This tutorial is meant to give a general idea of how to ship audio amplifiers and similar cargo.

 

First, we consider the following materials as adequate for packing amplifiers (and other audio gear):

 

1) large cell bubble wrap (small cell is good too, but usually not as efficient on heavy gear).

 

2) packing paper

 

3) polystyrene extruded foamboard

 

4) cardboard (for reinforcement)

 

4) open cell foam

 

5) polyethylene closed cell foam

 

6) Pelican box (expensive, but perfect for shipping)

 

We do not recommend and discourage the use of:

1) packing peanuts

2) soft foam pieces

3) Styrofoam or any kind of polystyrene that releases loose beads

4) beanbag beads

5) plastic air bags

6) towels, rags, egg cartons, etc

 

 

HOW TO DO IT RIGHT

STEP 1: Get a good box. Avoid old, previously shipped boxes that are already damaged. If you must use a 'used' box, then make sure it is of at least good quality. The box material should be rigid, thick, and smooth (poor or cheap boxes tend to have a 'fuzzy' feel to them). Double-layered, heavy-duty boxes are the best kind to use.

CHEAP BOXES (avoid):

 

BAD BOXES (avoid):

 

Please don't use damaged boxes. If they are already damaged - what do you think will happen next?

 

ACCEPTABLE BOXES:

 

GOOD BOX by ULINE:

Note the double layer and smooth surface. Uline makes some of the best boxes, however, you need to buy them in bulk. Not practical, I know, but they are a good standard for comparison.

Good box sizes: 24" x 16" x 8" are great for most amps. 22" x 22" x 12" are good for Sunfire and Receivers. 22" x 14" x 6" are good for preamps. Bigger is better, provided you cushion adequately. However, bigger boxes are much more expensive. When the dimensions are over 28" on any side, there's a rather large hike in price. Over 34" and you will receive a 'large box' fee in addition! Also, avoid going over 50lbs if you can help it to avoid the 'heavy box' fees.

 

STEP 2: Use good packing material. The best way to go about this is to wrap the unit in soft material first. Bubble wrap or soft foam works the best. Tape it together to hold it in place. Avoid taping it too much - this makes reusing the materials impossible. You don't need to tape the living snot out of it. Just use some masking tape to keep your material together. Make sure the top, bottom, and sides have plenty of layers - 2" thick is a good rule of thumb. KEEP IT SIMPLE.

24" wide large cell bubble wrap shown above.

 

Now, seat your wrapped unit in your box. Does it fit? If not, you need a bigger box. If the box is too deep (more than say 4" of empty space from top to bottom), consider cutting it down to reduce the size. If you still have some space on all sides - that's perfect.

Reinforce the box with rigid materials like polystyrene foamboard:

It's best to cut polystyrene with a long serrated knife. Box cutters can work, but often the razor blade is not long enough (it gets stuck). You can score, then break over a straight table edge as well.

Extruded polystyrene foamboard is easy to work with and VERY EFFECTIVE in protecting your gear. However, it is rigid, so it might protect your gear from getting dented, but it won't protect it from receiving shock damage. So you need a balance of rigid material and soft material.

 

STEP 3: Fill voids effectively. Use one type of material and just make sure all soft areas are tightly packed so the unit cannot move around. Imagine every area being hit or dropped from the outside. If you have an open internal corner, it will get crushed and damage your box and possibly your gear. So fill the voids well...that is, make sure there is distance and material between EVERY area of the box and your gear.

 

Packing paper, cardboard pieces, or bubble wrap are all effective void fills. I really like packing paper because it is semi-dense and can fill corners with a rigid layer or fill open areas with soft fill. It can be soft or hard, and that makes paper very good cushion if done properly. Crumple it up and stuff it into corners and voids on the sides. The harder you compress it, the denser it becomes, so paper can be used to protect corners extremely well. Bubble wrap is okay, provided there is room. Bubble wrap doesn't compress very well, but it can become dense enough to provide good void fill. Use common sense. If you drop your box from 4 feet high, will your unit be okay? Your box WILL BE DROPPED by the shipping company. It's a guarantee. 

So while the shipping company can make mistakes, it is your responsibility to pack your unit properly. Don't cut corners - you will regret it. Murphy is a Law of Physics. Don't gamble against Murphy!

Anyway, please avoid making a complicated jigsaw puzzle out of your packing materials. Sometimes we receive boxes that are well intentioned, but nearly impossible to put back together with over 20 pieces of materials that fit in certain ways. It is monumentally frustrating to unpack and then reuse your 'work of art'. As genius as it may seem at the time, it is horrific to repack. So please do not go nuts with your random materials and pieces. If you're getting too complicated, you're doing it wrong! As you can see above, there's nothing complicated about how to pack. Soft, Rigid, Fill. That's the fundamental.

