How Do Stereos/Music Affect Your Furniture Choices?

While the nuts and bolts of music equipment and technology at home are surely an AT:Unplggd issue (or plugged, yes), we recognize that music equipment, cds, records, speakers, etc. really affect how our rooms are set up, the furniture we use, and the overall "weight" of a room. We belong in the old-school camp (turntable, albums, big speakers), which means we make a lot of furniture choices based on storage and usability. BUT, we find this Musicsystem stereo a great cross of old and new - and compact enough to not require large furniture to accommodate it (like this IKEA Vinstra chest, below, that houses all our music stuff). We probably won't downsize any time soon, but we're wondering about all of you...

Do you have furniture pieces whose sole function is to keep your old-school musical ways in tact?

Small Musicsystem stereo system by Henry Kloss for Tivoli Audio available for $999.99 at Unica Home.

Comments (10)

We went custom to keep all of our audio/video equipment and cds tucked away in one storage unit keeping the rest of the (very) narrow room for a sofa and wall mounted TV.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/batorfamily/450937977/in/set-72157594525520117/

We have plans to shuffle the shelves around a bit to include our set of turntables and record collection...

posted by ebator on January 25th 2008 at 7:40am
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We've got a mixture of old (beloved 60's McIntosh amp and pre-amp, 70's B&O Beogram turntable) and new (AirPort extreme w/2 auxiliary AirPorts to play digital files), so I sympathize. My solution is to keep the amp and tt on display on a sideboard but hide the rest underneath. Our living room is wired for speakers (a previous owner did it) so we can keep the cable tangle to a minimum.

posted by Bolder on January 25th 2008 at 7:50am
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Bolder, can you tell me where I can find a stereo system with turntable, cds, tape deck and radio?? I really want everything in one safe place.

Thanks!

posted by Sleek on January 25th 2008 at 8:20am
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I actually designed my own cabinet to hold audiophile-grade home theater components, and had it built locally. It includes a back panel to hold a flat-screen plasma TV. Here's a link to the set-up on Cnet. The system has been tweaked since then and now smaller speakers (with the same stainless-steel spheres) are mounted along side the plasma.

http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-10167_7-6461301-1.html?tag=feat.3

I also chose a thick-piled rug to help the acoustics in the room.

posted by TeoNYC on January 25th 2008 at 8:24am
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I have a Tivoli Two that I'm super happy with. Very discreet, good sound, radio plus auxiliary in. Cute and it's all I need.

posted by Laurita on January 25th 2008 at 8:36am
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I don't yet own one, but I'm considering this iPod speaker dock. It's made of wood, not plastic!

http://www.versaudio.com/vers2xmain.html

I love the look (the speaker grill actually has a subtle design!) and the company seems to have a very "green" approach to their product. Just wanted to share!

(No, I do not work for this company. Just an admirer of what I've seen so far)

posted by Andy_K on January 25th 2008 at 8:56am
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We have the tall skinny Ikea PS cabinet in white, and it houses all of our audio visual equipment and DVDs. It sits in a corner at the back corner of our couch, behind a pretty end table and lamp so it's almost invisible.

Then we play our music (and lots of our films) from the computer in the office via a gadget that sends it over the wireless network to the DVD player outputs. We can control the volume with the remote, although we have to run into the office to change the music -it isn't a major hassle as we've made lots of awesome long playlists. Makes the set-up almost invisible, sounds great and works for us!

However, I grew up with vinyl, and sometimes I really crave the sound and the ritual. I think about buying a cheap old player, or one of those USB ones, but it would all just be too much of a hassle.

posted by ARC on January 25th 2008 at 12:25pm
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I'm digitizing 600 CDs in Apple Lossless format, which I'll stream to an Apple TV and play through my receiver. This will give me CD quality audio and will let me get rid of my CD changer and 30 very cheap but nice CD drawers that I use as a long console.

After that, the 30 DVDs will be digitized - and then the DVD storage and player will go.

I'll be left with a flat panel TV with a couple of components under it and speakers. The TV sits on an inexpensive round-edged, open faced wood unit I bought from Target last year. They sold it as a coffee table.

Of course, I'll need to figure out what to put in the area where the CD boxes now live -a 12 foot long wall that is 11 feet tall won't look right with nothing on it but art.

posted by Taureg on January 25th 2008 at 12:46pm
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We are old. It just doesn't seem right to have a stereo system without a turntable.

We have a group of cabinets from JC Penney that hold all our living room electronics (besides computers). The turntable sits on top of the middle cabinet. And we have big-ass 1970s speakers flanking the media cabinets. I painted them white and switched out the speaker fabric years ago, so they don't scream "big-ass 1970s speakers" anymore. I would like to get rid of them, but my husband insists the sound can't be matched by todays' speaker systems. Sigh.

posted by greer on January 25th 2008 at 4:42pm
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I would kind of like some 'big-ass 1970's speakers'! so long as they were a nice wood. I often find myself coveting clunky old electronics in thrift stores!

posted by ARC on January 26th 2008 at 9:37am
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