I saw a stand simialr to the one you posted, at Costco. The problem I have with some of those, is they usually have glass shelves,(dust), so I shy away from them. As for all the wires, the only solution I know of is to corral all of them into one of those wire covers. We HAD surround sound speakers with the big monster tv, but they are now in my 17 DS room. Aren't you glad you don't live here?? If I were to do it again, I would look into wireless speakers. My 42" plasma is in a traditional EC with doors. I wanted the option of closing them. The wires are not visible since they go out the hole in the back and behind the EC. I would definately find a stand with a solid back, not see through.

This is what we did. I'm still trying to figure out what to do with my *wall decorations* But, all the cords just run behind the stand and plug in.

I should have added this photo to my 1st post...This is what we used temporarily and as you can see, the cords are visible. I'd put a magazine rack in front of the outlet to help hide them, but I still hated the setup!

You should get a power strip, so that there is only one plug and cord going into the outlet.

Where I live there is a service that comes out to your home and cuts all the cords down to shorter lengths and corrals them. I never used it but have a friend who did and the results looked great. His new televison monitor is also the monitor for his computer set up and he had lots of other things, DVD, VCR, receiver, and even a turntable! He wanted an open glass shelf thingy for it all and the cords looked like seaweed back there until he had it done. It was not that expensive to have done.

First, I'd get an LCD and not a Plasma. The difference being if a Plasma goes out, the whol screen is out, whereas an LCD won't be as expensive to replace parts.

We bought ours from Ultimate Electronics. They had better deals than Best Buy. We also bought an extra long console table for the TV to sit on, with two bottom shelves for the DVR, surround, DVD, etc.

Ultimate delivered the whole shebang one day, then the next day their tech came out and set everything up, including the HDTV/DTV..everything. Not one cord is seen. Two of the speaker cords are ran along the wall, but not noticeable.

I'd pay to have someone set it all up for you.

Amen on the LCD. Last Christmas Dh & I went through that choice back and forth for weeks...finally I called the most respected electronics guy I know (retired college prof) and said what you choose? He said he's pick an LCD every time. We did - a Sony Bravia and we've loved it.

I too stewed over what to put it on, finally (after many fruitless searches at furniture stores) I gave up and ordered an unfinished oak console from my local unpainted furniture store, then had them stain it antique cherry. It's great! No time for pics today.

I said plasma out of habit but I really meant to say LCD. sorry. I did not know why I did not want a plasma just everyone tells me I want a LCD so I am taking that advice. Thanks for explaining why. Now I definately want a LCD!

arizonarose your original set up is how my stuff usually looks. I hate cords. I love your new setup. I have some stars in my barn I brought on sale and never knew how to use them. Now I know... Good idea! Your new set up looks so much better. Also I notice that your second table is higher. Does that make a good difference for you?

kmcg I am getting wireless speakers. I have the Sony dream machine right now and all those wires are a pain in the butt plus I do not think it is such a great system. My moms had a really cheap one from Walmart and it sounds much better than that Sony set up but now I am on the search for one with wireless rear speakers. I am hoping that works out better. and I can only imagine how your 17 yo loves his set up. I say we have kids so we can give them all the things we can no longer use. LOL

Thanks for the ideas on letting someone else set up for me. I am usually too cheap to pay anyone to do that but in this instance I am going to have to do it unless I can figure out how to do it myself. On that link for the glass table from best buy I clicked on the more photos option and looked at the rear. It shows a set up that I am going to try to make sure I find in the unit I pick.

Thanks everyone. I want my house to look nice like the photos you guys post but mines always looks so crowded and junky. I am hell bent that this livingroom is going to look nice.

keep the ideas coming!