Entertainment is serious business in today’s world and a home system requires a lot of decisions. Is the flat screen plasma TV worth it? How much sound equipment is needed? What’s the best premium TV provider? There are plenty of other accessories that might make up a media system as well, ranging from a Blu-ray player to a Nintendo Wii. Which room will be the entertainment room? Does it need to be soundproofed? These decisions are important when deciding what sort of media and entertainment system will provide optimal enjoyment.

As important as all those questions are there’s still one more key component to a true home entertainment system. There needs to be some place to put everything. A TV stand or equipment rack is the way to organize all these expensive electronics. One can’t just stack everything in a big pile, which could quickly break or overheat all those parts. Even though an equipment rack or TV stand might seem like a simple choice there are certain important questions to consider.

There are a few essential elements for a media equipment rack. Will it contain all the necessary components? Is a certain amount of extra storage space needed? Does it leave room for expansion? How does it fit into the home? Does it have the aesthetic appeal desired? Taking all of these questions into account will help ensure full satisfaction with both the setup for one’s equipment and will add to the full enjoyment of a home entertainment experience.

The first thing to consider is whether or not the equipment rack fulfills all necessary capacity requirements. If it only needs to contain a television and DVD player, a simple TV stand is all that’s needed. It just needs to be wide enough for the TV with a few inches to spare on either side. However, many people have other requirements. Most people need at least a space for a cable box, some sort of receiver. With all the content available on either cable or satellite TV, including premium channels, movie channels, sports packages, and more; it would be hard to have a complete entertainment setup without either cable or satellite. Most people have either a DVD or Blu-ray player that needs to fit into the equipment rack. There are also video game systems, used by kids and adults alike. A home entertainment center can always benefit from an Xbox 360 or a Nintendo Wii, although if one opts for the Wii they should make sure there’s enough space around for a bit of flailing! Another capacity issue is storage space: does the equipment rack need some sort of cabinet or shelving to contain DVD’s and video games?

There’s also the potential of adding a sound system to the mix. There are lots of different sound components that can contribute to an entertainment system, but can take up space in an equipment rack. There’s usually some sort of receiver to coordinate all sound components and receive radio. Other components can play CD’s, tapes, and MP3s. For the hipsters and for those with a bit of old school style what could be better than a record player?

Speakers are yet another consideration. If installing a speaker system, it most likely won’t need to fit on the entertainment rack and can probably be set up around the room to provide a surround sound experience. A set up like that will make it the most popular room in the house!

A lot of these components are a bit too pricey for most people to take on all at once. Many people accumulate their equipment over time, replacing parts whenever necessary. When purchasing an equipment rack it’s just important that it be versatile enough to accommodate some expansion. If considering a TV upgrade or another purchase, that should be considered when purchasing an equipment rack. Those with kids might want to consider a stand or rack that can be closed and locked in some way in order to protect all that expensive equipment.

Not only does the equipment rack need to fit all the components, it also needs to fit into the home. Will it be situated in a dedicated media room? Or will it go into a basement lounge area or living room? In a media room a big stand-alone rack is possible, but that setup might not fit as well in other rooms. To avoid taking up floor space it’s possible to have an entertainment rack built into a wall or closet. This can keep everything out of the way and out of sight if that’s desired. Certain TV’s, especially those nice plasma flat screens, are designed to be mounted onto a wall. A setup like that would be the perfect accompaniment for a basement lounge or bar area. Wall mounts can also hold up audio components like speakers, keeping them out of the way as well.

The aesthetics of a home equipment rack also need to be considered. Appealing equipment racks or TV stands can be a nice addition to the home. Does a wood or metal stand fit in better with surrounding decor? What sort of color scheme is appropriate?

It seems like a lot to consider when looking for a way to store media components. However, a good equipment rack is not only the best way to be organized but is also the best way to care properly for all these expensive components. Even the aesthetic aspect is a key one. Unattractive TV stands that don’t fit the decor of a house is an eyesore.

Once all this is taken into account, everything is prepared for an ideal media experience. So pull out that Blu-ray box set or put on a season of The Wire. Have a party blasting some new music over the sound system. Since all t

The knowledge involved in properly setting up any of the many different home electronics components is not something that everybody possesses. In fact, most of us need to have a pro (or more savvy elder sibling, or what have you) install our video and audio systems, so as to avoid the frustration that inevitably follows a failed attempt on our own behalf (something which usually takes many more hours than it should). One aspect of a good home entertainment system that many people don’t have the foggiest clue about would have to be the speakers system: where to arrange them, what kinds of stands to use, etc.

