it.
Screen Shot 2018-05-14 at 18.58.21.png

It is currently feeding a 65" Samsung KS8000 and a Q Acoustics 5.1.2 (ELAC A4) Atmos Setup.
IMG_2446.JPG


I like to post the photos on here as I can look back at previous posts I have made and see the evolution of my AV equipment.

Want to say a special thanks to the great guys at The Media Factory – Install : Connect : Control @Joe Fernand & John.

Scott
 

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Upgraded from this embarrassment -

FullSizeRender.jpg
 
looks sweet! Nice and tidy

Thank you, one of the many many reasons was to make it more "Wife Friendly", however it has enabled me to access components a lot easier for upgrading / troubleshooting.

The rack is on casters, all I need to unplug is the HDMI - TV, speaker cables from the Amp, the Sky from the dish and the Internet Co-axial cable and it all pulls out in one unit.
 
I just bough a new house through taylor wimpey. They had an optional extra to fit out the house with a home hub platform consisting of cat 6 and coax and speaker cabling, with a data rack in the cupboard. They are using a company called home hub installations for the install...looks really good. I went ahead and ordered the system. My roof on the house went in this weekend and I am told we will be getting the keys end of June.

Look forward to having a similar set up as yours.....

h-h-i
 
I just bough a new house through taylor wimpey. They had an optional extra to fit out the house with a home hub platform consisting of cat 6 and coax and speaker cabling, with a data rack in the cupboard. They are using a company called home hub installations for the install...looks really good. I went ahead and ordered the system. My roof on the house went in this weekend and I am told we will be getting the keys end of June.

Look forward to having a similar set up as yours.....

h-h-i
That sounds like a great idea by a developer, my house was a new build also however it was erected before we took ownership of it, I only wish I had a similar option.

My only advice in your situation would be to get them to run as many redundancies as possible, I would stick to the rule of not running any HDMI over 8m - and if your considering HDBASE-T run as many spare Cat 6 as you can afford, same goes for speaker cabling.

Would also be beneficial to ask the developer to add a piece of string, or some form of cable that you can use to pull new / additional cables through at a later date if needed.

Just my two cents.
 
wow looks great
 
now I need to sort mine out to take pictures :)
 
Thanks for the heads up regarding being able to run more cables in the future, I will ask about the string or another form of cable to be able to run more cables in the future.

I tried to future proof it by ordering as much as I could afford - the system was quite expensive so I did the best I could, it went above budget regardless.

I went with a 5.1.2 wiring for speakers with subwoofer points in the corner of the lounge and 6x cat6 points in the lounge, and 4x cat 6 points in the bedroom. All other rooms are having a double cat6. I also requested a double cat6 point in the garage, as I intend to do a garage conversion at some point in the future.

Will post some pics when I get the keys...hopefully end of June.
 
Everything in the rack is wired to the Network switch, the Nighthawk Router and NAS are Link Aggregated (bonded), all components have statically assigned IP Addresses and custom QoS.

I tried to limit the amount of wireless components I have to improve speed and realiability WiFi = 2x iPhone’s, Amazon Alexa, 2x Macbook Pro’s, iPad, Nest Thermostat, Cam & Smoke Alarms & Philips Hue.
 
Everything in the rack is wired to the Network switch, the Nighthawk Router and NAS are Link Aggregated (bonded), all components have statically assigned IP Addresses and custom QoS.

I tried to limit the amount of wireless components I have to improve speed and realiability WiFi = 2x iPhone’s, Amazon Alexa, 2x Macbook Pro’s, iPad, Nest Thermostat, Cam & Smoke Alarms & Philips Hue.

I too have a Synology NAS that will be link aggregated and I currently have a 8 port netgear switch which I will need to upgrade to a 24 port switch for the new house and was also thinking of going with your Netgear GS724Tv4.

Would you recommend this switch? Have you had any issues or has it been quite stable?
Any issues with link aggregation? or general stability?

Alternatively I could pick up a second hand HP Procurve from ebay, prices are quite cheap on there, obviously you wont get the warranty.

I agree completely on limiting the number of devices connecting via Wi-Fi where possible, nothing beats a rock solid wired connection, mine will be a couple of iphones and a laptop, everything else wired.
 
Just finished installing my new dedicated media rack, as with most things it is a continual work in progress and as my knowledge in home AV improves I update it.
View attachment 1016773
It is currently feeding a 65" Samsung KS8000 and a Q Acoustics 5.1.2 (ELAC A4) Atmos Setup.
View attachment 1016731

I like to post the photos on here as I can look back at previous posts I have made and see the evolution of my AV equipment.

Want to say a special thanks to the great guys at The Media Factory – Install : Connect : Control @Joe Fernand & John.

