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ebh
11-28-2006, 04:12 PM
i'm very close to buying a 50" plasma, but i'm going to need a new tv stand. the reason i'm posting here is i'm having trouble finding something nice that will house the 340SE center properly. i don't think i can just put it on the same shelf right in front of the tv b/c i think it'll block some of the screen (need to check that tho).

anyone pick up a tv stand recently? what i'm looking for is something that will do the 340 center justice, fit a 50" plasma on top, and hopefully house a panny xr55 receiver, a cablebox, a tivo, an xbox, a series 2 squeezebox, a nintendo wii, and probably an xbox 360 down the road.

oh, and i forgot to mention, i need something cheap, ideally less than $300 or so. dark wood is out, tho light wood veneer or silver metal would be ok.

BradJudy
11-28-2006, 05:43 PM
oh, and i forgot to mention, i need something cheap, ideally less than $300 or so. dark wood is out, tho light wood veneer or silver metal would be ok.

I don't know of anything that meets those requirements and is under $300. I built my own Salamander knock-off and I still spent at least that much (including some tools).

GaryB
11-28-2006, 06:09 PM
For $530 USD list (probably closer to $400 street) you might consider this (https://www.sanus.com/cgi-bin/web_store.cgi?page=products/furniture/platinum/PFFP2b.html&cart_id=7742684_22167) Sanus pedestal stand. The shelves are adjustable and hold 50 lbs., so the top shelf is ideal for a center channel speaker. The front edge of a speaker mounted on the top shelf projects ~8" beyond the front surface of the TV, which is exactly what you want... even Curtis would approve. ;)

Wiring may be concealed in the pedestal, and you would be able to place most, if not all, of your remaining components on the bottom shelf and base, although you might require an additional small "accessory" rack. My brother has a 50" plasma mounted on this stand... it's solid as a rock and looks fabulous. It's certainly at the top of my list for my hoped-for NEC 50XR6 in a few months.

ebh
11-28-2006, 06:59 PM
hrmm, if the fiancee approved, this one is pretty good--a bit more "modern" than i was looking for, but i like it pretty well. i think it would hold all my gear, and if i go through with getting the panasonic 509uk (which doesn't come with a stand) it would save me some cash to not buy the stand and just mount the panel. still expensive, but not bad.




For $530 USD list (probably closer to $400 street) you might consider this (https://www.sanus.com/cgi-bin/web_store.cgi?page=products/furniture/platinum/PFFP2b.html&cart_id=7742684_22167) Sanus pedestal stand. The shelves are adjustable and hold 50 lbs., so the top shelf is ideal for a center channel speaker. The front edge of a speaker mounted on the top shelf projects ~8" beyond the front surface of the TV, which is exactly what you want... even Curtis would approve. ;)

Wiring may be concealed in the pedestal, and you would be able to place most, if not all, of your remaining components on the bottom shelf and base, although you might require an additional small "accessory" rack. My brother has a 50" plasma mounted on this stand... it's solid as a rock and looks fabulous. It's certainly at the top of my list for my hoped-for NEC 50XR6 in a few months.

GaryB
11-28-2006, 07:11 PM
Exactly... you do save some money by not having to buy the small optional stand which is usually necessary to mount a plasma display on a conventional cabinet.

curtis
11-28-2006, 07:54 PM
The front edge of a speaker mounted on the top shelf projects ~8" beyond the front surface of the TV, which is exactly what you want... even Curtis would approve. ;)
:D LOL!! I don't know...after what I have seen in the last two weeks, I am drooling over a 1080p projector and the SmX screen. Then when I am listening to music, I have nothing in between my speakers!

GaryB
11-28-2006, 08:08 PM
That would be the ideal configuration, of course, but not realistic in my family room. :)

curtis
11-28-2006, 08:11 PM
That would be the ideal configuration, of course, but not realistic in my family room. :)
Likewise!!

ebh
11-29-2006, 10:28 AM
gary, since you saw a 50" on the sanus stand, did you find the tv to be too high, or at an acceptable eye level? i'm curious because it seems like the middle of the tv ought to be around eye level, and the stand seems pretty tall.

GaryB
11-29-2006, 11:18 AM
Hi, ebh. The mounting for the TV is adjustable in height and tiltable (assembly instructions (https://www.sanus.com/pdf/manuals/PFFP2ins_071505.pdf)) so you should be able to achieve a very satisfactory result. Even if the TV ends up a little higher than you might otherwise like (to avoid a too-low position of the center channel speaker or to allow stacking room for components on the bottom shelf) you can tilt the panel down slightly to maintain a perpendicular viewing angle. :)

curtis
11-29-2006, 11:47 AM
I thought I read somewhere that with big TVs, and at the proper viewing distances, the bottom 1/3rd of the TV should be at eye level.

scottyh
12-27-2006, 08:57 PM
I think this is what your looking for. Its the one Im going with at least. http://www.everythingfurniture.com/plasma-tv-stand-1.html I think that should fit the center channel nice

GaryB
12-27-2006, 09:10 PM
I think that should fit the center channel niceYou'd better get accurate dimensions for that center channel compartment before ordering. It looks like it's less than 1/3 the width of the entire cabinet, which would make it less than 20" wide. The 340 SEC is 21'' wide.

Oops! :eek:

BGHD
12-31-2006, 02:18 PM
gary, since you saw a 50" on the sanus stand, did you find the tv to be too high, or at an acceptable eye level? i'm curious because it seems like the middle of the tv ought to be around eye level, and the stand seems pretty tall.
IMO, for a plasma, eye level about 1/4 to 1/2 up from bottom of screen is best. Depends on things like your seating (e.g. couch vs recliner vs floor), favorite position (e.g. sitting upright vs lying down, etc), etc.

muzz
12-31-2006, 04:23 PM
I just got a 42" plasma, and I am still using the old stand until I can find a suitable relacement.
The old stand is 27" high, and I think it looks great at that height, the lowest I am willing to go is 24".
At 27" with the Panny 42", I am app. at the bottom to 1/3 up.

ebh
01-02-2007, 03:13 PM
i ended up just mounting my center on the wall with a tv shelf, as suggested in the stickied thread. thought the wife would hate that so never brought it up--little did i know that would go over much better than some of the stands i was considering. I ended up getting a stand from Ikea (Oppli) for about $100 that seems to be just the right size for me. I think it's only about 22" high, but for a 50" set, it seems perfect.

Havelcek
01-03-2007, 06:06 AM
I've got a piece of wood furniture for my HT setup, the HT 250 series from Ethan Allen. I can't link it for you since they run a servlet on their website. It is a beautiful piece and fits the 50 inch plasma easily and all of my components. Increases the "Wife Acceptance Factor" (WAF) significantly.

jeh
06-10-2009, 12:38 AM
hi, i haven't posted here in awhile but i have a similar question. for my cmt340 center i need a basic tv stand with at least an 8" shelf underneath for the speaker. i'm not looking for perfect placement, i'll take what i can get. mounting on the wall or above the tv isn't possible in my situation. oh, and the stand needs to hold a 40" lcd and only needs that one shelf for the speaker.

davef
06-10-2009, 01:06 AM
hi, i haven't posted here in awhile but i have a similar question. for my cmt340 center i need a basic tv stand with at least an 8" shelf underneath for the speaker. i'm not looking for perfect placement, i'll take what i can get. mounting on the wall or above the tv isn't possible in my situation. oh, and the stand needs to hold a 40" lcd and only needs that one shelf for the speaker.

Jeh,

We just received two of these new stands offered by Omnimount. http://www.hometheaterdesignmag.com/furniture/121208link/

The main unit is the LT63
http://www.omnimount.com/products/side.242754f7-2137-4f73-a850-ac81fd92242e.jpg

The stand can also be expanded by adding additional components.
http://www.omnimount.com/products/main.242754f7-2137-4f73-a850-ac81fd92242e.jpg

The nice thing about this stand is that it is a bit higher than most and a 340 SE center (or Sierra-1 center) fit perfectly in the open shelf below the TV. We are using one of these and it is perfect, plus (a BIG plus) my wife absolutely loves it.

We plan to sell these and we would be happy to order one for you.

jeh
06-10-2009, 02:35 AM
http://www.omnimount.com/products/side.242754f7-2137-4f73-a850-ac81fd92242e.jpg

so is this one unit or two in this picture?

davef
06-10-2009, 03:29 AM
http://www.omnimount.com/products/side.242754f7-2137-4f73-a850-ac81fd92242e.jpg

so is this one unit or two in this picture?

This is one complete unit.

curtis
06-10-2009, 08:37 AM
That unit looks very nice!

Wonder how hard it would be to change the doors into bamboo? :D I just had to ask.

davef
06-10-2009, 04:29 PM
That unit looks very nice!

Wonder how hard it would be to change the doors into bamboo? :D I just had to ask.

Now THAT would be very cool :)

Retail on this is $599 but if any Ascend customers are interested, please contact me directly.

buddhadas
06-10-2009, 05:09 PM
Is it just my imagination, or is the leg right smack in the middle, therefore the center can't go in the center? I had that problem when i bought my rack, mine has 3 legs across the front, and 2 legs in back. I just switched it. Is that possible with these?

DavidD
06-11-2009, 12:37 PM
Is it just my imagination, or is the leg right smack in the middle, therefore the center can't go in the center? I had that problem when i bought my rack, mine has 3 legs across the front, and 2 legs in back. I just switched it. Is that possible with these?

It is hard to tell in the picture, but I believe the center leg is not in front, but set back a bit. As long as the center isn't too deep (or too tall), it should work.

davef
06-11-2009, 06:21 PM
Is it just my imagination, or is the leg right smack in the middle, therefore the center can't go in the center? I had that problem when i bought my rack, mine has 3 legs across the front, and 2 legs in back. I just switched it. Is that possible with these?

Although hard to see in the picture, the middle leg is set back from the front by about 9". I will measure it tonight. From memory, when using a 340 SE center or Sierra-1 center, the front of the speaker extrudes past the lip of the shelf by about an inch and a half (which is beneficial to performance)