Why you should buy real Media Furniture

Dedicated audio video home theater furniture is definitely the way to go. Whether you are about to buy a TV stand, a media center shelving system or a media cabinet. I know this. But when a small, locally owned furniture store was having a blow-out sale, I saw a lovely mission style cabinet. Made of Oak and 1/3 the price. I had some friends help bring it in. Getting a heavy oak piece upstairs is a struggle, but that was the easy part!

I offer my day from hell below, but here’s the brief: Buy furniture built for AV home theater
1) The backs usually can be removed and replaced by sliding into place or with removable screws. 2) There are often built in cable management to hold the cables neatly and shelves with holes to run cables. 3) A good one will have a small light on the back that can be turned on to illuminate the connections on the backs of your components. 4) It will have an internal fan to keep components (particularly an AV receiver) running cooler by circulating air, thereby giving it a longer life. 5) The cabinets will give room to move the components around, and maybe even a larger area dedicated to a large center speaker.

WHAT I SHOULD HAVE BOUGHT The picture below is from Salamander Designs. Note that they can come with special accessories, like fans, removable backs, TV mounts, etc.

The one I bought was deceiving. It came with a piece of speaker cover material that could replace one of the glass doors (so you could put the center channel speaker inside and hear it)…that seemed like they knew a little about what they were doing. And it seemed like the cabinets were 17 inches wide.

If you’re not convinced of the value of media furniture (it can run well over $1,000 or $2,000), read on…

First, there was only one set of holes in each of the cabinet sections. The holes were toward the top. And the shelves had no hole through them. So how was I to plug in the component below the shelf? My neighbors (and saviors) rescued me with a hole saw. We could drill another hole in the back. But then, one component is an AV receiver. All of the cables were not going to fit through one hole. He drilled 3 in that plywood back. And another component was a a/v power conditioner power center (it cleans up any noise on my audio and gives me more detail in my video), that has something like 12 outlets on the back. I needed some extra holes for that one too. It was plywood, and easy enough to drill a hole through.

Then came the real nightmare…I had measured a couple of times to be sure that the cabinets were more than 17 inches wide (the typical width of an AV component –from satellite boxes to DVD players to AV receivers). It was 18 inches.

So, I try to put in the AV receiver in the center. I have to tilt it because the lip for the door makes it narrower than 17 inches. And it won’t go down. It’s VERY heavy. It’s wedged. Let the obscenities fly! Turns out the center cabinet is just a tad narrower. I put it in one of the side cabinets and after maneuvering that back-breaking receiver, it CLUNKED down into place (can’t be good for it). When I tried with the power stabilizer (a 75 pound device) I was afraid that it would break my hand or foot when it dropped. The only hope…remove the plywood back.

Here’s where the problem comes in and my advice:Buy media furniture with easily removable backs! It will not only help you to hook things up, it’s also possible if you need to slide in a component from the back because the door in front is too narrow. Removing the plywood back was the biggest nightmare…It was stapled on! My neighbors, who again came to save me, counted 178 staples on just one cabinet section. It took chisels, a crow bar, wire cutters and a hammer to get that thing off!

Luckily the component slid right in from the back.

After much contortion, crawling, labeling, etc. My home theater looks nice. It could look just as nice with a cabinet by Salmander, Bell-O or BDI. But it would be a piece of furniture that was much better suited to the purpose.

Note–It took me a week to post this. Since then, I’ve had to make some additions and changes to my hookup. Oh how I long for removable backs. (It would save MY back from breaking!)

The Future of Plasma TV–Project Kuro– Video as Poetry

Project Kuro was my pick for the most awe-inspiring video innovation at this year’s CES. Pioneer came out with their new line of plasma TVs that were completely re-engineered this past year called “Kuro.” At CES 2008, they unveiled their future concept plasma in a screening room. (Showing off what their technology can do, sort of like a concept car.) It’s so flat (thinner than an iPhone) that it practically disappears when you try to take a picture from the side. Still it’s style is commonplace among the LCDs that were shown and it’s form is the least of its impressive traits.

Pioneer demo’d the new prototype called “Project Kuro” in a small black screening room. In pitch-black darkness, they pulled back the curtains, and showed scenes on 3 screens. One on the left wall, one on the right and another in front of us, but to the left. I thought it odd that it wasn’t centered in front of us. They showed us beautiful video of cinematographers and other filmmakers talking about the importance of picture quality. Then it faded out. A white ring on a black background appeared on the screens. Then I noticed that there was another twirling ring to the right of the front TV. But it was just a twisting, twirling ring. It seemed to float in space. As the two rings danced in front of me, the one on the TV to the left and the one in space, my brain made the connection… There was another TV to the right of the one we had been watching. You could hear everyone in the room GASP!

