Home office redesign · working draft · updated Sep 14, 2026
Audio rack planning
Two identical racks side by side under the TV on the north wall (Layouts B-1 and B-2), meeting on the room's centerline. Everything must stay below the Q3 tops at 37½″; the preferred arrangements keep the rack tops clear for a future center channel.
North wall, front view
Heights in inches from the floor. Ears sit level with the Q3 Meta's driver center (KEF's drawing puts it 7″ above the cabinet bottom); eyes are taken as ≈1″ higher. The LS50 Metas sit on stands at the same base height as the Q3s, which puts their drivers ≈1¼″ below ear level — fine given the KEFs' off-axis performance. Speaker spacing matches the Layout B floor plans for the selected TV.
Rack detail
- Power / speaker-level
- Line-level / digital
- Control boxes
- Set back or behind
- Runs warm — needs air above
How the arrangements are built
Heavy and hot gear gets its own shelf
The HK Signature 1.5 (47 lb) and Classé CA-100 (34 lb) take the west rack's lower shelves, the R-N800A the east rack's bottom shelf. The Topaz AM10 either gets the east rack's upper shelf alone, or stacks on another line-level unit — the NR1608 — on 1″ rubber feet, the way it has sat on the Classé for months. It only does line switching, so it stays cool; stacking it frees a whole shelf for the small boxes and keeps it off the power-amp rack. A USB fan behind the racks pulling air out helps either way.
Power gear west, unbalanced line-level east
The outlet is west of the racks, so the power amps, a new AVR, and the speaker switches (AS-50R, LC30, both NJ&FX boxes) sit on the west rack with short, heavy power cords. The NR1608, AM10, Eversolo, and Flex sit east, away from where power enters. Run power cords along the west rack's outer rear post and low across the back; keep RCA runs high and on the east side. Balanced links (Eversolo and the new AVR to the CA-100, E50 II to ZP3) can cross between racks.
Side by side or stacked — never in rows
Every box has cables on its back, so nothing sits in front of or behind anything else; gear only goes side by side or stacked. Cool units (switchers, DACs, the Flex, the custom controllers) stack on each other freely. Anything on a warm unit — the NR1608 with ECO on, the CA-100, a new AVR — sits on ½″ feet toward the rear, off its hottest area. Nothing ever goes on the HK or the AM10.
A new AVR costs a shelf
With no new AVR everything fits below the rack tops. Adding the NR1711 (4⅛″ tall) or especially the X3500H (6⅝″) pushes small boxes onto warm gear, the outer ends of the rack tops, or behind the racks. Using the tops instead (no center channel) keeps every warm unit clear except the NR1608.
Estimates to measure
- Glass thickness and bottom-shelf height — the openings are measured (9¼″, 9¼″, 7⅜″ from the bottom up); glass is taken as ≈⅜″
- Clear width between the posts — estimated ≈20⅝″ (posts ≈1½″ each)
- Classé CA-100 width and depth, and where its heat sinks sit (height measured at 5½″; reseller width × depth: 19 × 14¼″)
- R-N800A and HK clearances — manuals ask for more air above (≈11¾″ and 4″) than any shelf opening gives
- X3500H antennas — folded flat they add depth; upright they need ≈2½″ more above
Components
| Component | W | H | D | lb | Heat | Power | Control | Notes |
|---|
Inches. Dimensions from manufacturer spec sheets and manuals where available; the Classé and the LS50 Meta driver height are the least certain. Custom boxes and the NJ&FX switchers (7⅛ × 1⅝ × 4⅜″) are measured.