Modular Entertainment Unit System - Meus

[Curious]

Welcome to my workshop fellow HT enthusiasts

Have you ever cursed the fact that our hobby leads us down the path of so many upgrades that the poor old entertainment unit often becomes obsolete almost as often as the equipment we happily purchase?

I know I have DesignedCreated/Constructed a number of units over the years to house my everchanging HT set-up...and dam it's taken it's financial toll on the HT budget

What I wanted was a high class solid timber entertainment unit that could be rearranged and upgraded every time I changed a piece of kit, not at the cost of a whole new unit (probably costing several thousand dollars).

So, my little furniture company got to have some fun designing and building a modular system that could be pulled apart and changed to house any new piece of kit I purchase without changing the overall visual integrity of the furniture itself.

Couple of 'must haves' were as follows: it must be of high class design and build - fit into my home beautifully as a piece of furniture - enjoy a goodly amount of WAF -be highly functional as well as asthetically pleasing to the eye - be flexible - not cost the same as a whole new unit when a partial upgrade was required - and (most importantly for our future customers) look a million bucks without exceeding a RRP of say $5500.

So, after several discussions with Mrs Curious (whose idea it was to make it 'pull apart' for flexibility) and my business partner and Master Craftsman of our furniture company (who is responsible for the high quality joinery and timber polishing) I designed my first modular entertainment unit...and the recipe goes a little like this:

Take several solid timber (Sydney Blue Gum) boards of 300mm depth x 3000mm long x 30mm thickness and mitre cut them to create a perfect box with enormous visual appeal. Join them with precision so the edges look sharp and pristine. Cut any shape required by the client in the top to reveal the lovely design of their amplifier/DVD player/Pre-Amp etc. Hand polish the piece inside and out so that you can place it on it's own in a room and it will look singlarly sexy. After doing all that, the result was this:

http://www.dtvforum.info/index.php?act=att...ost&id=9840

At this point I started to wonder if it was possible for a box to exude sensuality - this is kinda weird but I think I was getting a little Mahogany from the Blue Gum ifyaknowwhatimean

Next step was to create a whole swag of these little beauties and play with putting them in different shapes to confirm the flexibility factor (happy to say it ticks all the boxes - no pun intended)

Once we had our box collection, we made a base housing for them to lock into:

http://www.dtvforum.info/index.php?act=att...ost&id=9839

Next we stacked different sized boxes together (all made to suit the different sizes of my HT kit) and it started to come together:

http://www.dtvforum.info/index.php?act=att...ost&id=9841

Another layer was added for some more HT kit:

http://www.dtvforum.info/index.php?act=att...ost&id=9842

And again another layer - just cos I could

http://www.dtvforum.info/index.php?act=att...ost&id=9843

Combine with a very lovely grained piece of Blue Gum for a top:

http://www.dtvforum.info/index.php?act=att...ost&id=9848

And finally the whole lot connected together:

http://www.dtvforum.info/index.php?act=att...ost&id=9844

http://www.dtvforum.info/index.php?act=att...ost&id=9845

To say I was pleased is an understatement. What's been created here solves all the problems of where to put a centre speaker or subwoofer (simply remove a couple of boxes) and when purchasing new kit, simply measure it up and order another box to match - in fact order three and reset the unit's level if desired - or order a small base and top and put the boxes in the middle to create a matching side table for the recliner... the possibilities are endless

Hope you've enjoyed my little post - anyone interested in seeing this unit in the flesh feel free to PM me and I'll arrange for you to come over for a visit.

Cheers,

Curious

Edited August 14, 2010 by Curious

[Guest]

Note: additional photo added to the OP showing a better shot of the timber grain in the top component of the unit

Cheers,

Curious

[Gutty]

Very nice mate !

[geoff_tewierik]

And a pic with a whole heap of equipment in place would be a great selling point

Edit: The WAF would be assured with some equipment in it. Says the Minister for Finance and Planning looking over my shoulder.

Edited August 15, 2010 by geoff_tewierik

[myrantz]

Nice. Love it.

[MACCA350]

Great looking design there Curious

Cheers

[Guest]

Excellent looking stuff mate, few questions spring to mind........

Can you buy the boxes separate (might want to add as required)

Would you build to specs if supplied

What sort of other finishes are available if any

Would you ship interstate

Are you able to give any ball park indication of cost/s

can see a lot of potential in these especially portability whilst retaining a high class look mate.............

Thanks for the kind comments all

I'll put a couple of pieces in the unit and snap off a pic this arvo.

The boxes are available separately and to custom sizes - price would be around $495 RRP per box including GST. This was something we needed to get right before anouncing availability, I wanted to balance high quality solid timber furniture costings with piece by piece availability - the idea is a full unit consisting of 9 boxes as well as a base and top should come in under $5500 including GST. Of course this if it is bought piece by piece, a discount would apply in the case that someone ordered all pieces at once.

