Vendor View : Protecting Home AV Equipment From the Ground Up

Middle Atlantic sets the stage for success now and in the future.

After a successful CEDIA EXPO 2009, Middle Atlantic Products was further honored when its AXS Slide-out Equipment Mounting System was inducted into the Product Hall of Fame at the CEDIA Manufacturer's Excellence Awards banquet celebration.

This distinction was especially gratifying for a company that designs and manufactures low-profile but high-quality infrastructure equipment that isn't always in the spotlight: steel rack enclosures, monitoring consoles, data cabling management products, audio and video studio furniture, power distribution products and related accessories.

Asked about the award, company founder and chief engineer, Bob Schluter, said, "I started working closely with residential installers myself about 30 years ago and saw a lot of challenges in accessing the rear of equipment to get to the cabling. I invented the AXS system to solve these problems. Designing from the installer's point of view has always been the heart of our business."

This "hands-on" approach and the founding vision behind the growth of Middle Atlantic started in 1979 when Schluter, a musician, engineer and designer, founded the company in New Jersey. Since then, the company has grown dramatically, providing innovative, high-quality infrastructure equipment for the commercial and residential AV markets, broadcast, security, cabling and data, and more.

The company's headquarters and factory in Fairfield, N.J., occupies a large site that was originally used to build fighter planes in WWII. The manufacturing facility is equipped with laser-fabrication cells that produce equipment with smooth edges, friendly to both cables and hands and arms; automated forming lines; robots and high-speed turret presses that provide quick throughput that frees the company to ship from existing stock.

Complementing this array of highly evolved machinery is an environmentally friendly powder coat line that produces scratch- and corrosion-resistant finishes, plus a variety of automated support equipment, including CNC spot welders. Middle Atlantic maintains ISO 9001 registration for all of its facilities in the USA.

Innovative Solutions

Middle Atlantic has built its reputation on designing products from the installer's point of view, and the AXS system typically solves problems for home AV installers and their customers. First released in 1994, AXS is a slide-out rack system for cabinets, walls or custom woodwork/millwork that was revolutionary for its time.

Sixteen years later, AXS still provides custom installers with unrestricted rear access to equipment and connections. The rack frame slides out from inside the wall/cabinet via a track and stand system to allow easy wiring, servicing and upgrading of components. This saves a considerable amount of time and effort when equipment can be loaded and tested at the shop and not under the watchful eye of the homeowner.

The AXS also set a new benchmark in residential installations by allowing equipment to reside flush in walls in a variety of settings, most notably home theaters.

Other installer-friendly innovations from Middle Atlantic include the RSH custom rackshelves that allow the mounting of virtually any component in a standard 19" enclosure without any modifications. There are also accurate details on over 8,000 components in the company's measured database that ensure a custom rackshelf can be manufactured in 48 hours.

Other useful contributions for the home AV customer include the first fully integrated dock for iPod and iPhone products in residential AV systems, which lets people enjoy both music and video stored on popular multimedia players through their installed residential AV system.

The dock is designed to mount flat against a credenza or cabinet's rackrail to allow full door closure when the system is in use and is compatible with all current and most legacy iPod and iPhone models while supporting full video functionality.

Cooling is critical in AV environments populated with high heat-generating digital equipment. Middle Atlantic's Duct Cool® long pull ventilation system maintains safe operating temperatures for rack systems and projector "hush" boxes.

These UL-listed systems extract heated air quickly and quietly from confined equipment spaces, including cabinets or enclosures where slide-out equipment mounting systems are installed. The Duct Cool fan can be mounted remotely without loss of performance. A temperature probe and thermostatic control save energy by only running the system when necessary.

Knowing space is at a premium for infrastructure equipment, Middle Atlantic has also designed a welded Cabinet Frame Rack (CFR Series) to provide the most useable rackspace for the overall height of the rack.

The Cabinet Frame Rack's space-efficient design features an overall height almost completely dedicated to rackspace, with just under an inch of steel, top and bottom, combined for structural support. That, coupled with the rack's 19 1/4" width and two useable 16" and 18" depths lets it fit efficiently into a variety of cabinetry and custom residential furniture while providing maximum space for equipment.

Power has always been a critical concern for the company, especially with today's state-of-the-art, equipment-intensive AV settings. Middle Atlantic's UPS system is designed to ensure the highest levels of uninterrupted AV equipment performance.

If a power outage or extreme over/under voltage occurs, the system's AVR capability ensures a continuous 120V output while Pure Sine Wave technology minimizes harmonic distortion and line noise. The unit's fast (four millisecond) transfer time enables connected equipment to stay online, with no lock-ups. Like all of Middle Atlantic's products, the UPS system is designed with the installer in mind. A unique sliding rear rackrail mount was the first to offer single-person UPS mounting capability, which simplifies rack integration. Under normal circumstances, the UPS's highly efficient Energy Saver Circuitry reduces power consumption 75 percent compared to traditional UPS designs to provide greater efficiency and minimize the system's carbon footprint.

Essential issues of our times such as maintaining a minimal carbon footprint, energy efficiency, LEED standards and more will continue to guide Middle Atlantic Products as it continues to grow and develop more products and technologies for the home AV market. CR