Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Post your Home Theater

mrogers said:
Basically, I drilled a few extra holes on each side of the bottom of the middle shelf (which is really the bottom shelf of the second unit). The goal is to attach the middle shelf to the first set of side supports in the same way as the top shelf attaches to its side supports. You want to drill your holes on the underside of the middle shelf to mirror the holes on the underside of the top shelf, since it is attaching to the side supports in the same way. These holes aren't present in the middle shelf to begin with because, since it's really the bottom of the second unit, the only thing normally attaching to its underside is the four legs.

This makes the whole thing fit together beautifully, because you're able to use the standard screw-locks it comes with to put it all together as if it was designed that way in the first place. I used no glue -- only what came in the two boxes -- and the thing is as solid as a rock.

Once you start assembling them it will become quite obvious. The only place you need to drill is on each end of the underside of the middle shelf. At the end of the project you'll wind up with an extra top shelf and four extra legs. Since the Lack units are only $70, this looked a lot better to me than any other $140 TV stand I was considering. It's very solid and substantial looking yet sleek at the same time.

Here's my only caution to people considering this setup: the space between the shelves is not high enough to accommodate most receivers. I had a fairly standard-sized old Panasonic receiver, and after I had built this TV stand and wired everything up I went to slide the receiver in and it was 0.25" too tall! Fortunately, I was going to buy a new receiver anyway so I purchased this more compact class D receiver and it fits fine, as you can see in the pictures. Sounds great too. But most receivers are a little too tall to fit.

Good luck!
Click to expand...

Sweet -- thanks, man. I'll post up once I get it together.
 
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
46" Samsung LCD
Sony 5.1 Receiver
Dish Network 722 DVR
Apple TV
PS3 (for Blu-ray)
Wii
UPS Battery backup
4 120mm fans mounted in the cabinet for air circulation
 

Attachments

  • P2260281.JPG
    P2260281.JPG
    1 MB · Views: 611
This is something else that survived the recent break in, thank goodness. It is a 46" Samsung sitting on a poorly engineered entertainment stand from Target. The damn thing only has one hole for cables, one hole in the middle, thats it. :mad: I changed that with frustration and a screw driver... :p
tv.jpg



p.s. - mrogers, I am stealing your lighting idea. Ok? Thanks..haha

Oh and if your wondering why the 360 is on the ground. It tends to heat up and freeze while sitting in the entertainment system.
 
deathbyart said:
Oh and if your wondering why the 360 is on the ground. It tends to heat up and freeze while sitting in the entertainment system.
Click to expand...

My cabinet (see above your post) is also from Target, and when the doors were closed things would get quite warm as well. While watching a movie using the PS3, I heard the fans on the PS3 kick in even with the doors closed and the movie at an above normal listening level. The Apple TV is also known to be a good heat source. I bought 4 120mm PC fans from coolerguys.com and mounted one in each of the 4 compartments in the cabinet to bring in fresh air. Components are still warm to the touch, but I can watch a movie without the fans revving up to turbo mode on the PS3.
I can post more pics if you like.
Geoff
 
If you get around to it, that would be great. How are you powering those pc fans? I assume I would need something like the 110v AC to 12v DC Power Supply?

I was planning on getting some new lighting and a surround sound set up. It looks like I will need to add more thing to my list. :D
 
deathbyart said:
If you get around to it, that would be great. How are you powering those pc fans? I assume I would need something like the 110v AC to 12v DC Power Supply?

I was planning on getting some new lighting and a surround sound set up. It looks like I will need to add more thing to my list. :D
Click to expand...

yeah, it came from the same company as the fans. It actually puts out 12V and 5V through a regular Molex connector. I actually switched a wire and have my fans running on 5V. Now they run silent 24/7, and still put enough fresh air in to prevent overheating. I think I spent around $75 for everything, more than I had planned on - but I have over $1500 worth of electronics in that cabinet, so I figured it was a good investment.
 
deathbyart said:
If you get around to it, that would be great. How are you powering those pc fans? I assume I would need something like the 110v AC to 12v DC Power Supply?

I was planning on getting some new lighting and a surround sound set up. It looks like I will need to add more thing to my list. :D
Click to expand...