Many other timber finishes are available - most commonly available solid timbers such as Red Gum, Jarrah, Stringy Bark, Marri, Bloodwood, Kari, Blackwood, American Ash, Sydney Blue Gum, Recycled etc - additionally we can source boutique timbers if required such as Mahogany, Bubinga, Ironbark, Tallowwood, Yellowbox, Rosewood, Maple etc

Shipping interstate is at purchasers cost - keep in mind each box is a solid 8kg to 14kg depending on timber, with the top weighing in around 20kg!

Portability is the key here, any configuration you can think of we can make

A shot of the unit in place with a 65' Pana for a crown

http://www.dtvforum.info/index.php?act=att...ost&id=9853

Caveat - please ignore messy wiring in back - I rushed this to get the shot and plan to tidy the wiring away when the rest of my gear is installed

Cheers,

Curious

[ninkasi]

Caveat - please ignore messy wiring in back - I rushed this to get the shot and plan to tidy the wiring away when the rest of my gear is installed

Heh - you should see my rats nest! Definitely like the concept and looks good. Only two comments/suggestions - perhaps looking at a way to include cable management in the blocks (eg through a hidden channel); and I'd want to be careful about heat retention/build up - given the width of the walls of the blocks it means that in the same given space there's less room for air to move around than when compared to a standard cabinet/rack - not an issue with a lot of kit, but some receivers or devices like PVRs with hard drives (for example) like a bit of space around them so would definitely want to use the biggest blocks for those....

[Guest]

Heh - you should see my rats nest! Definitely like the concept and looks good. Only two comments/suggestions - perhaps looking at a way to include cable management in the blocks (eg through a hidden channel); and I'd want to be careful about heat retention/build up - given the width of the walls of the blocks it means that in the same given space there's less room for air to move around than when compared to a standard cabinet/rack - not an issue with a lot of kit, but some receivers or devices like PVRs with hard drives (for example) like a bit of space around them so would definitely want to use the biggest blocks for those....

Thanks Ninkasi,

Given we are a custom furniture company any type of cabinet can be created for our clients, and that definitely includes provision for cabling and any 'out of the ordinary' requirements

Certainly the question of heat build up is an important consideration when designing an entertainment unit, we advise that when clients check their equipment to ascertain the correct measurement for each individual box they take into account the recommended space left/right/top of the piece of equipment for airflow (although cos these particular boxes are open to the rear - I wonder if heat build up will be a serious consideration). I see this as one of the benefits of this modular system, we can make each box as wide/tall/deep as our client wants (no more cursing cos the AVR is 10 centimentres deeper than the rest of the HT gear and won't squeeze into the cabinet properly!)

Regarding the reduction in space because the walls of the boxes are effectively doubled, a different way of looking at it is that there is twice the solid timber heat barrier between each piece of equipment and since the measurements are custom - there's no need for any room to be lost at all

Cheers,

Curious

[ninkasi]

Thanks Ninkasi,

No problem! Don't get me wrong - I think this is a brilliant idea and looks really good. As with all things (unfortunately!) it's not the solution for everyone so anyone using it will need to make sure it does suit their requirements. For example, being open means that airflow should be good but on the other hand it also means noise can get out, and dust can get in. As much as the airflow should be good because it is open front and back, heat could get trapped by the wood that will in turn act as insulation so sufficient room would need to be allowed around the components that could in turn mean that the screen will need to be higher than with a normal cabinet, or the cabinet itself wider. As much as there may be a higher WAF/PAF with the beautifully finished wood, the components themselves are on display so any piercing red or blue leds etc that infest a lot of gear now can work against it compared to a cabinet where the doors can hide the kit completely.

Again - don't get me wrong. It does look good, and avoids issues with IR repeaters plus some kit (like tube amps - a lad can dream, can't he... ) are works of engineering art that should be on display with something like this. If it wasn't for the fact I have my kit in a separate room (plus if it wasn't for the fact I have young kids who love to play with buttons) I would definitely consider it!

Cheers

[Guest]

No problem! Don't get me wrong - I think this is a brilliant idea and looks really good. As with all things (unfortunately!) it's not the solution for everyone so anyone using it will need to make sure it does suit their requirements. For example, being open means that airflow should be good but on the other hand it also means noise can get out, and dust can get in. As much as the airflow should be good because it is open front and back, heat could get trapped by the wood that will in turn act as insulation so sufficient room would need to be allowed around the components that could in turn mean that the screen will need to be higher than with a normal cabinet, or the cabinet itself wider. As much as there may be a higher WAF/PAF with the beautifully finished wood, the components themselves are on display so any piercing red or blue leds etc that infest a lot of gear now can work against it compared to a cabinet where the doors can hide the kit completely.

