Price Increase Set for October 15th 2016

The side bar has some information.  Orders prior to October 15th 2016 will be unaffected along with quotes expiring prior to November 15 2016.

The shipping and handling charge has remained the same since 2012 while UPS has raised their charges around 5% annually.

After running the pricing calculator for the tops and bases the finger-in-the-wind method worked quite well for the double-wide units but not so much for the single-width ones.  The new prices better reflect the actual costs of producing them.

CD Storage Production

Production of the CD drawer units hangs in the balance at this point. The CD-180 had been outsourced to a local cabinetmaker, Ryan, who did an excellent job. Unfortunately their production tied up too many resources for too long and it was affecting production of the record racks etc.

Last May (2016) I took the decision to let Ryan takeover responsibility for the entire process. Anyone interested may use the TwoCan HiFi contact email and I will forward any orders to him.

As I am interested in knowing what the demand may be for the drawer units I will not post his contact information directly here although Ryan may also advertise the CD-180’s separately from TwoCan HiFi.

Prices for the CD-180s along with shipping and handling may be subject to change and I cannot quote either at this time.

Component shelf pricing

Finally got around to setting prices for the component shelves.  Same price for the Classic (18″ wide) and 19 Series (20.75″ wide).

$174.95 for the 5″ tall
$184.95 for the 7.5″ tall
$204.95 for the 10″ tall
$214.95 for the 15″ tall

Price above is for red oak finished with Danish oil.  Solid wood frame and shelf lips with veneered multiply shelf.

T19 Component Shelf in 10" height
T19 Component Shelf in 10″ height

Shipping and handling for the Classic version is $19.90 for one plus $9.95 for each additional. S/H for the 19 Series is $25.00 for one plus $12.50 for each additional shelf.

Can The 8-Track be Far Behind

Hipsters are driving a resurgence in cassette tapes according to an article in Quartz.  Mind you, they have listed it under High Fidelity although the story focuses more on the coolness and how non-digital cassettes are.

I found that when listening to CD’s it is far too easy to get up and do something in parallel that the actual music did not get the attention it needed.  Conversely, a vinyl album side 12 to 20 minutes long demands your full attention or, at least, more critical listening.  I even wonder if more focused attention to the music subjectively enhances the perceived sound of vinyl (Heretic that I am).

I do not use a phone or other device to listen to music on the move but I do sign-in to Pandora or Slacker and find such services useful in hearing material that I may not choose to listen to.  I have a massive amount of MP3/4 music files in various quality levels that I spend more time organizing than listening to, then I get annoyed I wasted a couple of hours on the task.

No idea where I’m going with this, I should probably consider re-introducing Per Madsen’s cassette drawers.

Can hardly get my head around this is the end of January.

CD-180 Pricing

Not updated the price list but the CD-180 2-drawer cabinet pricing is currently US$309.95 plus US$39.95 s/h each.  Add US$20.00 for oak drawer fronts.

Below is a CD-180 with birch drawer fronts and a Tribute record rack stacked on top.  A 1.5″ base and a top panel are also shown.

CD-180 + record rack_01x500

But wait! There’s more

Although stacked racks are remarkably stable I have given thought to making them more resistant to toppling in the event of earthquakes or young (and not so young) children scaling them ‘because it’s there’.

I recommend using them when stacking 3 or more racks and strongly recommend them for four or more when there are young children likely to be in the home and/or you live in a locale prone (or overdue) earthquakes or landslides or both.

Two commercial options seem to be a good solution with DIY alternatives using Velcro straps or similar.

Hangman Products specialize in a wide range of products to secure stuff with their furniture anti-tip kit  an elegant means of securing towering racks.  The downside is the length of the cable that ties the rack-end bracket to the wall-bracket.  Too long for most installations.

Hangman suggest wrapping the cable in 2 or more loops to shorten the length but that is a little awkward in a confined space.  Another option would be to use a large cable-tie in place of the supplied cable.

Quakehold! also make a great product with a cable that could secure an ocean liner but the brackets are cheap looking although they are of more than adequate construction.  These are less expensive then the Hangman offering and I’m leaning more toward them.  The Steel Furniture Cable 4″ is around half the price.  There is also a 7″ version.

Both the Hangman and Quakehold! products are sold on Amazon and may be available at local/national hardware stores.

If preferred I can supply them but they would come with a loathed middleman handling charge for retro-fits.   During 2016 I’ll include them at cost for new racks (optional) and the 4″ Quakehold! version at no cost when ordering 3 or more racks.

Either product would also work to secure racks on dolly bases albeit with some inconvenience.

Earthquake preparedness here in the Pacific NW is (or was given news-cycle/attention span) big news and disaster planning probably warrants some attention.

Have a happy and prosperous and safe New Year.