A basic home theater system alone will include at least a half-dozen black boxes to produce the picture and sound you’re after. When you start adding in processors to control the lights, the thermostats and a security system, you’ll need even more space. You’ll need special racks, stands and cabinets to house all that gear so that it’s well protected and operates as it should.

Rack ‘Em Up
The best place to stack a group of black boxes is inside a specialty equipment rack. An equipment rack can be incorporated into a number of areas in your home: within an entertainment cabinet, mounted to a wall in the basement, left out in the open for everyone to admire or integrated into a standard-looking closet. Some racks are industrial looking and can hold scads of equipment, while others are sleek, contemporary pieces of furniture meant for just a few of your most important audio/video components. No matter what type of equipment rack you choose, it’ll ensure that your electronic components will be well protected, organized and easy to service.

Cool It!
Touch the top of your DVD player after it’s played a two-hour movie. It should feel warm, and that’s OK. Most electronic components put off heat when they’re running. But when those components are stacked one on top of the other inside a compact entertainment cabinet, that heat could eventually damage them. Specialty A/V equipment racks are designed to allow air to circulate around the top, bottom and sides of each component to significantly reduce heat build up. Also make sure that the back of your entertainment cabinet is designed with open slots or holes so that the hot air can escape. If there are no vents, ask a carpenter to add some, or have a new cabinet custom made to ensure that there will be plenty of elbow room for the equipment you have now and pieces you might add later.

Cables Under Control
Cabling is a fact of high-tech life. Components need to interconnect, and that means wire, wire and more wire. An equipment rack helps keep wiring well organized and tidy through the use of wiring chases, or cable pass-throughs. Cabling can be routed through the chase from one component to the next, keeping the spaghetti off the floor and, in some cases, completely hidden from view. Be sure to label each piece of wire so that you know what’s what when you add a new piece of equipment to your setup.

Open Access
A good equipment rack should offer easy access to the backs of your equipment for installation and servicing. The rear of most equipment racks is open, but depending on where your rack will be installed, you may need to also incorporate a mechanism that will allow you to slide out and swivel the rack. A slide-and-swivel solution is ideal for racks tucked inside heavy entertainment cabinets. Rather than pulling a muscle to move the gigantic piece of furniture away from the wall, a slide-and-swivel rack lets you pull out the rack and twist it so that you can get to the backside of the components.

Hide Out
Some equipment racks are actually designed to be contemporary pieces of furniture. But if your tastes are traditional, it’s probably best to buy a rack that can be integrated into the design of your home. These types of racks are not particularly attractive; however, there are ways you can improve their looks or even make them disappear. 

Cabinet mounting is very popular with homeowners who like to keep their entertainment equipment safely contained but accessible when they want to load a DVD or tweak the settings. Equipment racks come in several sizes, so be sure that you find one that can be easily fitted inside your cabinet. If the cabinet is short on space but you want to keep the equipment in the room, consider having a home systems installer build the rack into a wall. This is a particularly appealing option for those who prefer a sleek, high-tech look, as well as for those who don’t own or plan to own a stand-alone cabinet. The wall-skimming design is also a wonderful complement to a wall-mounted flat-screen TV.

Last but not least, you can build the rack into a closet or utility room, which is a great option for homeowners who prefer to keep technology completely hidden. If there’s enough room, your installer may even be able to create a storage spot for your DVDs and CDs.