My current corner is "stuffed" with a 50" LCD and a small stand. We're upgrading to a 50" plasma (Panasonic TH-50PX60U (http://www2.panasonic.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/vModelDetail?storeId=15001&catalogId=13401&itemId=96292&cacheProgram=11002&cachePartner=7000000000000005702&surfModel=TH-50PX60U&catGroupId=24973&surfCategory=Plasma%20TVs&displayTab=O)) and want to create a more minimalist look. The room itself is quite small for a home theater (14' x 14'), and is mainly used for watching TV. The current monitor is so slim, that actually the plasma won't be pushed any further back into the corner, but it will allow us to eliminate the stand.

Before:
http://www.dvrcade.com/media/HT/before.jpg

I've chosen a heavy-duty articulating wall mount, the Sanus VMDD26S (http://www.sanus.com/cgi-bin/web_store.cgi?page=products/wallmount/visionmount/VMDD26.html&cart_id=5181522_23170) and the accessory VMCC-1 (http://www.sanus.com/cgi-bin/web_store.cgi?page=products/wallmount/visionmount/VMCC1.html&cart_id=5181522_23170) to mount the center channel just below the plasma so it's looking great at any angle we set the plasma at. (The mounts are overkill, but my wife really wanted the two-armed mount for more peace of mind.) With that decision made, we only had three things left: L & R speakers, component placement, and wiring.

I only have two components, a small receiver (Panasonic SA-XR55S (http://www2.panasonic.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/vModelDetail?storeId=15001&catalogId=13401&itemId=93546&catGroupId=25013&modelNo=SA-XR55S&surfModel=SA-XR55S&cacheProgram=11002&cachePartner=7000000000000005702)) and a small DVD player (OPPO OPDV971H (http://www.oppodigital.com/opdv971h.html)), so I've been looking at how to mount these discretely below the plasma. I've been looking for component wall mounts and although I found two that can swivel (Vantage Point makes a 3-shelf system, the AXWG-03S (http://www.vanptc.com/furniture/av_line.htm), and OmniMount makes the ECSP (http://www.omnimount.com/consumer/product.asp?p=215) shelf), I don't know if they'd really look right for this corner because they wouldn't be aligned well with anything else, they'd always be off to the side and in the pictures I've seen of this (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=6658149&&#post6658149), it just isn't right for us.

Then it struck me. Why not look into a 20" TV wall mount? They often have articulating arms, can support plenty of weight (not that my components weigh more than 20 lbs combined!) and would even work with a wire hiding system. EUREKA! Of course, there are zillions of options here, and we haven't decided yet. There are two different designs out there in general (This (http://www.vogels.com/detail.asp?ISSAID=141&ParentID=31&ChildID=79&PlineId=0)or This (http://www.vogels.com/detail.asp?ISSAID=132&ParentID=31&ChildID=79&PlineId=0)) and they both would probably work great. The center of the plasma will be about 25-30" from the corner so I don't need much extension to have it look good (and the components would look best closer to the corner anyhow, no need for them to stick out at all.) I feel like this is the "AH-HA!" moment of the project :p

I still need to decide on speakers and placement of them, and how it will all be wire to hide as much as I can with my less-than-Bob-Vila abilities. I'll keep the thread up to date as I move along.


For fun, here's a cardboard cutout of the exact size of the new plasma in the corner. (It's nearly the EXACT size of the current TV, minus the bottom speaker section on the TV) The placement is wrong, too high, but I was bored. I'll use the template when decided exactly where to install the wall mount:

http://www.dvrcade.com/media/HT/cardboard-template.jpg

Painted all the white walls (white) to freshen the house, and pretty much ruined the carpet. Checking into hardwood now....

Selling the old TV, watching on a 27" is sure fun! The plasma was shipped last night, should arrive Tuesday.

Have you thought about placing the components in a closed cabinet, maybe somewhere else out of sight, maybe by the rear seating? You'd have to run cables, and you'd need an IR repeater system, but it would keep the viewing area uncluttered.

