DIY Entertainment Center

[repeater123]

Maybe this forum is just for speaker building. I apologize if it's OT. I want to build a new entertainment center to replace my existing setup. I have two main goals: 1) easy access to the reciever 2) limited access for the cat! (he has turned my current setup into his personal jungle gym. I have zip-tied pegboard to the sides to keep him out! It works but it just looks terrible. My current setup has a tv stand flanked by two a/v towers and it takes up almost the entire wall. My new design would be much more minimal.
I want to make a modular design for ease of construction. I have very modest wood working ability so I don't want anything too complicated. I figured I could construct it in several "cubes" and then place them on top of one another. I have looked at retail modular designs but they are either too small (Sauder) or too expensive (Salamander) or both. I want to build 2 low lying base cabinets (48"Wx12"Hx24"D) and place them side by side to create an 8ft base cabinet. Then the second "layer" would be constructed out of a series of modular "lids" to sit on top of the base cabinets. This would give me easy access to the A/V Reciever as I could just lift the lid and get to the wires. The center lid would be 48"w to support the new TV (a 50" Samsung DLP) The whole unit would be 22"-24" high. The TV would sit on top with the Center speaker on the wall above it.

Now I have several questions build wise:
1) I plan on using 3/4" birch plywood throughout for stability but am unsure as to the acoustic qualities of plywood. Should I use MDF instead?
2) I plan on just painting the whole thing to match my room but any advice on finishing ply or MDF would be appreciated (paint, stain, veneer, etc?)
3) I would like to place the R and L speakers on the cabinet next to the TV. Is that even a good idea? Any advice on how I could isolate the speakers?
(I have very sturdy speaker stands that I bought from ************.com but the cat plays with them and chews on the speaker wires. I have the wires strapped to the posts with velcro straps and the speakers themselves are strapped to the top plate with bungee cords. I'm so afraid he will knock them over. Hardly the look I was shooting for when I bought my new speakers (JBL Northridge E50's) and stands. I would like to eliminate the stands completely even though I've thought of just building my own stands to fit my needs)

Any help or suggestions you guys could provide would be appreciated.

 

[acurtas]

well, as a woodworker and audiophyte I mean audiophile, I've done quite a few racks for myself and friends.

The best one I ever found was the ubiquitous flexy-rack, using threaded rods on plywood or MDF shelves. My original one was resized about 10 times before I gave it to a friend (so I could build another one). My next one is going to be made out of birch ply stained to look cherry. Birch and Cherry have similar grain patters and birch takes stain well. Cherry is ridiculously expensive.

MDF would be heavier, but a big amp or receiver would add more stability than the weight of the shelf. Just make sure to keep the heavy stuff down low.

As for your cubes approach. Plywood is very strong and can make boxes very easily. Most kitchen cabinets are 5/8" or 3/4" plywood. The problem is how you put it all together. if it's going to be an open back, then you may be in trouble because it will want to wobble or skew. If you have a closed back (which is very stable) you run into venting problems. I would invest in a biscuit jointer (google Porter Cable 557) and glue up the open-ended boxes that way. Reinforce the back side with some metal brackets and make sure the heavy stuff is on bottom.

I hope this isn't too confusing. Best advice is to plan to blow your budget, get some stuff and start making sawdust. The other details will work themselves out later!

good luck.

 

[acurtas]

Oh advice on finishing ply or MDF:

MDF soaks up stain and paint like a sponge. so definitely use a sanding sealer (in the aile with wood stains, paintbrush cleaner, etc). Don't be shy about the edges they are even worse.

If you want to go the wood-stain route, you can carefully hide the plywood edges through design (if you have a table saw you can miter the edges, but that's tough and less stable). Or you can get heat-activated edge banding of the same plywood type and glue it on the edges with an iron. Then it looks like you made the thing out of solid wood.

If you are going to paint it and don't want to fuss with MDF, check out hardwood suppliers for a product called ApplePly. It's ugly, but cheap and stable. It takes paint well, but it's harder to find.

hope this helps.
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