The problem with all the storage systems mentioned is it is so hard to read the album spines. I used to keep my albums in 4 Ikea bookcased, 7'x4', often forgot I had certain albums. I finally copied the type of bins you find in music stores. This way the albums face you, it is easy to flip through them and to make dividers for them. I have them divided by type of music and then each type is in alphabetical order. I made them out of MDF, two of them have drawers under the album bins for cds and accessories, and the other two have shelves. |
Funny, I just posted on this on Audio Asylum, since I have the old Boltz LP 10 system and Boltz changed the whole configuration and the new stuff is not compatible with the old system. I was considering using the Skandia modular systems that you can get from The Container Store; the shelves are 16" deep and you can choose 4 different types of uprights. Has anyone tried using that for their LPs? I'm annoyed enough at Boltz that I don't want to spend $700 on a new system for my LPs; they should have made the ends backwards compatible!! Besides, think of how many records I could get for $700. |
CWD solid oak cabinets. I don't think the company is in business anymore. They come in all different sizes/configurations, w/or w/o casters, glass or wood doors, finishes, etc. Built like brick ****houses. Worth it if you can find them used. Also, I scored a few solid oak 6 ft. tall bookshelves a few yrs. ago at a closeout price (about $300 each). They are unbelieveable--I can fill them with several hundred lbs. of LP's & or books or magazines--& they look great. Keep checking your local papers, "want ad" type publications, etc. is my advise. And the Boltz stuff is built great; if you like the look. |
I have several solutions. One is a bookcase that Target has as part of their "Mission" collection. I got one when they had a really good sale. It's not perfect. As is, I can only use the bottom three shelves. I could probably use the top shelf by drilling new support holes, but so far I haven't done that. (I have no trouble finding other stuff to store there.) I'm also not sure that it will last a lifetime. But, it's held up for several months, and I like the real wood. I've got records stashed away here and there, too. In the long haul, I've thought that maybe, just maybe, I should try to build my own shelves. I've thought that what I might do is set it up so that I have one rack with the equipment to store favorite records, and records of current interest. Then, some sort of cheap, modular (probably particle board) shelving system to hold everything else. |
Check out a newer Lowe's hardware store. Some of the older ones don't have furniture. I was able to pick up a 4 shelf, metal rack. They come in chrome, black, or white I think was the thrid choice. The model I picked up is 36" wide x 14" deep x 54" high. The bottom of each of the four supports have adjustable feet to level. Each shelf is rated at 350 lbs. Price was $54... no sale price. They also had taller as well as wider. http://www.lowes.com/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=60917-000080752-672763 above is a link, if you click on larger view you can zoom in and out to see the model I picked up. For stability, I used rubber gaskets on either side of several washers with a long screw through it into a wall anchor on the top shelf in two locations to secure it to the wall. Incredibly sturdy and not going anywhere. |
I have to agree with agaffer, I can't stand storing my records on a shelf. It's a pain to find anything even in alphabetical order. Record shop style all the way. I have a cheap pine LP shelf that I have laid flat on the floor and turned the LP's so that I can flip through. Much better, plus you can enjoy all that great cover art. |
http://www.rackittm.com/page2.html I have 30 of Per Madsen's record racks (actually I made some myself), and each one holds about 90 lps. I like that they are stackable as I have moved my collection 5 times since using this system. I have nine foot ceilings, and I have stacked these 7 high to fit in my small listening room. |
This subject is a constant source of frustration for me. I maintain a collection of around 2500 lps, but have never managed to store them all in one "system" (primarily because of the large cash layout and uninterrupted wall space it would require). So currently I use four 4x4 Ikea cubes that I believe are called Akrobat (this doubles as the surface upon which all the audio equipment resides), a cheap pine bookcase with 4 shelves, and a room divider located in another room with three shelves. There are several hundred more records on the floor, leaning against whatever flat surface will support them, and a bunch boxed up in the closet. I hate having records inaccessible in the closet but my girlfriend demanded I remove them from the bathroom. |
For Christmas a couple of years ago my son and daughter gave me a three drawer dresser.My son designed the unit and had a cabinetmaker build it.It is a three drawer unit.Each drawer holds aprox 140 LPs. The inside of each drawer is 13.5in deep by 23.75in wide by 8.75 H.The drawer face is 14.75in H by 26.25 W.The aprox outside measurement of the dresser unit is,30in wide by 18in deep by 52in hieght.The nice thing about the unit is I can flip through the LPs looking at the album covers.CAUTION...with aprox 140 LPs in each drawer unit The weight is balanced straight down.As long as only one drawer is pulled out at any given time.If you have children,or grandchildren, "YOU MUST" anchor the top to the wall.Just pull out and remove the top drawer and fasten thru main dresser rail supports to wall studs with wood screws.If you do decide to have something built, it must be capable of handling the weight.esecialy the drawer guide rails. The rest of my LPs I am still storing in milk cases in a storage room.Hint. Hint. |
If you'll click on my systems link, you'll see my storage solution. It sounds similar to what Jea48 describes. My dad and I put it together over a weekend. Neither of us are cabinet makers, but with some forethought and a table saw, we didn't find it that difficult, though make sure your draw pulls are capable of holding the weight of a 150 or so lps. Feel free to email with any questions. |
