Ok, so I've been lurking around here a lot over the last month or two, and I keep seeing all these documentaries that everyone does when they turn their basement or some other room into a theater. Great stuff, I mean impressive, the whole lot of you all. Only problem is now I want one too, and living in an apartment, well, not only do I not have a basement, but I don't think management would be happy with the changes to the floorplan when I move out.

So...the alternative- build an entertainment center that incorporates most of the features those dedicated theaters do:

1) hidden equipment
2) hidden speakers
3) dedicated lighting
4) creative design

But, unlike what everyone else has, it has to be easily movable.

And that's what this thread is going to capture, an entertainment center, designed like a dedicated theater.

Ok, so this is the stuff I'm working with:
http://jacobmast.net/misc/DSC_0327.jpg
61" DLP Samsung HDTV
Polk Audio Monitor 70's floor Speakers
Polk Audio CS2 Center Speaker
Yamaha 661 receiver
various inputs

This is what I'm hoping to put it into:
http://jacobmast.net/misc/TF.jpg
The tv would be framed by the cabinet showing only the screen, simulating all of the projector screens out there. The floor speakers would be placed in the columns on either side of the tv, while the center speaker would be in the center cabinet below it. The receiver, cable box, and bass shaker amp would be in the pull-out cabinet to the left of the left speaker, while the computer, and all the networking stuff would be in the pull-out cabinet to the right of the right speaker. USB-UIRT would sit on top of the center speaker.
Game consoles and their peripherals would be stored in the cabinet below the tv, leaving the entire top 5 cabinets available for movies or games or whatever other miscellaneous things needing storage.

On the front of each of the pull-out cabinets, would be some sort of art-deco styled sconce, computer controlled, while a rope-light would lay just underneath the molding at the very top, mimicing the ceiling lighting so many have.

And there's even room for a future two MFW-15 subwoofers, in the bottom right and left corners, isolated from the rest of the cabinet by 2" of OC703, and if their massive weight doesn't crush it, supported by a SubDude to isolate them from the floor.

The design is still kind of a work in progress, since the coloring isn't too certain yet. Thinking of a combination of red mohogony and black, with a couple of accent colors for the art deco layering on the pull-out cabinets.

Thoughts? Comments??

That should look really sharp!

It kind of reminds me of my bonus room's built in.
http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh35/gregward_album/IMG_1005.jpg

You really need to think about ventilation when you place this much equipment into a rack. Venting through the shelves and out the top will help keep the temp down. Some people add computer (12 volt) fans to improve air movement. My equipment is in the lower right of the built in and has 7, 12cm computer fans supplying or venting air to keep things cool. The TV also will produce a fair amount of heat that could be a problem if its sealed in, without venting it some other way.

With the pull out shelves for the receiver, etc. make sure you leave enough cable to pull everything out and have access to the back.

Most speakers are not designed to sit in cabinets, and can sound bad if placed in them. They aren't rear ported are they? You will want to fill the cabinets with insulation to prevent resonances as much as possible. you also could cut a hole in an OC703 panel for the speaker to poke through so that the front of the speaker is even with the front of the OC703 panel. This should help reduce the problems with sticking speakers in your cabinet.

Greg

I hadn't though about heat from the tv, but I was planning on having the back left open on that section anyways, since I'd need a way to take the tv out when I move. I was thinking about doing the same for the equipment cabinets because I knew the heat would be an issue there, but the cabling would be a mess (minor issue, I know, but I've lived with a rat's nest of cables forever and would like something organized.) Using a few PC fans would work too, but I worry about how much noise 6 or 8 fans would produce. Since everything is covered from the front, either with plywood or speaker cloth, having an open back wouldn't be noticeable. If the whole unit's kept about at least an inch from the wall, there should be enough space for hot air to escape. It's no forced cooling system, but it should suffice to keep the 360 from getting a red ring of death, right?

