Halo in a rack mount

[starford]

For those folks interested in a rack mount solution, here's a shot of my solution to the problem:



Those are two Middle Atlantic SRSR series racks side by side in a custom box. They slide out and pivot for rear cable access.

Here's a show with things turned on (usual apologies for crappy, dim image quality):

[Scarp]

Looks nice. Is there enough air circulation there?

[Chris D]

Dude, sweet setup. I've got the components, but I wish I had a rack like that. (uh... hang on a minute...) In any case, I award you a banana for the great setup. :banana:




CHRIS
Luke: "Hey, I'm not such a bad pilot myself, you know"

[nicholtl]

That is, hands down, one of the nicest equipment setups I've ever seen. And damn, I thought I had alot of CD's...

[starford]

Thanks, guys! It's proven to be a very functional arrangement.

Regarding heat:

Both racks have matching 1RU vent panels on the lowest mounting point and 2RU vent panels on the highest mounting point. So, 3RU of each rack is dedicated to convection cooling.

Also, you'll note 1RU vent panels between the Halo products. These are Parasound products that started as Middle Atlantic vent panels that they had finished in the silver look that matches the Halo line (there are solid panels available as well).

In practice I've found that heat build-up is no problem. The hottest devices are at the top so they vent directly out the top without heating up the rest of the gear. Plus, this gear is rarely on for more than 4 hours at a time.

[Chris D]

Hey, Starford, where did you get those panel vents that you're talking about? I may be putting my Halo stack in a rack as well.

And did you buy the C1 rack mounts direct from Parasound? I've noticed that distributors don't seem to know how to order them, much less carry them.




CHRIS
Luke: "Hey, I'm not such a bad pilot myself, you know"

[MarkStega]

Chris,

My dealer talked his distributor into calling Parasound and voila, the part numbers were obtained and I received vented panels that match the A51/C2.

I went for a bit of overkill and have the 1U vents below the A51 (near top of rack) and the C2 with the3U MidAtlantic rack mount fan pair (QFP) between the A51 and the Panamax powere unit. The A51 fins are a bit warm (at most) to the touch even after hours of movies. I'm lucky in that the rack is in an adjacent space to the theater so I really don't have to control noise.




Mark Stega

[Scarp]

Mark, I'm assuming you mean A52 instead of A51. The pictures don't really show a A51

[MarkStega]

Scarp,

No, sorry if I confused you, but I was talking about my rack setup (which is not pictured in this thread) which has a C2/A51 combination...

Mainly, I wanted to point out that if you get your dealer to press the distributor, you really can get the silver anadized vent panels that match the rest of the parasound gear.




Mark Stega

[Scarp]

Sorry Mark, its been a long day for me ...
Indeed, this topic is from someone else ... to quote homer: do'h

[Chris D]

Bump on this old thread.

Mark Stega and Starford, I wanted to revisit the subject of the matching vent panels that you mentioned. Do you still have those? Can you post pictures again? Are you sure they're from Parasound direct?

[bhuskins]

Parasound sells Halo matching rack mount kits for every piece they make. They also sell 1U and 2U vented rack covers that perfectly match the Halo gear. They are custom made Middle Atlantic covers. These are not the Silver Anodized parts that Middle Atlantic offers directly. These are painted to match the edge detail on the C1/C2 exactly.

Brent Huskins

[MarkStega]

Attached is the top of my rack with the Parasound vent panels. The open space is for my control & media PC which is currently on my office desk undergoing a rebuild.

Excuse the cheesy IR control, my Halo has never worked with IR input on the back panel.

[Peter Nielsen]

Mark, those two big 4" fans look noisy. Aren't they distracting?

Peter

[MarkStega]

Peter,

I have the advantage of having built an adjacent room to the theater that holds the equipment and has four racks that are holding about 400 DVD's and 300 CD's. The room is behind the screen and absolutely no sound from the equipment is heard in the theater (other than the fan of the projector).

The fans are fairly quiet, but I would never have them in the theater itself.

I like the "out of sight" style of installation.

And, after looking at the picture, I did vacuum the fans :roll:

[Chris D]

Thanks, Mark. I have Halo vents coming as well--pics to come soon!