TV Stand Thread

Checking on new matching center cnannel that's only 8" tall. This will eliminate problem of shelf height! Yea! Still want black rack though. When ready to pull trigger will see if TVA can provide.

Hi guys, I have several questions regarding the techcraft stand for the 5063.

First, for those of you guys who have taken delivery of the stand in silver, how do you like it and how well does it match the color and style of the TV? I dragged my wife into CC for the first time yesterday and she was taken by the HLP on the floor and has signed-off on the Powerbuy purchase but she definitely wants a matching silver stand over one of the wood-colored ones. I had originally ordered the powerbuy for the TV only but now need a silver stand

Second, are the shelves on this stand wide enough to hold two components side-by-side? I'm looking at needing to install four components on the stand and wonder if I can squeeze them in: (1) DishNetwork 811 HD box, (2) DishNetwork PVR, (2) DVD player, and (4) Audio Receiver. I'm actually going to be using two Dish receivers until the new 942 comes out so that will make four components.

Third, is there a powerbuy price for the stand and TV alone if I'm not interested in the extended warrantee at this point? I scanned the thread and didn't see one. From my point of view, the 1 year Samsung warrantee and the additional year from my Visa is fine and if the set tanks after that I'll either bite the repair price or move on to whatever is the latest best thing in 2006.

Hi Guys:

I've been looking for stand options for my 50 that is yet to arrive. My current 32" CRT set is on a 3-shelf BDI stand that will be too high and too narrow for the HLP. Ultimately I'll probably acquire some sort of nice wall system/entertainment center when funds permit but for the interim I'm looking for a decent stand that preferably has doors to keep my 16 month old baby's hands off the components.

Yesterday I ran across this stand at Target. They were selling them on sale for $89 and had them in black and maple. It looked exactly like what I was looking for. Has anyone else gotten cheap stands at Target and have any comments on these?

Here's the maple color

http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html...sin=B00008PC3Y

and here's the black

http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html...sin=B00008PC40

It's obviously a cheap item. What can you expect for the price? I'd probably swap out the legs for casters from Home Depot so I can move the unit for cleaning. But I can't see any reason why this won't work nicely.

It's the best looking I've seen at the price and I've been doing a lot of on line searching.

I too need a stand with casters. Thinking seriously about this in cherry:
http://www.roomandboard.com/rnb/prod...gen&dept=RB231
Plus some other items in the same line (Copenhagen) to make a wall unit about 150 inches wide.

texasdiver, there's nothing wrong with cheap stands in my opinion... sometimes you get some cheesy styling and such, and some of 'em are flimsy. Nice thing about the DLP sets is that they're not very heavy, so you don't have to worry about that too much.

The problem with this stand, I think, is that at 24.5", it might be too high for a 50" DLP. The middle of the screen will be about 45" off the floor, which wouldn't work for me. When shopping for a DLP stand, I'm looking at height first, since vertical viewing angle is a fairly narrow. I measured all my viewing spots and the set (46" HLP), decided that I wanted the middle of the screen about 38" off the floor. Middle of the screen is 20" from the bottom, so I need something that's 18" high.

It can be fun to shop around for cheap stands; bring a tape measure to WalMart & KMart and Target and the like, you'll usually find something that fits where you want it to.

Also, consider a smaller stand with a 15"x48" or 18"x48" board attached to the top. I think Home Depot, etc. sell precut shelves in those sizes.

I haven't been following stand posts at all since I had one before I purchased the set so this may have been mentioned before. If so, I apologize for the redundancy.

You need to be careful not to get a stand that is too high. The DLP's are very picky about viewing height. They're good at horizontal viewing but not vertical. Get above or below the optimum viewing height and the picture darkens significantly. In my case I measured my normal viewing height and tried to find a stand that would match that when combined with the screen height.

texasdiver -
Nice find. I hadn't even considered Target!

Well guys, I just got back from a trip to Target with the wife and a tape measure. The Target stand I mentioned upstream a few posts has one problem that may or may not be a major issue. The shelves on each side that are enclosed behind the glass doors are only 15" wide so no standard video components will fit in them. I suppose some of the cheap DVD and VCRs would, but certainly not a DirecTV receiver or Samsung 941. So the only thing they will be good for is storing DVDs and remotes and that sort of thing. My idea was to put the components behind the glass doors and a center speaker on the center shelf but that won't work. The center shelf should hold a component and the drawer below the center shelf (it looks like 2 drawers but is only a single deep drawer) could hold another component I suppose. But then you'd need to make sure you had adequate cable lengths to allow for opening and shutting a drawer.

If you buy the matching tower for components it would be fine as the tower has wide enough shelves.

Another thing, the legs on this stand are plastic and pretty cheapy. It looks like you could easily leave them off completely and set it on the floor without legs to go lower, or else get casters from Home Depot and replace the legs with casters that would be a few inches lower. Home Depot and Lowes actually have a very big selection of different types of furniture casters that will go on just about any type of furniture.

