I've been looking for a media center that would support all of my components. Found the Salamander synergy series and the SN20 seemed closest but still not deep enough to fully support a power amplifier without cutting up the back board or eliminating it altogether...few if any have the support depth to do so. So after seeing that the units Salamander sells also comes non assembled (really? for $959.00?) I took a closer look at their list of materials for the SN20 and decided to build my own. The end result is below. The cost? About 55% cheaper even buying my supplies at full retail unlike a manufacturer who can buy at a discount both for resale and at high volume. The flexibility to make the item to my own size, finish style, and needs makes the value even more so. Salamander retails the SN20 at $959.00 currently in 2024. In building materials I spent a little under $400 before Menards 11% rebate of about $33.00 on items I bought there, so under $375.00 overall. Attached are the photos of the final product. Excuse the wood establishing the center speaker angle. That has been since replaced with proper angled acoustic foam support to clean it up. Just didn't feel like taking more photos. I cut all of the extruded T-slot aluminum to size and tapped the ends. Poplar and Aspen was used for the top, bottom, and center shelves. Picked up 24x48 edge glued lumber and fabricated as needed. I added a third extruded aluminum support on each side just to make it more personalized and stable. The feet are self leveling and height adjustable. The back fastens on and comes off easily for access. I added additional 2" access holes (3 on each side) on the lower shelf and trim ringed to feed the wiring out the bottom so the back panel was not cut into. So improvements to the Salamander concept were made. As for my labor rate to build it...ZERO. In the word of the A-Team "I love it when a plan comes together".
