Best Audio Racks & Stands

Buying Guide

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Audio racks & stands are frequently modern equipment. They are usually made of metal or even plastic. Ideally, they provide a place to put all your audio equipment, which can range from simple mp3 players up through retro turntables and similar items.

They should have a way to string wires unobtrusively and to hook equipment into a surge protector. Other options might include shelving for recorded audio material of various sorts, or even for face-to-face entertainment such as board games, cards, and similar items.

What Should You Look for When Buying Audio Racks?

When looking for an audio rack or stand, take the following features into consideration:

Sturdiness

While metal racks are a perfectly acceptable audio rack, too often they are made of light-weight strip metal. For some uses, this is fine, but too often these shelves are overloaded, or the bolts are not sufficiently tightened to hold the joints in place. Overloading flimsy shelves can result in subjecting your valuable equipment to an unfortunate tumble.

Utility vs Attractiveness

While there is no reason why your audio rack cannot have a pleasing appearance and be utilitarian in function, too often audio racks and stands have a back-room storage look about them. Fortunately, you can have both good looks and usefulness.

Wire control

Wires can be an annoyance, but wireless appliances can have their downsides, as well. Regardless of which you choose, at some point, there will have to be a connection to a wall outlet or batteries.

How can I blend my audio rack with Victorian décor?

If the theme of your room is Victorian, you'd want to avoid modern looking racks or plain cabinets. Instead:

Select a Decorative Shelving Unit: Your audio rack doesn’t have to be one of those sleek, modern metal or plastic units. You can use a wooden serving cart or decorative bookshelf unit instead.

Go For a Vintage Armoire: An armoire is a beautiful way to store electronics, televisions, audio players and more without installing a unit that clashes with your chosen vintage décor.

Choose a Credenza: A credenza is another unit that can reflect the vintage period theme you are following in your room. They usually have a combination of open shelving and closed-door cabinets that are ideal for this.

What Audio Cabinets Would Work in a Child’s Room?

Bright, Primary Colors: Young children often enjoy a colorful environment. Bright, primary colors are great when your child is learning the names of colors.

Extra Emphasis on Sturdy: Children climb. Shelving or cabinets of any kind are often an invitation to climbing action. Credenzas work well in children’s rooms because they don’t have a lot of height. If you install a tall cabinet or shelf, secure it to the wall.

Hide the Wires: A good cabinet that hides the wires and helps keep wall plugs out of sight is a plus.

What Can I Use Besides Wire or Metal Audio Racks?

Almost any kind of shelving material will work. Here are a few ideas:

Open Shelf Wooden Storage Unit

Often constructed with lathe-turned shelf separators, these are attractive and functional. If the unit has a solid back, that makes a good place to hide wires.

Wicker Shelving Unit

Excellent choice for casual or seaside décor, wicker is sturdy, attractive, resilient and lightweight. If it is a tall unit, be sure to secure it to the wall to prevent tipping.

Quick Improvised Shelving

Remember the concrete block and plank shelving from your dormitory days? You can now get fancy blocks and beautiful wood shelving to go with rustic décor.

Hint: For children’s rooms, keep the unit to no more than two blocks high to avoid accidents.

I Don’t Have to Be Locked into a Particular Style?

That’s right. You can select the audio rack or stand that best suits your home or office décor situation. You can use a modern, stripped to essentials look, or you can focus on pretending that the music is coming from nowhere visible, especially not that beautiful armoire over there in the corner.

All you need do is think about size, access to electrical outlets and where to put those wires to keep them out of reach of children and pets.