# Entertainment Center Retrofit



## docsuess84 (Dec 10, 2015)

Hi all, this is my first time posting here, and this forum seemed like the right spot. I tried to get some help at DoItYourself but didn't get a lot of suggestions. I have an older solid wood (maple?) curio style entertainment center that was designed to old a CRT tv. Our flatscreen is on a stand bit sits too far back in the alcove, and there's all this wasted space and you can see the wires and stuff hanging from the shelves on top. I found a company http://www.diamondcase.com/Cabinet_HTML/Knowledge_Retrofit_Details_Converting_Entertainment_Centers_and_Retrofits.HTML that retrofits these things and basically described
what I wanted, but custom work its way out of my price range and I think I can do it myself if I can get the How To part squared away. Basically I want to frame a wall inside to cut off the depth of the alcove capable of mounting the tv on an articulating arm mount so it can "float" flush with the front at the right height and viewing level and remain able to manipulate to get behind it for cords or if I decide to upgrade the TV. I also wanted to put some cubbies on the top to hold the receiver and peripherals and don't like the current particle board shelves hanging from the top. My final idea was to put a matching plywood cover on magnets to seal the front with holes cut out for the screen and center channel speaker to seal off the space. My wood working experience is limited, and just curious what any of you would do and give me the basic procedures I would want to do. Here's a picture of the piece of furniture.


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## oldnovice (Mar 7, 2009)

This is what I wood do!
Without knowing any actual dimensions of the cabinet and/or the TV and peripherals


reinforce the back of the cabinet to hold an articulated TV wall mount similar to a house wall i.e. 2"×4".
add a false back over the reinforced supports to hide wiring leaving an opening at the top for air flow.
put the cubbies for the peripherals at the bottom as the TV will generate heat. Adding black glass doors over the cubbies would add some class as long as the allow air flow was not restricted.
make the cubbies go all the way to the back to the false wall to hide wiring and air flow.
if you have room on the sides of the TV, add speakers unless you are going to add a sound bar.
(flat panel TV sets have poor sound qualty)
I would not enclose the front, I would paint the inside of the cabinet flat black and maybe some little filler strip on the sides.

It would be easier if I could show you a side view drawing! Before I went to college, early to mid '60's, I worked in a TV and radio repair shop where we did many custom designs and installations. However, all of these were for CRT TV sets and vacuum tube components so heat was, and to some extent, is still a concern as heat is bad for electronics.


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## docsuess84 (Dec 10, 2015)

Thanks for the suggestions! Just to clarify, the middle piece of the set is actually two pieces stacked. It's an independent short two door cabinet wth the tall tv cabinet sitting on top so it's solid between the two and the back of the cabinet is a wimpy little piece of thin particle board nailed on and the cabinet is very deep since it is for a CRT tv. That's why I was thinking about doing the stud wall more in the middle to close off the space. Not sure if that changes your suggestions for peripheral cubbies. My thought for having them towards the top was keeping them out of reach of curious fingers. As far as the 2×4 wall, would the plates need to be doubled or is single sufficient and you're talking about the wall going all the way to the to the top or just part way? Would I just use particle board for the false wall to cover the studs? If the TV won't be mounted that high, and peripherals went on the bottom what would happen with all the empty spaceport top? Take out the shelves? As far as speakers, it's hard to see but I have small satellites in a 5.1 set up for the R and L channel on shelves in the side cabinets but I don't like them there because of how far back they have to sit inside which means they get bumped around a lot by the books and everything else. I want to upgrade them to floor standing speakers which would sit slightly in front and to the side of the cabinets which gets them out of the enclosed space, and widens the sound stage as well as envelops the audience a little more. I'm thinking about ditching the center channel under the tv altogether since the viewing area isn't very big and running a phantom center sounds just as good to me, especially when I get better and bigger speakers.


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## JoeinGa (Nov 26, 2012)

We have a somewhat similar entertainment center that I converted. It has a main cabinet and 2 "bookcases" on either side. My problem was when we got the flatscreen TV it was 2" too wide to fit IN the center piece.

My bookcases were shallower than the center piece so what I did was carefully cut off the "roof" on the center unit along with about 8" of the walls. Then I cut the sides of the center unit off flush at the shelf the TV sits on. I dropped the "now only 8" tall" roof down onto the TV shelf and attached it so I have a place to put the TV box and the disc player. You can see where it meets the shelf and I need to do a bit of touchup to blend it in better, but functionally it works fine.

Since my center unit is deeper than the 2 bookcases, I set the TV towards the front with the side edges of the TV "almost" touching the bookcases.

Here's a couple pictures, That center unit was originally about 8" taller then the 2 side pieces. And I pulled the TV forward a bit so you can see. 
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## oldnovice (Mar 7, 2009)

I do not know what happened to my last reply to your repost but it is not here!

Basically I said:
I was only considering the center upper unit in my suggestions. I had not considered the side cabinets or the lower base unit.

I mentioned adding a light source to the upper part of the cabinet, variable intensity, perhaps LED, maybe also remote controlled, covered with frosted glass, slightly vented, and set back a couple of inches as that is what most research says is for better TV viewing.

I also mentioned that if you are locate the TV once it is in the cabinet then you probably wouldn't need an articulated mount. However, I havd found side to side rotation and top to bottom tilt is always desireable. Top to bottom tilt can help reduce screen reflections.

Covering the "studs" with particle board is OK. Mounting the studs in the front to back center seems logical, just make them sturdy.

I also mentioned black out glass in front of the peripherals cubbies … your choice!

Just rememer, do not block off air flow!


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## docsuess84 (Dec 10, 2015)

Thanks guys. It's starting to come together in my head. The articulating arm actually solves a bunch of problems I had with flat screens in old school furniture. The stand legs stick out in front and limit how far out the screen can be when setting on a surface. By using the articulating arm, the screen can be held in the air perfectly flush with the furniture while allowing space underneath for whatever center channel I would use if it changes, or even directly in front of the edge of the alcove should we upgrade to a larger size than can fit in the hole like JoeinGA's situation. Interesting point about the light. I've read that too.


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## oldnovice (Mar 7, 2009)

You noticed I put studs in quotes as that could be extruded aluminum or U channel or angle iron, your choice!


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