Thanks guys. The rack is a Sanus Euro style. I purchased it on line directly from Sanus along with the additional shelves and extended legs. You start with the base and add on to build it up. It is sturdy, expandable, flexible with different leg lengths, and relatively inexpensive.
http://www.sanus.com/us/en/products/av-foundations/av-euroThe second amp is an AVA Insight + Double 240/3. It is there to power my center and surrounds for movies and multichannel music.
As far as previous systems go.... I have had several but nothing ever compared to the Salk Van Alstine equipment. It makes me want to stop chasing something that might be better. I have had systems that ran direct from the AVR, then I went to Emotiva, then I went to Parasound, then I went with just the AVA amps and no preamp, then added the preamp and DAC. On speakers, I have gone from old Pioneers to lower end Polks, to higher end Polks, to SongTowers (great speakers used in my family room), and now to Salk HT2TL's.
On getting a TT... man is it tempting! I have a zillion CD's and only have about 30 LP's from the 70's stashed in a box in the attic. I am convinced vinyl has its benefits, but since I already have the CD's, I have to stick with CD's from a practicle perspective..... (at least for now). And, the Vision DAC just made the CD's that much better.
And yes, cable management is a time consuming pain. But to me worth the time. The rat's nest deal makes me crazy. I just want things somewhat orderly back there and I like to make sure my power cables are separated from my signal cables.
Again, I am thrilled with what came together here, both from a pure stereo perspective as well as the HT surround perspective. Now I am finally just kicking back and taking it all in without worrying about the system or if I am missing out on something.
Thanks again for the positive comments. And... thanks as always to Frank and Jim.