2021 AV Rack Build & Tour! Emotiva, AC Infinity, Integra, Sony, Audioblast, StarTech Rack

[@Edward135i]

My dad is the reason why i'm sitting in a room full of speakers, he never had a rack like you did, but it started a life long love of all things audio for me.

[@pinarellorider9023]

Killer setup, guys! You've given me some great ideas for when I'm ready to step up to putting my components into a rack.

[@L3x4Pr0ne]

It’s nice that your son is into this hobby and you get to do this stuff together. You’ll both look back and enjoy this time. Cheers to the great video. I’ve been eyeballing a rack for my new theater, so this was great timing

[@TwoGuyzTech]

Thank you for the kind comment :) We really appreciate it & we absolutely recommend going with a component rack! 👍

[@chem_e_markmark6374]

I watched this video when it came out but didn’t comment. This video is awesome. I’ve been thinking about a rack but had no idea how to get started. The make, models of everything is much appreciated. Good work.

[@TwoGuyzTech]

Thank you very much! 😀

[@victorvalenzuela6949]

Some day I’ll get my set up close to that. My wife rolls her eyes at me when I watch these videos because she know more money. I tell her money well spent though. I used to spend a lot 💰 at the bars & clubs weekends. Sober for 18 years now. My New addition is home theater gears. Anyways Thank your SVS videos. Getting some more Prime Elevations before the prices go up on 10/4/21. Father & Son Team ( I Love it.)🔊😁🙏🏼✌🏼

[@TwoGuyzTech]

I know exactly what you mean!! Whenever I tell my wife I'm buying something new she gives me that look... But hey, there's definitely worse ways to spend money. Congrats on staying sober so long, I also gave up drinking many years ago & never looked back. I'd rather get high on Home Theater 😉 Thanks for your continued support! We really appreciate it :)

[@BradleyAshley]

I'm so stoked for you guys! That rack looks great! Gives me something to look forward to!

[@TwoGuyzTech]

Thanks for watching Brad! We really appreciate it :) That RMC-1 would look fantastic in a component rack!!

[@extramail850]

Power conditioners and great cables actually make a big difference

[@hi-fihaven2257]

Excellent work guys! That rack looks awesome. I am a Emotiva speaker freak, next up are their amplifiers. I really enjoyed the video guys!

[@TwoGuyzTech]

Thanks man!! We really appreciate it and yeah we're kinda Emotiva freaks as well ;) We're really loving the convenience of the new rack as well. Thanks for watching as always :)

[@SpecOfTech]

That is a slick looking rack guys, nice work. I recently installed a rack as well, and I believe they have much cleaner look than just a stand. Great video...cheers!

[@TwoGuyzTech]

Hey Barrett! Thanks so much, great to hear from you :) We absolutely agree, the rack looks a lot better than regular stands. Looking forward to seeing yours!! 👍

[@mikestevens1441]

Wow! Very cool and creative. Nice work!! 👍

[@TwoGuyzTech]

Thank you very much! 😀

[@melraine919]

Whoa! Well done father & son team smash it 👍🏼👊🏼 RESPECT ✊🏼. UK

[@TwoGuyzTech]

Thank you!😀

[@melraine919]

@@TwoGuyzTech You're welcome.... UK

[@gmartin0312]

Wow glad I ran into this video! I was thinking of getting a rack since my media console is ok by like you mentioned, its a rats nest back there and to move anything is a chore. So this is just a server rack. I don’t have as many components as you have.

[@Espiritiv]

Just one comment on rack designs. You mention you went with open rack for "better airflow" in reality a closed rack is best because you want to promote a chimney effect, by drawing cool air from the bottom and exhaust hot air out the top. This is also why rack mfrs sell slot covers for the spaces not in use. You want to keep those sealed. Id go with at least covers on the sides, and you can draw air in the front and exhaust out the top One question though. whats your total budget cost on that Rack with all the extra rack parts you had to buy? Trying to compare building it myself vs buying prebuilt rack with all the shelves, and two fans in it, and some cable management included.

[@salvatorecarapazza248]

I've watched this video at least 3 times. A lot of great info and it just looks bad ass to have everything nice and clean in a rack. I want to do a rack build so bad. I'm sick of the rats nest of wires in my media closet.