Scott

This looks just what I'm after. Can I ask where you got the rack from and the spec. My current set up is similar to your before photo, even down to the style of rack and I'd like to smarten things up

Thx in advance
 
I too have a Synology NAS that will be link aggregated and I currently have a 8 port netgear switch which I will need to upgrade to a 24 port switch for the new house and was also thinking of going with your Netgear GS724Tv4.

Would you recommend this switch? Have you had any issues or has it been quite stable?
Any issues with link aggregation? or general stability?

Alternatively I could pick up a second hand HP Procurve from ebay, prices are quite cheap on there, obviously you wont get the warranty.

I agree completely on limiting the number of devices connecting via Wi-Fi where possible, nothing beats a rock solid wired connection, mine will be a couple of iphones and a laptop, everything else wired.

Touch wood, thus far the switch has been good, it can be a little advanced in the setup, especially regarding VLANS however Link Aggregation / Trunking was simple enough and there is plenty of videos available on YouTube for the setup of this very switch.
 
This looks just what I'm after. Can I ask where you got the rack from and the spec. My current set up is similar to your before photo, even down to the style of rack and I'd like to smarten things up

Thx in advance

I got the rack from Penn Elcom - Flight Case and Speaker Cabinet Solutions, however it was designed and ordered by the guys at The Media Factory – Install : Connect : Control, specifically @Joe Fernand & John, whose help was greatly appreciated.

What I would recommend is, create a drawing of what you want / need, measure all your components and convert them to u's (Rack Units), I would however strongly suggest you give each component at least 1 u of space above and below for ventilation, this can be hidden like mine with the use of blank plates where possible.

This was my crude drawing for reference -

Screen Shot 2018-05-15 at 15.05.57.png


Obviously you will need to design it within the limitations of the location its is going, I would try and remember to include casters at the bottom to allow for ease of access or moving it.

Need any advice / recommendations don't hesitate to ask.
 
I got the rack from Penn Elcom - Flight Case and Speaker Cabinet Solutions, however it was designed and ordered by the guys at The Media Factory – Install : Connect : Control, specifically @Joe Fernand & John, whose help was greatly appreciated.

What I would recommend is, create a drawing of what you want / need, measure all your components and convert them to u's (Rack Units), I would however strongly suggest you give each component at least 1 u of space above and below for ventilation, this can be hidden like mine with the use of blank plates where possible.

This was my crude drawing for reference -

View attachment 1017034

Obviously you will need to design it within the limitations of the location its is going, I would try and remember to include casters at the bottom to allow for ease of access or moving it.

Need any advice / recommendations don't hesitate to ask.

You’re a legend thank you. And thanks for such a comprehensive reply. Looks like I’ll be doing some homework when I get some free time at the weekend
 
Looks great! It makes things looks so much neater
 
Was this just a normal shelf? or a specific amp one?
Yeah it’s a 4U shelf, this was what size my Amp translated to, I believe most amps will be a similar size but it’s best to measure and convert 1U = 44.45mm
 
That my friend is Sexy AF! I recently got the Ikea Besta units for my HT gear and looking at your pic I instantly regret it.
Can I be cheeky and ask how much that set you back? and would it be possible for you to send me a full image pic of the it. I cant increase the ones on here as they pixelate to quickly.
Want to show the wife and go "SEEE this is what I wanted"
 
That my friend is Sexy AF! I recently got the Ikea Besta units for my HT gear and looking at your pic I instantly regret it.
Can I be cheeky and ask how much that set you back? and would it be possible for you to send me a full image pic of the it. I cant increase the ones on here as they pixelate to quickly.
Want to show the wife and go "SEEE this is what I wanted"
Hey Megabyte,

Thanks for your feedback.

I am currently away from home working at the moment and won’t be back till early September and I will upload a more detailed photo for you.

In regards to where I got it from, it was sourced and designed by the guys at The Media Factory @Joe Fernand and John, who really did all the work for me, I cannot recommend these guys enough.

With regards to price it came in around £700 +/- however this included cooling, castors and PDU, its a rack I will hopefully have for a long time and can transport easily.

Scott
 
Thanks man. Looking at their website now and nothing about racks. Some very high end stuff though. You should have asked them to put your cab on their website, for publicity discount of course
 
Hey Scott28,

Quick question. How does having the PS4 in your rack work? Does that mean you can play games from any TV in the house and if so how are the remote inputs fed back to the unit? What are the benefits of this setup?

I’m currently installing a 4K HDBaseT matrix over Cat6a in the rack in the garage, which is capable of 4 (up to) 4k inputs. I’m thinking UHD player, Apple TV, Firestick and my CCTV feed. But can switch one of these out if there’s an advantage to having our PS4 centralised. At the moment the machine is standalone on a dedicated TV.
 

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