Where to buy wood for an AV unit?

oHUTCHYo

oHUTCHYo

oHUTCHYo

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I'm going to ask a joiner friend to build me a bespoke AV unit. I'm liking the American walnut woods.

I can't seem to find a decent place to buy the wood from, this place looks good but the widths seem to be limited at 146mm wide. 18mm thickness seems to be the way to go?http://www.britishhardwoods.co.uk/planed-timber-american-black-walnut-wood.html

Am I being stupid by asking - wouldn't I need a far wider piece to build an AV unit, something resembling this http://stumpfurniture.co.uk/project/img-0755/
 
I really don;t think you'd save much by getting your friend to make it unless he's intending to build it for free.

There's quite a few companies that make custom AV units and their designs are likely to be more practical than anything you can draw up. I had a bespoke cabinet made up by Blok who have a lot of experience at the bracing and density requirements of AV/Hi-Fi gear:

http://www.blokdirect.com/

P1030547_DxO.jpg
 
Why do people still do this?
Install the gear somewhere else in the house and then run a HDMI cable to the TV,
the days when everything had to sit next to the screen are over.
 
Because some people have things like AV amps, subwoofers, surround speakers, separate hifi setups etc and running cables for all of those is significantly more expensive and messy than just one HDMI cable.
 
covenantuk said:
Because some people have things like AV amps, subwoofers, surround speakers, separate hifi setups etc and running cables for all of those is significantly more expensive and messy than just one HDMI cable.
Click to expand...

Routing a handful of cables is a lot cheaper than making a custom box that takes up a whole corner.

Some TV's are now 0.97mm deep, it's archaic to fill up the floorspace underneath with multiple boxes of electronics just to provide content.

You can also get flat cables that run under the carpet, there is no need for any of this.
 
I actually quite like the units, far more than I like a TV plonked up on a wall, which I find pretty bland.
 
No, routing cables isn't cheaper unless you're starting from scratch and redecorating the room. If you use a cupboard elsewhere in the house that's more than one room to redecorate

Using flat cables is not an option, especially if you have laminate flooring or have to go between rooms and across doorways and it's not always optimal to hang a TV (over a window is not exactly optimal).

Add to this the expense of having to buy an aftermarket remote control system to redirect everything.

Just because you think it's easier doesn't make it so.
 
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I'm just pointing out that the thinking behind AV units is really past its sell by date.

TV's are now >50", it no longer makes sense to dedicate that much floorspace to something that could happily hang on the wall.

Fine, if the OP's circumstances don't permit flat cables but he's buying this chunk of wood as an investment, in 10 years I reckon most of us will be wirelessly streaming 8K content directly to a wallpaper thin TV.
His slice of the Amazon rainforest is going to be a bit redundant then.

oHUTCHYo said:
wouldn't I need a far wider piece to build an AV unit
Click to expand...

Planks are jointed/glued together to make wider boards.
Custom furniture would attempt to match the grain too.
 
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Thanks for the opinions guys. I've approached 12 bespoke furniture companies prices have ranged from the reasonable (£1200) to the absurd (£2500). I'm just checking all options first, hence the DIY approach.

As for moving equipment to another location, I can understand in certain circumstances it may be preferable but given I've just spent nigh on £2000 on a new 5.1 system, the room is not exactly going to be minimal anyway given I've opted for floor standers.

Plus with a games console, HTPC and AV receiver - it's just not viable for my personal setup.
 
Must be costing a fair whack. Was looking at American Black Walnut worktops and they definitely weren't cheap and that was just materials!
 
£700 min order value on wood alone :(

Trying to find an alternative supplier, if not I'll bite the bullet. I requested a postal sample and its sublime.
 
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