This puts me in mind of the 'Krypton Factor'...
But even more difficult!

How about demolishing the stairs, close the remaining openning slightly, and use a retractable ladder as your means of ascending to the upper floor?
Perhaps a nice bunch of flowers would win over the girlfriend to this idea?

Seriously, I prefer the plan of the second option. But I think your hifi is up against it in that room of yours Fishy!

DF

i think option B it is... the ladder option is a good one, but i can't see it happening! lol

With regards to the all-in-one HiFi/TV cabinet vs. a separate HiFi rack, i have no idea what i'm gonna go for atm... I prefer the idea of a separate rack, but am i gonna be able to get an enclosed one for around £50 with a glass door? I have a separate thread going for the rack, but i'll close that so we can talk about it here...

any suggestions? i'll need my amp, CDP, DAB Tuner & DVD player to go in it.

Cheers!

ok, i have finalised the plan, and am going to go with DevillEars' layout. The sofa in front of the window, TV next to kitchen door, hifi on "next door" wall, and speakers in obvious positions around the room.

In terms of a rack, i have just had my salary and bonus information given to me, so depending on my final budget, i'm on the lookout for a glass-shelved hifh rack, capable of holding my amp, DVD player, DAB tuner and CD player.

An enclosed cabinet, and mentioned before, would be nice, but these are a little hard to come by, and the ones i have stumbled across are too expensive, so that's out of the question now.

I could also make a cabinet, but i really like glass shelves and hate handling glass, so i think i'm going to have to buy one.

Now, ideally, i'd like a rack for around £100, but i'll hopefully be able to stretch to £150 depending on other expenses over the next month or two, so any suggestions?

Thanks again people!

Out of interest, is it a concrete floor or a suspended wooden one?
DF

solid concrete floor, with carpet on top. i guess that means spikes are in order?

Conventional wisdom would say yes. Though I've never been quite sure what spikes are (theoretically) for. Are they:
1. For isolating equipment FROM floor-born vibrations or;
2. For coupling the rack TO the floor in the interests of general rigidity?
Clearly they can't be both.

In any event, the concrete floor is good news. Obviously it will protect your equipment (esp vinyl) from macro-vibrations (I just made that up that term) (e.g. footfalls, dancing, etc.,...) and presumably micro-vibrations (I'm on a role - though less convinced by this second concept) (e.g. from speakers, passing traffic, light farting and the beating of a butterflies wings in a nearby park, etc.,...).

I'm moving to a new house next week. My hifi will be in a room with a suspended wooden floor. I've decided to bolt heavy duty shelves to the end brick wall for hifi mounting. I'm no vinyl junkie, but I can't abide the jumping of vinyl caused by footfalls on wooden floor boards.

DF

fortunately, i have no vinyl, and probably never will have any vinyl, so vibrations are as great a concern as they could be.

Given that i do have a CD player and DVD player in the stack though, vibrations from stamping one's feet etc... should be considered, but given that this is a concrete floor, i think you'd do very well to skip the CD player by jumping up and down near the hifi rack.

Therefore, in my case, i guess the spikes are to a) give the rack some stability to planting it on the concrete floor instead of the carpet, and b) to stop me creating three indents in the carpet where the legs stand.

Indenting the carpet isn't a great concern, but i don't want the cabinet to rock back and forth cos it's on a carpet, so i think spikes are definitely the way forward for me.

Anyone disagree?

Go on - perferate that rough shag.
DF

Agree, go for the spikes.
OK my seperates are wall mounted,but the speakers and sub are spiked .

so, spikes it is... we've decided on the spikes... the rack will have spikes... spikes are good for my hifi rack...

BUT...

That's about all i have so far, so any rack suggestions by any chance? lol

Remember - 4 glass shelves and shiny metal (steel or chrome) legs

Whaddya reckon?