I noticed that I really don't like all of my DVD's on my audio shelves. I'm running out of room! How do you (attention Daphoid & your friend) store yours? Most storage racks that I've seen are either ugly and/or obtrusive, are too expensive (I'm cheap!) or just don't hold that many. I'm asking a lot, aren't I?! Anyway, I saw a cool motorized rack at Sharper Image the other day but it only held 80 DVD's and was $170! That's more than $2 a slot per DVD!

Mary,
If you have the extra room, you may want to try an option like this IKEA Billy Bookshelf. Of course you can pick different veneer wood colours to suit you needs and customize with/without doors, glass or wood shelves, lighting, etc. IKEA certainly isn't the best made furniture, but appearance-wise they hold their own and are cheap as well. I actually just ordered one myself as my cds/dvds were starting to take over.

Mary, I have a similar problem. The LDE CD612 is the first media storage rack I've found that I REALLY like. Unfortunately, at $289.95 shipped, it's way out of my budget (like you, I'm cheap ), but it sure is pretty. It is, however, a better value than the one at sharper image. It holds 298 DVDs at only 98 cents per DVD slot.

Here's a couple of other options from the same web site.

O'Sullivan 40233 Media Storage Cabinet - Holds 261 DVDs for $179 shipped = 69 cents per DVD slot.

LDE CD500 - Holds 205 DVDs for 69.95 + shipping = 35+ cents per DVD slot.

As a very quick aside, I've been looking for a couple of weeks for a stand for my DLP (and also, to a lesser-degree) media storage for the hi-rez music discs that won't go in my CD changers, and I kept thinking: If only Axiom made some of these things so I could match my Beech speakers!

I'm finding lots that I like, but not in ANYthing that matches my speakers, so I think I'm going to end up building my own!

Hi Mary,

At the risk of always seeming to agree with Jack I must say that his choice of storage cabinets (LDE CD612) seems perfect, well to me at least. I like the way it looks when closed and that design allows for easy access and is pretty efficient in terms of numbers held.

AS for the cost let me go on a bit. I have no idea of your age, but if you are early to life's adventure I can only say, buy quality, it will last forever. Besides how much did all the dvd's cost you? That's the real expense.

If you have made more than a few trips around the sun then spend, spend, spend. I currently have an 81 year old mother in poor health who has far more money than she can ever use. So spend it while you can enjoy it.

sorry for rambling at such an early hour.

Mary,

I'll second Jack's recommendation on the 612. I liked the design with "double storage" in the doors. My neighbor (the cabinet maker) made a custom TV stand (solid oak) for me and I showed him the picture Jack linked to. He agreed to make one for me to match the TV stand. We designed it a bit differently and made it 30" wide (vs. 23"), which also increased the width of the doors. I also had him install a thin flourescent cabinet light under the top lip and put some teflon "magic sliders" on the bottom for ease of moving it. My wife and I are thrilled with it. Nice piece of furniture, very ample storage and the doors close to hide the array. I mention this because you may have someone you can ask (and pay) to build one like it, designed to suit you. The one I had done was more expensive, but that was due to the cost of the oak. Pine would likely get well under the price shown on Jack's link.

Anyhow, let me suggest you also check out Racks and Stands since they provide an extensive selection and are as price competitive as anyone.

Final suggestion - see if there is an unfinished furniture store near you. They may have something that works and that stuff is relatively inexpensive. Given the nature of that business, they likely have someone working there or know someone who could build you something.


MARK
Racks and Stands also carries a broad line of TV stands. The Bello line is pretty nice, if a little pricey. Whatever you pick or build, do a little measuring first. You'll want the middle of the TV screen to be at eye level in relation the the seating position.

In reply to:

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Racks and Stands also carries a broad line of TV stands. The Bello line is pretty nice, if a little pricey. Whatever you pick or build, do a little measuring first. You'll want the middle of the TV screen to be at eye level in relation the the seating position

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Actually, my audio rack is a Bell'O (pre-Axiom photo):


But the wood insets on that rack are quite a bit darker than my Beech Speakers. Certainly, my first choice was originally to get the matching Bell'O, but with the color mismatch and the fact that I'm likely going to end up with the audio rack "inset" into my closet (on the left in the photo) making it less "prominant", matching the Beech is, I think, likely more important than matching the audio rack. (Maybe I can find a way to remove the wood trim on my Bell'O and replace it with Beech).

As far as height goes, I've been watching the Samsung on an adjustable-height table and trying to decide on the final height. Having the screen centered to eye-height while sitting works well, but there is a bit of leeway on that vertical angle and I'm trying to figure out how to best deal with the center channel speaker as well. I think I'm going to end up with a slightly lower version of something like this

homemade design in Beech and black with a version of something like this in wood to put the center channel above:


I apologize.... I didn't mean to hijack the thread! I now return you to your regularly-scheduled discussion of media storage!

I actually bought the piece that Jack recommends. I got it in a cherry, in the mission style (which I believe is shown).

It holds a ton of discs, and doubles as a fairly nice piece of accompanying furniture that doesn't have to be right next to the media equipment. That is, it is pretty substantial, and unless you go inspecting it, you wouldn't know that it was a DVD holder. My wife loves the fact that the doors close and the DVDs aren't out for all to see. I like it because it is a really efficient way to stoer the discs. Once in a while, I'll dive in to pick out a movie, and people will have no idea that the unit stored DVDs.

Anyway - highly recommend it. And when it comes down to it, you are buying a piece of furniture. If you're trying to go cheap, and don't care what it looks like, then you should consider cinder blocks and plank boards stacked on each other. But, judging from your post, this won't fly. Sure, it's close to a dollar a slot, but, the investment really is in having a classy unit to store and protect your DVDs without looking like a media junky. In my book, the $300 was worth it.

That said, you can find these things everywhere - check out eBay. I even saw them at Costco.

I too was picky about the lack of good and nice looking cd / dvd rack. Here are a few links to ones I like. I bought the 1200 and love it. It matches everything in my living room too.

500 Storage Case
1000 Storage Case
1200 Storage case

Shag

Not necessarily a recommendation, but rather an example....

For my basement theater that I'm finishing, I picked up two of these racks (relatively inexpensive). I installed the base of the rack so it didn't jutt out. Then, I built them in to my wall, one on top of the other. Finally, I finished off the outside w/ stained trim.

They used to sell them at Walmart, but have since stopped.

I've got three of those very same racks here. For me, it was a nice temporary solution until I could decide on what I really wanted, but they ended up working out very well, so I won't be replacing them anytime soon.