Great looks, very sturdy.

Poor packaging, shipping damage, high price for the product.

Well, just like others on this review site, my synergy 30 arrived with very slight shipping damage. Let me make one thing very clear---this was shipped direct (dropshipped) from the manufacturer and not musicdirect.com. The damage was on the outer corners of the wood pieces. Also, the bolts to hold the top on were missing from the box. A quick call to musicdirect.com had them calling Salamander to FEDEX me the missing bolts. So musicdirect gets a 5.0 for great service, and Salamander gets a 2.5. The packaging from Salamander is insufficient to protect the product from shipping damage.

Relatively easy to put together

You still have to put it together

I purchased the Synergy 30 in cherry with sides and a "peninsula" on which to place my 36 inch Wega XBR television- a minor complaint is that the peninsula could have been a little wider; as it stands about a 1/2 an inch of my television hangs over. Once I actually *received* the product, I was very happy with it (there was mix up after mixup with Salamander, and it took them about a month to get everything shipped correctly). I'm actually thinking about adding a door, but viewing the displays from my equipment is important to me and I'm concerned that they will be concealed by either the frosted glass door or the mesh screen. Otherwise, I couldn't be happier.

Stunning furniture grade audio rack

High cost

I have the S40 rack in brushed aluminium/cherry wood, with perforated steel side panela, aluminium legs and a S-20 frosted glass door with cherry trim. The color coordination of this combo is simply visually stunning and certainly of furniture grade quality. Fit and finish is exceptional.

High points also to the Salamander customer service folks. The S20 door was shipped with a damaged door knob. When Salamander was informed of the problem, they had a replacement knob shipped 2nd day air to me.

Assembly of the unit is not too difficult but I agree with other users the instrcutions can be better.

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Nil

Build quality, Functionality

None now

Just a follow-up: Five stars to the folks at Salamander and Cambridge Soundworks in Palo Alto. These folks jumped through hoops to make me a "happy camper". It's reassuring to know that customer service is still alive and well in Some organizations. Indeed this stuff ain't cheap ,but, the value is there.

Expandable, attractive, lots of selections allow you to tailor the fixture to your current needs and add later.

Expensive. Not a bad value, but nevertheless not for the economy shopper.

Sturdy, expandable and attractive. My primary concern was that I needed a base for a 250# television with no compromise on the ability to add fixtures later. Salamander Design's Synergy line fits that bill completely and then some.

Looks and construction. Fits my Sony Wega.

Pretty expensive and if you get a lot of extra pieces, you can't follow the assembly instructions step by step. If you do, you'll wind up taking pieces out.

I really like this product. I was going to buy a Bello' TV stand and matching AV rack because I could've gotten a great deal on it, but the flexibility in design, solid construction and high ratings from others convinced me to get the Synergy. I got a S40, S20, the sides, a door for the S20 and the TV stand- all in cherry and black.
I got it a few months ago and the more I stare at it, the more I like it. I'm really glad I got this over the Bello cause that Sony Wega is so heavy!!!! My friend just bought a Bello stand and he's paranoid the TV will crack it one of these days.

One minor problem is that I want a new book shelf which will be placed near the system. It's been hard to find a great match for the wood and finish of this rack.

Overall though, it's excellent. Definetely recommend it if you have the money.

Beautiful, real cherry wood veneer, doors are solid cherry wood, great build quality, not too difficult to assemble.

You will probably scratch the sides a little when assembling. Not too noticable though.

I purchased the Salamander Synergy Twin S40 with 2 cherry wood/metal grill doors and cherry sides. I agonized over contrasting walnut tops, aluminum feet, leather sides, and glass doors. It was fun to consider, but I decided to have one "safe" piece and buy a second "funkier" piece to match later on.

If you are looking for beautiful, modular A/V furniture, but you still want wood, you should consider Salamander. Currently, I have 4 components (receiver, DVD, CD, VCR) and these fit perfectly inside. My TV goes right on top. There is space for a much, much bigger TV so I also have a plant sitting right next to the TV. If I buy another component in the future (such as a pre-amp), I will purchase a separate Salamander audio rack and convert a part of it into media storage. Versatility is THE reason to go modular.

The metal grills allow your remote's IR signals to reach your components.

One thing to be aware of, it's difficult for wood to all be the same color unless they are all stained and finished exactly the same way. And sometimes, if the pieces are from different trees or have some irregularities, that is noticable as well! (I do woodworking.) Unfortunately, when I purchased my pieces, I received one door which was manufactured 6 months before the other door. And within this time, Salamander seems to have made some changes to their staining and finishing processes. In short, my doors didn't match. However, I sent both of them back and received two doors made at about the same time, and these matched. Thank goodness.

I gave away the Salamander Archetype I used to own to my ex-boyfriend. It was beautiful too, but my tastes changed and I eventually thought it was too minimalist. I also wanted the option to be able to hide my components in order to make my living room less "masculine". When I want that macho electronic look, I just open the doors and voila!

I am so glad I purchased this piece. It's a great compromise between the "open"/modular look and the "closed"/armoire look.

Connie

Similar Products Used:

Salamander Archetype

Flexibilty,sturdiness

Cost

Expensive,flexible,strong,good looking. Bought (2) 40's with top add ons,Cherry, cherry doors perforated steel towards interior TV, with adjustable bridge. Very cool, about only rack that will fit big Mac's with baack open

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None,looked forever-bought. Developed system over time

Sturdy and adjustable. Stunning wood pieces

Expensive

Excellent stand. Matches my cherry Klipsch KLF-20's to a tee. Many thanks to Greg who warned of the assembly of the legs to the wood pieces. This unit is solid and very well made. Assembly was not that bad, although the (like the others said) instructions are sparse. No other unit on the market can come close.

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Lovan

Exceptional design. Elegant understatement in the living room.

Finish mediocre

Just finished assembling the Synergy Twin 30 in black and
walnut... This rack is extraordinarily well designed and
looks fantastic. It complements my black equipment perfectly.

One minor and one not-so-minor quibbles:

1. More important first: You pay a premium price to purchase this product (list price $650). However, the overall quality on my stand is poor, with many small- and medium-sized imperfections. The back looks like someone dragged it across the shop floor. Tear-out is evident in many of the drilled holes. It's also impossible to assemble without scratching the nicely stained wood surfaces (near the posts, which have rough, unsmoothed ends, and rotate annoyingly during assembly).

2. Minor quibble: Assembly was painful. I'm not returning the damaged pieces to the dealer, because I don't want to assemble another one of these guys. It took me about 4 hours total, and I build my own furniture. The instructions were deliberately sketchy, as though an extension of the stand's minimalist design. I could have used more details (for example, the subtle difference between top and bottom shelfs was not described, but had to be elucidated through experimentation).

Value? Well, the product is stunning, and I don't think you'll find anything this well designed for less. However, in this price range, I expect perfection. What was delivered was far from perfect.

Final note: This stand managed to improve the picture quality of my TV. I don't understand why, but the picture looks sharper now.

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IKEA TV stand