AV: Stealth Sky/Amp/DVD etc?

Hi all,

My other half and I have agreed on a compromise plan for a redecorating / AV solution

I get my plasma and surround sound (the real hifi kit is being relocated to another room) - and she gets her new fireplace and minimalist smart room layout. I've compromised on speakers, and have ordered a cheapo Tannoy FX5.1 surround package - if this sounds awful I'll upgrade fairly rapidly. However, reviews look positive - and they're ideal in terms of size (and will be partnered with a Marantz 4400 amp).

Anyway - on to the point of this post ...

We plan on having the plasma above the fireplace, in the centre of a wall. Either side of the plasma/fireplace we'll have tall bookcases. The whole layout will be symmetrical, with the sofa placed in the idea location - directly in front of the plasma

However - in planning all of this, we overlooked the AV gear. Everything will look great - apart from the fact we have nowhere to hide the sky box, amp and DVD recorder. If we try to squeeze a hifi rack between the fireplace and a bookshelf, it'll look cluttered and spoil the whole 'look'.

Without locating the AV gear on the other side of the room, and running long lengths of cable to/from the plasma (not ideal!) can any suggest any cunning ways to hide the AV kit? I suggested putting it on a shelf of the bookcases - but that again will make the whole setup look cluttered and spoil the look.

I can't think of any ideas - apart from running huge cables all over the floor ...

Any suggestions would be very appreciated...

 

why not have the bottom of each book case enclosed with the kit behind smoked glass or whatever is lawrence this week. that way you keep the symetry and have somewhere to shove all the crap out of sight that will naturally accumulate when you start living in the room.
cheers


julian

 

Could you not have cupboards under the bookcases and store the av gear in there. If you had them on each side they'd still be symetrical and could be used for other things on the other side. You could get one of those funny eye things for your remote, like if you had sky plugged into your upstairs telly

 

Hmmmm yes ... some good suggestions. We were looking at some book cases with enclosed bottom bits - hadn't thought of glass though (always figured it looks a bit 70's) but ... it might well be a solution.

I'll have to see what units are available

Thanks all,


Steve

 

blue frosted glass would look pretty cool in an ikea catalogue room kind of way
cheers


julian

 

Calm down lawrence

 

andy, with my curtains i can hardly be 'lawrence' now can i?
cheers


julian

 

Food for thought.

You can also have bookcases with enclosed bottom custom made to cleanly fill both sides of the fireplace symmetrically.
Depending on how wide both wings are, you may have an open space at the bottom on each side, one for the HiFi, one for some other purpose.

It can be made of MDF you can paint as you please. The advantage is you can have your power sockets built in (inside) and space provided for running all the wires to keep your other half happy.

The disadvantage is this sort of setup usually stays when you move out as it won't fit elsewhere (I know, that's what I had in the old place). And custom made is usually not cheap.

Cheers