The Continuing Adventures of IKEA Expedit...

"All ways lead to rome. I agree, the expedit is shit. But that's for aesthetic reasons. The problem with your self-destroying setup wasn't the expedit quality - you did it wrong. The long boards are supposed to run horizontally, not vertically as your picture suggests. So your expedit did not stand on its supposed bottom, but on its side. I'm sorry anyway!"

I get at least a half-dozen of these kind of comments per week, all in response to this blog entry: http://thevinylanachronist.blogspot.com/2011/03/for-all-you-using-ikea-expedit-shelving.html. It's amusing to me that I still have to moderate--and delete--these comments since I've repeatedly explained the following:

1. That's not my IKEA Expedit. It's a common image you can find in Google Images. I made an explicit reference to this in the original blog and provided the proper credit. People seem to ignore this and comment on my poor IKEA-building skills anyway.

2. I know the right way to assemble the Expedit. I had two--a 1X5 and a 4X4. They still started coming apart after just a few years. Others have written me saying they had the same exact problem even when assembled correctly. (I do have another one, the 2X2 version, which I use for my record cleaning machine and accessories.)

3. I explain all of this in a follow-up blog entry here. Now I've had to go back and edit the previous two blogs so that readers will be able to see the entire story, and not just comment on the photo. It's not quite working.

That said, the original blog entry has taken on a life of its own. It is currently my most read entry in this blog--by far. Apparently it's being linked to by a variety of websites, blogs and discussion forums. Hundreds and hundreds of Expedit fans keep telling me that the Expedit in the pic was assembled incorrectly (albeit per the manufacturer's instructions). My favorite response came in an article in an audio e-zine--one I used to work for, by the way--where the publisher says I'm wrong to diss the Expedit. He then goes on to tell his readers to add brackets and screws and fasteners and more glue and it should work just fine.

In other words, I'm not wrong about the Expedit.

Needless to say, I have been ignoring all comments regarding the Expedit. They do not get approved and published on my blog. So don't bother to write a 2000 word essay on the subject (something that has occurred). Sorry if this sounds so abrupt...but please pay attention before making the effort to respond. Besides, the Expedit has been discontinued--maybe IKEA has decided to make its replacement more suitable for LPs. ALL MY ORIGINAL COMMENTS STAND.

[EDIT: The author of the comment at the top of this blog article wrote a lengthy and angry response after reading this--exactly what I asked people not to do. He also wants me to credit him for the quote, which is obviously why he signed all his correspondence as "Anonymous." So there, Mr. Anonymous, you've been credited. A few minutes later I received yet another comment from someone telling me the rack isn't assembled correctly for LPs.]

The IKEA Expedit Revisited

A blog article I wrote some time ago, which you can read here, continues to get a lot of recognition on the Internet--most recently on Michael Fremer's Analog Planet site. Many people object to my comprehensive damning of the IKEA Expedit system and note that in the above pic it was obviously used the wrong way. I have fielded and mostly rejected comments that support the use of the Expedit for storing records, and these supporters mostly use the old canard that "I've been using it and it works fine for me." That argument, of course, is fallacious because it ignores the fact that for some, not all, the Expedit has resulted in disaster.

In the comments section of the Analog Planet column, someone named "Deckeda" states, after referring to my original article:

"Note that the commentary blissfully ignores the issue of the orientation being wrong, it just damns the whole EXPEDIT product unecessarily. Nevertheless, be wary of only spending $100 to store several hundred dollars (or more) worth of LPs, not to mention your health."

I'm going to go on the record ONE LAST TIME and state the following:

1) IKEA instructions illustrate that the dangerous way is the right way, as these shelves are clearly NOT designed to hold the weight of an extensive record collection. If you have just a few LPs and you spread them out judiciously, then such disasters will probably not occur. Load these up to the rafters and the Expedit will eventually crumble and fold.

2) I used the Expedit the so-called "right way," and after a few years the dowels and the screws started to work loose. I quickly unloaded the LPs and therefore saved my collection. These shelves are made out of laminated MDF, not solid wood, and all joints will loosen over time--especially with a heavy load. My current LP rack is made from 2" hardwood with dovetailed joints. It will outlive me, and probably my great-grandchildren. With the Expedit shelves, along with everything else I ever purchased from IKEA ( a lot, unfortunately), you'll get a few years at most.

3) Those who insist that the IKEA Expedit shelves are a cheap and effective way to store LPs are, once again, defending a purchasing decision they have made--much like the 1200 Army defends the Technics SL-1200 and says, "It sounds great to me" without actually listening and comparing it to other turntables. Not every Expedit will fail. But some will. Again, I have to ask you if it's worth risking your entire LP collection in order to save a few bucks.

Don't quibble with the above photograph. The Expedit will fail either way. I've heard from too many people who have told me that their IKEA furniture ruined their record collection. Even IKEA is on the record as saying the Expedit is not designed for LP storage, and they offer a more robust shelving system as an alternative. If someone tells you the Expedit is okay for records and recommends that you buy one anyway, ask them how much of a commission check IKEA is sending them.

For all you using IKEA Expedit shelving for your LPs...

Beware of overloading! I found this photo on the Facebook page for Highend & Vinyl Lovers United. I used the IKEA Expedit for a few years and then discarded it when the dowels and the screws became loose. I currently use a custom-built hardwood rack made of 2" thick shelves. I commissioned it from a local carpenter who was happy to do a quality job for a reasonable price.

You just have to ask yourself...how much is your LP collection worth to you? Do you want to trust it to something you bought on sale for $99?

(Edit: I get hundreds of comments every week about this blog entry--by far my most read. Before you try to fire off a 2000-word comment about the photo used above, please refer to this follow-up and this follow-follow-up. No further comments will be published on this particular blog entry.)