Building an equipment rack from scratch


I need help/suggestions for building an equipment rack that will hold my cdp, int. amp, and down the road, a turntable. I'm sort of limited for space widthwise but the depth isn't a problem. I have a very large Krell kav300i (19"Wx15"D), the cdp is an Arcam CD72 wich is the standard 17" wide. I already have a design in mind but would like some help making it "better" sonically.
My idea is to use 2" thick maple for the shelves which would measure approx. 21"Wx17"D. I also want the system to be modular so each shelf unit will be made seperately. Each shelf will be supported by three aluminum/steel? legs. One at the back in the middle and one on either side close to the front. The legs will come up flush to the top of each shelf and then extend down about 6-8". The first shelf will have Mapleshade threaded carpet piercing brass feet. All the shelves will basically be identical apart from not having the carpet piercing feet, just the regular Heavyfeet. The tops of the legs, which will be either solid or hollow to allow for filling, will have little dimples that the above shelve and brass feet can align up with. The legs will be fastened to the maple shelves using steel? plates welded perpendicular to legs on which the malpe will sit. I will notch out the underside of the maple so that the plates are hidden an then they will be screwed up into the maple. I will also notch the sides of the shelves to receive half of the round legs. The legs will be about 1.5" in diameter.
I hope that I have described this well enough to get some suggestions. The reason I decided on this design is that I can "build on it", meaning I can build another unit down the road and simply sit on top of the current shelves. As I said above, the idea is to eventually get into vinyl. I don't yet know which turntable I will be getting but I am on a limited budget so it will be something like a rega p3. This will obviously make a difference on the size.
One other note. I am also considering making the first two shelves as one unit to save on having to buy three more brass feet.
Any suggestions, especially on materials to use, would be very welcome as I am relatively new to this whole HiFi thing but I want to make sure that all the equipment is properly seperated.
Thanks in advance!
pilotboy
I have been considering going with a four leg design because of the reason you just desribed. On the Krell int. amp, all the inputs are right in the middle. The set up I have right now has a back center support which does get in the way. One of the reasons I wanted the three leg design was that it seems that all the "spiked feet" come in packs of three. Does anyone know of any manufacturers that sell in sets of four?
After building several different racks for family and friends and learning quite a bit along the way, i would have built them very differently now. I'll try to go into detail later as to what i would change, but suffice it to say that many of the racks that i've already built were similar to what you are describing here. I'd be glad to share what i think could be improved upon later, i just don't have the time to be specific right now. Sean
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pilotboy,the VTI racks are ungodly sturdy,before i placed my mc2102 on the top shelf i climbed on top & stood with no problem,very stable.

ive had upwards of 1,000 lbs of gear on my rack before i changed systems & it held it all without so much as a wobble or a creak.

i think that vti way under rates the weight limits of their racks.
I've never seen or heard of the VTI racks before. They appear to be very cost effective for what you get. If you don't mind answering some questions Joe ( or anyone else that is familiar with them ), can you help us out here?

Are the shelves free floating or are they secured to the framework in some manner?

If free floating, are they sitting on upturned spikes, some type of mounting tabs that are spaced apart or is there an inner lip that runs along the entire frame that they drop down onto?

What material is the framework made out of?

The ad that i saw showed that the framework is sand or metal fillable/ Are they talking about just the vertical pillars or can the horizontal bracing also be accessed?

Any and all responses appreciated. Sean
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