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If you can’t afford a full-fledged entertainment room in your home, then you’ll have to settle for an entertainment center. Luckily, the thinness of TV sets and the sleekness of new electronics have inspired new designs that go way beyond the typical TV stand or media cabinet. We at 3LUXE (a very entertaining bunch indeed) enjoyed this quest to find a piece of furniture pleasant enough to sit and stare at for countless hours. Not that the cabinetry should star. No, a good entertainment center functions more like a stage, keeping certain gear out of sight but close at hand, allowing different levels for various equipment, and providing an unobstructed view of the main event. It’s a demanding mission. Yes, TVs are a whole lot sleeker than the clunky models of the Fifties (which tried very hard to be furniture). But most of us are still fitting industrial-looking boxes into homes that we want to be comfortable, personal cocoons. This trio of “Best Ofs” shows how you can accomplish that—with flair and finesse.
The
Cube modular cabinet system is such a stunning idea, you could spend forever just choosing which elements you want and deciding in which direction drawers or slide-out shelves should open. But you needn’t decide for good, because you can change them around—very helpful if you plan to acquire new electronics of greater or smaller dimensions. Moreover, this “Best Of” is made for mobility, so if you move, it will go where you go—and fit your new digs. If your room is long and skinny, this i...
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For sheer—we do mean sheer—functionality, this “Best Of” entertainment center wins an Oscar. Beauty, notes designer Karim Rashid, is a “collective human need.” Rashid’s design, carried out in thick rivers of glass, is the only media platform we’ve seen that so dramatically—and simply—merges art and technology. We need that. For displaying sleek electronics that look as good, or better, than they sound, this is the minimalist’s dream. Its four-foot length fits well in small spaces, makin...
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MSRP $1700
When you’re dropping tens of thousands of dollars on audio-visual equipment, the last thing you want to do is house it in a particleboard cabinet with a hole chopped in the back. The Hope diamond does not belong in a grocery bag. Our “Best Of” recommendation here is a unique home theater built to your specifications by craftsman-extraordinaire
Steve Casey. For 30 years, Casey has specialized in building furniture around TVs, and he has found fresh inspiration in their new, slimmer dimensions. Fo...
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