Inviting suggestions for AV-furniture

[TheSeeker]

Hello everyone!!

just today, a person from a nearby furniture-store was invited over to my home, for an estimate to build up an AV-cabinet, as well as back-panel for the TV. he showed me a few designs. looked good. foolishly, i forgot to store those snaps onto my cell. now i have to go to his place tomorrow to finalise the project. i need a few suggestions from members here, and i will enumerate some points below, and you can suggest accordingly besides those points which need them.

1. i have a 50VT20D, kept in a fairly-large hall that's in an inverted L-shape (dining-hall starts at one end of it). the TV had been supplied with the wall-mount from Panasonic (the wall-mount is of some other model, but the Panasonic person had assured me that it can bear the weight of the TV). the mount is still kept packed, as the TV presently rests atop a cabinet, which is somewhat similar in general shape to Santy's cabinet, as can be seen here. my query in this point is - is it advisable to wall-mount this TV?! an year or so back, i had read the experience of a fellow-member, whose 50" plasma (probably the V20 or VT20) had falled off the wall. obviously, am hence fearful of such an occurence. don't have any kids at home, and nor do anyone of those venture at my place, or very rarely; so, no such hazard. just wary of the TV falling down under its own weight (BTW, the wall is quite thick; well over 5" atleast).

2. the TV would have a panel at the back, to hide all the running cables, as well as for aesthetical-purpose. plus, would have light-golden hue lights on its top (seems to be a good idea, to watch movies at night with just those dim panel-lights glowing at the back of the TV). now he gave me 2 options - either the TV can be mounted protruding out of the panel, by a min. of 2 inches, or it can be pushed back into the panel, so as to 'merge' with the panel, like in the 1st photo here. i am concerned about the heat-dissipation issue from the TV, in case i opt for the 2nd option. what's your take? am i correct in my assumption? and, which out of the 2 options would look more pleasing?

3. what should be the colour/shade for the TV back-panel? dark/bright, light, or a mix/moderate? in this point, i would like to request a few members with such a set-up at their place to suggest on this, and if possible, share a pic or two of the set-up here. my own choice would be a moderate shade, so that neither the TV looks very odd with a light background, nor should it totally immerse in the shade.

4. the cabinet's design is going to be more or less similar to the design of the cabinet that Santy has. albeit, the owner was insisting on having a U-shaped opening on one end of the cabinet, to accommodate the subwoofer, which i declined, as i want to keep it on the floor itself. apart from that, can't think of any other design-tweaks in the cabinet. it has to accommodate an amp, an STB, a media-player, and some space for any additional component in future. please suggest if i might be missing something here, or if you have any better design in mind.

beyond these, i can't think of any other points. please do write in, if you feel that i may be missing or overlooking some important points.

thanks!

 

[TheSeeker]

Hello there!

so today the deal got finalised. the work includes:

- building a cabinet, complete with drawers, plus open slots to accommodate A/V equipment.
- construction and fitting of back-panel for the TV.
- some wiring-work for extending the network-connection.

all this will get finished within an estimated period of 15 days. the whole 'package' comes with a 3-year warranty period, within which, any repair and maintenance work, if it arises, will be handled by the owner at his own expense. his office is also at a walking distance from my home, so no problem in that regard. will post pics and other details when the work gets done.

 

[Naturelover]

Here's my set-up still in the process of completion.
HiFi and HT are in the same room which is a living room.
HT front speakers are out for some repair. You can see their wall mounts in place. The large bookshelves are the HiFi ones.
Total width is 10'4". AV rack width is 44". The rack is seen slightly pulled out. It actually sits in line with the drawers.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/oczo03bwakyhgnm/Living Room AV.jpg

 

[Santy]

@TheSeeker
I do not think there is a any risk in wall mounting as long as it is done properly. Many people just hammer it instead of screwing it tight. If you are using wooden panel, you need to be very careful. You could bolt the mounting bracket using clamps on the backside.

