I built all my own storage shelving for the 2500+ LP's I have collected over the years because I have had experience in furniture building and have the tools to do the job correctly.
I experimented with a few designs and finally chucked the idea of "front-facing" shelving that Lugnut mentions for my own usage, but I might seriously consider it for a 200 LP collection. My decision was based on the number of records I have, to be sure. But also because I could never find a way that satisfied me of being able to keep the records from "slumping" (like they do in many records stores) while, at the same time, allowing me enough space to actually view the album covers easily. Spacers will work, but are too much of a hassle to move around, at least for me. I'd be interested to see Lugnut's application, though.
If you go with a tall vertical stack of shelves or modulars, make sure they have either a solid, well attached backing or some sort of rigid diagonal bracing. The tremendous weight of even a couple hundred LP's can cause severe lateral stability problems and cause your LP's to come crashing down. Too, make sure that if you buy something ready-made that there is no molding or trim around the front perimeter of the shelving or racks that will not allow for the first and last LP in the shelf to run flush against the inner sides. It is fine if the shelving is deep enough to accommodate the entire LP, but you are asking for warpage otherwise.
One of the best "systems" I ever used was one where I didn't care too much what it looked like. In an old apartment, eons ago, I stacked cinder blocks spaced closely enough to support plywood shelving and ran the shelving that was L-braced to the wall studs along one entire wall. Placed the height just below chest-high for easy selection and put my components and various decorative bric-a-brac beneath. It looked cool and can also be done using materials as fine as ones budget will allow. My current storage is a pleasantly refined, albeit quite expensive, double-tiered variant on this general design. But, you have to have plenty-o-wall-space to do it with a large LP collection.
I experimented with a few designs and finally chucked the idea of "front-facing" shelving that Lugnut mentions for my own usage, but I might seriously consider it for a 200 LP collection. My decision was based on the number of records I have, to be sure. But also because I could never find a way that satisfied me of being able to keep the records from "slumping" (like they do in many records stores) while, at the same time, allowing me enough space to actually view the album covers easily. Spacers will work, but are too much of a hassle to move around, at least for me. I'd be interested to see Lugnut's application, though.
If you go with a tall vertical stack of shelves or modulars, make sure they have either a solid, well attached backing or some sort of rigid diagonal bracing. The tremendous weight of even a couple hundred LP's can cause severe lateral stability problems and cause your LP's to come crashing down. Too, make sure that if you buy something ready-made that there is no molding or trim around the front perimeter of the shelving or racks that will not allow for the first and last LP in the shelf to run flush against the inner sides. It is fine if the shelving is deep enough to accommodate the entire LP, but you are asking for warpage otherwise.
One of the best "systems" I ever used was one where I didn't care too much what it looked like. In an old apartment, eons ago, I stacked cinder blocks spaced closely enough to support plywood shelving and ran the shelving that was L-braced to the wall studs along one entire wall. Placed the height just below chest-high for easy selection and put my components and various decorative bric-a-brac beneath. It looked cool and can also be done using materials as fine as ones budget will allow. My current storage is a pleasantly refined, albeit quite expensive, double-tiered variant on this general design. But, you have to have plenty-o-wall-space to do it with a large LP collection.