Except for the center channel speaker, everything is front ported, even the future subwoofers. And since the left/right channels would be placed almost right up against the cabinet's speaker cloth and placed on top of a rubber mousepad to absorb vibration, it should sound almost like the speaker was out in the open. I'm no expert on this, but that's what I'm hoping for.

The center channel space is a little taller than the speaker, but I guess I could make that an open back space too, and then the rear porting shouldn't be an issue.

Well, I've been working on one of the pull-out a/v cabinets, and while not yet finished, enough's been done that you can at least see the general idea of it.
http://jacobmast.net/misc/close.JPG
I'm thinking of using some brushed aluminum for the art deco piece that will eventually be placed on top of this front sheet.

http://jacobmast.net/misc/open.JPG
Imagine some sort of shelving system that's attached to the back of that front sheet of plywood. Pull on that panel, all of the A/V equipment comes out for easy access.

I like your overall concept but I am not convinced that these pull out AV shelves are going to be as functional as you envision.

First looking at the amount of extension and how beefy the slides are I am concerned that you will run into some weight/sag issues. If you can hang on them and they work I will shut up.

Next what is the orientation of the equipment? does it sit sideways? Then you have all the cords hanging out the side which may interfere with opening and closing.

Lastly don't forget about providing ventilation.

I think I would just go with a hinged door and adjustable shelves. Yes it will be a hassle hooking everything up but I think that hassle will be the lessor of the hassles of your design.

If you want to make an investment you could buy a rack that pulls out and swivels. Or you could make a rack on rollers that sits inside your cabinet and some kind of a knock down extension table that you store away except when you need to pull the rack out and wire up a new piece of gear.

My Dad has that TV. Make sure it's positioned eye level with your seating otherwise the display washes out.

First looking at the amount of extension and how beefy the slides are I am concerned that you will run into some weight/sag issues. If you can hang on them and they work I will shut up.

Stood on the bottom shelf this morning while it was retracted, and it had no problems at all. Can't really test it extended since it's sitting on the floor.

If you want to make an investment you could buy a rack that pulls out and swivels.
I was looking at couple of racks from Middle Atlantic like that. Tried emailing their regional merchant, but never heard anything back. Shame, because it would've been so much easier to use one of their racks. I thought about using a lazy susan swivel on it, but started thinking that when it's stowed, I don't care what direction the equipment's facing, so might as well just leave it how I'd use it when the cabinet's open.

http://jacobmast.net/misc/filled.jpg
Did a quick placement of the computer equipment now that the shelving is good enough. Not sure how, but either some wood was warped, or a measurement was off, but not everything's as squared off as it should be. Still, plenty of space for multiple external hard drives, cable modem, Airport wireless router, and even some computer books. And should I decide to get a bigger computer later on to replace this one, it looks like there's room for that too.

One thing I did note was that I'd have no access to the CD drive with the computer facing how it is. So, all the equipment's going to end up facing the other side, with the cabling on the side in the picture.

As for heat removal, get some flexduct and an inline fan, run the duct down through the cabinet and out a kickplate or something to that extent. (if you have enough space back there that is.)

Well it's been a few days, but I've been out of the country for most of it, so it's ok.

Mostly built the TV enclosure today. Still need to secure everything down, and since I had to swap the 1/2" ply for 1/4" so everything fit onto the 71" base, I need to add some 1x2s for strength. Had to cut a notch out of the bottom panel so it could lay flush against the front of the TV. I need to build a 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" box extending from one speaker tower to the other to cover it, and then a second one so the top's symmetrical.

http://jacobmast.net/misc/DSC_0434.JPG

Still, it's starting to look like what I'm envisioning, but there's a long way left to go.

Looking good so far. Keep the pics coming.

Starting to look much neater.

Nice. Does the remote still work for the TV with the front covered up?

I went back to Home Depot this afternoon, bought another sheet of ply and rebuilt the TV enclosure. If you have to cut room because one of the sides is constantly pressing the TV's buttons, it's too tight. So, now instead of a 71" length, it's up to 76," giving me some breathing room for the speakers too, and letting me switch back to my original 1/2" ply between the TV and the speakers. Much better.

