My Dilemma

[phuz]

Ok, so earlier this year I bought a house. Everything is perfect about the house, but ONE THING.

The built in entertainment unit.

These pics are from the previous owner. It's completely empty right now.

http://www.amftx.com/images/wall1.jpg

http://www.amftx.com/images/wall2.jpg

I'm starting to move my stuff in the first week of October. The main problem I have is this: Where the heck am I going to put my LSi15s?! :( It doesn't even look like I can route cable from the back to the front where the speakers will be.

I'd hate to have to rip the stuff out and put custom stuff in or just leave a wall, but I don't know what else I could do. Any ideas? I'm screwed, aren't I?

[wingnut4772]

Re-do it custom for your gear before you are moved in if possible.You will be glad you did later. nice house too....

[polkatese]

Phuz,

good to see you around again, done with hopping countries? :)

I have similar issue, the difference was mine has no built-in in wall, it was just a big hole where the A/V supposed to go. I ordered and built a custom A/V cabinet from a local carpentry, the result is pretty good. I do still have the problem of speaker cables/sub/Xbox 360 having to snake out from behind the wall unit, to the speakers. It is clearly a compromise, short of drilling holes on the wall and routed inside the drywall. Looking at the pics, I don't see any other way for you to fit in the 15 properly, other than to gut the wall unit out and redesign it. Btw, what's behind the section? hall-way?

ps: great house, congrats and good luck with the move!

[madmax]

Tough one. This is why I hate built in audio/video centers. Yours is one of the nicer looking ones, btw. You could always go with the surround bar and do a 2 channel elsewhere. Depends on your intersts, I don't know how much you are into HT.
madmax

[PolkThug]

Is there another room you can use as a dedicated theater room?

[amulford]

I'm screwed, aren't I?

I don't know... Where do you want them? Either side of that built in would be perfect.

Where is the gear hidden? ( Please don't tell me the TV was the extent of it!) How handy are you with the tools?

The good thing is it's all painted ( the center and the trim). That gives you the opportunity to do a little dis-assembly and retouch so you won't even know you were there.

Since everything is empty, I would do a little customization to the cabinetry now. You can go inside and drill to route the cables as needed. Go to the back of the units, you'll never see it. (Just make sure you have the cables you want, it will be a real PITA to change them later.)

As far as your speaker cables, the cabinets have a toe kick on the base fronts. Remove it and the baseboard molding adjacent to them. The sheet rock should have a small gap along the floor. If it doesn't, rout a rabbet along the back bottom edge of the baseboard. After you bring your cables out, replace everything and touch it up.

It'll take some time, but you'll like it.

[Emlyn]

I'd just do the SurroundBar in this situation, and two channel elsewhere. The cabinetry looks from the photos to be very well done, so I wouldn't mess around with it much. Taking the cabinetry out and leaving a bare wall might not be a viable option if the tile flooring was put in after the cabinets and you couldn't find a match for the flooring.

If you don't have the option of putting audio gear elsewhere in the house, and the flooring isn't an issue, a possibility may be to get a cabinet maker to take out the bottom sections of the two side units and replace them with just shelves the depth of the upper units. The LSi15's should fit pretty well in front of the shelves then.

[unc2701]

Go to LSI9's plus a sub and put the 15's in a dedicate 2 channel system...

Here's how you work it with the wife:
Setup the 15's in the most annoying, in-the-way, *******, spot. say "ta-da, the system is all set up!" wait for the "oh, hell no!" then say, "guess I should buy some smaller speakers..."

[joeparaski]

I see you bought it from a very religious person.....10 crosses on the wall:eek: :confused:

[schwarcw]

You may not have no other choice than to gut out most or all of the in built. Either that or find another room. That screen on the TV is way too high. What were they thinking?

Nice house! Good luck!

[Polk65]

The rear of the cabinets, ceiling fan, recessed lighting and air duct give nice access to route your cables. I would choose either a wall plate above the baseboard (like the one in your hallway in the background) or cutting part of the baseboard then pull the wires through attached to a piece of romex. If it gets tough there is a romex lube you can get. Finish with a wall plate on or above the baseboard and touch up.

Do you have access underneath the floor?

[phuz]

Thanks for the advise and compliments everyone. I'm stoked about the house, and coming home.

polkatese, I'm done country hopping for now at least. Who knows where I'll be next year! Behind the wall is mostly my master closet, and a little of the master bath.

My primary interest is 2ch audio at first. Adding surrounds later on will be relatively easy, it's just the placement of the LSi15s that is bothering me. I could have a second room for music, but I'm always listening to music or something when I'm at home. I'd like for my main 2ch system to be in the main focal point of the house, and eventually make it a media/entertainment area. This is where I will spend most of my time when I am at home.

Amulford, I dont' know where the gear will be hidden yet! Those pics are from a previous owner, I haven't even put my stuff in there or physically walked in the house yet. My cousin and inspector told me that there are shelves and holes in the cabinets for gear routing cables. I'll get more details and pics when I get home in about 2 weeks. I am a bit handy, and so is my cousin. I like your thinking, because I really don't want to get rid of it. I suppose I could put one speaker on each side of the unit, near each outer corner.

I had thought about LSi9+sub. This is still an option that I am considering.

I like the wall plate idea. I'll almost definately have to do wall plates no matter what.

unc2701: No wife to worry about. I'm single, and can buy whatever I want! :)

The floor is actually concrete. The foundation was poured high, scored to look like giant tile, and stained.

Any more suggestions are welcome. I'll update this more with info when I get home in a couple of weeks. I can't freakin wait.

[unc2701]

Yeah, I've seen a lot of those concrete floors lately- very cool. You probably wouldn't want to do this w/ those floors, but a friend of mine was on slab- when he put down hardwoods, he got a concrete blade for a circular saw and routed some channels into the slab, then laid his rear chanel speaker wire into them, then just put the hardwoods over it.

Hit us with more pics once you're in!

[DaveMuell]

Did you get moved in?

How did this turn out?