A Guide to Audio-Video Equipment Racks

There is no doubt that you can place your audio and video system components almost anywhere, yet it is recommended that these systems are installed in a fixed dedicated enclosure, or component rack.

Keeping system components in an appropriate equipment rack will help you ensure the safety of your expensive equipment, while making the system easy to access for service and future growth.

It is true that in its simplest form, inexpensive rack systems are merely a cabinet with shelves to take your AV equipment.

Yet today's rack mounting solutions have evolved far beyond the simple enclosure designed to stack your gear. Rather, the more elaborate and expensive rack solutions found in advanced home theater installations form a system in itself; these include accessories for power distribution, thermal protection, and cable management.

Furthermore, while the traditional standard 19-inch rack would often take a more industrial look, yet many manufactures have started to offer rack options that complement any decor.

There is a never-ending list of rack designs of all shapes and sizes, for use in media-closets, in the home theater on their own, or embedded within some piece of furniture, cabinet, or built-in wall enclosure.

And there is more... You can find AV rack systems that come with support shelves on rails that can be pulled out for ease of equipment handling and maintenance.

Others would even allow you to pull out the whole shelving assembly complete with the installed gear and rotate it a full 180 degrees for ease of access to the back panel of your system components.

One such an example is the range of Pullout/Swivel Audio Video Rack solutions by HoloVision. The AV rack shown here may be mounted direct in a wooden cabinet to integrate better with the rest of the home theater room decor; alternatively, it can be floor standing and rolled on castors. Similar pullout rotating AV racks are also available from AVRAK as further featured on our site. AVRAK have got a full innovative line of rotating AV racks - from stationary, rotating, pullout and rotating, freestanding with rotation - of outstanding quality. The AVRAK double-wide rotating equipment rack pictured above is part of the AVRAK Fatrak series and is quite unique within the full category of AV rack systems - irrespective of brand.

HoloVision Rak Master Pullout Swivel AV rack System

AV Equipment Racks - All You Need to Know
Section Index:

This Guide to AV Equipment Racks is divided into a series of short articles, starting with the basics of standard 19-inch equipment racks.

In the process, we present a list of tips on how best to select and install equipment racks. We also discuss thermal management in rack enclosures. Finally, we look at some of the most interesting audio video rack options available for home theater use.