I would be very interested in any suggestions or comments on my next project to design and build a console that houses a motorized lift for a 50″ LCD tv, for the living room. Liftbox make a unit complete with remote control that at $950 is kind of expensive but probably worth it. What’s different from commercially available consoles is that this one will house speakers that flop out the sides and front as the tv raises. My ‘real’ life long obsession is being an audiophile where my fondest possession was a pair of 6-foot high magnepan loudspeakers, however my wife dislikes such boxy things and she thinks ones that are hidden most of the time are a dream come true. Fortunately http://www.orbaudio.com/ make speakers that probably aren’t half bad for tv sound and these should fit easily into a box. Liftbox make a unit that lifts 200lbs that with a few extra levers and pulleys should do the job.
The attached pdf is a very rough initial concept of what I would like to build, DSC00043.jpg is a retail $4000 unit from Etham Allen that uses a Liftbox model A-2.S motorized lift in a really nice burled ash veneer cabinet. The other pdf’s are details from liftbox -for some reason their website http://www.liftbox.com had to be drilled to find these! -but I amd sure they don’t mind them being shared like this.
I use AutoCAD everyday in my job so plans for this cabinet will get fully and precisely developed there in 2D views and I’d be happy to share this as progress is made. I’m thinking cherry with panel doors (no glass or speaker grills) would be good but I also expect to use lots of plywood or MDF as the need arises.
Kind regards -Gary
“Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now!” -Goethe
Replies
sorrry for some reason I can't attach the liftbox pdf's. If anyone wants these and/or a review on the Orb Audio speakers please let me know.
"Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now!" -Goethe
Edited 7/14/2007 9:21 am by GaryPC
These lifts are great for certain applications, and right now, I'm dickering with a client about building such a unit for their bedroom.
There seem to be a great number of lifts out there these days, but Auton is probably the granddaddy of them all, and the system against which others should be measured.
http://www.auton.com/index.php
I couldn't get into the site you mentioned, so I don't know what they're offering. But some lift only, others lift and swivel, and some have a remote control (with a manual override, should the remote be lost or disabled).
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"It is what we learn after we think we know it all, that counts."
John Wooden 1910-
Thank you - the Auton is many times more expensive that the Liftbox so is out of my league.
There is an even cheaper lift by Wood Technology http://www.woodworkerswholesale.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=WT-4050.845.060
cheaper that is than the Liftbox I'm considering http://www.woodworkerswholesale.com/Liftbox_TV_Lift_p/lb-a-2.s.htm
"Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now!" -Goethe
So -- what, if anything, do you get with an Auton that makes it almost 4 times the cost of the lift you are looking at?The mechanisms seem pretty straight-forward, and i am curious about the rather substantial price difference.********************************************************
"It is what we learn after we think we know it all, that counts."
John Wooden 1910-
I don't know but the liftbox has an obstruction sensor, a safety circuit to prevent closing of the cabinet with the TV energised plus decent cable management. The Auton's have a slightly higher max. lbs. rating but a 50" LCD monitor weighs only 60lbs. The liftbox unit I looked at made very little noise but the Auton may be quieter, Auton's 4 year warranty is twice the Liftbox. Auton's rack and pinion drive is no doubt more robust than the Liftbox system -looks like pulleys and steel cable.
No doubt these devices will cost less once the Chinese get into this market?"Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now!" -Goethe
Here is a better size picture of the concept for a tv cabinet (thanks to eddiefromaustralia) The side speakers rotate/drop out as the flat screen tv raises, and the center speaker similarly rotates/drops forward."Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now!" -Goethe
I see from adjacent post (cam clamps detail request) you are looking at Yamaha YSP-1000 and Orb Audio Mod 2 speakers. This will change the cabinet design alot? Have you listened to these speaker systems.
Neban
Not yet the Orb is an online outfit but has good/great reviews from Home Theatre Mag, Wired Mag and others (links are at http://www.orbaudio.com) .
I read a review of the earlier model YSP-1 by Home theater http://www.hometheatermag.com/subsatloudspeakers/1005yamaha/index.html that suggests that bare walls and a non-corner symmetrical placement is needed for surround sound, even then low-bass is poor and a subwoofer is recommended. Also the YSP needs to be mounted above couch height for back wall reflection which if mounted below a screen would place the bottom of a flat screen at 48" -well above seating eyeline. Perhaps this is why the YSP-1000 is now being sold at 50% off by Vanns.com?
