I have this saying that I seem to use very frequently: “Nothing’s ever easy.” It seems like no matter how much I plan, things never quite work out the way I want. I think I’m just cursed with bad luck. The only good thing about it is I end up learning more than most people about a project because I always run into some problem that I have to research and/or fix.
This time, I admit, the problem was kinda self-inflicted. I was very careful in measuring exactly where I wanted the TV mounted on the wall viewing wise. The only problem is, I didn’t take into consideration how tall my new dresser is. I didn’t think it’d really be an issue. WRONG! When I mounted the LCD to the wall where I THOUGHT I wanted it, it just looked too close to the dresser and actually limited the dresser top’s usable space.
The solution? Easy – just move it up the wall a foot. This normally wouldn’t be a big deal, but I had already drilled a 3 inch hole in the wall to feed wires into the make-shift A/V room. This hole would become completely visible by moving the TV up 12 inches. I had no choice though, so I moved the TV…Oh wait, did I mention this thing weighs like 115 lbs and is awkward as hell to lift - especially by yourself! I about died putting it up the second time…
Here’s what it first looked like:
After the move, I had to patch up & repaint all of the holes left by the first mounting attempt and drill another 3” hole in the wall (hidden this time):
Annnnnd finally, the end result after much spackling & painting. I’m pretty happy with it:
The final position leaves room for the surround sound receiver, center, left, and right channel speakers to sit atop the dresser.
I just installed a Turtle Beach 5.1 Dolby Digital Live surround sound card with optical out into the HTPC that will hook up to the receiver. Also recently added: a HDTV Wonder High Def OTA TV tuner card for PVR functionality. I’m still messing with it – I’ll post progress later.