 

Top, bottom, and sides have 1" rigid board. The unit is surrounded by 2" of bubble wrap, and the voids are filled with packing paper. It doesn't get much better than this!

 

 

STEP 4: Make sure you protect binding posts, faceplates, handles, etc. Stuff that sticks out is very vulnerable. So you reinforce these areas with special care. Below are some examples taken from our custom shipping boxes.

 

A Phase Linear 700 (hard to pack):

Note the white foam 'buttressing' on each side of the unit to protect the wide, sharp faceplate. The sharp edges are kept away from touching the sides, where the unit could saw right through and damage itself and the box. So use rigid material around delicate stuff like binding posts, not against them.

 

An MXR-150 Receiver (extremely fragile):

Some units are complicated to pack. As you can see above, special attention must be given to units like receivers which are big and heavy, but also extremely fragile. Buttressing is seen on the back to protect the binding posts and antenna. This is why we recommend bubble wrap inside of a suitable box. It solves issues like this that take time and lots of special material to do well. All those blocks are cut and glued in place. Not everyone has the resources to make packing like this. So if this were not a custom made shipping box, I would use bubble wrap with the 1" pink rigid foam board around it. I would then buttress the corners and flat sides with dense amounts of packing paper to protect the delicate areas.

 

A PT-2400 (super heavy):

Another example of buttressing to secure the unit in place. Notice how all the sharp edges are kept away from the sides of the box and the packing materials. The front and back have a 2" ledge glued to the bottom of the box that is hard to see that keeps the unit immovable side to side and front to back. Notice the binding posts on the back of the unit can't touch the back of the box due to the ledge. They are also open - no rigid materials are touching them. Delicate parts must be protected indirectly, not directly. Shock from outside the box can travel through material and damage them. Voids on the sides are there on purpose to enable removing the unit from the box. All of the voids can be filled with packing paper for extra protection. That closed cell white foam is great stuff - but very expensive! Not shown is a 2" rigid foam lid that is seated on top of the unit, with more white foam that interlocks with the above wedges on all sides for even more protection. 

 

STEP 5: Use good tape and tape every seam. Your box will be slid, pushed, skidded, etc. Protect seams and any areas that can grab onto something and pull/tear/gouge. Use VERY GOOD packing tape. Reinforced tape or stranded tape is great. Duct tape is acceptable, but if not used properly, it can become a huge mess. Duct tape, like packing tape, sticks to itself better than to cardboard - heed this wisdom.

 

 

FAILS:

 

How NOT to pack your audio gear:

 

(that is just a mess. Wrong on every scale)

 

(very heavy unit with no corner protection and terrible Styrofoam material. Shipper is LUCKY Phase Linears are tanks. This could have been a very expensive disaster. Also, see all those loose white beads? Yeah...not cool. Don't use Styrofoam!)

 

(Literally how it was packed. Broken rack handle and cracked internal circuit boards was the result. Styrofoam is already garbage, but when you don't even bother to use enough, it ends in tragedy).

 

(Terrible void fill. FedEx stores and UPS stores suck at packing. Don't trust them. Make them double-box if you use them. You would save money and hassle just buying a custom box from us).

 

(Nice attempt but... The pieces of cardboard are a good idea for void fill, but the execution is lacking. Just look at all the different kinds of materials in there...this is unusable to ship and return beautifully restored gear in. The chances it'd be damaged on its way home are very high).

 

Again...

Please do not make a mess of your cushioning by throwing in whatever you have and making a jigsaw puzzle out of your packing material. Keep it simple. Simplicity works much better. Use the shipping fundamental...

 

Soft (on the inside)

Rigid (on the outside)

Fill (all the voids)

 

Happy packing!

 

Addendum!

Quality check your unit before you ship:

1) make sure all screws are tight, and if they are stripped out, just remove them. Loose screws inside a box bouncing around are not good for cosmetic integrity

2) remove rack handles if they are removable, like on an M-500t, and keep them with you. Some units with rack handles are okay. Just ask us if you're not sure about whether the rack handles should stay or go. Some units, like a C-4000 preamp, must always keep their rack handles on. So just use good judgement. If the rack handles are not intrinsic to the unit, that is, they are an option, then they should probably be removed. Otherwise, they should stay. 

3) wrap your unit in plastic or a garbage bag to help protect against marring and scratches...and water.

4) tighten binding posts

5) just make sure everything is secure. If something feels loose inside the unit, better check it out before you ship!