Hey Fella's I'm pondering the purchase of an Aristocrat.
I did a search and found a lot of useful info, but I still have some specific questions that need answering.
I was hoping some of the guy's here could help me out.

1) How accurate do you find Bob's capacity ratings to be?

2) I have seen some threads stating the Set & Forget system is a must and I plan on getting it.
Those of you with this system, are you using beads as well or is this system enough?

3) I also read a few threads about noisy circulation fans.
Did you replace your fans or did it simply take time to get accustomed to the sound they made?

4) If where you were placing the cabinet didn't put any constraints on you,
would you opt for a taller, shallower model or shorter, deeper one?
My budget has eliminated the taller, deeper option :-)

Thanks in advance!
If you have no answers for me and just want to post how much you love your Aristocrat, so I can show my wife :-) that would be great too :-)

Thanks again!
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I can only help on question 1 from my Mini Tall and find his estimates to be on the conservative side. I've got as many boxes as he said could fit currently in there and have room to grow. Obviously it depends on the size of the cigars you smoke and the packaging.

I'd rather have wider than deeper as I find it easier to access the cigars that are up front. If you go deep (or even not very deep) go with the rollout shelves.

Bob does great work!
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Jonumberone,

1. I find his rating capacity to be fairly accurate. That being said you will be stacking singles 5 or 6 deep to reach his rating on the singles shelves. Boxes look to be fairly accurate as well with a little box tetris. That being said thats just a guestimate on my part.

2. So far I have just been using his set and forget system. I think in areas where high humidity is an issue you might want to consider beads. The set and forget system can only add humidity to the equation not take it away.

3. You can definitely hear the fans although they don't bother me. Thats going to boil down to a personal opinion.

4. I have the Aristocrat end table option. Right now (and hopefully in the future) this is plenty big enough for me. I could have gone larger but I was upgrading from a 100ct humidor (ok... well there was a tupperdor in the equation for awhile).

I absolutely love my Aristocrat (you can see pictures on the "let's see your humidor" thread). I have never heard anyone say otherwise. Bob is great to work with. Every time I've called him he's answered the phone personally. His workmanship and quality are fantastic as well. One of the most important things to me in any purchase I make is quality. Thats why I chose Bob and Aristocrat Humidors. You'll be surprised how heavy the thing is. If I can be of any help don't hesitate to ask and good luck with your purchase. You'll love it, Dan
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I initially bought the end table, but when it arrived, it had obviously been dropped by the delivery company, so I sent it back. Spoke to Bob and I went for the Aristocrat Plus, with absolutely no regrets! I've had mine for 7-8 years now and still love it!

That being said, I thinks Bob's est are fairly accurate, not to mention he does fantastic work! My wife even talks about getting another one since she's seen Bob's options in woods and doors. The fan noise isn't a big deal to me, prolly because I'm use to them.

I can have my wife email your wife and do the "girl talk" thngy if that will help with the swinging vote!! :-)

Good luck on your venture!!
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Bugets suck!!

I started with a Plus 48, ran out of room & bought a Mini, ran out of room & bought a 3rd....a Plus Model. Wish I had just bought the biggest sucker he had but that's another story.

My Mini is ok but I find the space limited for boxes. For my purposes the slide out drawer is to deep & cigars end up piled 4 deep. When I ordered my last Humi I went with a fairly shallow single drawer to get the max box storage area.

I like the RH contoller on the set & forget with the new red readout, for the most part it seems fairly on target when it comes to RH. The fans do make a bit of noise but I have become use to it.

Bob does great work. 4 or 5 coolers would have done the trick but their is something about sitting in my small cigar room watching my HD TV or listening to my CD player with my humi's staring back at me (glass doors). Hell I'm old so I figure I deserve it. :-)
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Set and forget works like a champ. This humidor is so well sealed, I do not even use it in the summer. The air conditioned units are quite noisy. I would go rifle cabinet size and without AC if I were doing it over. The shorter one fits my current settings. I would also have lock put on. It is as nice as people make it out to be.
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Dom, I too found Bob's capacity estimates to be pretty accurate.

I have had mine for about 4 years and have never used (nor needed) beads in it.

I like the deeper option better than the wide, but that's personal preference.

One of my four fans is a bit noisy, but my humi isn't in a room I spend much time in, so it doesn't bother me too much.
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I have an Mxt, but in the semi-custom depth, half way between the two stated depths on the web site. It's semi-custom because it is a standard depth, but he doesn't list it on the web page. He already has the jigs and such.

The capacity is accurate. I have 100 boxes (counted them this weekend) which includes several 50 cabs.

I have put some under the bottom shelf because if the humidity spikes, it will spike highest at the bottom and having the buffer is a bit of peace of mind; plus, I already owned the beads.

The taller the cabinet, the greater the RH differential between top and bottom. Mine has been 4% higher at the bottom since I got the cabinet. I have a couple wireless oregon scientific RH gauges, one at the top and one at the bottom, which I swap about every two weeks. The one at the bottom always reads 4% higher than the one at the top.

Based on this, I am considering moving my singles tray lower in the cabinet, maybe just have one shelf below it.

here's my cabinet
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This is what it used to look like empty

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1) He is very conservative on his estimates, at least the way I play tetris.

2) The set and forget is all you need.

3) My fans do not have any problems but I have had friends replace them when they start to make to much noise, ware out.

