Turntable Stand/Rack Alternatives.

ben38

Hi
I'm (again) in the process of finding something suitable to put my turntable, amp and CD player on. I have a cheapish rack but it's quite ugly and whilst i could replace it with something a bit more aesthetically pleasing my wife is gently nudging me down the route of getting something resembling a piece of furniture rather than a dedicated rack.

I've added a few pics below of what i have in mind but i'm not sure from an aesthetic perspective or in terms of how they would compare with a dedicated rack for stability and isolation provided for the turntable.

I'm looking for something discreet that would fit into quite small space and so a wall mounted shelf with a small unit underneath would be ideal but the wall behind where the turntable sits is only plasterboard.

Any thoughts and advice would be appreciated.

Thanks
Ben

                                                                                                                                               


                                                                                                                                               

                                                                                                                                       

gibbsy

If you've got deep pockets then HiFi Racks make some beautiful looking racks. They will make them to your specifications as well. Even my missus was impressed with them.

Hi Fi Racks Limited | Hi Fi Stands | AV Furniture | TV Stands

ben38

I looked at them previously and for me they tick all the boxes but i'd have to work some kind of magic to convince my wifey that £500 a reasonable price.

ben38

or maybe this:

                                                                                                                                       

BlueWizard

What is your working budget?

Also, two of the racks you suggested are Home-Made, one Iron Pipe and the other Copper Pipe. Is that a possibility? Do you have tools and space to make your own rack ...or... do you have money to pay to have a custom rack built?

One assumes if you have an Amp, CD Player, and Turntable, then you also have speakers. List the brand and model of each of these pieces of equipment so we have some sense of the size.

There are two type of stands. Common Vertical Stands similar to those you have shown, the other is lower and wider stands more akin to a TV stand. Both are workable if you have room.

Which brings up the next point, what are the dimension of the room and where will the equipment sit in the room?

You wife want something more furniture like, but remember that furniture is expensive and a closed cabinet limits ventilation.

Something like this seem reasonably priced, assuming you have the space for it -

Cottage LCD TV Stand in Sand Oak

This looks more or less furniture like -

Andorra 850 TV Stand Walnut | Forrest Furnishing Glasgow's finest furniture store

Andorra TV Stand | Forrest Furnishing Glasgow's finest furniture store

Andorra 850 TV Stand Walnut | Forrest Furnishing Glasgow's finest furniture store

The above are lower wider units, it a tall narrow unit -

Andorra Hi-Fi Stand in Oak | Forrest Furnishing Glasgow's finest furniture store

Merea 313 Entertainment Unit | Forrest Furnishing Glasgow's finest furniture store

This might work depending on the actual dimension of the stand and the equipment -

Ashbourne TV Unit with Glass Doors | Forrest Furnishing Glasgow's finest furniture store

I'm finding most of these using Google-UK Image Search -

Birch Lane - Traditional Furniture & Classic Designs

For DIY, there are many who will buy pre-amp shelf or table tops for the local building supply store, and use Iron Pipe for the legs. Though Iron Pike will have to be de-greased and perhaps painted (clear or color) before being put into place -


Here is a guy who used ...more or less... Plywood and Iron Pipe. If you look at his other videos you will see there is flexibility in the placement of the shelves and equipment -

                               
Best view of the shelves at 4:37 and 7:24 and 12:38 ...13:38. These are stacked, they are not bolted together so they can be easily reconfigured. Though in a different configurations, using flanges, they could be bolted together.

Obviously places like IKEA will have a lot of options -

TV Stands & TV Units | IKEA

                                                                                                                                               

For myself, in a blend of something reasonably compact, and reasonably priced, the ANDORRA Stands from Forest Furniture, seem nice and furniturey in a open equipment rack.

Andorra 850 TV Stand Walnut | Forrest Furnishing Glasgow's finest furniture store

Andorra 850 TV Stand Walnut | Forrest Furnishing Glasgow's finest furniture store

Both are near £300, which is actually pretty cheap.

Just a few thoughts.

Steve/bluewizard

BlueWizard

Extending the IKEA point. IKEA has a range of Table Tops and Legs that could be assembled into shelves -

Just one of may example -

CAPITA Legs -

CAPITA Leg Stainless steel 16 cm  - IKEA

These are about 6.5" with about a 1/2" adjustment to them to help make sure the shelves are level.

The CAPITA legs come in a shorter version that could be used between the bottom shelf and the floor -

CAPITA Leg Stainless steel 8 cm  - IKEA

Here is a Solid Wood Table Top - (picked at random) -

GERTON Table top Beech 155 x 75 cm  - IKEA

Although there are others, but best to get a solid top, many of the IKEA product, if you break them open are in essence cardboard.

All IKEA Table Tops -

IKEA - Table Top

All IKEA Legs -

IKEA- Legs

Just one of many possibilities.

Steve/bluewizard

ben38

Thanks for all the suggestions, very helpful as usual. I think the Andorra hifi stand or the Merea 313 come closest to ticking all the boxes but i'm starting to think that it's going to be nigh on impossible to get something we're both 100% happy with (left to me i'd probably splash out on something slimline from the HiFi Rack website).

Apart from the turntable i have a Rega Brio Amp and CD player so they are pretty small and will therefore look lost on some of the racks/stands but then obviously it has to be large enough to accommodate the turntable so it's a bit of a balancing act. Speakers are Tannoy Xt6 floorstanders (space available shown in pic below).

I'd be happy to pay around £300 but to be honest i'm not sure there is an answer and it's doing my head in so i'm now thinking, amp and CD player on top of the cubes holding my vinyl with a wall mounted shelf (on a brick wall) to accommodate the turntable.

                                                                       

BlueWizard

Wall mount of the Turntable can provide a very solid base that is not the least bit sensitive to foot-fall on the floor. There are Wall Shelves specifically made for turntables that provide a solid mount. If you are mounting into brick, you have to make sure the screws are securely anchored. You don't want the turntable crashing down in the middle of the night.

Amazon.co.uk: turntable wall shelf

Obviously the more vertical mounting area, the more stable the shelf is going to be.

As a Side Note, you have, best guess, about 800 Albums or more. Typically it is about 100 albums to every 14 inches. Nice collection!

Steve/bluewizard

ben38

Thanks, I think one of the shelves you've listed might be the best option as really apart from the turntable the rest of the separates need very little space.

The album collection is forever growing so finding more storage space or having a cull is next on the to do list.

renny

What did you go for in the end?

I'm in the same predicament now, need a turntable shelf / unit. I like the look of a HiFi Racks one, particularly as you can have them in various different colours. I would then look for a storage unit beneath this to store vinyl