I don't expect much by way of sound quality from a surround sound system compared to stereo -that is with the amount I'm willing to spend on tv sound -under $2000. At this point I expect the Orbaudio will better fit my needs.
Gary"Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now!" -Goethe
Update time: I built the tv cabinet out of MDF and soon hope to get English Sycamore 1/4" plywood on it with possibly cherry trim. I chose the Toshiba 52LS177 partly due to its small bezel that allowed a 52" diag. screen to fit in a 51" opening. The Liftbox mechanism is sturdy and works well taking 45 seconds to open or close. Getting the cabinet speakers to swing out automatically has so far got me stumped. Trying to understand what it takes to design a system of motors/rods/levers etc involves a whole new language and is challenging- I'm thinking manual doors might be the way to go afterall! "Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now!" -Goethe
Thinking out loud.
Could the speaker mounts be spring loaded to swing out or drop down and be "pulled" shut by the tv decending? I would use bike brake control cables.
Do you have a picture of the tv mounting and the job so far?
I did draw up a series of levers to tie the speaker doors but it seemed to always work in reverse, the doors wanted to close as the screen lifted. Bike cables sound a lot more flexible and worth looking into. I had concluded rightly or wrongly that separate motors would be better than tying into the lift, and looked hard at http://www.SPD-SI.com but I have not yet found time to understand the finer details of which components to use.
I wonder is there a simple motor, rack and pinion kit that would sit in place of the door supports?
The door hinges turned out to have too much play and will need to be replaced. Cabling comes from the garage workshop on the floor below so to make it accessible without pulling out from the wall (and potentially shearing half a dozen cables) the cabinet is hinged left to right at the center of the floor. To open with the screen in any position I place a blanket behind the top rear of the cabinet, then by pulling on the front top edge the front drops forward and down and the back climbs the wall, like a clam shell.
I could have lifted the liftbox to avoid the cable shear problem but the goal was to make the smallest possible box, so the liftbox actually sits on the floor in the back of the cabinet. The slots in the sides of the bottom of the cabinet are for the air-con vent in the floor.
Here are some pictures.
"Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now!" -Goethe
Edited 3/22/2008 3:15 pm by GaryPC
Looks like your close. Change the hinges to pieces of piano hinge for less slop. See attached for My idea.
Dang ... you make this look way, way too easy. I think your solution is probably perfect! About the hinges I have the doors close flush and will be adding 1/4 veneered plywood.
Attached is the sort of nonsense I was coming up with :-)
Oops i just saw that the weight of the speakers will keep them inside the cabinet. A linkage would work provided the tv lift also pulls up where it pushes down. I notice the short link where you drew the tv pushing will handle alignment issues - this is real nice.
"Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now!" -Goethe
Edited 3/22/2008 4:11 pm by GaryPC
Edited 3/22/2008 4:13 pm by GaryPC
What I'm suggesting is the speaker mount "fails" open (pushed open by the torsion spring) and is pulled shut when the TV descends in to the box.
You could add a compression spring around the cable to allow for over travel on the pull shut system.
Okay I see the spring -thank you"Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now!" -Goethe
Hi Gary,
Sorry to hear that you can't get your " Maggies ". My wife wants me to get rid of mine but I'll have no part of that. :) But, they wouldn't really fit into what you're trying to accomplish in this project. It sounds interesting and fun though. Enjoy
Paul
Hi Paul,
I had a pair of Maggies 1997-2002 the time I was living back in New Zealand (where incidently I got a Plinius SA-100 that I still have) I damaged one of them by poking something into the diaphram in the move from Los Angeles to Auckland. I was able to repair it by using a strip of plastic, a screw and a nylon cable tie to hold the diaphram out and in the right place - it worked great! Then on comntemplating returning to US by this time newer better base Maggies were out, so I though it was a great time to sell them which I did before leaving NZ. It's only then I 'realized' how much my wife disliked the look of them. So now I have a pair of 'temporary' Epos ELS3's just to keep the amplifier warm ...
Gosh I miss those speakers, had a dedicated 20ft by 20ft sound treated room in New Zealand with wall-to-wall and floor-to-ceiling carpeting, people would get tears in their eyes the first time they heard it.
Gary"Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now!" -Goethe
trying again to attached a Liftbox pdf ...
"Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now!" -Goethe
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