Millenium SR-2018

So, I got this because I, like many bedroom engineers, have too many rack units. So being as cheap as it is, I figured this would be great.

And for the most part, it is! But there are a few things I don't like about it:

1. There's no instructions for how to put it together, or how to properly install the rack units. This may seem trivial, but for someone very inexperienced, this could cause major errors down the line

2. Once I put all my units in it, the top pannel ended up not fitting, so only 2 screws are holding the top pannel to the sides at the moment...

3. IT RESONATES! I was singing next to the rack just to shoot out some mics, and I could hear the rack making a honky sound as I was singing, and it was even audible in the microphones.

All in all, BUYER BEWARE!

After quite a bit of online research I decided on buying the Millennium SR-2018 as my first foray in to a studio rack, and would highly recommend it. For the relatively low price it's excellent value, a sturdy build and good quality. Although there were no build instructions it was very straight forward, and there's plenty of guidance on the internet if you need help on how to install racks, shelves etc. It comes with both castors and feet as options, and with it fully loaded up the castors work really well even on carpet - it's very easy to move, which is essential for accessing cables from the back. The height is perfect to use the top for additional laydown space for a mixer or similar. It wasn't that clear to me from the description but it does come with rack nuts and screws for fixing any equipment. The only issue I had was with the centre rail (for the brackets), whilst a very useful feature if you have heavy things to put on shelves, are a bit fiddly to assemble. Finally, for anyone buying this from the UK, I was a bit worried about how much I might be charged for 'importing" but actually the process was straight forward, the UPS shipping charge was reasonable (as per their website) and then just VAT added on top - so don't forget to add VAT but don't be put off buying from Thomann!

It's okay if you have no other options for racks, but totally this rack should be improved.
Cons:
Incorrect assembly instruction, that listed in product on site. Rack can be assembly only on its side.
Packaging of this rack is sucks. I received a rack with bent and damaged parts during transportation.
Also rack is huge, so, in this rack no scaffolding to prevent rack ruining. It's funny because same racks with less units have scaffolding.
If you load some full-size units to this rack may be it's okay, this can help with rack stabilization.
The design itself is not very thought out. The upper bolts must be inserted into the holes to be screwed to the side walls, the problem is that these holes are deep enough, without auxiliary tools it will not be very convenient to insert the bolts there.
Also, these holes, through which the bolts are inserted, must be closed with plugs. These plugs cannot be inserted into the holes for them; I still could not insert the plugs, as indicated in the instructions, even with a hammer.
Coating is not good enough, I've found some hairs coated under paint.

In other cases is that good enough rack if you do not need to transport them elsewhere.

Firstly, this thing a not a toy. For safety sake, only 2 people should lift the unopened package.

I was very surprised when it arrived. Plusses and minuses. The instructions had no words, just 2 diagrams. I would have preferred a step by step sequencing of optimal assembly.

The materials are very firm, and there really is quite a lot of them for the money. The casters work quite freely, and have brakes on them. The ventilation up the sides are very adequate for full utilization of the rack spaces.

The unit is best assembled without casters first, by laying it on it's back, fixing top to a side, then the other side, then bottom, and only then fixing the casters. The surfaces are held together with allen-bolts, a little fiddly though not impossible. I noticed that the casters had sharp edges on the top of them, which should have been rounded off before dispatch. So if you've a baby in the studio, careful with the fingers.

There are both stands and casters supplied with the package, and as written above, the casters have brakes on them. The casters move quite freely, so when you've a rack full of equipment you won't need a team of people to be leveraging the rack around the place.

When first assembled, the unit may sway some, like a parallelogram, however when you start putting some rack units in, it soon firms up considerably.

One of the amazing generosities of the designers was the inclusion of rack-fixing nuts and bolts... lots of them, with rubber washers. So the rack was filled some with units soon after assembly which took about 2 hours.

There are rack-unit-bolt-sockets on both the front and back of the unit so, actually, the rack has twice the accommodation space as advertised on the web page. so you can have the back of the rack filled with units also, either passive units not requiring interfacting to, or if they've got inputs or controls, you could just roll the unit out, make adjustments, then roll it back in. The top and base are quite firm, I have a printer on the top, and since I've units in the rack there is no sway out of it as the print-head is travelling back and fore.

I don't know what the quality of similar units is, but this one has worked for me, does so every day, and delivers a very high level of utility for the money paid for it.

It arrived, fast as usual, which is good and a credit to Thomann.
But the post office where quick to inform me that the package had arrived damaged. And there was a huge hole in one of the corners of the outer cardboard case.
Parts where falling out of the hole, if the package wasn't carried flat on its back.

Inside the actual item was in its own cardboard case, and therefore I hoped nothing bad had happened, but sadly that wasn't the case.
The side panels had bent and twisted corners and all four panels had either surface scratches or bent corners. Also parts were loose inside the cardboard, and I don't even know if all the screws made it, as I mentioned earlier that parts fell out of the hole in the cardboard case.

This is the first time I've had this happening to me, when ordering from Thomann. I have had smaller rack cabinets shipped, and it arrived just fine, safe and sound. But in this case something really bad must have happened during shipping.

I don´t know if the the weight was the main issue, but I can't help but think that heavy items like this one, should be protected better. After all its metal, its heavy and things happen during shipping. They should have bubble wrapped the panels.

I´ve sent my complaints to Thomann.

This thing is heavy, and robust once assembled. Reasonably easy to put together (beware of sharp edges and corners) and very solid once there are a few bits and pieces racked in it. No instructions but it's not rocket science - as other reviewers have said it's probably best to start by attaching the sides to the top whilst the unit is on it's back, then put the base and wheels on. The wheels and brakes are good quality - I have it in a space where I quite often need to wheel it out to get access and they work well.

During construction, the bolts that attach the top and and bottom are a little fiddly to locate but no more so, just a little heavier, than your standard Scandinavian flat pack bookcase.

In my case, this rack came in a damaged package. I opened it up and there was some minor damage on the side, which made this rack pretty hard to put together. But I was still able to use it in the end and the Thomann guys were nice enough to give me some vouchers in return for damaged goods.

It's not the most stable or the best-made rack I've ever seen, but it does its job. The instructions that come along with it are very unclear and you really have put some time into putting the thing together, even though it looks quite simple.

I use it my home studio, but to tell you the truth I wouldn't buy it again, I've had too much trouble with it in the beginning for such a simple piece of studio furniture.

What I like about is that the 2 wheels in the back come with a small handbrake which is great if you are moving it sometimes or just using it in different rooms.