As the lead craftsman for Standout Designs for many years, Standout Designs customers have engaged me to build additional pieces now that Standout Designs has closed. This project came with an additional twist: we were called upon to build custom audio towers to match a finish and wood combination that pre-dated my six years building for Standout Designs. It took some doing but in the end we were able to create a custom finish on solid Pennsylvania hard maple that the customer happily accepted.
This customer has a Standout Designs Haven Solid Wood Media Console in Cinnamon on Hard Maple circa 2013. Pennsylvania Hard Maple is not only only hard, it is hard to finish. And in this case, we had to match the finish to a piece located 2300 miles away in Las Vegas, NV.
Here's a photo of a the near finished product (the adjustable shelves are not installed and will be safely packed for transit and delivery to the customer's home). He chose clear door glass so you can inside. A few things to note: ventilation through and through, an important element for any audio-video cabinet.
Another feature we build into our custom audio-video furniture pieces, be they audio towers like these, audio racks, media consoles, or basic TV stands: removable back panels. This next photo shows back panels that allow easy access to the back of the audio towers for loading A/V gear and managing audio-video cables, wires, and power cords. The back panels pull off and snap back on, no tools required.
The custom audio tower on the right in the photo above also incorporates a temperature-controlled 3-fan cooling fan panel by AC Fininity. The customer can set his own on/off temperatures if he chooses in order optimize the cooling of his AV gear housed in that area. With vents in the bottom, shelves, and back panels, the other custom audio tower is set given for the customer's application with just the passive ventilation those vents provide. Both towers feature anti-tip safety straps as well.
Another aspect of this project worth noting: the pull-out shelf in the right-hand tower. Turntables have made a real comeback lately as audiophiles have rediscovered the joy of listening to vinyl even in this digital age. As a result, many AV cabinet buyers are looking for media consoles and towers that feature a pull-out turntable shelf.
When we incorporate a pull-out turntable shelf into a custom audio tower, rack, or stand, we use special drawer slide hardware that locks when pushed all the way in and locks when pulled all the way. Once that needle is dropped onto the vinyl, we don't want any movement of the shelf. We also make our pull-out turntable shelves adjustable. Our AV cabinet customers can reposition their turntable shelves using existing shelf support holes.
Do you have a special AV furniture or another woodworking project in mind?