Buyer's guide: AV furniture

With the revolution of flatscreen television, we've become aware of how important aesthetics are to a successful home AV set-up. Gone are the boxy ugly CRTs of old, and in their place sit sleek and svelte LCD and plasma displays. A great piece of AV furniture is essential in keeping your kit secure, well ordered and looking as good as possible. And with the AV furniture market worth over £1billion a year, there's plenty of choice on offer.

AV Furniture can be simply categorised and it's here that the crucial first decision is made - do you want a 'traditional' unit or would you prefer to wall mount your kit?

Next consider your budget - there's no point spending £500 on a stand if you've only got a £300 20in TV. Budget prices start at around the £100 mark for a simple but sturdy no-frills unit and go as high as you want, depending on what you've got to spend, with bespoke designs running into the thousands.

TV stands
Balancing an expensive plasma screen on a chipboard chest of drawers just won't do. In the past, most CRT sets were sold with their own stands, but that trend dramatically changed as flatpanels have gained in popularity. There are some key boxes you need to tick when purchasing any piece of specialist AV furniture.

Firstly, aesthetics. Any stand is likely to occupy a major part of your living room and you'll spend a lot of time looking at it. Make sure it isn't too big (things can look much smaller in-store) and fits in with your home décor. The market has expanded enormously in the last two years and choice is bountiful, with every imaginable material and design catered to, and several excellent bespoke manufacturers.

Second is functionality. Alongside your TV you're likely to have a range of peripherals that your stand will need to house such as DVD player, satellite box, gaming console and speakers. Make sure there is room for them all, else your set-up will look messy - consider too that you may expand and/or adapt your equipment so a little future-proofing is a good idea in the shape of (re)moveable shelves. Venting is another issue to consider so make sure there is adequate spacing around everything to ensure nothing gets too hot.

Next is organisation. With a few different peripherals hooked up to your TV you can quickly compile a veritable forest of cabling that looks terrible and is impossible to manage. Many stands feature cable management systems that will eliminate all these issues.

Lastly comes build quality. A big plasma screen or LCD alongside a smorgasbord of peripherals can be very heavy, and balancing it all on a rickety and cheap or inappropriately sized stand can be catastrophic. Stick to good quality materials and make sure all glass is toughened and adheres to the correct safety regulations. Features like rounded edges and plastic feet are worth looking out for.

For particularly high-end installations where every increment in performance is measured, acoustically treated furniture can give audio performance an added lift. For 99 per cent of us though, as long as the materials are good quality and we're not just using the floor and shelves to mount our speakers on, it's an unnecessarily costly indulgence.

Wall mounts
One of the big wow factors created by plasma and LCD TVs is the ability to wall mount them. This can create a clean and uncluttered look, provide the perfect viewing and listening height and reduce its footprint - great for smaller or awkward shaped rooms. Again, there are some essential points to consider before a purchase.

First and most obviously, make sure your wall is strong enough to hold a TV in place. A 42in plasma screen, for example, can weigh around 30kg, which may be too heavy for a partition or stud wall to hold, especially considering the added weight of the mounting bracket. Load-bearing walls are always preferable for this sort of job.

Second, the bracket you buy has to be strong enough to support your TV. Most will provide a load-bearing figure (if you can't see one, ask before you buy) and you should never exceed this number.

Lastly, make sure your TV is wall-mountable (not all flatpanels are) and that it is compatible with your bracket. Many brackets will be VESA (Video Electronics Standards Association) rated, which provides a simple reference as to whether they are compatible with your set. This can be either an adjustable screen size reference in which case all screens within that range are guaranteed to match (say 32in to 37in), or it can refer to an arrangement of four mounting screws that should be visible in each corner on your TV's rear. These are universally spaced either 75mm, 100mm or 200mm apart depending on your set and will be represented by a simple VESA 75/100/200 symbol. If more than one number is quoted, the mount is compatible with them all.

TV stands Three to try Budget Alphason Aragon AG54/2-100 £125 Contemporary LCD stand that's wall-mountable with two toughened glass shelves, DVD storage, cable tidy and a sleek modern design. For TVs up to 28in.
Midrange Ateca Vision Monaco £349 Supports screens up to 60in, constructed from wood and toughened glass with room for peripherals. Available in black, red and white with cable management and a ten-year guarantee.
High midrange Spectral Straight ST906 £720 Hugely versatile stand offering a variety of finishes such as black, clear or frosted glass shelves, aluminium, brass or stainless steel columns and wood trim finish. Cable management, option to add shelves and castors for easy movement.