Rack or no rack...that is the question

[David Katauskas]

I see these really nice preamps (Grace, Brick, ...), but they are not primarily rack mountable.
For me, that would detract me from purchasing. Why do they make 'em this way, or am I just a minority?

 

[mshilarious]

I see these really nice preamps (Grace, Brick, ...), but they are not primarily rack mountable.
For me, that would detract me from purchasing. Why do they make 'em this way, or am I just a minority?

The Grace has a wall wart, so they were probably just saving on metal, shipping, shelf space But I agree, it's annoying. Put the things in a proper box with a proper power supply. The Grace 201 is rackmount, so you know they have the boxes laying around the factory

I just say no to non-rackmount boxes and wallwarts. That requires me to pass on some nice gear, but that's the way it goes. There is other gear that fits my criteria that works fine and makes my studio much more tidy

 

[punkin]

I hear that!...it pisses me off that they come up with all these desktop devices like we all would rather have our stuff all over the desktop!

Some of that 1/2 rack and 1/3 rack stuff can be mounted on rack mounted shelves. That's what I did with my DMP3's.

I found one that had a series of pre-drilled holes in the bottom. I lucked out and found holes located in the correct location for my application.

Check the second unit down on this page; http://www.proformance.net/rackshelf.htm

You can find them cheaper if you shop around.

 

[amra]

Yea, I have quit buying outboard gear that does not rack mount easily as well. I really wanted to buy the EMU 1820 for example, but what the hell do you do with it? Those companies have to realize that the extra $5 in metal and labor to put that stuff in a rackmountable box might be worth it.

 

[vcgeetar]

You can get a rack tray for like 20 or 30 dollars which is what I am getting ready to do to place my grace model 101 and my FMR Audio RNP in a rack. It is just the wallwarts take up too much damn space in my power conditioner. it sucks i know but hey at least they sound really good. Gotta have the clean preamps and the trident rock and roll preamps

 

[pohaku]

I generally use rack shelves for my Symetrix and FMR gear. Middle Atlantic makes some and they have a variety of different holes drilled in them to fit your gear. Work like a charm for $20 or so. I have 2 Millennia TD-1s that are half rack boxes, but Millennia makes a rack kit that allows me to clip them together and rack them.

 

[amra]

Yea, I use rack shelves too, I get them locally - they are like $29. That works, but it still just doesn't look as nice. I wish there were 'faceplates' you could get that would allow various 1/2 or 1/3 scale gear to be mounted up in the front of the shelf nicely. Now THAT would be a moneymaker: a system of rack shelves that had interchangeable faceplates.

 

[gordone]

Regarding having to use Wall-warts on "cheap" gear - here is what the FMR Folks have to say about it - http://fmraudio.com/FAQ.htm#question1

Alot of it has to do with government/UL regulations regarding power supplies. By using a pre-approved power supply (the much-maligned wall-wart), the designers could save alot of money in the development of the product; one of the many reasons why the RNC is so affordable.

 

[jkokura]

Yea, I use rack shelves too, I get them locally - they are like $29. That works, but it still just doesn't look as nice. I wish there were 'faceplates' you could get that would allow various 1/2 or 1/3 scale gear to be mounted up in the front of the shelf nicely. Now THAT would be a moneymaker: a system of rack shelves that had interchangeable faceplates.

Design them, make a few as prototypes, and market them then.

Jacob

 

[pohaku]

Yea, I use rack shelves too, I get them locally - they are like $29. That works, but it still just doesn't look as nice. I wish there were 'faceplates' you could get that would allow various 1/2 or 1/3 scale gear to be mounted up in the front of the shelf nicely. Now THAT would be a moneymaker: a system of rack shelves that had interchangeable faceplates.

Been done for FMR gear:

http://www.mercenaryaudio.com/fulofr.html

Racks and plates available for other combinations of FMR gear as well.