A Brief History of the HiFi Cabinet: From Radiogram to Rack System

Furniture in Fashion reports that the hifi cabinet has been redesigned roughly every twenty years since the 1930s, and that every redesign has been an engineering response rather than a decorative one. The radiogram existed because valve electronics and an acoustic enclosure needed a large sealed box, the open rack existed because separates needed ventilation and access, and the low wide media unit exists because a flat panel screen needs a horizontal plane. Our history traces the 19 inch rack convention, the glass and steel shelving of the midi system years, and the period when flat panel television designed physical media storage out of living room furniture altogether. With vinyl back in the mainstream, tracked by the British Phonographic Industry, cabinets are deepening again to hold the 31.5cm square LP sleeve, and rigidity now matters more than capacity because a turntable responds directly to what it stands on....