Not really feasible here, but thanks for the suggestion!

This is what we had to suffer through for a few weeks:
http://www.dvrcade.com/media/HT/crt.jpg

In my opinion, this is MUCH better :D
http://www.dvrcade.com/media/HT/hanging.jpg

The rest of the goodies should be here within 1-2 weeks.

Personally, the best results of a corner display are always the ones that have a wall built into them. I don't know about your budget or altering your home, however, if you can put up one sheet of drywall from the edge of the fireplace to the wall where that little green monster thing is, it will give you one flat corner. Not expensive or hard to do, but you'll need to paint it to match the other wall.

Then, you simply use a cheap stand or rack, cut out the hole in the drywall so that the tv is the only part showing. Under it, if you put your components on the shelves under the tv, it will be completely recessed. It hides all your cables and gives an illusion of the room being bigger. Plus, the recessed screen and components are always cool :D

Just my $0.02

Thanks, but that's not going to happen here :) Wait til this is done in a few weeks - I think it'll be impressive, and different than your idea, will all look like it's being suspended in air by some magical force :)

We tried the standard small TV mount:
http://www.sanus.com/images/VMTVs.jpg
and we really didn't like that you would be able to see the mount sticking out, so we ordered the other style, the VMP W13S (http://www.videomount.com/wall.htm) seen here:
http://www.videomount.com/images/products/visionary/wall/w13b.jpg

Should look a lot better, and provide the floating / hovering / what-the-heck look we're going for.


I also ordered the speakers, the Atlantic Technology FS-4000 (http://www.atlantictechnology.com/system_4000.htm ) which combines the Right, Center and Left speakers into one long speaker I'll mount under the plasma (with the Sanus center-channel mount kit). That should be in within a week.

I agree with cableguy. Good suggestion.

To me, you loose the benifits of being a wall mount tv when you have it corner mounted. You're using as much space as a crt would have.

Is going above the fireplace an option? if so, I'd do that and put all the equipment elsewhere with an IR repeater. This would give the cleanest look IMHO.

Let's move on from this point - it's mounted and staying where it is :)

Let's see some pics of the "what-the-heck" look you were going for...

When more items are mounted, I'll post pics.

At first, I couldn't understand your attitude. So I went back and re-read your original post. I thought you were asking for opinions but, in fact, you were'n't. You seem to be just sharing what you're doing. That's fine.

I'll do one better than "moving from the point". I'll just move from the whole thread. :)

Sorry, I must've misunderstood your "it's mounted" post.

Are you not seeing the picture posted 4/27? The TV has been mounted for 2 weeks.

Yes, I see that one. I misunderstood your "it's mounted" post above as *everything* was mounted and finished, not just the TV.

Nope, I'm expecting the rest of the goodies within about a week. (Speaker, TV mount for electronics, etc)

We've also decided to rip out the carpet and install hardwood, so that will delay things a little bit.

just curious as to why you went with the corner instead of against the wall to the left of it?

Hard to tell from the pictures, but directly across from said wall is a sliding glass door that would reflect like crazy. The room was set up for a TV above the fireplace mantel, but it would have been way too high. We've had a TV in this corner for years, and love it there. We already love the plasma there, and the speakers just arrived!

Randy:

I don't think that the VMCC mount will handle a speaker as wide as the FS4000. Have you validated this with Sanus? IIRC, the VMCC will only work with a speaker that is no more than about 19" wide.

I used a similar solution for my plasma and CC, a TV mount for the CC speaker. I used the traditional mount. As an FYI, you really don't see the mount once you have something on the stand. All you see is the arm underneath.

I'm using a traditional mount (the VMSA) for my plasma.