NO WAY! Wait a minute. This floating ring was the demonstration of the new Project Kuro TV. The black in the picture that surrounded the object disappeared into the darkness. The TV emitted NO LIGHT from the black pixels so only the colors appeared before our eyes, making the object appear to float in space. Next came a floating, velvet red rose, fish swimming in the blackness in front of me, and other flowers. Try as I might, though I couldn’t have been more than 8 feet from this TV, I could not see the bezel (frame) of the TV nor any of the black screen. And the Blu Ray Disc footage was just as stunning–3 dimensional.

This black was like velvet, smooth, seamless. Watching the Project Kuro, I got tears in my eyes–as I do when looking at any thing of beauty. Other reporters described the hair standing up on their neck. This was not just a good picture…it was poetry.

In case you wonder how this is possible…it is all about self-emitting plasma cells. That is, rather than a cell creating the color “black,” when the cell gets the information to be black, it lets out no light at all. And in total darkness, those black plasma cells slip into the background. “>Here are the best pictures I could find that illustrates the difference between the current Kuro and Project Kuro.

I can’t stop reliving the awe of the Project Kuro and can’t wait until it is available. Another thought strikes me however. I think of people who discuss using inexpensive HDMI cables to save money. When I get a TV like this, I can’t imagine trying to save $50 or so and risk not getting all of that amazing picture (after all the picture has to come from a source). And it’ll be good to pair it up with the best Blu-ray Disc player I’ll be able to find at the time!

Luckily as time passes, I am able to go back to watching my Panasonic Plasma and enjoying its beauty for now.

Okay, maybe Bigger IS better–TV Size

Alright boys. You’ve been saying it for years…”I want the biggest screen I can afford” and then you grunt. It’s only been in the past couple of years that plasmas grew past 50″ screens. So bigger meant you had to buy a DLP TV or LCD projection. If you wanted them in 55 or 60 inches, you needed to be sitting far away or the picture was blurry (especially showing analog TV or anything other than HDTV). But now that plasmas and flatscreen LCDs are growing in size, and video processors are cleaning up the noise that makes an HD picture blurry…Now that there’s some good upscalers to make regular TV look good on the big screen HDTV…Okay, I’m changing my tune. Bigger is very cool.

If you love movies or want to feel like YOU ARE THERE. Get a bigger TV. I have a 55 inch Hitachi plasma living in my living room. I sit about 10 feet away from it and it’s completely the focal point in the room, but boy, I tell ya…turn down the lights and you are in a movie theater. Watch Survivor? You are on the island!

If you are watching high def or even a good DVD (better if the DVD player upconverts to show on HDTV)…you can’t have it too big. But don’t try it with an inexpensive TV, EDTV (with a resolution of 480 p not 720 or 1080), or probably not with anything other than a plasma or high end LCD flat panel (possibly a Sony Bravia LCD). Unless it’s a great picture, you want to move away from the screen. An unclear picture becomes sharper with distance.

Another odd phenomenon is that when I replaced my CRT (fat, picture tube TV) with a flatscreen, my surround sound became more clear, better separated. I’m told by my audiophile friends that it’s because there’s more room for the sound to bounce around the room.

You still may, however, have to talk to your spouse about the bigger is better idea. A huge TV may be disproportionate to a small room. It can overshadow the room so that you don’t feel that you can do other living in it. Don’t care? Just want the theater experience? Go for it.

In TV & Technology– Simplicity is believing

Something is wired in my DNA that allows me to take complex technology and break it down so even the most fearful novice can understand it. I’m able to look at technology with fresh eyes and see what’s confusing and then break it down into English. I guess that’s why I’m called the “Technology Simplification Guru”. I have great compassion for people who are not passionate about technology but find themselves in front of a TV or home theater with a dozen remotes and wondering “should I press TV power or system power or…??? I just want to turn the darn thing on!”

So I go out into the world of technology and look for products that make life easier. When products are confusing, I give tips to make them easier to understand and use. And I break down how to buy, hook up and use home theater and electronics like mobile phones and MP3 and video players so that people can know the tips & lessons that techhies forgot they ever had to learn (it’s common sense right?)

My first tip for those starting an adventure into the complex world of new technologies and innovations and fancy TVs and home theater (which means anyone who wants to control or put together the equipment that may already be in their living room!) is:

Simplicity is a state of mind. It’s a calm place where you are confident that what you are trying to put together or control is attainable. Simplicity is the opposite of confusion and overwhelm, where you tell yourelf you can’t figure this dang thing out and it’s never gonna work. No, when you believe something is simple, you move forward and see the bigger picture of how it fits together without your inner resistence. When you believe it’s simple, you make connections between words and it makes sense to you. You find the buttons and menus you are looking for. When you resist and think it’s too hard, it’s almost like what you are looking for has disappeared!

Start by realizing that many other people have learned to work their TVs or how could one account for the millions of TV viewers everyday if they hadn’t figured out how to use their TV? Maybe it is simpler than you think and it is possible for you to learn. Just entertain that possibility the next time you take on buying, setting up, or using technology. The right frame of mind begins to make anything easier.