I suggest to keep the TV mounted outside the panel. Its actually better looking than having it showed inside. In future when you upgrade your TV, you might have issues if you create a recess for it.

Regarding the cabinet, instead of closing it fully on the rear, I suggest to keep it half open. ie from top to mid of each shelf, it is closed as shown below.

But if the back panel and the rack both are of same color/design, then you can leave it fully open.

You can also think of designing the rack and panel as a single modular unit, like Naturelover did.

 

[TheSeeker]

Here's my set-up still in the process of completion.
HiFi and HT are in the same room which is a living room.
HT front speakers are out for some repair. You can see their wall mounts in place. The large bookshelves are the HiFi ones.
Total width is 10'4". AV rack width is 44". The rack is seen slightly pulled out. It actually sits in line with the drawers.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/oczo03bwakyhgnm/Living Room AV.jpg

looks great!

i also intend to get the wall-mounts from tono-systems to install my HT surround-satellites beside the TV.

the wires will all be shifted to the back of the panel. i like the arrangement of door in your panel for the wiring. is it sliding-door type? and are the wires accommodated at that right of the panel inside the door?

also, in some thread, i had seen that you had shared a pic of one of the capping-casing conduits at your home. could you please direct me to that picture, as i also am going to get such capping-casing work done at my place?!

 

[TheSeeker]

@TheSeeker
I do not think there is a any risk in wall mounting as long as it is done properly. Many people just hammer it instead of screwing it tight. If you are using wooden panel, you need to be very careful. You could bolt the mounting bracket using clamps on the backside.

I suggest to keep the TV mounted outside the panel. Its actually better looking than having it showed inside. In future when you upgrade your TV, you might have issues if you create a recess for it.

Regarding the cabinet, instead of closing it fully on the rear, I suggest to keep it half open. ie from top to mid of each shelf, it is closed as shown below.

But if the back panel and the rack both are of same color/design, then you can leave it fully open.

You can also think of designing the rack and panel as a single modular unit, like Naturelover did.

am thinking of requesting a panasonic-personnel to come over at my place and do the wall-mount installation of the TV, even though the store-owner had assured me that his man would do the job very good, as according to him, he keeps doing it every now and then at several homes.

and yes, have decided to keep the TV protruding out of the panel. looks better, no heat-dissipation issue, and as you wrote, no problem if the TV needs to be taken out for any purpose later on; otherwise, with a configuration in which the TV is pushed inside the panel's recess, it would be tough to take it out of it, without pulling out the whole panel to do so.

and am afraid that i didn't quite get what you meant by partially closing the rear of the cabinet, but i think you are writing about what your cabinet looks like. your cabinet is almost half-open from the front and back, from top to mid-way of the cabinet's height. if am correct in my assumption, then i would like to tell that the design has openings only for that part which would house the A/C equipment. for the part that will be used to keep files and other random things, it will have doors.

the panel in my case would be of marble-white colour (a little darker, like that of the thick malaai of cow's milk, that has a yellowish hue ), and the cabinet would be of a shade what naturelover has, albeit slightly lighter, so that both compliment each other in contrast. texture of both would be leathery.

the cabinet is in a little L-shape, ie, starting low to the ground from left side, then moving up higher as we move toward its right side. the cabinet would be braced to the wall on the back side, as well as supported on the ground on its extremes. the rear would be a water-proof ply, to protect it from seepage from the wall, in case that happens. the design gives the cabinet a light look, and the drawers and all are of quite low height.

 

[ghatgepatil]

Don't forget to remind your carpenter to add 'the poison' to 'termite-proof' whatever he is coming up with.

 

[TheSeeker]

Don't forget to remind your carpenter to add 'the poison' to 'termite-proof' whatever he is coming up with.

i told him, and he replied that he would be using 'termite-proof' ply.

anyway, the work has been finished and the panel & cabinet installed. a little bit of set-up is left to be done by me, after which i would post some pics here.