Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Furniture or mega-changer?

OK...our new townhouse is coming along nicely. Painting is nearly finished, new stairs are being put in...but we've got a huge mountain of cd's piled up along the livingroom wall. Our dvd's are currently stored in a really cheap shelving unit...not a pretty sight. So we've got to do something. One idea was to buy a mega-changer, and stash the cd cases in the closet. Then get some sort of nice shelving on the wall for the dvd's. Another idea is to buy a nice storage unit for the cd's and dvd's.

What do you all think? Can some of you post pics of how you store your cd's and dvd's? I need some ideas!

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Furniture or mega-changer?

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Wood or Electronics........................Electronics for me everytime!!!!! As for storage. My wife has an old china case that I keep all my DVD's in. Sounds odd but it looks kinda nice and she likes it so it works for me.

If I get the changer, is that Pioneer Elite likely the best mega-changer I can get? I've found it on the web for under $400.

I'm not real up on MEGA changers (I use my computer) but that one sure looks decent to me.

Hi Craig,

I truly wish I could help you with more than opinion. I am very interested in your question, and hope you will keep us posted as to its resolution.

It seems to me that it is a more efficient use of space to go the mega-changer route. You could put the jewel-case inserts into plastic sheets in a set of binders or something so that you still have them for reference.

Some people (like both me and the missus) to not like the "look" of hundreds of jewel-case spines as a design element. I'll try to post a picture of what we did. Basically, we got inexpensive Ikea drawer units, bolted them together and painted them. It is a bit like an apothecary chest (lots of small drawers with knobs on the front).

Nice furniture is expensive!

I am also seriously considering the mega-changer route.

Got time to rip everything to a HTPC?

The more I search, the more a mega-changer seems like the best route. Even though we have 500+/- cd's and the changer would only hold 301. But for that matter, the only furniture I've seen that looks nice could only hold part of our cd/dvd collection as well. This shouldn't be so hard, should it?

Hey guys,

I have the Sony CDP-450, a 400 disc mega changer. I have it stashed behind my M60s, next to the TV. It is barely noticeable. With a little extension wire, I couldve put it further away from the system, but the room really didn't make that a better solution. I used some IR repeaters and hooked it up to it and my cable box (which sits behind the TV, out of sight). I also have the cdp-450 hooked up ("daisy chained") to a Sony 200 disc mega changer.

Here's why I love it, aside from the fact that it, aesthetically is a very clean solution to "CD clutter." First, I love being able to view all of my discs on the TV. Beware! Some cd mega changers don't give you a video out to display the names of the discs on the TV, and you have to squint at the tiny display to find out what cd you're playing or want to play. The 450 has the video out (which the 455 does not have - is that an upgrade or what?). Pressing "play" on random all is a truly great experience, especially because I tend to listen to the same cds over and over again. This helps me rediscover my old discs - ones that I would never get the urge to put in for any good reason.

Second, I love putting discs on and just letting them ride - for a party, for back groudn music, whatever. It's so easy to "auto dj" a party.

Third - with two players daisy chained together, you can use Sony's "mega-control" feature, which eliminates the delay in between random tracks. While the first player is playing, the second player is searching for and cueing up the next song. Great feature.

Lastly, with over 420 discs in my collection, I find that I don't ever leave discs lying around to get scratched or lost. This is just taken out of the equation.

There are some questions about Sony's reliability from a construction quality standpoint, but I haven't had any problems so far. I bought both players off of eBay for less than $300 total.

I really do love the functionality of the players. My wife digs that fact that we'er cutting down on "tech storage" space. We turned a huge cabinet full of cds into a "box" that is basically a 36" black cube (both players stacked on top of one another). It's no bigger than my STF-2, and would actually look quite nice opposite the sub to balance out the aesthetic.

Spiff - go to epinions and read the reviews for yourself. Note your preferences and choose judiciously. For example, I chose video out over mp3 playability with the 450, and couldn't be happier (though I'd pay for a player that did both).

In sum - go with the mega changer.

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Can some of you post pics of how you store your cd's and dvd's?

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Here's my built-in DVD shelves http://www.aa4m.com/photos/ht/ht190Resized.jpg and here's my CD/tape cabinets http://www.aa4m.com/photos/ht/ht070Resized.jpg. Be sure to allow room for growth!

- Bill

Sony makes a 300 disc mega-changer that retails at $199. Daisy chaining 2 of them together would give you room to grow, give better random playback and cost less. Mine only has the optical digital out, though.

Question regarding daisy-chaining...

If you have two units linked, the remote control only has to reach one of them, no?

I don't have room for two units in my cabinet, but I could put on unit in the cabinet, and the other outside, behind the cabinet.