Pros and Cons of storing AV kit in cupboard

Soldato
Joined
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Moving...
I'm moving around the furniture in my living room and as a result I'm debating whether to hide my AV kit in a cupboard or have it on display. I've come up with a list of pros and cons for putting in it an a cupboard and I'm wondering if anyone has any suggestions on how to overcome the cons.

Pros:
- Much neater and tidier
- Not limited by storage in TV cabinet (i.e. don't need X shelves for X devices) so can add new devices easily without worrying about space, and can choose from a wider range of TV cabinets

Cons:
- Cost of setup (routing wires, IR repeater, storage rack, extending cabling etc)
- Difficult to keep temperatures down, so potential overheating
- Unknown status of devices

I'm not too concerned about the cost factor as this is acceptable when taking the pros into consideration. It's the other two I have concerns with.

It's an under-stairs cupboard so has a reasonable amount of space (probably about 2m^3), but it's still enclosed so will heat up over time. Having to use fans to keep everything cool is a bit of a pain not to mention expensive.

The other problem is how to know the status of the devices. Without being able to see the device, how can you tell whether little power light is on? I don't want to have to cycle through all sources on my TV to see if there's an input, or poke my head in the door.

Anyone done something similar and have any smart ideas to overcome my concerns?
 
Associate
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9 Apr 2004
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Nottingham - UK
I really hate clutter!

I toyed with this idea over and over again, and ended up somewhere sort of in the middle. I have two shelves exposed above a cabinet, this means the 4 ways, excess cable, power conditioner can all go in the cabinet below hidden away - and the decoder, bluray and squeezebox sit on-top, just with a single cable run up the back.

My main issue was my Onkyo decoder didn't fit any enclosed cabinets I could find - and it generally gets pretty warm if it's being run loud so was a touch concerned about it being enclosed!
 
Associate
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20 Jun 2009
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I must admit that I like to have mine on show. After spending all of that money on performance, features and aesthetics, I just can't bring myself to hide it away

I did try building a panel that stands out from the wall in my main room and running all the cables behind, but when it came to changing my equipment it was still a pain.
Now I just trying to keep the cables as tidy as possible and live with it
 
Associate
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Essex
I have this sort of setup with a cupboard, however it's just a Sky box, PC and PS4. It's fine with the Sky on, but PC (low spec) and PS4 need the door open otherwise it gets very warm.
I went this way because we have children, and they like to touch everything!
 
Associate
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UK
This is how I have mine setup, I was lucky that the hallway cupboard falls directly behind the TV in the lounge.

I have a 20cm exhaust fan at the top and vent at the bottom of the door (just a PC Bit Fenix Spectre fan soldered to a multi-voltage plug). Not had any issues with temperatures even with two microservers in the summer.

Also I was lucky that I thought about it before moving in so I lifted all the floor boards and ran 4 lots of Cat 6 to every room in the house, it would be a nightmare to do once moved in.

It's all controlled with a Harmony one ultimate so I can control everything in the cupboard using the Harmony hub and also I'm also using one of the infrared receivers going from below the TV to the hub otherwise the TV would not get the signal. Not sure if you know about Logitech remotes as you were asking "How do I know whats on and what's not?" the harmony remotes have "activities" so if I press "watch sky" the TV will turn on with the correct source, amp will turn on again with correct input and sky box will come on, if I then press watch "Blu-Ray" the TV input will switch inputs, amp will switch inputs and the sky box will turn off and the Blu-Ray player will come on.

Here's a old photo when I was starting to set it up, now got a second N54L in there, PS4, AV receiver and a larger HDMI switch.

2wh1frk.jpg


*Edit forgot to add, I do have to be a bit careful with temps in the winter as I have a couple of central heating pipes in there but not been a major issue, just something to watch out for.
 
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