Thread: Should Audio Components Sizes Be Standard?

I borrowed this idea from Future Audiophile who ran an article on the subject, I thought it might be fun to see what you guys think.

I sort of laughed to myself when a member talked about building inserts to fill in gaps in his stand but as I read the said article and the responses to the members post I realized not so good aesthetics actually does bug some people. I thought about wanting to try out my friend's Krell KSA some time back but passed because it would not fit my rack and I had no place to sit it if I decided to use it. So, there are some legit concerns in this area.

Another time I was considering phono stages, a dealer showed me a small unit that was about the size of a under $200.00Creek OBH I used to own and told me it was $1800.00. I know that sound is most important but Ijust didn't consider the little box. What could be in there that cost $1800.00. I had one that was standard size with thick metal chassis that cost $1700 when new.

On the other hand I've heard criticism of componets whose had the tops taken off and the question asked what's with all the space.

I personally don't think a standard over what there is now will come about.

Thankfully size doesn't matter.

LOL

Originally Posted by brad225

Thankfully size doesn't matter.

No. Constrains design parameters, which is why we pay the big bucks. Also, what would we do with all that time previously spent arranging odd sized stuff on our racks?

Pro audio gear has size standards called the Rack Unit (RU). Home audio gear can be whatever size a company wants to make it. As for pulling the top off of an amplifier and not seeing much inside of a large chassis (air amps), that's a different story.

I may not have been clear, I was sort of giving both sides of the coin. In order to make a small unit fit on a regular shelf without looking odd due to space you'd have to enlarge the chassis. This would leave a lot of space. Like if you took a PS Audio Sprout and put it into a typical 17" wide x 20" deep chassis for example.

Originally Posted by mep

Pro audio gear has size standards called the Rack Unit (RU). Home audio gear can be whatever size a company wants to make it. As for pulling the top off of an amplifier and not seeing much inside of a large chassis (air amps), that's a different story.

Size, as technology moves forward like class D, why build a chassis larger unless its an engineering heat dispersion requirement or to just to look "proper" in a rack. And in doing so the later, the manufacturers would have to pass that enlargement cost on to the customer. SO you basically pay for vacant internal space and an overly done enclosure, just to fit in a rack ? smaller equipment size, not important, or buy a smaller rack

Originally Posted by Mr Peabody

I may not have been clear, I was sort of giving both sides of the coin. In order to make a small unit fit on a regular shelf without looking odd due to space you'd have to enlarge the chassis. This would leave a lot of space. Like if you took a PS Audio Sprout and put it into a typical 17" wide x 20" deep chassis for example.

Or like Benchmark offering optional front plates for their rather small amps to make them rack mount sized.

Rack mount was nice back in the day .

But, as can be seen, it never really worked perfect for home audio... Nakmichi did have rack mount adapters to match rack mount also ... but the pre-amp definitely did not fit .

OldStereo.jpg

On one hand you have the defacto 17" wide consumer units that derive from the 19" EIA standard for rack mounted gear. And the half width gear from the likes of Benchmark and Bel Canto. Smart manufacturers realize the studio market is a thing and design for it. No room in a studio for odd shaped pieces.

On the other hand you have the creative products that don't follow any standard and are more designed to purpose. Beautiful top loading CD players, the Shunyata towers, the Fosgate phono preamp, Ralph's amps, monster D'ag amplifiers that are big enough to ride. Its all good to me.

Originally Posted by Mr Peabody

I borrowed this idea from Future Audiophile who ran an article on the subject, I thought it might be fun to see what you guys think.

I sort of laughed to myself when a member talked about building inserts to fill in gaps in his stand but as I read the said article and the responses to the members post I realized not so good aesthetics actually does bug some people. I thought about wanting to try out my friend's Krell KSA some time back but passed because it would not fit my rack and I had no place to sit it if I decided to use it. So, there are some legit concerns in this area.

Another time I was considering phono stages, a dealer showed me a small unit that was about the size of a under $200.00Creek OBH I used to own and told me it was $1800.00. I know that sound is most important but Ijust didn't consider the little box. What could be in there that cost $1800.00. I had one that was standard size with thick metal chassis that cost $1700 when new.

On the other hand I've heard criticism of componets whose had the tops taken off and the question asked what's with all the space.

I personally don't think a standard over what there is now will come about.

I believe form should follow function. In the professional world, reliability and standardization are important considerations. The space is built for functionality. in home audio, for many of us, quality of sound and appearance are important requirements. We also have different types of equipment, such as turntables and other gear. My racks (stands) have different size shelves (platforms), to accommodate different sized gear. If all gear were the same size, I'd have to buy more shelf space, which in turn eats up living space.