Modular LP record storage suggestions

I've heard from one member who also has a number of the IKEA EKET 4-cube model, and loves 'em. He asked me about the brackets for securing multiples when stacking (I have my 4-cube EKETs stacked three high, which measure 6' 10-1/2" tall, and five wide, measuring 11' 5-1/2"), and the set of four wooden legs (which raise the 4-cube EKET 3-3/4" off the floor). The bag of twelve brackets sells for $10, the box of four legs also $10. The best LP storage system I've had since starting my collection in 1968.

The Boltz LP-2012-1 (storage capacity 90 LP’s) costs $269. The single cube IKEA EKET (capacity 60-65 LP’s) costs $20. The 4-cube EKET (capacity 250-260) costs $60. The fifteen 4-cube EKETs I bought cost me $750 (current price $900), and will accommodate around 3750 LP’s. Put another way, the $269 one spends on a Boltz that holds 90 LP’s will buy one four and a half 4-cube EKETs, which will hold around 1125 LP’s. To house 1125 LP’s in the Boltz rack will cost one about $4300. To house my collection in the Boltz would cost me around $10,750. That $10,000 ($10,750 minus $750) will buy a lot of LP's!

I myself hate the somewhat industrial look of the Boltz, and find the dark gray EKET to look rather nice against my Benjamin Moore "Mink" colored walls. To each his/her own!

For those with a nearby IKEA, compare the KALLAX to the EKET. The superiority of the latter over the former will be glaringly obvious. Push on the side of the KALLAX (near the top) and see what happens.  Then do the same to an EKET.

A 4-cube EKET costs $60, two for $120, four for $240. Each 4-cube model holds around 250-260 LP's. Comes with a back panel, no wood, glue, and screws necessary. Better looking (in dark gray) than the KALLAX, and more structurally stiff and solid.

@ozzy62: I picked a cube in which all the LP’s were single discs in non-gatefold covers, and counted them. How many LP’s will fit in each EKET cube (and any other storage rack) will of course be determined by how thick your LP packages are, how tightly you pack each cube, and whether or not you have your LP’s in plastic sleeves.

A lot of my LP’s are installed in the double-pocket 4 mil thick sleeves made by the Canadian company Vinyl Storage Solutions (love ’em!). Others are in the 2 mil double pocket sleeves, with the rest in 3 mil and 4 mil thick single pocket sleeves. I don’t leave space in each cube for expansion, and fill each cube just snugly enough to keep the LP’s perfectly vertical, loose enough to make sliding them in and out easy.

The one cube I counted was filled with 65 LP’s, so the 4-cube model will hold 260 LP’s, assuming all of them are single LP’s in non-gatefold covers, installed in plastic sleeves, and packed firm but not tight. Of course LP’s and their covers not housed in plastic sleeves and packed tighter than I do will increase the number that will fit in each cube. And gatefold covers, double LP’s, and other variations may decrease the number that will fit in each cube.

I’ve never counted all my records, and have no plans to do so. My fifteen 4-cube EKET’s recently became completely full, so I will soon need to get a few more, and find a place to put them. (The left wall of my music room is just long enough for the five stacks of EKET’s and a stack of ASC TubeTraps---16" on the bottom, 11" on top. The right wall is filled with six CD racks---two high, three wide, with a storage capacity of 600 CD’s each. They too are completely full---and the same TubeTraps, plus a door.). Either that or stop buying records! I also have a couple cheap 2-cube racks I got off Amazon, in which I store my Laserdiscs. Anybody else still have their’s?!

I agree with you about the IKEA KALLAX shelving units. If you push on them from one side, the whole unit bends! If I was forced to use the KALLAX, I would install support bars across the rear. The KALLAX is also a little too deep for my liking, though some people view that depth as a plus. I also don’t like that it has an open back, which allows dust to enter the interior of the cubes.

IKEA offers another storage unit that I CAN recommend: the EKET. This model is available as a single 13-3/4" cube (interior 12-3/4" in width, depth, and height, just barely big enough for LP covers), a 2-cube model, and in what I consider the best choice for LP’s, a 4-cube model measuring 27-1/2" in width and height, 13-3/4" deep. The interior of each cube is 12-3/4" in weight, width, and depth, just big enough for "normal" LP covers---that is, all but MoFi One-Steps, Analogue Productions UHQR’s, etc. The EKET has a rear panel, which not only prevents the entry of dust into the cubes, but also provides structural integrity to the assembled unit (it comes as a flat pack, very easy to assemble). The rear of the EKET also sports holes drilled for support braces which may be installed when stacking multiple units, making multiples feel like a single unit.

I have fifteen EKET’s, three high and five wide. The rear of the EKET also has holes drilled for adjustable plastic support braces, for securing the unit to the wall it is placed in front of. You put the EKET (or EKET stacks) where you want it/them, and unscrew the braces (real left and right) until they rest against the wall. My stack of 15 EKET’s are completely full, and are absolutely unmovable. The assembled stack feels like it’s a built-in!

IKEA sells the 4-cube EKET for $60, and offers it in brown walnut (which looks cheap and pretty ugly), white (again, cheap), and dark gray (by far the best looking). I bought my 4-cube EKET’s when they were priced at $50, so a 3 x 5 stack of 15 cost me $750. More than the KALLAX, but in my opinion far superior and worth the difference in price. IKEA also offers a pack of four short adjustable wooden legs for the EKET, which raises the unit off the floor by a few inches. Great for preventing dust from migrating from your rug/carpet/floor into the cubes.