Rack you can build (also very cool DIY equipment rack) http://www.soton.ac.uk/~apm3/diyaudio/AudioDIY.html Racks you can buy: audioadvisor has pictures of Boltz and Billy bags; http://www.audioadvisor.com/store/categorylisting.asp?CategoryID=76&hdnCat=Media%20Storage http://www.dualsf.com/record_cabinets/ http://www.bookcrates.com/home.html http://www.musicstorage.com/ http://www.rackittm.com/ http://www.bagsunlimited.com http://www.spybox.co.uk/ http://www.internationaldisplays.co.uk/productcat.asp?cat=4 {url}http://www.precisionhills.com/hills_products.htm#[/url] http://www.dvdholders.com/vinyl-racks.html http://www.nuloop.com/result_dj_e.php?cate=13&brand=%25 |
Fully agree with Agaffer. Some time ago, I asked at a local record store about front-facing shelves. The guy told me that they had miles of them in a warehouse from when the store was all-vinyl and said that if I stopped by they'd sell me as many as I wanted, cheap. Needless to say one must have more room to store LP's this way, but if you do have room, it is the only way to go, IMHO. Building upon an idea from a poster on AA, whose screen name I can no longer remember, I then bought some used kitchen cabinets from a guy that was remodelling his kitchen (got very lucky that they were in good shape and matched my music room decor). I selected the upper cabinets, the ones that are not so tall as those used below the counter. I used these as a base to mount the record shelves upon (with a bit of modifications to accommodate different lengths and depth and some veneering of the record bin faces to match the cabinets). Now, I have a super record storage unit on top with plenty-o-storage below - and it looks great, to boot! Most highly recommended. |
I also have 2 front loading vinyl display units, with sliding storage doors below. I got a call one day from a local used vinyl store that had a couple it needed to get rid of for free. They even delivered in their van. I also have 2 metal medical file racks with metal dividers. Very heavy duty. About a year or so ago, there was a new law passed to protect a patients anonymity, so the files must have a way to be locked. Or something to that effect. The 2 I got came from a doctors office and hold my rock collection of Lp's, using the adjustable dividers as alphabetizers. The 2 front loaders store my Jazz, blues and audiophile pressings with room to grow. |
I've been doing some research into the lp storage issue and finally decided to build by own. I need to store over 800 lps and prefer cubes to avoid the leaning issue and for their portability. I've figured that I can build 12 boxes with the dimensions 14"H, 13"W, 13"D using 1/2" plywood for $150 including glue, nails, and stain. This price includes the cutting fee ($75) as I don't have a table saw. I stack my cubes (presently milk crates) 6 wide by 2 high with my stereo system on top. I'll post again when I finish these - probably in the next couple of weeks. |
Another vote for Per Madsen's modular furniture. Very cleverly designed. Sturdy, attractive and versatile. Particularly great for moving as racks fit perfectly (with a 1" layer of packing peanuts) into standard book boxes. I moved a 2,000+ record collection across the country without a single casualty. |
An inexpensive, solid cabinet was found :-) Returning to vinyl after a couple decade hiatus, I was quite happy to find an inexpensive ($24.99), sturdy, and assembled cabinet perfect for vinyl storage, and thought I would share. It was purchased from (all places!) JoAnn Fabrics. Its made from 5/8 thick unfinished solid pine, 41.5 high x 14 wide. It contains (2) permanent shelves, which create (3) cubes with internal dimensions of 12.5 wide x 12.5 high x 11.25 deep. The sides of the cabinet are routed to accept the shelves, so the entire cabinet is more than sturdy enough for vinyl storage. The manufacturers SKU number is: 05859947. The number on Jo-Anns receipt is simply 5859947. The above price was AFTER using a 40% discount coupon. My wife advises that she signed-up to receive mailings from JoAnns website (JoAnn.com) and receives coupons of this type in the mail on an almost weekly basis. Moreover, quite regularly, our local newspapers contain Jo-Ann flyers/coupons offering these 40% coupons. |
I notice Ikea now has something called the Markor. I haven't yet inspected in person, but it looks like it should be perfect: cheap, more than 12" deep, five evenly spaced shelves high, the bottom shelf several inches off the floor, and doesn't look like it belongs in a student basement apartment. http://www.ikea.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10101&storeId=12&productId=11305&langId=-1&parentCats=10104*10173 |
The Ikea Expedit, while being no frills, is plenty sturdy enough and a huge value. The 6'x6' one holds at least 1500 records, which works out to ten cents per record. Brian |
What does anyone think of using a toy chest for storage? You could then flip through them fairly easily and it would close when not in use. See link http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/ref=br_1_6/601-7590987-2222550?%5Fencoding=UTF8&frombrowse=1&asin=B0002AU00S I realize this would have limited storage but my collection is small right now so this would work for quite a while. |
That toy chest looks pretty nice, Bundy, but you need to make sure it is sturdy enough to handle the weight of the records. It probably would have room to hold about 150-200 records(guessing)and it is made of fiberboard - the info doesn't specify thickness. Of course, you might be able to reinforce the bottom, if necessary, to hold the extra weight. I am just getting started in putting together a vinyl rig after being away from analog for over 20 years. My collection of about 1500 records is in a cabinet in my back room and I have no room for it where my stereo system is set up. :-( I will actually be using an old wooden drawer that a friend of mine decorated with an original painting about 30 years ago. It will have to sit on the floor of my living room and will hold records for current listening. It's kind of like using an apple crate I guess, but it is a bit prettier! This drawer holds about 100 records and I can easily flip through them to find what I want. I wish,though, that I had the room for some of the nice racks and LP storage containers listed in this thread. |
Years ago record cabinets were pretty common. Some are nicely finished, some not so much. Some of the mid century modern units are beautiful to me, but of course can be pricey. I see a variety come and go on Craigslist. I have stacked cabinets (from the 60's) with doors in my listening room that hold 150? The rest are in vinyl crates in another room. |
