Select the rack space for your pieces of equipment. If you are filling a rack with a number of devices, start from the bottom and work your way up, Heavy equipment that generates heat and has few controls, such as power amplifiers, should be placed in the bottom rack space. Having empty spaces above it aids heat dissipation, and placing it at the bottom helps the stability of the rack.
Pull the rack away from the wall, as it is best to feed the cables in from the back. Slide the first piece of equipment into the bottom space on the rack. Connect the cables at the rear and secure them together using the zip-ties or cable trunking. Loop them together about 5 inches from the rear panel, keeping them tidy but avoiding any sharp bends in the cables. Secure them together again about 3 feet along the cable. This will keep the cables bundled into one convenient strand until they are clear of the rack.
Insert the four screws through the tabs in the corners of the front panel. tighten them with the screwdriver. If your rack is angled back for ease of adjustment, you may need to prop up the rear panel to keep the front panel flush with the mounting tabs. If this is the case, get the tabs as flush to the front panel of the rack before tightening the screws; trying to force them in can chew up the threads.
Slide in the next device, above the first one. You'll find that the lower device now acts as a shelf on which to rest the upper one, and guides it into the correct position. Repeat the process of connecting the cables at the rear and tying them together, but leave any interconnects between the devices. Fit only the cables that are running away from the rack, such as audio outputs and power leads.
Continue sliding in and fitting your rack-mounted devices until they are all in position. Tie all the cables together and tighten all the screws in front. You should have a single bundle of cables for each device leading from the back of the rack. Tie or trunk these bundles together into one master bundle. This keeps the output and power cables separate from the inputs and interconnects, which allows for easier reconfiguration and cuts down on interference.
Fit any interconnect cables between the devices. These are the cables most likely to need removing or re-fitting at some point, so don't connect them into the master bundle. There should be only one input and one or two outputs from each device, so they will create relatively little clutter. Once all the cables are secure, plug the devices into the power supply and test them all before sliding the rack up against the wall or into its flight case.