New AV cabinet

[barnitto]

My new AV has arrived and in in place. Thought I would share some before and after pics. The new cabinet is bespoke and made by AVSoul. I know a few people on here have had stuff made by them, I was really impressed, quality is better than off the shelf product and cheaper for what I wanted. Highly recommended.

(And yes I have new speakers as well!)

 

[Zigourney]

very nice indeed

 

[steve12]

Nice cabinet mate, whats the ventilation like with all the kit in there?

 

[barnitto]

Well, funny you should ask. I actual had to remove the rear panel from the left hand side as the sky box was getting way too hot. With the back off there is now plenty of ventilation.

 

[helicon2]

Hey @barnitto, that's a lovely cabinet mate!

I'm looking to get a cabinet made by AVSoul too, been chatting with Stuart about it. I'm concerned about ventilation so interesting that you say you've needed to remove a rear panel. I want to position mine hard up against the wall so no dust gets down the back so was hoping the slatted front would be enough but now I'm concerned about that! Still considering our design at the moment though.

Can I ask what material you've used on the top and is that black acoustically transparent fabric with the centre speaker behind?

Cheers

 

[barnitto]

You’ll get no through draft if it’s hard against the wall, leave a a couple of cm and you should be fine. The sky box was the real issue for heat. The cabinet itself is just painted mdf, and yes the fabric is accoustic transparent with the centre speaker behind. Again I had to modify it slightly - lol. I should have asked for the speaker frame to be made from aluminium rather than wood.

There is just lots to think about going bespoke.

 

[Leeray3]

Hey @barnitto, I really love the cabinet mate!

I have been looking at bespoke cabinets for sometime now and am always looking at what other people have done and try to get some ideas from them.

Can I ask a couple of questions? 1) is the speaker frame removeable and how is it attached to the cabinet i.e. is it held in place by magents and 2) does the wooden grills interfere with the signal from a remote control or do you keep these open when using the av system?

The wife wants everything out of sight so if I want a cabinet then this is the compromise. She really likes what you have done and if there is very little interference with signals from a remote then this might be what we do.

Thanks

 

[helicon2]

Hey @barnitto , thanks for the response and advice. In terms of cooling, I was also wondering about using fans to blow hot air towards the slatted front, going to give it more thought!

As @Leeray3 mentioned, also interested in how the material is fixed and how it’s removed. Also wondering why you think the frame should be made from aluminium instead of wood?

Thanks again.
Andy

 

[barnitto]

Fans would be a good idea. If I designed it again I would definitely incorporate fans. Even with the back off things run warmer they would in fully open cabinet

The slats are IR transparent but the cabinet itself is not. I had to get an IR extender for an amp in a different section. The speaker frame is held on with magnets and a lip on the rear. It’s hard to explain the design issue (my design!) with the speaker frame. It’s long and thick, so being made of wood it is heavy. Also because it is so big the frame had to made thicker than I would have liked.

Cannot fault the build quality and finish. Initially I was a little frustrated that things weren’t perfect but realised that this was down to my design and some unintended consequences of choices I made. Going bespoke is great, but comes with it’s own challenges

 

[helicon2]

@barnitto thanks very much for the info mate.

Its certainly not easy but you can be proud though cause it looks great!

 

[Leeray3]

Hey barnitto,
just reviving your old thread as I was wondering how you were getting on with your new cabinet, after a few months in are you experiencing any problems?

I am still playing around with ideas and think I have what I am looking for now (with the wife's permission), the only difference between the 3 images is the greyed out area which is mesh. The images show individual mesh panels only over the speakers, individual mesh panels over the whole top half or one fixed piece of mesh over the top half of the cabinet. The wife likes the third one most as it's less fussy!

I was basing my idea off of an image from Avsoul that I like (below).

I'm looking at the frame being an inch and a half thick and the shelves an inch.

Note that regrettably my Left, Centre and Right speaker will need to be housed in the cabinet as it is impossible for me to have them on stands currently they sit on an old Stands Unique glass shelf so fingers crossed I shouldn't notice any loss in sound quality.

Let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions then please let me know.

thanks

 

[Bograt71]

Very nice. Looking for ideas on how to manage the cabling from the cabinet to the wall/speaker connections. At some point, a cabinet has to be moved and wanted to see how folk solved this problem without over engineering it!

 

[Bograt71]

 

[barnitto]

Hey barnitto,
just reviving your old thread as I was wondering how you were getting on with your new cabinet, after a few months in are you experiencing any problems?

I am still playing around with ideas and think I have what I am looking for now (with the wife's permission), the only difference between the 3 images is the greyed out area which is mesh. The images show individual mesh panels only over the speakers, individual mesh panels over the whole top half or one fixed piece of mesh over the top half of the cabinet. The wife likes the third one most as it's less fussy!

View attachment 1247664

I was basing my idea off of an image from Avsoul that I like (below).

View attachment 1247666

I'm looking at the frame being an inch and a half thick and the shelves an inch.

Note that regrettably my Left, Centre and Right speaker will need to be housed in the cabinet as it is impossible for me to have them on stands currently they sit on an old Stands Unique glass shelf so fingers crossed I shouldn't notice any loss in sound quality.

Let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions then please let me know.

thanks

I realised I am very late in replying - I forgot to follow my own thread

speakers need to be proud of cabinet to avoid reflections. I’ve had to ditch the speaker cover on the cabinet so I can bring my centre forward. I’m having an oak frame made instead.

 

[ciaran75]

Hey barnitto,

I am still playing around with ideas and think I have what I am looking for now (with the wife's permission), the only difference between the 3 images is the greyed out area which is mesh. The images show individual mesh panels only over the speakers, individual mesh panels over the whole top half or one fixed piece of mesh over the top half of the cabinet. The wife likes the third one most as it's less fussy!

View attachment 1247664


I'm looking at the frame being an inch and a half thick and the shelves an inch.

Note that regrettably my Left, Centre and Right speaker will need to be housed in the cabinet as it is impossible for me to have them on stands currently they sit on an old Stands Unique glass shelf so fingers crossed I shouldn't notice any loss in sound quality.

Let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions then please let me know.

thanks

Hi Leeray3,
Just wondering did you ever build this cabinet?
I am in the identical situation where all speakers must be hidden and was thinking of something like your option3

Thanks,

 

[Leeray3]

Hi ciaran75,
No not yet, I have put this on hold just for now but want to get this by the end of the year. Have you spoken to any companies yet about what you want?

 

[Leeray3]

I realised I am very late in replying - I forgot to follow my own thread

speakers need to be proud of cabinet to avoid reflections. I’ve had to ditch the speaker cover on the cabinet so I can bring my centre forward. I’m having an oak frame made instead.

Thats a shame! I'm guessing pushing the speaker right up to the mesh isn't sufficient? Do you have any final pics of your new design that you could share with us. I might consider removing the mesh from my idea if it has such a big impact

 

[barnitto]

You still get reflections from the frame (the frame on mine is about 40mm thick!). The surround hasn’t been made yet, so it looks unfinished.