Again - don't get me wrong. It does look good, and avoids issues with IR repeaters plus some kit (like tube amps - a lad can dream, can't he... ) are works of engineering art that should be on display with something like this. If it wasn't for the fact I have my kit in a separate room (plus if it wasn't for the fact I have young kids who love to play with buttons) I would definitely consider it!

Cheers

Yeah, the kids do put a concern factor into these creations - one cabinet I designed had the capability of detachable door/panels, so I could have the best of both worlds...door panels removed when showing off and on for the rest of the time (to discourage sticky little fingers from touching precious equipment)

Thanks for your interest

Cheers,

Curious

[Guest]

Howdy all,

Thought I'd provide an update in the form of some shots of a dining table we created out of Blackbutt for a client recently.

Harry from SGR was kind enough to shoot it insitu while they were installing some of their lovely audio gear in the client's living room.

Here's a few of Harry's excellent photographs:

The table was much loved by all, so more pieces will be created soon (including a lowline entertainment unit) - stand by for more pics to come

Cheers,

Curious

Edited June 27, 2011 by Curious

[Guest]

Double post

Edited June 27, 2011 by Curious

[OzyColin]

G'day Curious,

I must confess, when I saw the first pick with the oval mitre/insert/cutouts, I thought you were building a wooden box to fit over a giant tissue box .

But seriously - VERY nice and excellent simple modular approach - I see a lot of flexibility in that approach and the mitre joins are absolutely first class judging by the pics!

I'm building an AV unit, in refer this thread . Mine is a one of singularly constructed unit and it's taking a LOT of time.

Nice clean lines on the table too.

[Guest]

G'day Curious,

I must confess, when I saw the first pick with the oval mitre/insert/cutouts, I thought you were building a wooden box to fit over a giant tissue box .

But seriously - VERY nice and excellent simple modular approach - I see a lot of flexibility in that approach and the mitre joins are absolutely first class judging by the pics!

I'm building an AV unit, in refer this thread . Mine is a one of singularly constructed unit and it's taking a LOT of time.

Nice clean lines on the table too.

Thanks Colin,

My Business Partner/Master Craftsman is scrupulous when creating one my designs, it's a standard he learned when he used to make Nicholas Dattner's tables back in the 'day' - we are priviledged to have him with us ensuring each join is immaculate

I'm heading over to your thread now to see how you're going with construction

Cheers,

Curious

Edited June 27, 2011 by Curious

[chipy2k]

Oh... that looks familiar. I think it is in my living area

Ps. hope you enjoyed your brownies on the way home

Howdy all,

Thought I'd provide an update in the form of some shots of a dining table we created out of Blackbutt for a client recently.

Harry from SGR was kind enough to shoot it insitu while they were installing some of their lovely audio gear in the client's living room.

Here's a few of Harry's excellent photographs:

The table was much loved by all, so more pieces will be created soon (including a lowline entertainment unit) - stand by for more pics to come

Cheers,

Curious

[Guest]

Oh... that looks familiar. I think it is in my living area

Ps. hope you enjoyed your brownies on the way home

Was a good boy and waited 'til Mrs Curious could share it with me

Very delicious, looking forward to a fresh batch when I bring the latest goodies over

Cheers,

Curious

[OzyColin]

My Business Partner/Master Craftsman is scrupulous when creating one my designs, it's a standard he learned when he used to make Nicholas Dattner's tables back in the 'day' - we are priviledged to have him with us ensuring each join is immaculate

He certainly is! Can't 'borrow' him for a week or so can I?

[Aspect]

Awesome thunderbox in the first pic mate! Would seem a shame to soil it!

Cheers,

Chris

[Drizt]

Oh... that looks familiar. I think it is in my living area

Ps. hope you enjoyed your brownies on the way home

Pictures mate, we need pictures

Edit: Or are those pictures in your house?

Edited June 30, 2011 by Drizt

[chipy2k]

Pictures mate, we need pictures

Edit: Or are those pictures in your house?

Yep mate that's our dinning area.

Both myself and Kathleen are really happy with the table its everything we hoped for.

[Drizt]

Yep mate that's our dinning area.

Both myself and Kathleen are really happy with the table its everything we hoped for.

It (and the area) looks fantastic mate. Congrats.

[Guest]

He certainly is! Can't 'borrow' him for a week or so can I?

He he, too busy making outstanding items for our clients I'm afraid

[Guest]

Awesome thunderbox in the first pic mate! Would seem a shame to soil it!

Cheers,

Chris

Shame on you, it's a giant tissue box...can't you tell the difference?

[betty boop]

Shame on you, it's a giant tissue box...can't you tell the difference?

nice bit of "black butt" there curious nice work