Modern home appliances and electronics equipment come in so many different forms that it can be incredibly easy to get lost in all the variety.  When it comes to putting together a first rate home theater and stereo system there’s no exception: a million and one different models and brands clutter the market, and buyers are left scratching their heads for a good long while before making what is in most cases a fairly arbitrary and random decision as to what to buy (well, some people surely do their research and make more informed decisions, but they are by no means the majority).  What a lot of such buyers don’t have in mind when they go ahead and buy the various hardware components that will make up their theater and audio systems is that they will need quality furniture to make everything function properly: to house their equipment neatly on the one hand and, more importantly, to ensure that the audio quality emitted by the equipment is no less than optimum.

Considering the fact that the average home stereo system today forms part of a broader home theater system that includes a lot of different gear, such furniture needs to be spacious and have the ability of adding on new extensions to accommodate future purchases.  Hence, keep an eye out for models that have the capacity to expand, with apertures that will serve for adding new shelf space and which can stack up and out.  This will mean being able to accommodate a variety of different items with varying heights inside, so if you change a given audio console out for another after a new purchase you won’t have to go and buy a new furniture item to house it.

For the housing of your main audio consoles, such as the pre amp, the audio sources, radio equipment, tuners, and so on, you will want a modern high performance audio rack (also known as a Hi Fi rack).  This is the item described above, which should ideally be able to be expanded and modified in a variety of ways.  In addition to this particular feature (definitely a priority), you will want to make sure that the rack is nice and sturdy—important not only because the equipment inside can be quite heavy, but furthermore because there should be minimal to zero possibility for the audio vibrations to affect the equipment’s functioning.  This idea is really taken to the extreme in some models of Hi Fi racks where each shelf is rendered completely independent of the rest through ball bearings and the inclusion of some variety of synthetic, high density material such as polyurethane at the contact points that further eliminates vibration interference.  These features collectively deaden and dampen vibrations, and they are absolutely fundamental to the proper functioning of your main audio hardware.

As the TV is the natural and necessary complement to any audio system, you will want to consider furniture for it as well.  Of course, if your TV is mounted on the wall there isn’t much to discuss here, and the audio racks mentioned above can neatly be tucked beneath such a wall-mount arrangement to create a tidy entertainment section of the home.  However, for those that don’t go the wall-mount path may want to look into investing in a TV stand that will furthermore likely be able to house some if not all of your audio equipment (depending on the size of the stand and the amount of equipment you have, of course).  There is a model of stand to meet whatever needs you may have and whatever model TV you may have: there are models that are nice and wide to accommodate big screens yet that don’t protrude far from the wall to match the dimensions of a flat screen set: then there are other models that are more apt for use with a normal tube TV.  The amount of shelves beneath varies greatly, with some offering enough space for all the other audio consoles as mentioned.  If this is the option you choose, you will again want to make sure that the shelves are very strong and resistant; this is especially true if your TV has built in speakers that will be used, as the vibrations emanating from the speakers will have the ability of providing vibration interference as mentioned above.

One of the easier and more affordable ways to improve the audio performance of your home system was discovered back in the ‘80s—simply elevating the speakers off the ground, that is.  This again implies the necessity of appropriate furniture in the form of speaker stands.  Such stands come in a variety of models and prices, and the best (also the more costly) are incredibly sturdy, again to eliminate vibration related problems that detract from audio quality.  The preferred materials for such stands are either steel or thick glass though a few other varieties may be found, some in plastics.  In addition to the strength of the stand shaft itself, the two crucial points to be optimized are at the top and bottom, where contact with the speaker itself and the floor occurs, respectively.  Good stands will come with appropriate rubber pads or similar isolation measures, however there are many accessories to be bought that can help you improve these problem areas on your speakers stands.

For example, there are accessories known as floor spikes that help deaden any vibrations being passed on from the speaker stand, and these floor spikes will differ depending on the kind of flooring you have installed in your home—carpeting will require a different kind than wood or laminate floors, so be sure you get your hands on the right item. 

Another very interesting product is high density filler for your speaker stands.  This is a generally synthetic product which you apply to your stands to load on mass, giving the stand more weight and reducing the chance of vibration issues, available in a variety of colors.