I just wanted to chime in and agree that mounting your tv over the fireplace is really really stupid.

astro,

I'm really surprised that you're talking about burn-in on plasma. Do you disagree with the conventional wisdom that it isn't an issue anymore with newer models.

I want a harmony remote really bad.

Well, it looks like if I ever get my money out of Neteller, I'll be treating myself to a new remote and a new HTIB. I have an earlier model of Sony's SXRD TV, and the 50", and I'll vouch that it's awesome.

Sean,

We have the electronics for the bedroom on a low slung set of shelfs on the floor beneath the TV, about 18 inches high. The footprint is small, but the important thing is that it opens up a couple of cubic yards of volume that would have been taken up by a regular entertainment center.

I will probably be going flat panel in the living room this year for the same reason. We have a regular TV in an entertainment armoir type thing, and it looms like a frigging refrigerator in my living room. It annoys me more and more every day. Just typing this has made me want to go TV shopping.

really, that's the biggest issue with LCD's and plasmas: the hidden cost of hanging them. unless you are handy with drilling holes/covering them up and such, you need to get this done professionally, or it will end up looking bad. you also have the issue of setting up a storage system for 'everything else' like your tivo, cable box, receiver, etc.

at the same time, it's silly to see LCD's sitting on a table that was designed for a regular TV, which I sometimes see.

right now I have a 55 inch projection tv, which is gigantic. the great thing about it (besides the picture) is that I just put all my components on top of it (about 6), and wires behind it, and it actually looks ok, b/c the top of the TV is basically a coffee table 5 feet up in the air.

i think the effects are dramatically overstated. you're not going to blow up your television by playing a video game, etc. but i have seen enough slightly smoked sets in-person to have lingering concerns about 4:3 black boxes, since i refuse to stretch. the bottom line for me is that a 0.25% or whatever chance of burn-in is too great when i get just as easily get 0.0%. it's the same thing as the dlp rainbows, not many people see them but i can avoid the risk entirely. i will take impossible over extremely unlikely if it's reasonable.

boro,

We just built a house and had all the crap pre wired I think. No wires in the bedroom that i remember but the DVD player is just laying on the floor. Our bedroom is intentionally small no way we could have fit an entertainment center of any sort in there.

In the family room we just ordered a cabinet for all the stuff just sitting on the floor right now. I think it was 4'tall, 3' wide and 22" deep and will just sit under the wall mounted TV. I think this will look much better than having an actual massive entertainment center.

i abhor built-ins, cabinets, etc. the more enclosed spaces, the more i hate them. i've run into that before. somebody's talking about hdtvs, they don't know their viewing distance, they have a lot of disposable income...but they can't exceed 37" because they have to maintain compatibility with their built-in. i would rip anything out of my house, wall, or whatever if it was preventing me from making complete decisions about what i buy. to me it's like somebody having a tiny garage and saying they want the best new car they can buy except it can't be any larger than a toyota yaris. i'd rather buy what i want and park it on the street.

you seem to be implying that you'll get rid of your setup, which is cool. i'm not at all directing this at you, it's just a rant. i've always been a flat desk, open shelving kind of guy.

It's cool. It's just that my psychological makeup has drifted over the 6 or so years since we got this entertainment armoir thing. The wife picked it out, and I didn't really make a fuss about it. But in the intervening years I have really become minimalist and anti-clutter in home furnishings. I really prefer open space. If you can believe it, it's one of the reasons I really enjoy dancing and taking and teaching dance classes. Just a big empty space with beautiful hardwood floors. So I'm really into cathedral ceilings, open second stories, open floor plans that move through most of the living space, low clean furniture lines, and electronics on/in the walls. I hate feeling compressed by the walls and "stuff" in a room, especially where I live.

oh, i'm with you. when i bought my condo it was in okay condition, but i did a lux-lite makeover of the entire thing. part of my design ethic in the guest bathroom was that there couldn't be any enclosures: no cabinets, no drawers, etc. if all of the clutter is forced out into the open, it seems like it is less likely to happen. and i just totally hate it when misc screws, bottles of cleaning products, etc are simply thrown into a cabinet and never touched again. so the guest bathroom has a pedestal sink with a flat cultured stone top and an open shelf. i went with glass cabinets over the "bar" in my kitchen for similar reasons. i would have taken the idea further if i didn't think it would harm resale value. i'm sure most people are going to want cabinets and drawers in the master bathroom, etc.

Great thread idea. I have the exact same stand for my setup.

Top row: Sony VHS VCR; DirecTV HR-20 DVR; Xbox360 with HD-DVD add-on
Bottom row: Pioneer double cassette deck; Pioneer DVD player (480p output); Panasonic DVD-Recorder; Playstation 2; Denon AVR-2805 receiver

Speakers: Vandersteen 2Ce
Subwoofer: SVS PB-10.

Remote: Home Theater Master MX-700

The only upgrades I want to make now is a new DVD player (probably the Oppo 981).

Wishlist: TSU7000 remote control; Denon AVR-2807 receiver (same as mine, but with DVI switching); Surround sound system (undecided); Playstation 3

I remember a while ago posting in OOT for advice on DVD and a sound system. You recommended what you have, and as a result bought both. I am very happy with both purchases, the DVD player is very nice. The sound system is ok,although even on surround it doesnt feel like surround, but for the purchase price I am happy. So thank you for the recommendation, it has worked out well.

Your post just made me think of an awesome quote from a decision by Justice Brandeis: "Sunlight is the best of disinfectants." It's so true. Anything that you can see is less likely to get messed up. Agree 100% on having no enclosures anywhere. Look how nice the bush stand looks in the pic on the site. That looks 1000x better than a closed cabinet door with a trashy setup behind it.

gusmahler,

Get that mirror out from behind your system!

Otherwise very nice setup.

2k stereo audio system specs? anyone here use McIntosh stuff? My TV setup downstairs is a 32 inch samsung hd, hooked to a 1978 Marantz 1060b, hooked to KEF C40 speakers. I've never been able to turn the Marantz past 40% as when i got to 35 the neighbors came over immediately to complain