4) I like taller, but that is all personal .

There is nothing like having an Aristocrat, your cigars and your wife will thank you :-)
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Like everyone else, I found Bob's storage capacity estimates to be pretty close. When you're mixing cabs and dress boxes of various sizes, it really comes down to your own ability to organize them in the most efficient way.

I live in the desert where humidity averages around 10% most of the year and the set and forget system works flawlessly, though in the summer I do have to add water weekly.

The only mod I made to mine was on the recirc system. I have double cooling units on mine due to the high temps we get, and the fact that when I'm not around the house can get up into the eighties and nineties. There's a collection tray under the cooling units that feeds condensate back into the reservoir via a tube. Bob positioned the reservoir at the back of the bottom shelf, so I had to remove boxes every time I needed to add water to it. I lengthened the tube so I could position the reservoir at the front of the cabinet. Makes adding water a whole lot easier. But if you don't get the cooling unit, it's a moot point. :-)
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I have to echo what Mark said, was going to get the plus but opted for an Mxt...boy am I glad I did! If you can, go bigger than what you may already be planning if possible. RH is the same as what Mark said...mine is about 4 points higher on the bottom than top shelf....fans don't bother me. The estimates are conservative. I think you'll be very satisfied with whatever cabinet you choose :-). If there's one thing I wish I did, it would probably be to get the deeper version over the standard version....then again, I ran out of money as I only planned on getting an M plus in the first place lol. Wife was surprised to see otherwise!
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1) - I had Bob build me a custom cabinet to fit a specific place I had for it, so I never got a capacity estimate. I'd heard his estimates run a little small (won't fit as many as he said it would) but the other guys that have posted in thread contradict that. I can't really offer any solid info there.

2) - Set and Forget rocks..but don't forget all it can do is RAISE the humidity..!!! My cabinet is a cooled cabinet, and our prevous house didn't have air conditioning. Here in the Pacific Northwest, it's just not that big of a deal. However, when we'd get a heat spell (about a week typically) the pelt coolers would run pretty hard and the RH in the cabinet would creep up a bit over time.

Bottom line here is that if your ambient RH is always lower than you want to keep your cigars, you should be golden. If your ambient RH is often higher than you want to keep your cigars, you'll want some bags of beads.

3) - The fans are noticable but never bugged me. JMHO....

4) - My cabinet is "phone booth" shaped and it is a bit of a challenge to utilize all the space. If I did it over I'd get a wider cabinet. It's all about ratios.

My cabinet a couple of years ago in our old house:

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I will tell you this - the picture does NOT do justice to the finish. Bob's cabinets are beautiful. Insides a couple of years ago:

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Bottom has two pull out singles drawers, and one more pull out shelf. Two humidifier cans, three pelt coolers round out the cabinet.

Cheers - N.F.H.
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Dom - I have an Aristocrat end table, and while I love it, I am thinking about consolidating it and my other two non-Aristocrat end tables to a single tall Aristocrat. At the end of the day, I am a lazy dude, and I hate all the constant deep knee bends I have to do with end tables. Having seen markem's set-up first hand, I was sold on the taller model. (You should see what that beauty does to a box of simple PLPCs -- you wouldn't believe how gracefully they have aged. :-))

No matter what though, strongly consider a cooled unit. I don't know what your storage environment is like, but the best area of my house is subject to wild temperature swings, and the heat scares the hell out of me. I don't have a cooling system in any of my end tables, but I do have a couple set & forget systems installed. Even with those, I still have a couple pounds of beads in the bottom of each humidor.

Good luck, brother. I love my Aristocrat, and I have salivated over several more. Well worth the price, IMHO.
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I love my Aristocrat 48 plus. I find Bob's estimates to be accurate. I don't even really hear the fans run anymore. I guess I just tune them out.

Get one brother. You will enjoy it! :-)
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Gentleman, thank you for the quick and concise responses! :-)
And thanks to the fella's who shared the pics!
They truly are works of art.

Vin, I for one hope you don't get a taller humi. :-)
There's something about you crawling on your hands and knees......:-) :-)

I will be contacting Bob in the next few days.
I still have to decide between the M plus 25 or the MXT 19.

Thanks again boys and if you have anything else to add please do so.
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Everyone pretty much nailed it, Dom.

When I ordered my end table, my wife was very involved in the choosing outside aesthetics - wood, trim, etc. The interior configuration was entirely up to me. She is quite pleased with the quality and beauty of the piece of furniture we now own.

I have beads in mine. Not necessarily because I need them but I had them and I figured it couldn't hurt.

The initial humi had a very loud circulating fan. I contacted Bob and he mentioned he had a number of reported noise issues with the latest batch. He said some newer, quieter ones were on order and he would send one to me as soon as he got them. The new fan is so quiet, I had to open the humidor to be sure it was running.

I can't say enough good things about Bob's humidor and his quality and integrity as a craftsman. He is a pleasure to work with.
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Here is mine. I bought it off another brother. It holds rock solid humidity:

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If you are not that picky, see if he has a floor model ready to ship. You'll save a nice chunk of change.
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I will inquire with Bob, but I think Peter may be on to something!
Let the wife pick the wood and exterior options and I'll worry about the inside! :-)
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Even better if she likes the ready to ship unit and save $$$ for her spa treatment...
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