Entertainment Centers & TV Stands for Home Theaters

Home Theater Furniture

What exactly is home theater furniture?  Virtually all home theater systems need some kind of audio video furniture.  What exact types of a/v furniture you need really depends on which and how many home theater components are going to be part of your entire home theater system.  Maybe you're lucky enough to already own a wall unit that will hold most of what your gear.

Where will you be placing all of your audio video gear?  The only home theater equipment that should go directly on the floor are a large rear projection TV, floor standing speakers, and your powered subwoofer.  Everything else will be sitting in or on something.  Bookshelf speakers will sound best on top of speaker stands.  Also, where will everyone sit down to enjoy watching movies on your home theater system?  Rugs, etc?  How important is it to you that the colors on everything perfectly match?

If you'll be connecting a rear projection big screen television, your best bet will be a 3 piece set with 2 sides and a connecting bridge across the top.  This is sometime referred to as projection TV furniture.  Even flat panel TVs will either need to sit on a stand or be mounted on the wall.

Wall unit entertainment centers are great for those who want to fill an entire part of a wall with a large piece of furniture.  Wal-Mart has a decent selection of entertainment centers, TV stands, and audio/video storage.  They've also got some great values on entertainment centers at Home Visions.

Television Stands

TV stands might be a better choice IF you have less space, floor standing speakers, or will be placing your front 2 small speakers on speaker stands or if you don't have a whole bunch of components connected with your home theater system.  It is also easier to find corner TV stands.  Some TV stands have casters, rollers or wheels on the bottom in case you need to move your television for any reason.

Manufacturers make an optional matching TV stand for many larger televisions.  Prices on these can range from $100 to $1000, depending on the exact model television.

Audio Racks

Some audio racks can hold as many as 5-6 audio video components.
Stands and Cabinets at J&R
Audio Furniture at J&R

Speaker Stands or Wall
Brackets For Speakers?

Pets and kids can factor into this decision, but more important is the size of your speakers and layout of your room.  A speaker stand placed in a high-traffic area can easily be bumped, knocking a speaker off the speaker stand that can easily fall off a speaker stand and cause injury or damage your speaker.

Rear surround speakers sound better up high, so wall-mounting them might be your best option if you've got access to run and hide the speaker wires to your (and your spouse's or roommate's) satisfaction.