BDI Media Consoles/TV Stands - Opinions? (1 Viewer)

[dpippel]

I'm evaluating TV stands/media consoles to replace my old chrome, black metal, and glass TV stand and am wondering if anyone here at HTF owns any BDI products. I've had a helluva time finding acceptable candidates due to some unique requirements. I have an Onix Rocket front soundstage set up, including the massive RSC200 center channel speaker, affectionately known as "Bigfoot." It's currently sitting on the floor UNDER my TV stand's bottom shelf. Not an ideal placement.

I've given up trying to find a cabinet or stand that accommodates the CC internally AND looks good in a living room. So, I've decided to wall-mount my 77" LG G3 OLED panel and place the center channel ON TOP of a new media console. I don't want to mount the panel too high on the wall, so a low-profile cabinet that will fit my two 4K players (an Oppo UDP-203 and a Panny UB9000) and my AVR (a Yamaha RX-A8A) seems like a good way to go.

The BDI Corridor 8173 fits the bill, and I can even fit the RSC200 *inside* the center compartment if need be. It's only 21" high, which will keep the height of my wall-mounted TV within acceptable range. I saw one in-person today at a local Copenhagen furniture store and liked it quite a bit. It will work. The problem? It is DAMNED EXPENSIVE. Almost $3K for this beast!

Before I make a decision on whether or not to pull the trigger on what very well may be my only real option that's both functionally acceptable AND a very aesthetically pleasing piece of living room furniture, I thought I'd ask and see if any of you can chime in if you own a BDI product. Any feedback is appreciated. Thanks.

Corridor Media Media Console 8173

Perfectly sized for home theater systems with a large television, this modern TV stand and entertainment center packs a ton of innovative features into a low profile design, including a soundbar shelf, remote and audio friendly louvered doors, built-in cable management, adjustable shelves...

www.bdiusa.com

 

[dpippel]

I ended up buying the BDI. Delivery is expected on February 12th. My wallet is shrieking.

 

[dpippel]

Well, our Corridor media console was delivered on Wednesday, and despite the price, I'm totally happy with it. It's a very high-quality piece of furniture that's gorgeous to look at and quite functional. Delivery of the fully assembled unit by Copenhagen Furniture was top-notch and painless. Here's our old setup:

and here's the BDI:

I've got the Onix Rocket "Bigfoot" center channel speaker inside the cabinet, and after two nights of using this configuration I may just leave it there and nix mounting the LG on the wall. I still have to recalibrate my Yamaha AVR for the new room config.

 

[JohnRice]

Personally, I would lean toward wall mounting the TV and putting the center on top of the cabinet. It all looks a little low to me. My approach is that eye level is ideally in the bottom 1/3 of the display. Plus, the center just seems really low.

BTW (and LOL), the ONYX Rocket is a... rocket. The ONIX Rocket is a speaker.

 

[dpippel]

John, good catch on my Onix typo! Ha! Corrected, and that ONYX rocket is very cool. I appreciate your opinion on the configuration. Like I said, I'll live with it as-is for a while before I make a final decision about wall-mounting the panel. The CC may indeed be a bit low, but it was sitting on the floor with the old TV stand, so we're used to it. I'm also concerned about having it behind those doors.

 

[Walter Kittel]

That BDI cabinet is a nice looking piece of furniture. Definitely outside my price range at this point in my life.

Having the RC200 inside the BDI cabinet with the display atop the cabinet is certainly a cleaner look vs. having the RC200 on top of the cabinet with a wall mounted display. The link from post one mentions 'audio friendly louvered doors' so you might want to try to perform some comparisons with the doors open vs. closed to see if it justifies (sonically) repositioning the RC200 atop the cabinet. If there is little to no difference in center channel performance then inside the cabinet get my non-binding vote.

- Walter.

 

[dpippel]

That BDI cabinet is a nice looking piece of furniture. Definitely outside my price range at this point in my life.

Having the RC200 inside the BDI cabinet with the display atop the cabinet is certainly a cleaner look vs. having the RC200 on top of the cabinet with a wall mounted display. The link from post one mentions 'audio friendly louvered doors' so you might want to try to perform some comparisons with the doors open vs. closed to see if it justifies (sonically) repositioning the RC200 atop the cabinet. If there is little to no difference in center channel performance then inside the cabinet get my non-binding vote.

Thanks, Walter. I also really like the streamlined look that having the center channel inside the cabinet and the TV on top gives me. I'll definitely be doing some listening comparisons with the doors open and closed to see if there's enough of a sonic difference to matter. Believe it or not, I've never had a wall-mounted display in all the years I've been a home theater enthusiast. I'll take my time before making a final decision, and think if I *do* put the LG on the wall, I can always put it back on the stand if I want to since the panel would hide the wall mount when it's sitting on top of the BDI.

 

[dpippel]

 

[dpippel]

After living with the new configuration for almost a month now, I can say that I'm very happy I decided to go this route. TV placement is pretty much optimal for our seating position, and moving the center channel into a higher and unobstructed spot has really improved the fidelity of my front soundstage. And, I must say, I love the way things look. I'm quite pleased.