Looks like I'm back to considering the Ikea Oppli stand which is 15 3/4" high and 59" wide. That is pretty close to my ideal height and will work good for the kids on the floor. I'll just have to make sure the shelves are wide enough to take my components. It is this one:

http://www.ikea-usa.com/webapp/wcs/s...roductId=11149

If the Oppli doesn't work out I might just buy some birch plywood and veneer strip and make one exactly like it but wider. Home Depot has all of the same furniture attachment hardware that places like Ikea use so if you have a circular saw, clamps, drill, and sander you can pretty much make any of these simple items.

Oh, and finally, I checked the specs for the techcraft stand that is part of the powerbuy. It is 24" high so if we are going by the thread discussion, it would be 6" too high for my circumstances.

Texasdiver. My wife and I currently have a very similar Target TV stand, but I believe it is a bit narrower. It is the one with 2 drawers instead of doors on the end. It is a suprisingly nice peice of furniture and currently supporting our (very heavy) 30" Toshiba CRT. Being anal retentive, I put a litte support in the center of it, but I'm sure that won't be necessary w/ the lighter DLP. I think ours is going to be too narrow for the 50" DLP, but we're going to use it until we get to IKEA.

Edit...

I just saw your posting... we're going with the Docent line at IKEA next time we get up to Chicago. I think the height is going to be about perfect. Be sure to check that out.

I have one. Here is some information.

Ikea has a 59 inch stand in black for $78 that's pretty good for the money. They also have it in birch for $99.

The OPPLI TV Bench is 59"W x 19 5/8"D x 15 3/4"H with casters. When we got ours they only had black in stock.

We intended it as a temporary solution but it looks and works so well for us that I expect we will have it for some time.

There are three component bays. Each bay is 10 1/4" high and 17 5/8" wide. There are two adjustable shelves that can go in any bay.

It has casters that seem to work smoothly. You do the assembly.

When I bought mine the black version was only available at their stores. The shipping was very expensive form their web site.

There is a HLM507 in the picture along with five components. Now we have a HLP5063 on it with a chance that we might end up with a HLP5674.

I use an Oppli stand with my 56", and am extremely satisfied. Using the supplied casters the height is perfect - the center of the screen is within an inch of eye level when I sit on my couch. The casters are great - I've already rolled it back and forth a few times to change cables etc. You can also ask sales people for metal legs (4, 6, and 8") to use instead if you want.
BTW, the shelves are wide enough for standard components.

Joe: Interesting idea on the Docent line. I'm looking at it now in my catalog. Were you considering getting the actual TV bench with drawers:

http://www.ikea-usa.com/webapp/wcs/s...roductId=14753

or putting together a low sideboard console for the TV to set on.

http://www.ikea-usa.com/webapp/wcs/s...09&cattype=sub

The glass drawers look very nice and setting two low shelf units side-by-side and putting glass doors on front would make a nice stand if you can live with the 24" height.



I also looked at the Room & Board stuff that someone else mentioned. Very nice stuff but probably out of my price range for now as I'm really just looking for a temporary solution. This would be an awesome unit if it was a few inches lower. It's actually the sort of thing I've been looking for. A Long sideboard with glass drawers:

http://www.roomandboard.com/rnb/prod...ear&dept=RB231

Since reading this group of postings I've been rechecking measurements here.
I currently have my 5063 on a 20 inches high cabinet that's about 6 inches too narrow and not on casters. When I'm rising from my couch I don't get too far up before the picture starts to worsen. For MY couch a 15 inch high stand would be too low. I STRONGLY recommend that you wait until you get delivery of the Sammy. Put it on.....something.....and experiment with heights in relation to your seats before you make a final decision. I figured out that the stand I want to get is 5 inches higher than the one I have now. I put sofa cushions on the floor to a point that they were 5 inches lower than the couch, sat on the cushions and the picure was OK. Good luck.

I would LUV to have this unit. I called Room and Board to see if it can be bought on casters and the answer is no. I have to have casters in order to get behind the unit several times a year.

htwatts: That is a very nice looking setup. Nicer looking than any of the far more expensive stands I see scattered throughout BB and CC. My wife will want the Birch for sure and it will probably go better with our silver components anyway.

Guess I'll try to pick one of these up. Unfortunately the nearest Ikea for me is 3 hours away in Houston. But I have a business meeting in Seattle in 3 weeks so perhaps I can swing by the Ikea store that is near SeaTac Airport and then check it as luggage on the flight home.

Only question is whether the boxed package exceeds the weight or dimension maximums for American Airlines. Any one of you who has this piece able to venture a guess as to whether it exceeds 70 lbs total weight? The web site doesn't provide shipping weight. I assume the total dimensions of the box will be equal to the length and width x about 6" height as Ikea packs stuff flat. Alternatively I could just buy it and drop it by UPS before getting on the airplane I suppose.