Does the remote still work for the TV with the front covered up?

No. 1/2" is just a lil too thick for IR to go through, but that's ok. I've got an IR blaster taped up against the TV's sensor (or close enough to it,) and plugged into a USB-UIRT that's controlled by an amazing PC app called Girder. It can control anything you can think of, lights, IR, serial, etc. It even has it's own built in webserver allowing you to go to local webpage and control your equipment from it. And while that's cool, it's even better using the 64gb iPod Touch I just picked up. And I'm going one step further than the web thing and creating an actual iPhone app for it (for my system only, sorry). Won't quite be a Pronto, but it'll be more customized, work smoother, and cost about $400 less than the TSU9600. Ideally, I'll even be able to stream the music that's on there to my stereo, letting the iPod act like a Squeezebox remote. It's kind of a pain to set up, but once all said and done, the GFAF should be high.

A couple of screen captures from the iPhone Development Simulator. Works on here, but still waiting on Apple to give me the authorization I need to transfer it to the real device.

http://jacobmast.net/misc/SS1.pnghttp://jacobmast.net/misc/SS2.png

So it's been a while since I've posted any updates, so here goes: I'm abandoning it.

http://www.jacobmast.net/images/other/IMG15.jpg
http://www.jacobmast.net/images/other/IMG16.jpg

You can't really tell from the pictures (they're taken from my cell phone, not high quality,) but those single stage stains, the ones that include the poly in with it, don't leave much room for error. Any drips, any overlap, that's not blended immediately is permanent. Even going back 15-30 seconds later will show discoloration. But that's the minor issue. I could just paint the whole thing black, and no one would know the difference.

The biggest issue is weight. A/V equipment is heavy. 1/2" ply and mdf is also heavy. Since I have A/V equipment on ply and mdf, extending 20" out from the cabinet's center of gravity, the entire cabinet tips over. Easiest way of fixing it is with more weight, or just don't have the cabinets extend.

And since I went out and bought Sony's 400 disc blu-ray changer last night, I have another problem: my cabinet's not wide enough for the changer's massive depth.

So, the executive decision's been made: stop tossing money into this project, and toss it into StudioTech's entertainment center
http://www.jacobmast.net/images/other/Picture 2.jpg
It has excellent ventilation, the side cabinets can use rackrail, plus it looks good. And they've redesigned the TV stand portion, making it an extra 6" longer, which leaves me room to put the center speaker in the cabinet instead of on the bridge, plus each of the floor speakers beside the TV. So I won't have a place for the 2 MFW-15 subwoofers, but I don't have those subs yet, so who cares?

Does your apartment complex not allow you to hang stuff on the wall? I would just fasten the unit to the studs, drywall patching is easy and most likely they will be repainting after you leave anyway. Now all of this is based upon the unit being able to support its own weight as is.. there is so much more satisfaction in a DIY item, plus you have done so much great work as is

I could mount it to a wall, but I'd need an anchoring system similar to what you'd wall mount a flat-panel with. And engineering that to work with the open-backed cabinets is yet another challenge. Besides, I'm getting tired of the layer of sawdust that's on everything, tired of using my dining room table as a tablesaw, and tired of tripping over the stack of plywood outside my bedroom door.

If I wasn't in the apartment, I'd probably keep going, but building a piece of furniture like this in the middle of your living space, is insane.

I will keep going with my iPod universal remote though.

Well,

1st, I appreciate what you are saying about the layer of sawdust, i have been living in a renovation for the last year. The only difference is my layer is less sawdust and more drywall dust.

2nd, wow it must be insane trying to actually cut and build this inside your apartment, i imagine it could get rather congested quickly.


3rd, Your app has great potential, you should reconsider it being a one person thing. I would be willing to drop a few bucks on one of my favorite toys.