A/V Stand

[Waboman]

I'm thinking about doing some rearranging here soon. Currently all my equipment is in another room from where I sit. This is nice as it makes a "clean" viewing area. However, I want to get a few components out in my main room, and move my Theater center channel speaker into a much more "friendly" place.

To do this I will need a new stand. I'm thinking something along the lines of this. (Excuse my poor diagram)

Any suggestions? I don't really want to spend an arm and a leg. But want a nice stand, nonetheless.

Unfortunately, my 20 amp dedicated circuits are in the aforementioned other room. I would need an electrician to rewire them into my main room.:think:

*If/when I get them.

 

[JonFo]

Jeff, getting the Theater up higher will be a big win.

Before we dive into racks, a quick question about what would be in-room and what would be over in the adjacent room.

I’d recommend putting source players in the viewing room, as that makes changing discs easier.
Maybe get the new Denon 4010 universal (basically a stripped A1UD) and use DenonLink4 and HDMI to link it up to the AVP. I’ve proved 25’ is zero problem in terms of performance.

Putting the AVP in the rack might be appealing, but what with all the connections from/to that beast, cable management at the front of the room could get tricky.

Finally, as much as everyone loves the big blue eyes of Mac amps, having them look back at you in their bright glory all through a movie is highly distracting IMHO. Might want to think about that a bit.

My personal take (and this is what I’ve done) is to keep the gear in the other room, where connections and box count are manageable, and only bring over units that require direct interaction.

The GUI on the AVP is so good, plus one can use network devices (web browser, PC or iPhone) to control it as well, I never see a need to even touch it anymore (and I don’t).

All that said, I’d suggest looking at the Salamander Synergy line, as they are very flexible, quite strong and well built and have nice styling options these days.

Also, consider going custom on the rack just to get the right heights and options. Cost might be about the same as a good commercial unit.

 

[Bernard]

I''ll second the Salamander Synergy line (I have one). It is infinitely adjustable height-wise as well.

You may also want to look at the racks made by Adona - much more money, though.

 

[Waboman]

Yeah, getting my center channel out of that cave will be a good thing all the way around. I have to say, my latest Audyssey calibration is sounding pretty darn good. I changed a few settings and bumped a few levels, and overall, it's not too bad.

I've been checking out a bunch of different stand manufacturers. There's definitely a lot to choose from. The Salamander is on my short list. Thanks for the recommendation.

What do you think of this plan?

The picture below is my room. What I want to do, is mount the tv on the wall, move my poor center channel speaker all tucked away like that, to the top of the stand where the tv is currently. Then get a decent stand (replacing the current stand) to place 3 amps, my pre/pro, a blu-ray and my SACD player. The other components will stay in the back room. I will need to move my dedicated 20 amp circuits into this room and perhaps get a few longer cables. But I think it will look nice and give me much easier access to my source components. Instead of getting up and making that long walk into the back room.

What do the experts think? Should I leave well enough alone? Or go for it?:think:

 

[JonFo]

Hi Jeff,

The other thing you might consider is to not even have a stand under the TV, but attach the theater to the wall as well (such that the tweeter is just in front of the panel above).

That frees up space for the sub to slide over closer to center; ideally, it should be centered in the room, which would put it a little to the left of center of the TV/Center channel.

This would provide the following benefits:

• No stand cost, no electrical cost.
• Better bass source location.
• Better center channel location/height (as you control where it goes on-wall)
• Fewer open (or semi-closed) box resonances formed at the front of the room from the stand.

Looking back through your equipment list, I’d not advocate moving the AVP, as you still have way to many other pieces of gear you will need to now buy long cables for, and many are analog-only devices where long runs are not advised.
Long balanced runs to amps are not too big a deal, but everything else would be.
From your system page list, this is my take on what needs to be near the AVP and could be separate

Denon AVP-A1HDCI (pre/pro)
McIntosh MCD500 (SACD/CD player)
Pioneer Elite CLD-99 (Laser disc)
B&K DT-1 (RF demodulator)
Pioneer Elite PDR-19RW (CD-recorder) - Pre PC burners
Mitsubishi HS-U65 (S-VHS) - I know, why?
Nakamichi DR-2 (Cassette) - I'm puzzled too.
Niles IR repeater​

Uses HDMI, therefore could be within 25 or 35’

Pioneer Elite BDP-09FD (blu-ray)
Toshiba A-35 (HD-DVD)
DTV HR-21
PS3​

Uses Balanced analog cables, and could be within 35’

McIntosh MC402 (2-channel amp)
McIntosh MC205 (5-channel amp)​

My recommendation still stands, ditch the Mac CD player and the Pioneer BluRay in the summer/fall, and get either the new Denon DVD-4010 or DVD-A1UDci universal (SACD/DVD-A/CD/DVD/BluRay) with a full jitter-free linkup to your AVP.
For SACD your current Mac player is forcing extra DSD->Analog->PCM->Analog conversions through the AVP. With the Denon players you get DSD all the way through if you want.
And the Pioneer is susceptible to Jitter on non-bit streamed codecs.