When I used to live in Alaska I would drag Ikea furniture back with me piece by piece during business trips to Seattle. The Ikea packaging is usually too flimsy for airline handling as Ikea packs its products very lightly for transport on pallets rather than shipping individually. So I would pick up some cardboad boxes and strapping tape and layer about 2 more layers of cardboard over the Ikea box to give it more cushion.

For a coming HLP 6163 I got the Elksjo stand from Ikea: if you take the aluminum base of it, it is about 18-19 high and the perfect width for the 61 incher, and only about 18-19" deep too. It also has 6 sections for components. It is oak veneer.

Room & Board is awesome, but a little pricey.

We're going with the low 2 drawer stand for the TV, and then use the shelving units on either side with a combo of glass doors and open shelves to hold all the components and then get shelf that goes over the top.

That looks like a very nice option too. I would get the glass doors that I want. One question though, how strong is the bottom with the aluminum base taken off? Could it be mounted on small casters without the base? Or would I need to cut a sheet of plywood to give it support if I didn't want to just sit it on the floor?

While at Ikea, check out the Elksjo stand. If you unscrew the aluminum frame it is set in, it's about 18-19" high, and exactly the width of the HLP6163; depth is also about 18-19", just right. It has 6 compartment below for components, and they are large enough for standard items. I put ~ 1/4 " high 'skids' on the bottom to make it easier to slide around on our hard wood floor.

I got a nice looking stand through Tweeter - the 'Jazzy". It sits there with my riduculous looking 27" RCA set awaiting the release of the HLP5674 or 7.

Pics are at www [insert dot here] jsp-industries [insert dot here]com/Pages/Jazzy.html

There are two things that I don't like: One, with the glass doors closed, there is not enough ventilation and with my Yamaha RXZ1 on, it gets wicked hot in there. Two is that the center area is still not wide enough for a 'real' center speaker.

It is expensive. But for those who are interested, it comes in varying widths and prices. It's the "linear"series line which you design yourself. Each door represents the size of one unit. You can order it 1,2, 3 or 4 (maybe even 5) units wide. In each unit you can have shelves, drawers, or doors. You can also order it taller: 2 units, 3 units hig etc. For the 50 inch sets 3 units wide, instead of the 4 shown, would be more than ample. I think that would reduce the price at least $300.

I saw some nice stands at the local BB...I wrote down the company, but misplaced it for now...I'll look around for it.

Here is the link...it was right in front of me! Duh. Check out the site...they have a nice variety. http://www.bello.com/

After reading about these low stands folks plan for their DLP, I measured my eye height and the current (recently bought) stand we have now. We watch a 36" direct view NTSC TV atop it now. Eye ht is 38" and the current stand, which She Who Must Be Obeyed informs me will remain in place (it's quite a piece of furniture, with drawers), is 35.5" high. We view from 12 feet away.

So the stand is about 18" too high if we are to have eye height approximate the middle of a 56" or 61" DLP. These TVs weight over 90 lbs. I am considering using wedges to raise the rear of the TV as much as one inch. I haven't done the sight line calculations yet, but it would seem such a small angle might be enough to improve the view without risking toppling the TV.

Any thoughts? Current owners- are these sets front heavy?

Check on the IKEA website--it has the packaged weight, claims 29.8kg (=65.6lbs), it also has the package dimensions. I bought and returned this, it felt it was heavier packed.
Also call ahead for stock. Web site is wrong, they only carry the birch one, black is discontinued
htwaits--nice pic, that's what I had in mind, but birch was wrong, and my center speaker was not going to work in front, blocked the remote. Made a nice set-up with Intermetric black steel shelving instead, which idea I also found buried here.

I lot of people are discussing stands and viewing heights, so I thought I'd share what I got. It is a Sauder stand, bought at Best Buy. It is very nice, and very sturdy, a lot of the pieces are stamped "Made in Italy" on the edge. The frosted glass doors pass IR signals from remotes fine, and the space behind them is wide enough for a Replay TV which is my widest component. I am using it without the feet, which make it the perfect height for my 56" DLP (which has not arrived yet).
http://www.sauder.com/furniture/product.asp?p=542

I think this is a nice compromise between ultra-expensive stands and super cheap ones, both in terms of price and looks. Ventilation will likely be an issue, so I cut out bigger holes in the back and will install some fans to solve the problem.

Not bad but where will you put the center speaker. That's the other part of the dilemma I have. I don't want to throw a cheap looking shelf on top of the TV to place the speaker. I'm paying over 3 grand and I want it to look good!

I guess you could remove the top drawer. How much room would you have for the speaker?

This is nice. Only 45 inches wide tho. but has casters as an option. Good choice of finishes. See bottom of page for add ons.
http://www.racksandstands.com/prods/...9/0PSO0017.htm