OK, here are the pics. I bought screens to put on the back to cover the blades in case the cat climbed behind the cabinet. They do affect air flow quite a bit, moreso than I thought they would anyway. Let me know if you are interested more about the setup - I can give more detailed information about the parts.
Geoff
 

Attachments

  • P2270280.jpg
    P2270280.jpg
    338.7 KB · Views: 489
  • P2270281.jpg
    P2270281.jpg
    352.1 KB · Views: 449
It was nice checking out all the setups. I'm in the process of designing our media room. We have our relatives living with us so they are taking up the extra room, but once they are out we are turning it into a media room. I've been doing a mockup in Google sketchup, and these have been giving me a good idea. Were going to have a flat screen wall mounted with speakers on the side and surround sound. We may do the LACK x 2 on top of each other like a previous poster did or demo a built in desk we have and have a little stacked media cabinet. In they're we'll have a receiver, dvd player, cd changer, xbox, apple tv. Then with the apple tv I'll probably just start a big movie collection. Can you hookup an external to the :apple:TV or is it just the internal HDD? If not i'll just keep them on one of our macs and stream them.
 
Taken at my last apartment (last year).

Pretty much the same as my current setup, except I have since added a PS3 and Velodyne HGS12 Mkii. Adding a Mac Mini next week.

Cheers
 

Attachments

  • IMG_1052.jpg
    IMG_1052.jpg
    825.1 KB · Views: 716
martinmartin said:
Taken at my last apartment (last year).

Pretty much the same as my current setup, except I have since added a PS3 and Velodyne HGS12 Mkii. Adding a Mac Mini next week.

Cheers
Click to expand...

Move that right speaker next to the TV!!!!!!
 
phiberglass said:
Can you hookup an external to the :apple:TV or is it just the internal HDD? If not i'll just keep them on one of our macs and stream them.
Click to expand...

That you can not do, so you would just stream the movies from the computer.


p.s. iowamensan - I am sending a pm. :p
 
Here are some quickies of my bedroom. I'll take some of my actually Home Theatre another day.

30HS420 Sony HD Trinitron Tube
XBOX 360 + HD-DVD Drive + Guitar Hero
Old Sony Pro Logic Receiver
Some budget "Quest" speakers from Futureshop that cost very little.


Edit: wow, I need an I.S. lens.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_4461.jpg
    IMG_4461.jpg
    889.8 KB · Views: 411
  • IMG_4462.jpg
    IMG_4462.jpg
    899.2 KB · Views: 399
  • IMG_4463.jpg
    IMG_4463.jpg
    878.9 KB · Views: 448
I'm going to be building a media center soon I need to figure out all the stuff I'm going to get for it :D
 
martinmartin said:
Taken at my last apartment (last year).

Pretty much the same as my current setup, except I have since added a PS3 and Velodyne HGS12 Mkii. Adding a Mac Mini next week.

Cheers
Click to expand...

An 800 series HT :eek:

Stunning!

I'm selling my B&W DM7s at the moment to get some of the new 600 series speakers...
 
lost eden said:
Best I can do as a poor university student with a small room & thin walls :(

view_from_bed.jpg


Monitor: 20" Silicon Graphics CRT (rebadged Sony Triniton), which rotates to the right for when I'm sat at the desk

Source: Shuttle XPC running openSuSE with region-free DVD, Dreamcast, PS2

Amplifier: Aurex SB-A10

Speakers: Mission 732

(Speaker wire: Gale Symphony 400)
(Banaana plugs: 24k gold-plated solid brass MT Audio)

Picture taken from my bed :)
Click to expand...

Whoa, those speakers... How good are they? How loud do they get? I'm considering buying those...
 
Well I got the bias lighting and the led's in the shelves up. Now if I could get a decent freaking picture of it... :mad:
 
ravenvii said:
Whoa, those speakers... How good are they? How loud do they get? I'm considering buying those...
Click to expand...
When they came out they had a list price of ~£200 (which equates to about £250 these days). I picked them up second hand for £31 :) They sound pretty damned good with a decent amp, wires & banana plugs. Not as good as B&W DM601 (which are a lot more expensive & will probably be my next upgrade path), but a helluva lot better than the Sony SS-MB250H I had before. They're rated at 20-100W & that's plenty loud enough for a mid-to-large room; here in my small dorm room they're too loud & if I played them at full whack I would end up with hearing damage! If you're looking for a decent pair of standmounts at a sensible price, they're ace!
 
our a/v system as it stands now, possibly a few changes to come this year..
homecinema.jpg

Panasonic th42pwd6 plasma
Kef iq1 front speakers
Kef iq6c centre speaker
Kef egg rears(not in pic)
b&w asw 675 subwoofer
Pioneer ax5ais intergrated a/v amplifier
Pioneer dv868ais dvd player
xbox360
ninty wii
sky+ box
isotek vision mains conditioner
probably change the plasma for one of the new pana hd's closer to christmas, and add a ps3 when my phone contracts up and i can get a free one:D
we get a hell of a lot of enjoyment out of it as it is now tho, and that little voice in my head keeps telling me 'if it aint broke,don't try and fix it'!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back