That put’s only one box in the listening room. And requires just adding one 35’ HDMI and 35’ Cat6 cable.

So unless your’ changing a lot of laserdiscs, having all the other stuff in another room should be no sweat.

 

[JonFo]

My other thought (as the coffee kicks in big-time), is if what you’re after is being able to see and access ALL the gear from the listening room, is to just build in a cabinet through the wall with the adjoining room.

That would have all the units face into the listening room, yet keep their rears accessible through the adjacent room.

With that much gear, I know access to cabling is a must

Oh, and heat management is something to always consider as well, those Mac amps get toasty, as does the AVP, and DVR’s never run cool, and, well, you get the picture

Stuffing everything tightly into a stand below the TV will likely roast something (my guess is the AVP would be the first to go).
So even if you go through the wall, a nice open rack, like Salamander synergy without too many covering panels, standing fairly open in the adjacent room would do.

If looking to ‘hide’ more of the gear from visibility in the adjacent room, then forced cooling might be required. So things like MiddleAtlantic Racks work well here.

But for that much gear, with custom bezels for the units, I think you’re looking at around $4 to $5K just for the MiddleAtlantic stuff.

 

[Bernard]

a nice open rack, like Salamander synergy without too many covering panels, standing fairly open in the adjacent room would do.

I threw out the rear panel supplied with my Salamander (it was just thick cardboard, IIRC), but was wondering if I should perhaps have kept it for structural integrity.

 

[Len44]

Another vote for Salamander. Excellent racks, not outrageously priced.

Good choice for many of us...

 

[JonFo]

I threw out the rear panel supplied with my Salamander (it was just thick cardboard, IIRC), but was wondering if I should perhaps have kept it for structural integrity.

Hi Bernard, not necessary for structural integrity. Those racks are solid without ANY panels.

My Synergy rack, which is a twin 40 plus a twin 30 (total 72" tall x 44" wide), plus a side stand (like for a TV, but it holds my HTPC gear) is all open, no side panels.

Of course, in my case, it sits in an adjoining equipment room, so aesthetics are secondary.

But boy, these racks are strong, I must have over 500 lbs of gear on it.

 

[Waboman]

Jonathan,

You always have such wonderful ideas... especially when the coffee kicks in.

I thought we discussed mounting my Theater on the wall and decided against it. However, I do kind of like the idea. Both my tv and center channel wall mounted and moving my sub closer to the center. Unfortunately, if I do that, my rats nest of cables that are currently being hidden by the stand will be visible. Not good.

I'm not too concerned about my "legacy" equipment. I can't remember the last time I played an LD. It's been even longer for VHS & cassette. In fact, I don't even own any VHS or cassettes. I guess I keep the older gear around for nostalgia purposes. Or the "what if" I want to play this LD some day.

Also, if I have direct access to my components, I can get rid of my Niles IR repeater.

Oh man Jonathon, I can't ditch my SACD and 09FD players. I've become quite fond of them. I have the MCD500 connected via XLR to the AVP. I tell you what, I can crank the volume, with absolutely no listening fatigue at all. It's impressive. Plus, I thought you didn't care too much for the DVD-A1?

The Middle Atlantic stuff is very nice. But I'm not going to spend $4k-5k on a rack right now. In my situation, I don't think it's necessary. I don't need anything that fancy.

As of now, I'm really liking the Salamander Synergy Triple 20 stand. So, can I leave both the rear (cardboard) and front doors off? That should provide adequate ventilation and still look decent too.

I'm still leaning towards wall mounting my tv, and moving my center channel to the top of my stand. Hell, I wonder if I should just use my current Bell-O stand? I will have to measure. Though it won't look as nice as the Salamander.

Jeff.

 

[Waboman]

Or perhaps even the Salamander Synergy Quad 20.

 

[Bernard]

As of now, I'm really liking the Salamander Synergy Triple 20 stand. So, can I leave both the rear (cardboard) and front doors off?

The doors have to be ordered separately, so don't order any.

 

[Bernard]

There are a bunch of Salamander stands for sale on Audiogon.

 

[Waboman]

Thanks Bernard!

I just checked them out. Unfortunately, the Salamander Synergy stand I have in mind isn't listed there. Which is too bad, because there's some nice prices.

 

[Waboman]

The doors have to be ordered separately, so don't order any.

Cool. I didn't know that.

 

[Waboman]

I'm pretty sure the Salamander Synergy Triple 30 is the winner in my stand search.

It's kind of tall though, at 31". I will be putting my Theater center channel on top of the Triple 30. Do you think that will be too high? Actually, now that I think about it, that should put the Theater right around ear level and darn close to the center of my Prodigies. Hmm...

Now I need to decide on a wood & post finish.:think: