Home theater furniture - husband vs. wife


I'm sure this is a common source of friction for a lot of folks here. What kind of furniture do you use to hold your gear?

My situation: I need to hold a Parasound 2200 as well as my receiver and HTPC. I also have a big 200lb 36" tube HDTV. Currently I am using an ugly old pressboard entertainment center to hold the TV, receiver, HTPC, but it doesn't have the proper ventilation for the 2200. I was going to buy a nice looking rack to hold everything, but my wife says it is "too industrial" - and wants me to get something from Pottery Barn. They have a lot of nice wood furniture, but nothing that is designed for 19" rack mounted equipment.

Does anyone have a suggestion? She is actually quite reasonable about it... I am trying to collect some photos of what people have done to make things look nice so we can plan on what to do.

Thanks!
pyite
Salamander is another good option. You can get perferated side panels for cooling.
Since your wife mentioned Pottery Barn (Ethan Allen is another possibility), and since you mentioned that they have nice wood furniture, it appears that your taste and decor is leaning towards wood rather than metal.

One common wood option is a console table. The difficulty that I have found with these is that they're not typically made for larger 36 inch CRT TVs. The table top is not deep enough. Or the shelves below are not large enough for your equipment.

The second common wood option is the larger entertainment centre type of thing. You have a deeper table for larger TV's, and you have shallower equipment racks on either side of the centre table. The problem with these is that the shelves may be too enclosed or too small for serious audiophile gear.

Perhaps these are the issues you're facing. If so, a lot of auidiophile furniture makers do make larger wall unit stands for large screen TV's that is a bit more equipment friendly. However, I have found these to be quite expensive compared to another option, and that's the custom built option.

Take some pictures of the Pottery Barn units that you like, or other similar ones, to a local woodworker. You can then adjust size, shelving, etc. as required. I'll bet that you can get a custom unit, with choice of wood, stain/colour for less than what the audiophile furniture manufacturers charge for their large, wood units.
check out unfinished furniture places. If you're willing to finish it, you can find some very nice furntiture that may suit both of you.
when home theatre arrived it was made to be share with the family. lets your wife figure it out(they love a mission). two channel stereo, and the room its in, is a guy thing.
Agree on the Salamander. A lot of variety, and looks good in the living room.