I'm asking this because I need to replace my 4 space roadcase with a 5 space one and I'm wondering how to do this. My little preamp will somehow need to be supported in the rack one space above my Hafler poweramp; which does not use a fan Are there any companies that make racks with some kind of support rail er sumpthin... inside?
They make rack thingees for this purpose. I don't know what they're called, but Sam Ash has a whole wall of them from shelves that slide out to shelves that you screw things into to just basic shelves that you can put things like your pre on.
Talking about one of these? http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=home/search/detail/base_pid/549510/
if you're worried about the weight of your preamp, you could explore using rear rack rails, though most preamps don't have rear rack ears. my preamp needs an open space for venting, so i have a funk logic 1U cocobolo spacer. i got it for dirt cheap (about as much as an aluminum spacer) from audiosyncrazy.com. robb.
Very nice. Hmmm...power amp on top? Yeah, I'll be partaking in the vent panel installage too(just need one though). Just ordered a 6U Grundorf Mighty Light case off ebay. I got a sweet looking Hafler P4000 (three space) on the bottom with the vents on top, right where my preamp sits. Actually I was considering just buying 2 cheapo shelf support thingies at the local hardware store and resting the pre and power conditioner on that. Good? Bad?
one concern I have about putting spaces in between gear in a rack is all the weight hanging on the two rack ears with no support at the rear of the racked gear. pre-amp,tuner, etc...
Unless you have rear rack brackets, there's usually no support back there anyway, spaces or not. None of my rack units actually touches any of the other ones, do yours?
Shelf support thingies = brackets. Thanks for jogging my brain. You guys just leave them floating? It would probably work, but still...
I was talking about back brackets that screw into rear rack rails, not rack shelves or 1/2 rack adapters. Not all that many pieces of rack gear have back mounting for those back brackets in any case. If the gear was designed to mount only at the front, it should be fine, in my experience. I have a Hafler P-3000 myself, which has vents on both the top and the bottom. It's a 2 space amp. I use a 4 space rack for that amp, and mount it in the middle two spaces. I haven't used it for bass in a few years, but I remember it running pretty hot when I did.
Yes they sure do . I'm keeping my 4U rack just in case this little experiment doesn't work. I've got mine bridged (550 watts @ 8 ohms) into an 8ohm 410 cab, but it's the most powerful 550 watts I've ever heard. It's crystal clear and it sounds like god. GOD!
I mounted everything in order of heat generation from bottom to top: first the JoeMeek VC1Qcs channel strip (no tubes), then the V-Type (two preamp tubes), then the SWR 'Stella (one preamp and two EL84 power tubes, or is that one EL84 and 2 12AX7's?), then the big honkin' 750 watt Power 750 on top. Heat rises...no sense in heating up gear that isn't really designed to operate in high heat conditions if I can help it. Stability hasn't been an issue. One nice thing about this rig is that in the main config ('Stella->VC1Qcs->Power 750), it's all balanced XLR connectors, so very low noise. I still have to build an XLR to unbalanced 1/4" to use the V-Type into the VC1Qcs...
Is your pre-amp rack-mountable? I mean, does it have front rack-mount holes? If it does, just bolt it in there. It'll be fine.
some stuff does some doesn't. One in particular that doesn't is my compressor. When I took it out to clean the dust off of it recently i noticed that the rack ears were bent from the weight and it doesn't weigh all that much. Kind of has me wondering what would happen to my 8 pound pre amp if I mount it 2 spaces above my power amp with no other support than the rack ears.
That's actually a great idea. As far as supporting the smaller stuff, I think a couple of screwed in shelf brackets should do the trick. Yeah the pre is rackmountable but fairly weighty.
