Hi Guys

Currently I have my plasma TV sitting on an Ikea TV stand and the centre speaker is on a wall shelf mounted above & behind it.

During my impromptu DVD5 demo the other day I spotted a B&W HTM1 centre speaker This er...lttle speaker is somewhat larger and heavier than my original speaker.

My query is, has anyone seen a plasma stand that incorporates a single shelf to support a centre speaker? The plasma mount point should be at a height that gives a horizonal view whilst seated on a sofa so no cricks in the neck!

I can't use a floorstand for the centre speaker as it would be too far forward and create even more of a mess than there is currently!

Any suggestions would be appreciated as I'm never going to wallmount it.

I'll post some pics at some point!

Cheers,

Steve.

HI,
I have just took delivery of one of these:
http://www.stil-stand.co.uk/site/hogtra.htm

will post a picture once its up, just waiting for the spikes...

andy c!

Hi Steve,

If you're talking about a neat slim stand with a simple shelf, I haven't seen one. However, that kind of stand which we've seen on telly's is usually a flimsier affair than a decent system wants to have in it, and the various shapes and sizes of centre speakers don't help either of course.

I guess the only alternative is an AV stand from the likes of Quadraspire and Hutter. These stands contribute to a more stable picture and if you place the HiFi on it (or on a separate dedicated stand) the sonics are improved too. The centre speaker could also sit on the stand.

The downside of this is that the speaker sinks a lot of energy into the stand which is detrimental to picture stability, but not so much that it actually makes the picture fuzzy! The only stand I've ever seen that decouples the centre speaker from the display stand was a one-off special Naim Fraim displayed by Naim at a HiFi show a couple of years back. It was expensive (about £2700) and I don't believe it's a 'production' item any more, but the theory of its operation is sound so there is an open niche in the market for this kind of product methinks.

Regards,
Frank.
All opinions are my own and do not reflect the opinion of any organisations I work for, except where this is stated explicitly.

Hi

Andy, did see that one - unluckily it doesn't look like it will mount the B&W HTM1 on the shelving underneath due to lack of space!

Frank, yeah, I was looking for a nice slimline stand which looks like it was designed for a home environment instead of an office!

From what I can see, it looks like the option will be to go for some kind of low height plasma stand and purchase the actual centre stand for the HTM1.

Again, this will depend on the floor space taken up by the plasma stand for its stability.

The problem with the separate stand option is it then starts to look messy.

I'm currently using this as a stand and to be honest I would say it's really good for holding a plasma but it doesn't have space for a centre speaker. I could get another wood stand to mount on top but it would have to be stable and leave enough space to put the centre speaker underneath and it's something I wouldn't want to do.

Thinking about this, I'm wondering if it's worth going to a local furniture manufacturer to see if they could produce a bespoke item for me though we could be talking about even more expense then.

Argh, this causes so much aggro for design and placement issues!

Steve,

I've got this:

http://www.johnlewis.com/Shopping/Product.aspx?ARA=Furniture&CAT=Living+Room&SCT=Living+Room&PRT=Television+Stands&Type=SKU&Id=230191402

It takes all my kit and a Linn Centrik fits just in the middle below the TV.

Roy.

Here's mine Quadraspire QKAV :-



Shelves are adjustable so can take an height speaker as long as it's not wider than 1 meter.

Cheers for those two

Neither are quite what I was after so will have to do some further digging!

It's not urgent at the moment so will carry on looking over time.

Steve.

Try here.... there may be something that you can use.

steve

contact paul at custom design

www.customdesign.co.uk

hell make one to your requirments ( brushed steel finish looks great)

neil

Cheers guys

Not quite into the brushed metal and glass look so neither are quite what I'm after.

I should really have done with it and go for a ceiling mount projector and stick the plasma in my bedroom! Unluckily, with all the stuff I wanna buy, can't afford that! Oh well.

I'll get what I want, even if it kills er...someone else.

Steve.

Ancipital!my experience:it is akind of lottery win to find something that fits to the furniture of a given room,a n d has also the perfect function for our beloved hifi gear.
and if you (sometimes) win that lottery,the thing is often as expensive as made by a carpenter individual for you.
Good idea :create something which parts are easy to produce (and therefore not so expensive.)maybe you have a friend in your area
that can help you to build your own rack.and look at those ikea designs:they consist always out of simple (non expensive )parts.
O.J.

Ancipital,

Try here: http://www.spectral-moebel.de/

The 'Closed' range looks interesting and might be what you are looking for.

Alternatively, how about this AV Support

Allan

OJ, tell me about, so damn hard to find something I want which I deem to be pretty straight forward!

Allan, thanks, had a look and the Plasma PL117-AL or PL141-AL are very close to what I'm after, in fact, about the closest so far without just having a centreal column and somewhere to mount a centre speaker. Bookmarked that link for the meantime, will find out about the price later!

Cheers!

If your un- sure about metal finishes.. that leaves wood... Saw these at the Bristol show & at a few dealers, some of there stuff I do like, may be usefull..

May I ask why you don't hang your Plasmas/LCDs and just put the center on top of whatever TV stand you are using. Kind of replace the TV on your stand with the center and hang the TV. I personally find Plasmas and LCDs hanging on the wall by far better looking.