[@TwoGuyzTech]

Hey thanks for watching! We appreciate it, glad it was helpful :) The rack has been a great investment for us, still probably one of our favorite upgrades to the theater so far.

[@brianschulz6462]

Why don’t you plug amps into power conditioners?

[@The-Aroace-Artist]

What’s the rack mount light used from Amazon? Can you provide a list of all the items used in this video?

[@TwoGuyzTech]

Thanks for watching! All the stuff we used in this build is linked in the description - the RGB light bar we used is here; amzn.to/3iO3dlH

[@historyupinsmokecigarchato4036]

Why don't you plug your amp into line conditioner? I'm just curious. Thanks!

[@TwoGuyzTech]

Thanks for watching! It seems that the general consensus is that running your amps through a power conditioner could limit current at moments of peak load, which could cause distortion in some really demanding scenes. (It sounds like Emotiva mentions this and recommends against using a power conditioner with their amps as well). Whether or not it makes a real world audible difference though is down to each individual setup. At minimum we do like the peace of mind of running all of our equipment through surge protectors. Hope this helps!

[@historyupinsmokecigarchato4036]

@@TwoGuyzTech Thanks for the response. I do have an emotiva amp, should I just plug it into a regular outlet?

[@glennchaffin8446]

Why do you not like using a power conditioner on your Emotiva amps? I had planned to use one on my AV setup. Thanks

[@damianjackson5055]

I highly recommend you guys the Tonewinner AT-300

[@kingarthur4419]

Hello. Great video. I also have the same Emotiva amp that I’m looking to rack mount. That amp weighs a good 35 pounds. Will it hold up with just 4 rack ear mount screws in the front, or did you put it on a heavy duty shelf as well?

[@shahross8366]

Was that an AC Infinity PDU at 2:15?

[@manoroid1]

Awesome build guys. Are your cloud plates all exhaust or intake or mixed

[@TwoGuyzTech]

Thanks for watching! If we remember correctly we went with all intake, since it's an open rack all the cool air would naturally flow over all the components and rise up. If you have a closed rack you might want to use intakes on the bottom and exhaust units on the top to get the best circulation possible. Hope this helps!

[@manoroid1]

@@TwoGuyzTech great thank you! If I may ask another question. Is the pdu used only for all your amps? I own a Panamax power conditioner and I also read not to plug the amps into it. So in that case I would plug all my denon AVR, shield tv , ps5 and Xbox into the Panamax and all my amps directly into the pdu?

[@thecheps8519]

Heyy so I just got into A/V but I was looking at your rack, looks really nice props. I do have a question, why do you have so many fans in your rack? Can’t you just put a fan on the top of the rack facing downwards to cool down the rack?

[@truthhunter4270]

I have 9 channel receiver and a 5 channel amp running my front stage. I noticed in the video you said you never plug your amps into a power conditioner. So my question is, should I or should I not plug my mentioned equipment into my power conditioner? Thanks

[@TwoGuyzTech]

Thanks for watching! In that scenario a power conditioner probably wouldn't be necessary but you will want to make sure that you have everything running through an adequate surge protector which will protect your equipment in the case of a lightning strike or something similar. Hope this helps!

[@truthhunter4270]

@@TwoGuyzTech thanks for the reply. I was just wondering if there was a reason to not run the equipment through the power conditioner. I currently have everything plugged into it and haven’t had any issues. I also like that it makes cable management easier and it looks cleaner. 👍

[@bb55555555]

I hope someone can answer this. how many total watts does this full setup draw?

[@dozer4899]

In regards to you acinfinty rack fans, did you put an intake at the bottom of your rack and the rest exhaust fans? Thx.

[@TwoGuyzTech]

I set all the fans up as intakes so fresh air blows from front to back. If you have an enclosed rack I would set the lower fans as intakes and one or two of the top fans as exhaust. Thanks for watching! :)

[@splatman2]

Hey guys great video. Thanks for doing it. Sad though the rack is not at that lower price anymore. I keep watching for it. About the Audioblast XLR to XLR cables which model did you really get? It was hard to tell in the video and the link you posted was generic vs directly to the product. There is Eminem E311 and E312 or did you get the connectors made by Amphenol AX3M and AX3F? Thanks guys

[@TwoGuyzTech]

Hey man thank you very much for watching! The rack should definitely go on sale soon, hopefully by Black Friday at least. Sorry about the link - we replaced the generic link with a better one and we also added a link to one of the packs we got - 4x 5ft balanced XLR cables with the Eminence connectors; amzn.to/3Fs1KLq The Eminence connectors are made in-house by AudioBlast and are generally just as good as the Amphenol ones, but at a slightly lower cost. Of course that's paired with their own custom 'star-quad' 4-conductor cable. We're pretty happy with them so far!

