Entertainment Center Design Features

[Matt Meiser]

Tonight while we were at the audio-video dealer buy a new subwoofer I commented on one of the entertainment center units they had on display. I told the salesman I build my own furniture but that I really liked some of the design features of it and wondered if he could tell me who made it so I could look at their web site. He got all excited about me making my own and spent the next 1/2 hour showing me all the features of the various units they had on display. I was really impressed that he took that kind of time considering that he knew I had no intention to buy one.

Some things I liked:
- Some had either removable or sliding rear panels for access to the wiring. There is an open are inside these panels for the wire to be hidden. They also put holes for wiring in the floor and top so that the unit can go almost right against the wall and the wiring is hidden.
- Most have really cool passive airflow features. They are designed so that there is airspace underneath. Then they route slots or install grills in the floor to draw in air from underneath. Each shelf has slots routed in them to keep the air flowing through the components. Then at the top in the back there are openings for the hot air to escape.
- One company uses 80/20 aluminum extrusions for the frames. Sometimes they are completely hidden by wood panels and other times they are visible depending on the style. Its somewhat contradictory for a woodworker, but the advantages are that they are extremely strong if you have a really big TV, and the are able to make all the internal shelves infinitely adjustable by using the T-slots to mount the shelf supports. What I really like about that idea is that 80/20 extrusions are available on Ebay for pretty inexpensively.
- They've added a lot of features from higher end cabinetry like soft close hinges and drawer slides to prevent jarring components (like the hard drives in DVRs.)
- One had some cool legs that have small built in wheels so you can pull it out from the wall. When you don't need the wheels, the legs screw down independently so you can level the thing.

Heres some links to the manufacturers we were looking at:
http://www.bdiusa.com/
http://www.jsp-industries.com/
http://www.mander.com (they are the ones who use 80/20 stuff)

[Jim Becker]

While I'm not normally a fan of the wall unit types, they do make a lot of sense when it comes to dealing with cables, etc., if in-wall cabling isn't possible. I've also been thinking about doing a "soft" wall surround in our media room, both as a design element and to cut down on reflections in what happens to be a very live room.

For cabinetry, I'm likely to build one of the lower units like is shown in that first link you posted, however. The wheels/levelers are an interesting idea for maintenance!

[Tim Thomas]

Thanks for posting about the 80/20 stuff, Matt. I have never run across that stuff before. I like how it is billed as "The Industrial Erector Set". Definitely got my gears turning on new ideas for upcoming projects. Thanks again.

[chris fox]

Matt,

A company called Vantage Point offers a wall type system that focuses on cable management and TV mounting. THis could be a good start to build from.
http://www.theevosystem.com/