DIY speaker stands

Cool idea for cheap DIY speaker stands made out of torchiere lamps.

Nice job Chris!

DIY Flexy AV Rack

I’ve had a few discussions lately about stereo/AV racks, and I always bring up the Flexy rack. Most folks I talk to don’t know what I mean, so I thought a post was in order.

The original design and details for a Flexy are here.

I love the Flexy concept as its very easy to tailor to your own needs. You can make it almost any size, and shape, or out of almost any material you want, the shelves are infinitely adjustable, and best of all, it’s inexpensive to build. Depending on the materials and size, you can easily build a simple shelf for around $30.

Salamander makes a commercial version. But beware, they’re expensive. For example, AudioAdvisor has a basic 3 shelf model for $180. Yikes!

I’ve made two of them.

The first one was a 4 shelf version made from MDF that I painted black, and I left the hardware its natural silver color. I used rubber feet on the bottom of the rods. I bought all the hardware at Home Depot. As I no longer needed this rack, I sold it.

 

The second one is currently in use today in my family room. The wood is poplar, and I stained it a rosewood color. I painted all of the hardware a gloss black. It has ball casters (see the pic below), so it’s easy to move. For this one, you’ll notice that the two middle rods don’t go through the top shelf. I drilled half way through the top shelf, so the rods go into the shelf, not through. This way, there are no center acorn nuts to interfere with the TV. I bought all of the hardware from McMaster-Carr. I’m very pleased with the look of it, and it works great.

 

 

Ball Caster:

 

 

When building a flexy, I found it helpful to drill all your shelves at one time, if possible. Clamp all the shelves together, and drill a hole through all the shelves at once. A drill press is really helpful here, as you’ll be sure the drill bit is truly straight up and down. It’s a little tougher with a handheld drill, but that works as well.

Other people have built some very creative flexy racks.

• A double flexy rack
• Side rack and TV stand
• A very slick looking acrylic rack
• Good idea of drilling wiring holes

There are a ton of threads on building Flexy racks on the HomeTheaterForum, if you want to a good place for more ideas.

AV Project :: Redbud Trail :: Part 6 – Dining Room In-wall speakers

A pretty simple Sunday afternoon project.

Speakers: One pair SpeakerCraft MT6 One

Volume Controller: One SpeakerCraft VLS60 Sliding Volume Controller

Trace the speaker template onto the wall, cut out the hole with my handy-dandy steak knife (er, I mean, my drywall saw), connect the speaker wire to the speaker, and tighten down the mounting brackets.

Find the correct wire amongst the mass of wire spaghetti in the junction box, and connect it to the speaker selector.

Wire up the volume controller, and we’re in business.

The electricians were apparantly in a good mood on at least one day, as they installed a backless low-voltage two-gang box in the dining room, which made it disguistingly easy to wire in the volume controller.

AV Project :: Redbud Trail :: Part 5 – Tidying up some loose ends

Speakers buzz due to a ground loop

There was a buzz in the outdoor speakers that seems to only occur when the subwoofer is connected. Yep, the dreaded ground loop. No worries though. I simply added a Xitel Ground Loop Isolator inline of the RCAs that connect the main receiver to the whole house amp. Presto! No more buzz. To be honest, I’m not even sure the homeowners knew there ever was a buzz. But I knew. No way I could live with it.

Front Porch Volume Controller

I wasn’t happy with the cheap weatherproof cover that was on the front porch, so instead I replaced it with a Niles cover. I have the same Niles cover (but for dual switches) on my back porch. It looks *so* much nicer.

Back Porch Volume Controllers

We needed a deep, double gang box to hold the two volume controllers, so I picked up a standard weatherproof dual gang box, plus a double gang box extension. I painted both a textured white (the textured paint was the homeowner’s suggestion, which was a great idea). I then drilled two extra holes in the back of the box, as all of the speaker wires wouldn’t fit through the single 1/2″ hole. I also drilled two additional holes in the back of the box for mounting screws. This allowed me to mount to the wall using masonry screws from the inside of the box, thus eliminating the standard tab mounts. I think it looks much cleaner.

Monster Subwoofer PowerCenter

I added a Monster Subwoofer PowerCenter SW 200 to protect the subwoofer from surges. This is a much cleaner, simpler look as opposed to adding a whole power strip for a single piece of equipment.

iPod Dock

I also added an Apple AV Connection Kit, which is:

• A dock for the iPod to sit in
• An audio & video connection from the dock to the receiver
• A charger, so the iPod charges while docked
• A remote, allowing users to control the iPod via the remote

It looks so much cleaner, and improves the usability as well.