[@nathanielsmith873]

What software/website did you use to map/plan the rack?

[@TwoGuyzTech]

We used Photoshop.

[@levarwilliams]

With the fans installed, did you add the glass case?

[@FrankieKennethL]

Hello guys, Great work on this Rack build. Could you please elaborate on what comes with the rack purchase itself? Does it come with any shelves or drawers?

[@TwoGuyzTech]

Thanks for watching! The rack just comes with the parts to assemble and some wire management loops. Here is a link to the rack on Amazon so you can see exactly what it comes with amzn.to/39lKoks

[@FrankieKennethL]

@@TwoGuyzTech nice. How deep did you decide on making the setup? What are some considerations when doing so? I’ve never done a free standing rack like this….I’ve always had cabinets and stands.

[@mariagiordano3902]

well done , good job bravo

[@robertbates8599]

Awesome...curious...what is the cost for all of this if I was to go with the same system?

[@TwoGuyzTech]

Thanks for watching! It depends. We collected a lot of this stuff over the years and there are other parts to the setup (other than the rack there's also the screen and projector, speakers, lighting, etc.) so it's hard to say for sure how much this would cost with all new components today. The processor was about $2K, the UPA-1 monoblocks were about $300 each, BasX A5 about $600, XPA-5 around $1000 used, etc. but of course they weren't purchased at the same time. In the end it's a large investment, but we're really happy with the final result!

[@Barry--512]

What software do you guys use when planning racks ??

[@TwoGuyzTech]

Thanks for watching! We actually just use Paint/Photoshop to plan out how we want to make the rack look. We are on the lookout for other solutions as well though, we'll try to update you guys if any other tools become available :)

[@southpawle641]

Hey question guys. Since you have an open rack, are your cloudplate t7 intake or exhaust? Or both?

[@TwoGuyzTech]

Thanks for watching as always :) We went with all intakes for this one.

[@southpawle641]

Would it be dumb to have an exhaust and a intake with an open server rack?

[@TwoGuyzTech]

@@southpawle641 I wouldn't say dumb but just probably not all that neccessary - we chose to use all intakes because that will guarantee that air is blown over all of the amps rather than sucked in from the sides which might not be as effective. As long as you're getting that airflow though that's what matters :)

[@johnsmith-qz4bv]

great video ..

[@hopkinsag1]

Do you have a link for the light at the top of your rack?

[@TwoGuyzTech]

Yes we do! Sorry about that, forgot to link it - here it is amzn.to/3iO3dlH Thanks for watching!

[@tobyhines7587]

Awesome rack geart gear

[@TwoGuyzTech]

Thank you very much! 😀

[@southpawle641]

Ha! You guys even made a video about this!

[@TwoGuyzTech]

Yes we did!! And we're pretty happy with the results :) Thanks for watching man!

[@southpawle641]

I have a question. Is it just those front screws that hold up each unit? Do they sit on top of one another?

[@southpawle641]

Nvm i should’ve watched the full video before i asked the question. Thank you! This was very helpful. I have a 4u rack ear i just installed on my xpa gen 3 but i was scared to install it on the rack. I didn’t know if it would hold it up

[@southpawle641]

Ok my question is how do you rack the receiver? Do you put it on a shelf?

[@TwoGuyzTech]

@@southpawle641 Yep it's on an AC Infinity 2U shelf with a couple of little 3D printed plastic pieces to cover up some of the empty rails on the side of the rack! We went this way since we just can't get a rack mount kit for our processor but it ended up looking great. Thanks again :)

[@ernestbruce]

why don't you plug amps into power conditioners?

[@TwoGuyzTech]

Emotiva recommends against it with there amps. They have line filters built in. Thanks for watching!