Most of the time, an Audio Video Cabinet is a very special cabinet built to house very specific components. It is a "purpose built" piece of cabinetry, and for that reason we felt we should address the pitfalls of designing and having Audio and Video Cabinetry built.
A.
First and foremost: Measure,
measure, measure and re-measure! Measure at least four, five even six
times. Believe it or not this is the most common mistake we see. Often
times a cabinet is designed for a specific television or speaker set
only to find that it will not fit later. This is unforgivable and any
cabinet-maker worth what you pay him will do just this. He will measure
twice and cut once. Most equipment is 17 ¼" wide by a maximum of 21"
deep. You should plan on the specific equipment you will have to get
your heights and actual depths but this is a general guide line for
overall depth and width. I would prefer to see the width at a minimum
of 20" and 24" deep but we know this is not always possible. The more
room the better the equipment breaths and the easier it is to service.
B. Second: Make sure your cabinet is designed
with some sort of ventilation scheme in mind.
Most are not and in fact this is seldom talked about. In the section
of the site you will find a printable shelf diagram that shows one way
to vent shelves and put holes in the top of the cabinet and in the toe
kick to allow air to flow through. You can also use fans for this purpose
but beware most fans make a lot of noise and stray noise is an enemy
in most good sound systems.
C. Third: Make sure that you line the speaker
locations with some kind of carpet, foam or stuffing.
This will help keep the speakers from sounding like they are in a well.
Short of redesigning the crossover on the speaker this is the best thing
you can do to help the sound.
D. Fourth: When designing the cabinet you really
should know your seating distance from the cabinet.
This measurement should equal or be at most 1.5 times the distance of
the width of the left and right speakers. So if your seating distance
is 14 feet to the front of the speakers then your minimum distance for
the width between the centerline of the left and right speakers is 9.3
feet and maximum distance apart of 14'. Remember this formula Width
of speakers apart x 1 or at most x 1.4 equals seating distance. This
will help you achieve optimal sound.
E. Doors or Glass:
Both doors and glass are acceptable means of covering audio video gear.
Doors do seem to rattle less than glass but this varies from cabinet
to cabinet. Just remember if you do not want to you do not have to see
the equipment. It can be run by a controller of some kind with total
precision without seeing it.
F. Doors:
Doors and frames on cabinets tend to rattle and make noise when a speaker
system is installed in them. Make sure to install felt bumpers on all
wooden parts that could potentially make noise.
Generally we try to locate the equipment in a rack or shelving in what we call the "waste to nose" area. If you locate the equipment too high it is hard to reach, hard to put media in (CD'S, DVD's etc.) and can be very hard to service. The same is true of putting the equipment too low. Try to locate the equipment left or right of the television with the equipment from about 24" off the ground to as high as 6' off the ground. Any higher or lower and it could be a problem to axcess. You can sometimes locate a piece of equipment lower or higher if you do not have to get to it very often or it requires little maintenance. An example would be a Satelite Receiver or a Whole House Amplifier with no controls just and on and off switch.
H. Speakers behind grills:
Most speakers are not that attractive. For this reason we try to locate the speakers behind grills. Generally you can ask your cabinet-maker to make a frame and then have grill cloth installed in that frame to hide the speaker. The grill cloth must be acoustically transparent and not too thick. This will change the acoustics of the speaker in effect dampening the high frequency level of the speaker but this can be fixed by changing the crossover or in some cases with equalization. We do not like the affect it has on the sound but for most Family Room systems this is acceptable and done quite often and with a little work and planning this problem can be overcome. Do not install really thick cloth or decorative metal or woven cloth in front of the speakers. This will result in really poor sound and or rattling. We offer a service of grill clothing frames for end users if your cabinet-maker does not offer the grill cloth himself. Colors are limited but in most cases it can be made to match.
I. Height of the speakers:
Remember to try and locate the center or tweeter of the speakers you are going to install in the cabinet as equal to ear level when seated as possible. If this is not possible you should try to lower them as much as possible and or angle them at the listening position. There are other cabinet design criteria that are more subtle and more complicated to explain but these are the most critical. We have seen the above problems arise again so we hope this helps. If you have further questions you can call us or e-mail us for a further explanation.