SOLID construction, easy to assemble, looks great.

To some extent: price, but then again you get what you pay for.

This review is for the Synergy S40 black/black with polished aluminum feet, no sides or door, and also for the SVDO TV stand. I chose the black/black style since it looks great with most components (at least all the ones I have now or will have eventually). The polished aluminum feet give both units a unique style that looks great. I had both of them assembled in about two hours, with just the tools provided. I've read some complaints about items being damaged in shipping, and mine was no exception: one of the support bars for the S40 had a scratch on one side, but that wasn't much of an issue since I could just turn it to face the rear of the unit so you can't see it. No points off for that. The SVDO is heavy, but then again it has to be in order to support a 300lb TV! I'm getting a Sony 36XBR400, which weighs in at a hefty 270+, so this was definitely the TV stand to get. I didn't much care for the boring grey Sony XBR stand for that TV, which wouldn't have complimented anything in the HT except the TV. The TV will fit fine, I measured. :-) The S40 has easy-to-adjust shelving, and holds up to 300lbs worth of components, which should be more than enough for all but the nuttiest HT buffs. After I had the pieces assembled, any doubt of getting what I paid for quickly disappeared. This is really high-quality HT component furniture, if you can spend the extra money I highly recommend checking out Salamander Designs!

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None.

furniture-grade, modern look; ability to hold a ton of eqpt

pricey?

I own the walnut+aluminum trim+aluminum feet 5-shelf model. It holds an Enlightened Audio Design Powermaster 1000 5-ch amp, Denon 4800 receiver, Denon DVM-3700 dvd/cd player, Adcom pre-amp, and a dac+monster power conditioner sharing a shelf. The shelves are about 17.5" deep, so my 19" deep amp sticks out the back. Note that the back on this unit is not structural, so it can be left off for better ventilation. I have the perforated metal door and leather sides, so leaving off the back helps ventilation. All in all, this is an extremely good looking piece of audio furniture that happens to hold a ton of heavy equipment and is stable as a rock. You can't ask for much more than that.

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none, but looked long and hard for combo of looks, durability, adjustability, and vibration damping

sturdy,flexible,visually appealing, real wood construction

audion cabinet door has a tendency to bang against shelving if not assisted all the way to closing

I'm very happy with the salamander synergy audio and video racking system. The quality of the components is top notch. The cherry wood is beautifully finished and everything fits together neatly. The system comes with everything you need to do the job save a screw driver. It even has a small level and a ruler to insure that everything matches up just right (the feet of the system can be extended individually for uneven floors). I purchased the Synergy 30 with a cherry / perforated steel door and the attached cherry peninsula for my TV. The perfs are made to allow for remote control access even when the door is closed, though I have not enjoyed uniform success with this. The door does bang a bit if pushed closed, even though there are rubber stoppers to attach to the door to curb this. Perhaps better hinges? I did not put the back on the cabinet as this allows me easy access to the audio components. A nice feature is the "heavy" shelf that comes with special brackets to support extra weight (good for my Hafler DH500 amp which weighs a ton). The peninsula easily fits my Sony 27XBR tv though I doubt it would fit a much bigger TV comfortably. The cherry finish matches up great with the rosewood finish of my Kef 104.2 speakers. About 1.5 hours of assembly time. Very attractive.

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bell'oggetti