Official Flat Panel furniture thread [ Found possibly perfect Plasma furniture]

[gadgetfreaky]

Well,

After the wife gave me the green light on the plasma purchase. She of course would not let any furniture in the house. After looking at dozens of websites and dozens of stores. I found this posted somewhere else on AVS forum.

http://www.ethanallen.com/templates/...state_ent.html

It's about the same price as the salamander, maybe cheaper considering it has something to mount the plasma on. We are putting the plasma on the side of the room that has a window, and so hanging it on the wall wasn't an option. We are draping the entire wall and hiding that window and using this piece. I saw it in person at the ethan allen store. It's very well built, very sturdy and actually looks like real furniture. They have a whole collection of bedroom, living room furniture as well that matches. It's $900 and the plasma back piece to mount the plasma is $300. So $1200 total which isn't bad for an ethan allen piece. Considering they have coffee tables that are close to that price.

Ok, so here's the bad part. 4 months for it to come in!!! Apparently it's so new, that each order is built from scratch and they don't stock any as they aren't 100% sure it will sell. I think this is going to become one of the best wife friendly plasma credenza's out there. No holes in the wall and it looks really nice. It should last a very long time as it's Ethan Allen.

Doors in front apparently can be glass or wood (you get both when you buy it).

So, hopefully in September I get it. Which is then when I will finally order my 50" plasma. I've narrowed it down the panasonic thanks to this forum. Mayber the 7UY will be out by then and the price is still about $5K or less.

Reading posts every day until I get to pull the trigger when the furniture gets in.

[RonRathe]

A friend has something similar that looks/works very well for him. He found a cabinet similar to the Ethan Allen "Media Cabinet" - his was in stock at the furniture store. Then he had a local cabinet shop build an extra-sturdy reinforced back panel that included a plasma wall mount. The cabinet shop was able to match the color and texture of the media cabinet. As I recall, the whole thing came together in a matter of a few weeks.

[pcrx]

I am in the final stages of building my own cabinet like this right now - I hope to have it completely done this weekend. Just doing the finish on the wood (WORST part IMHO)

Here are my drawings... I have made a few mods since I have gotten into the building process, and still have not decided on door (steel mesh fronts or glass) but so far it is looking pretty killer...

Pics of the final product to come.

As of now with materials, etc I am into it about $375...

[casey]

Does it come with a cloth grille to put a center channel?

[slb]

Just doing the finish on the wood (WORST part IMHO)

pcrx,
I've done a lot of woodwork myself and I completely agree. I especially hate doing a painted finish (as apposed to stain and laquer). Paint exposes every flaw and joint and requires much more preparation and sanding prior to applying the finish.

Your plans look great. Good luck with the finish work,
Steve

[bgul]

Wow - that's sweet (both the Ethan Allen and the custom cabinet).

[cheridave]

I like this one the best so far. About $2200.


My Plasma's Home!

Dave

[CaptainKellog]

Have you also looked at the BDI Vista stand? I thinks it's got a really clean look to it, however if wood furniture is more your style this may stand out a bit too much.
http://www.bdiusa.com/avfurniture/vista_9960.shtml

[CraiginNJ]

I went with a Diamondcase TT-400. I'm very happy with the design and the quality, though the price was steep (like high quality furniture) and unlike the sample pieces I was sent the walnut finish turned out to have reddish tones, like a mix of 2/3 walnut and 1/3 cherry. (I may have it refinished someday to match my favorite finish.) Also wasn't happy with freight company's bad communication. Other advantages are:

• Room for three shelves of things on the left & right (that's my config), plus enough room in center for center speaker & subwoofer, if you want.
  
• Backpanel is mounted about 1" out from the back so there's is great ventilation.
  
• Back panel comes off for easy work on cables, and the extra depth means there's room back there for stuff that doesn't need to be controlled (surge-protector powerstrip, Terk RF injector that feeds outputs from my cablebox/DVD/VCR/PC into the coax to another room, component+audio signal amp/distributor).
  
• Options for venting fan, interior lighting, interchangable wood or glass or speaker panel for each door, etc. etc.

http://www.diamondcase.com/TT/TT_HTML_Files/TT400.HTML

(It isn't as glossy-shiny in real life as this seems to show. Also, it's deeper than it looks, but that makes it also good for handling lower-cost today's 8"-16" deep RPTV's and putting stuff inside behind your electronic boxes.)

Craig in NJ

PS -- I like the idea of the back panel of wood on the Ethan Allen that gadgetfreaky posted at the start of this thread.

[MikeA]

Nope, not perfect. It only accommodates six components %^)

[tdombrow]

I know its kind of "gimmicky" but I'm looking for a cabinet for a bedroom, rather than the media/living room. Has anyone bought the Hooker pop up plasma cabinet:

http://www.hookerfurniture.com/large...20op_11_03.jpg

They apparently have them at the Big Screen Store and I plan to look at it this weekend. Big worry is mechanical breakdown, of course.

[jadziedzic]

One of the concerns I had with most of the A/V furniture that I looked at was lack of adequate ventilation. Stick a big amp inside a cabinet, close the doors, and crank up the sound; after a while there'll no need to stick the popcorn in the microwave ...

Glass- or wood-panel doors probably carry greater WAF but a close-fitting door won't allow much airflow IN to the cabinet to be exhausted by fans, air chimneys, or other natural convection means.

[JuiceRocket]

That's a nice piece gadget. I think that my wife and I will look at those when we move to a new place and upgrade our furninture a bit. She, like I, just don't care for the look of a lot of the "plasma" furniture currently out there. That piece you posted looks really nice.