Speaker stands are nothing more than physical props upon which to rest a speaker, with the intention of improving the audio dynamics in a given room—that is to say, to reduce destructive interference, achieve better sound depth, balance, and clarity. Speaker stands weren’t always a common item in home entertainment systems or even as part of the stage set up for major musical acts. It wasn’t till roughly the 1980s that musicians began to notice that when they propped their speakers on other items, raising the speakers higher up into the air, the sounds were much, much better. From there, further research and perfection has led to the products that we can easily find today at any audio store.

Professional speaker stands are made out of special materials that deaden vibrations as much as possible, able to resist the vibrations of the sound waves being emitted by the speakers. If this were not the case, the speaker stands would absorb part of the noise being produced by the speakers, and the improvement over having these placed on the floor would be negligible to nonexistent, and we would be back at square one. Hence, whenever buying speaker stands, verify that they are made of non-vibrating material. The need for specialized materials was made evident after experimentation with ordinary home furniture equipment, which proved too susceptible to the vibrations and performed rather poorly. Nonetheless, there are some ordinary household items that have proven to serve fairly well as converted speaker stands, such as the base of an adjustable fan (the adjustability of the height is indeed a key quality that has made this item a popular one among audio enthusiasts).

The alignment of your speakers is crucial, and along with deadening vibrations this is the main function of speaker stands. Research has shown that, for best results, the speakers in a room should be more or less on the ear-level of the person(s) listening—hence, when arranging the speakers for your home theater system, use the level of your ears when you are seated on the couch, or whatever article of furniture you sit on when watching the tube. In particular, the tweeter (the driver in a speaker system that is responsible for reproducing high frequency sounds) should be roughly at, if not slightly above your ear level; tweeters, when built into a multi-driver speaker cabinet, are usually installed in the upper portions of the cabinet (looking at it in the upright position).

All precautions need to be taken to minimize resonance of other surfaces, especially those surfaces close to or in contact with your speakers. Even if your speaker stand equipment says that it deadens vibrations with maximum efficiency, try to take a few extra steps to guarantee that this really is the case. For example, put rubber pads on the bottom of your speaker stands, isolating them from the ground: the rubber will minimize and possible vibration between the speakers themselves and the stands. Always look for the sturdiest possible speaker stands, and feel free to use the reliable “shake test” to verify their quality…if you hear or feel something moving around when you shake them, they aren’t as good as they say they are! In general, thick glass and steel stands will perform above and beyond the quality of most other materials.

When buying your speaker stands, make sure you get enough to really round out your home theater system. Use separate stands for your large and mid-size speakers, your satellite speakers, your center channel speaker, and any other ones you may have. Speaker stands aren’t the only option, of course; there are a variety of wall mounts that can serve your purposes perfectly well.

Knowing where to position speaker stands is perhaps just as important as knowing what to look for in a speaker stand. Read the manual that came with the speakers themselves, and ask at the place you buy your speaker stands from if they have any recommendations on distances and arrangements for optimal sound quality in the room you are setting your system up in. The dimensions of the room (position of the walls and furniture) will be the determining factor in this. Basically, you need to think of yourself and your two principal speakers (or speaker stands, since they occupy the same space) as the three angles of an equilateral triangle; make the distance of one side of that triangle roughly equal to 8 feet, or less if your room isn’t that spacious. Have your speakers pointing towards you (the third angle of the triangle), instead of pointing straight back to the far wall (the one behind you, or in front of the speakers, however you want to look at it). Remember, as said earlier, that your speaker stands should be adjusted so that the speakers themselves are roughly at the level of your ears.

To recap, don’t settle for speaker stands made out of inferior quality materials, like ordinary furniture wood, cheap plastics, or thin metals or glass. Sturdiness means reliability when it comes to speaker stands! And make sure that the contact between speaker and stand, and stand and floor, is such that no resonance is occurring, with contact at the most minimal levels possible. From there, it will take some time experimenting with different positions for your stands to achieve the best arrangement possible—and you will know when you get there.