Best,

The VMCC arms are set to 19" apart, and the FS-4000 has a mounting plate with dozens of holes you can use, so I'm going to bolt it to that wherever it fits. Given that the VMDD26 can support 175 lbs, and my plasma is 89 lbs, I am hoping that the 25 lb speaker won't be an issue. I'm still only using about 65% of the mount's capacity (which one would hope is also under-rated for safety's sake). I'm hoping to get the speaker up this afternoon, I'll post pics.

Randy:

Okay. I haven't seen an FS-4000 up close so I wasn't aware of the mounting plate.

It's got a huge mounting plate the full size of the speaker (designed to mount to studs) with holes the length every inch or so. It also provides two types of keyhole mounts (flat and angled), and also a bottom shelf thing if you're putting it on a stand or table.

A few high-quality nuts and bolts from the hardware store, and the speaker is up!

http://www.dvrcade.com/media/HT/speaker-mounted1.jpg

http://www.dvrcade.com/media/HT/speaker-mounted2.jpg
(look out for the gator!)

sure looks ugly down under - maybe the gator should take a bite out of it.

Haven't mounted the devices yet - hold your final judgement until I post "it's done" in a few weeks :)

Looks like it's coming along. Just curious, whats the layout / seating arrangement in that room?

How does that all-in-one front speaker work out? Do you lose any of the right side sound because of the fireplace?

We have a chair, couch and chaise arranged opposite the TV. It's a strange room and we tried every combination, but with the fireplace, sliding glass door, and kitchen (which is just to the left of the couch) it's what we went with, and love it!

http://www.dvrcade.com/media/HT/layout.jpg

How does that all-in-one front speaker work out? Do you lose any of the right side sound because of the fireplace?

is that really an all in one? does it seperate the sound well?

It's a Left, Center, Right. It does a really good job - the tweeters are on the very edge of the speaker, so it's about 40 inches between them. For a small room like mine (14 x 14) it sounds excellent.

We have a chair, couch and chaise arranged opposite the TV. It's a strange room and we tried every combination, but with the fireplace, sliding glass door, and kitchen (which is just to the left of the couch) it's what we went with, and love it!

http://www.dvrcade.com/media/HT/layout.jpg

gotcha ... are you doing anything for rear fill or a sub?

Yep - 7.1 setup. Rear speakers in the ceiling above the couch, and rear sides on the sides of couch. (Sub near the TV)

Will the rear speakers be behind the couch or above it? I ask because I will have a couch up against the wall and was advised not to put in rears because it wouldn't sound right. It is a new addition so doing in celing or in wall wiring will not be a problem for me but now is the time to do it.

I know that you are not going to move the TV. But I am curious why you did not put your TV above your fireplace, at least on a swing arm that would have let you watch it above your fireplace (perhaps too high), swing it to the corner when in use, or swing it down lower in front of your fireplace when in use, and then back up (or over) above the fireplace when not in use. It seems to me like that would have been both a much cleaner look for the room and better for the placement of speakers.

Randy,

was this project ever finished. I liked the floating design, but one think to keep in mind is to watch the amount of weight you're mounting on to what looks like two studs.

It appears you have about 100 lbs of weight from the flatscreen, and then the speaker is another 5 lbs, but then, toward the bottom, those components with cables hanging off are going to be another 50 lbs or so.

Without having something to help shoulder the weight, it might eventually cause those two studs to bow at the bottom, dangerous!

Usually, when mounting to a stud, there's a bit of weight distributed along the stud, you're distributing the weight from one stud to another, but the weight of the middle between the two will continually be a stress point for the studs, and that is where you might be cautious.


Adding a small 'stinger' support that is flat and triangular can be mounted in the angle between the two walls right in the corner. If colored with the walls it will be invisible, but also give you another axis on whitch to mount and support some of the weight, and still retain that invisible floating look.

Good luck!

3 years later and no ill effects from the weight. Two studs is ample.

The project has been done for a while now, but I've not been on the forum in ages. From the angle of sitting, you see no cables (except barely the subwoofer one)

http://www.dvrcade.com/media/HT/done.jpg