Is there a good rule of thumb for how much room I should allow for A/V equipment in an entertainment center? I do not want to simply measure my equipment and assume that all others are alike. (The piece is for someone else.) I am primarily concerned about width. I know that things like receivers get very tall while DVD players can be very thin. There will be plenty of room to accommodate variations in height. I did some googling and came up with nothing. I will keep googling but maybe someone has a good answer.
Audio equipment typically has a very similar footprint. I believe this is to help keep equipment racks looking nice and uniform. Some of your nicer equipment even have pre-tapped screw holes and include brackets for mounting in an equipment rack.
A quick look at Best Buy's site seems to indicate that audio equipment widths range from 16 9/16" to around 17 1/2". You'll want to be sure to give enough side clearance for cooling needs, as well, which is usually a couple of inches on each side, I think.
In audio telecome and computers all the equipment is standardized to U's 1U, 3U and we screw it into long rails of predrilled machine screw holes tapped to 10-32
everything electronic computer and telecom meant to be stacked is meant to be a multiple of that.
High end audio, even home often come with "rack ears" conversion kits to allow the equipment to sit in proper racks and be stacked that way.
That having been said consumer electronics often break that rule but usually to look SMALLER
rack equipment itself is usually 18" wide with 1/2" ears on the front panel to mate with the rack rails and make the 19" Everything SHOULD fit in an 18" wide compartment but everything WILL fit in 19" (and leave room for fingers at the side if needed)
that having been said the specific subculture of the AUDIOPHILES with their multiple thousand dollar things do everything weird and different and everything is meant to show off the tubes or the design instead of just stacking the boxes and enjoying the sound. But whan someon pays $10K for a record player or amplifier then cost is no object to the stereo case either.
"Highland Pairos" wrote on 06 Feb 2008 in group rec.woodworking:
Keep in mind that any rule-of-thumb (or even industry standard) measurements you get are for current equipment. If your client wants to use some older stuff, all bets are off. Reel-to-reel tape decks come to mind. They were about 18" tall and 10" deep.
This will partly depend on the type of equipment. A sample DVD recorder is about 17" wide, 3" high, 10" deep; VCR is 17" wide, 4" high, 10" deep; digital cable TV box is 5" wide, 7" deep, 1.5" high and produces more heat than the VCR - something to watch out for, as bigger gear is often assumed to produce more heat. Also need to allow for cabling space behind the devices - audio cables usually need less "turning space" than coax or HDMI cables.
High power audio amps can generate a lot of heat (even the solid state ones), so include some fans for cooling (preferably temperature controlled, so they only run when needed). If your audiophile is into tube amps, then plan on lots of forced ventilation...
A sample 26" LCD TV (biggest one at hand) is 27" wide and 23" high (speakers on the bottom) base extends 4" in front of screen and 6" behind it. An equivalent TV with speakers on the sides would be 33" wide and 20" high. There is a shelf 1.5" above the 26" TV and the bottom of that shelf reaches 114F (in a 78F room - 26F rise) in a matter of minutes without forced ventilation. I used a thermal sensor to control a fan in the cabinet to keep the temperature reasonable:
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shelves of equipment that produces appreciable heat may need a fan for each shelf. If the back of the unit is against a wall but not flush with the wall, then louvers for each shelf may be adequate.
Rule of thumb: Visit the person. Put a thermometer on top of each unit. Turn the unit on and cover with a cardboard box for 10 minutes. If the temperature rises more than 10F, then it consider louvers. If the temperature rises more than 20F, then consider forced ventilation.
We've made them many different sizes but unless someone tells us otherwise, we go with a minimum of 19" between the stiles. Since our stiles hang inside the sides, this also gives a little more room inside the carcass. Older equipment is more likely to be larger so check with your customer.
I just measured my stuff for you and heres what I get:
I have a 30 year old Sony Stereo system with 4 components and each component is 18" wide. On top of that, I have a 3 or 4 year old Pioneer DVD/radio thing that is 16 1/2 inches. On top of that, I have a 1 year old 6 channel speaker selector thing and that is 17".
I would say make it at least 19" and 20" wide would more than likely fit most any A/V equipment.
Fortunately that won't be the case. This user isn't making this his home theater location. That will be in the basement. This unit will only have to accommodate a flat panel TV, a DVD, maybe a receiver, and then books etc. I have designed it more like a bookcase unit then an entertainment center.
When we finalize the design I plan to put a few slides up on Flickr.
Fortunately this unit will not get this heavy a use. Just a TV and a DVD, maybe a small receiver. Thanks for the guidelines on temperature changes though. I will file that for future reference.
Highland Pairos wrote: : Is there a good rule of thumb for how much room I should allow for A/V : equipment in an entertainment center?
Standard racks for electronic gear are 19". These racks are used in computer server rooms, recording studios, scientific laboratories, etc. Most gear is designed to fit in these racks, even if it has little rubber feet instead of mounting hardware.
Some equipment needs side ventilation, although the standard is that cool air is sucked in the front and hot air is blown out the back. So, if the sides are going to block air flow, you might want to put them at 21" to provide 1" of airflow on each side. On the other hand, consumer gear is usually not picky about airflow.
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a serious equipment geek, I might consider a standard 19:" rack and build a pretty box around it. You can get wire management and power strips, etc. And it has a certain geeky coolness factor. You can get shelves that mount in a rack.
I needed something to hold my amp, DVD player, VHS player/recorder, and a center speaker for my theater room. The screen is mounted diagonally in a corner. I designed removable curved shelves held by wall cleats. Each 3/4" ply shelf has a curved front and a curved rear with hardwood lips on each edge. I probably have twice the shelf space than I really need which make it easier to access the rear of every unit, plus allow for a future Blu-Ray or HD DVD unit and some kind of "PC-connection" unit. This idea works exceptionally well. The open corner allows for wiring management and air movement. I fastened two Velcro strips to the back lip of each shelf (one side for electrical, the other for sound/video cabling). Whatever you decide, make sure there is enough ventilation and at least 1" of space all round each unit. Spiral cable wraps helps keep it tidy. I was going to add rope lighting under each shelf, but decided against it in favor of keeping all the wiring to a minimum.
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