Any idea how wide the storage units are for the components?

-JR

[Clepto]

Comments on the EA Unit...

Avaiable in 2 finishes, one dark wood, one more 'reddish/orange'
Fricking thing is 1/2" too narrow for my center channel *fume*

Can have solid or wood panel on doors, or no door

The 'Plasma Mount' is god awful, it's a giant piece of wood, and imo looks plain ugly. I have a pedestal stand, and wouldn't mind wall mounting above the unit, but the additional stand is just ugly.

the 68" wide EA runs around 899, with the 'plasma mount' running an extra 300 or so.

[Jamie571]

Originally posted by pcrx
I am in the final stages of building my own cabinet like this right now - I hope to have it completely done this weekend. Just doing the finish on the wood (WORST part IMHO)

I agree, I get anixious to get done but your also at the stage of taking your time and waiting on the each coat of varnish to dry.

I was about to build a nice wall cabinet design similar to the one cheridave linked to, but becasue of cost and size issues decided to tone it down. Maybe in about 2 weeks I'll have the cabinet done. I beefed it up inside and used 500lb capacity industrial casters so I can use a ganite top that the local granite place had left over from another job.

I'll post some picks when completed.

I think its been harder finding the perfect plasma stand instead of finding the perfect plasma, thats why I decided to build it myself.

Anyways here is what the finished product will look like:

[ChicagoChris]

Anyone care to comment on this particular piece?

http://www.racksandstands.com/prods/...2/0PSO0017.htm

Looks good and the dimensions meet my needs. However I am not familiar with Studiotech furniture.

Thanks

[JuiceRocket]

My wife and I have this unit, which we pruchased for under $100.



The only issue we've had is our STB it too wide to fit in the frosted glass areas. We've had to put it in the middle.

-JR

[Mike53]

If you are cheap (like me) make a visit to IKEA and look at the Majiker system.

[CraiginNJ]

tdombrow,

That Hooker sure looks sweet. Wish I had seen that a couple of months ago. Seems a little high for a normal room but maybe just right for a big bedroom.

Craig in NJ

[ToxicP]

Spent 2 months looking (& 2 years lurking here). Pulled trigger on BDI Axis 8028 for P1110HD and HTM2 centre speaker, then Axis 8026 plus two extra shelves for all the components. Looks awesome in cognac.

[iwant12]

Another woodworker option is -
http://www.plansnow.com/secetcenter.html
It's fairly easy with a Kreg pocket hole jig (a tool you'll keep on using). You can see it by clicking my gallery link. As my av came together, I built a "lift" for the center channel speaker and a plasma stand on a countersunk chair swivel to suit the open floor plan of my house.
I agree with jadziedzic on the ventilation. To compensate for the glass doors, I keep my amp in the open on top of one of the side cabinets. The pre/pro is on top of the other side cabinet - but mostly for easy cabling access, rather than heat. For components behind the glass, I have a grid of 2" holes in the cabinet back panel and space the cabinet a few inches from the wall to provide ventilation.
My fear with the Ethan Allen cabinet is that the TV panel piece likely requires anchoring to the wall studs, which would also require the base cabinet to be tight to the wall, hence poor ventilation. (Maybe not - but the panel piece doesn't appear from the picture to have the framing and hardware necessary to be self standing with the additional weight of a large plasma TV - and they show it tight to the wall.)

[manufanatic]

http://www.ikea-usa.com/webapp/wcs/s...roductId=11726

I guess this is what the ikea guy was talking about

Looks tempting if this is the right one could you tell me how wide and deep the shelves go..

[manufanatic]

I have also seen someone on the forum use this from ikea attached to the wall horizontally looked pretty good

http://www.ikea-usa.com/webapp/wcs/s...roductId=11317

[BruZZi]

Thanks for the links guys.

Bush Furniture has some interesting Plasma Stands (cheap prices). I just don't know about their built quality:

[Brucer]

Although I designed this as an "Audio Altar" for the serious 2-channel buffs, it could easily accomodate a Plasma or DLP or other narrow depth display. Designed for acoustic friendliness.

Scale is 54"long X 16.5" deep x approx 26" tall, very stout.

I guess it could be called A/V Altar. Many other variations could be derived.

[Brucer]

Slightly less work...

Fluted turned columns, 2" thick solid mahog slab top.

[JuiceRocket]

I like the "floating glass" look of this one ---->



Shame it only holds 3 components (2 if you placed your center speaker directly under the tv).

Cool piece of furniture, nice find Brucer.

-JR

[1918sox]

There is a reason they make more than one flavor of ice cream. People's tastes are different. I still find this to be one of the finest offerings for plasma furnitue. The ability to customize the finished product with glass or cloth, type of finish and other goodies makes this, for me, one of the best plasma displays available. Give it a look.

http://diamondcase.com/TT/TT_HTML_Files/TT400.HTML

[pcrx]

After my experience with my old BDI table - a very nice open table - I would never get a glass top piece again to put a plasma on. Main reason is reflection... I got tired of seeing the image reflected onto the glass. Maybe if the plasma was high enough above it it would not reflect the light, but with a table stand and a dark woom...the light came right off it and it was quite distracting.

I have my final product DONE!!!! and all set up. I will post a few pics a bit later. It turned out killer... I cannot believe I waited as long as I did to do this. The project had its ups and downs but in the end its all good - and super super WAF..... my wife was so amazed she couldn't (and I couldn't) believe it!

Full report with pics coming soon.........

[iwant12]

I dunno Brucer, I'd be tempted to keep something that nice in reserve for ceremonial virgin sacrifices and such - it's too cool for a bunch of black boxes - awesome work!