Post your Retro Setup in Here

[Peltz]

Planning something. This is a very early concept draft of a future custom setup.

There is room for two of my CRTs - one will be TATE - as well as all of my consoles and a row of books at the top. The shelf on the far right in the middle that is suspended in mid-air will be home to a vinyl record collection and the horizontal block to the left of the right speaker represents a record player. We will be adding more blocks to represent placement of all my consoles, switches, and other hardware.

I am not happy with the draft quite yet, but I see some serious potential after we play with the spacing.

Even after completing the design, the shelves are totally modular, so as long as I adhere to the spacing of the 5 vertical bars in the back I’m never locked too permanently into anything. Even the HDTV will be mounted into a surface that is removable from the vertical bars.

My game library is going to be on another wall mounted shelf in the same room in the same style (that design is finalized and the shelves are already on their way). Here’s what the shelves look like in simpler setups:

Bonus CRT picture:

So I think they’ll possibly be able to do my setup justice. My thought is to stop hiding my hardware behind cabinet doors, and stop using so much wood for furniture in my apartment (gotta break it up a bit). I want my consoles to be part of the decor, but in a classy, non “game room” way (since I live in a 1 bedroom). Also, I’m done moving CRTs. I want them ready to play on center stage at all times near my HDTV.

The white shelves and openness will hopefully give it an airy, colorful, modern feeling like in the photos above.

The best part? There’s thick aluminum covers that run along each of the bars in the back that are not visible… so you will see zero cables as they will run through these covers. That built-in cable management is a huge draw for me.

It’s a tremendous project. But, ff you compare my pictures in the OP to what I’m going for here, I think you’ll agree it’s a major upgrade in the style department.

If anyone has any thoughts (good or bad) about the project, I could use some feedback. Definitely, the first order of business will be to try and elevate the CRTs a bit more, and maybe divide them out a bit so that they “balance” things from an aesthetic perspective a bit more.

[poptart]

First thought it the CRTs are so low to the ground they would be very annoying to use.

[Chacranajxy]

I think it’s too structured, honestly. It’s going to look strange to have this square-shaped monolith in the room if you don’t have enough other tall stuff around it. Particularly since it looks like you’re putting the speakers on this thing, rather than off to the side.

[Peltz]

yea, I’m going to change that.

[Peltz]

Hmmm… I will probably get rid of some stuff up top. But I don’t think it will look too monolithic in person. I don’t think the shelves look monolithic in any of the pictures I’ve seen, no matter how tall they get.

They’re white and thin so will be pretty airy if I leave space on them. And they make clutter look nice somehow.

But I do agree it’s too structured right now. I want it to be a bit more asymmetrical, sparse, and interesting.

[STG]

Interesting that those shelves can support that much vinyl, mainly because of the weight. That would make me a bit nervous personally. Other than that, they do look good, and modular shelving is quite nice!

[Peltz]

There are multiple ways to anchor the shelves depending on the weight. When rhey add feet to the shelves they can support a whole wall full of vinyl

[tron]

That’s a pretty cool way to get “built in” bookcases.

[KC-Slater]

I love those shelves, and I am really feeling the aesthetic of the interior design of those photos/what you are going for. Where are the shelving units from, if I may ask? (I think this is something that I could even get my wife on board for…)

[Peltz]

If you’re referring to the ones I’ve posted, they’re from vitsoe.com

[KC-Slater]

Those were the ones. They are so nice, but goddamn they are pricey! Granted, they are investment pieces, I suppose. I think if I lived in a condo still, I could further justify the expense since they would really help maximize the use of space.

[Peltz]

They’re definitely an investment. The best part is that they can be removed from the wall and taken with you wherever you go. And the manufacturer has been supporting the same product for 50 years without changing much.

You’ll always be able to grow/shrink your setup as needed if you invest the cash upfront. But yea, they’re not your typical piece of furniture from a price perspective. But they really do create some amazing possibilities if space is at a premium while staying modular and looking fantastic. Since discovering them, I’ve been looking at pictures of them all the time, and am floored at just how they never look ugly in any setup, no matter how sparse or crowded.

They have a store on Bond Street in NYC. The reps told me I’m pretty much the first “gaming setup” they’ve ever been commissioned for and they want to take some promo shots of the finished product when all is said and done.

[Socksfelloff]

Store rep " what’s this big boxy tv?"

Peltzy “that’s a Sony BVM. It’s a CRT for retro games”

Rep “oh I’m pretty sure we had one of those growing up. Does it play call-a-dooty?”

[Peltz]

The reps are actually super cool about understanding the need for old tech. A lot of the setups they do is for vintage hi-fi.

[KC-Slater]

That’s awesome! You definitely have to share pics of your setup once complete.

In other news, your post may have just cost me thousands of dollars…

[Peltz]

Here’s another draft… getting closer possibly. I may need to get rid of one of the CRTs to make everything look natural though.

That HDTV will be mounted and can extend out 28" with the mount ShinJohnpv posted. Then rotate for Tate.

In the end, it may be too many screens

I may also center the HDTV between the CRTs and extend it out so that the screen is just as far from the wall as the CRT screens.

[Peltz]

Actually… just came up with another design:

I still think the first design I posted higher up is the best, even though the CRTs are so low. If I could add wedges to angle them up, they’d be perfect.

Basically, their placement in the one I like most would be similar to the one in this picture:

The only thing is, I won’t be as far away from the shelves as the chairs in that picture. You really need distance to make that low display work FYI, I’m referring to this design:

Would speaker wedges work?

[eXistor]

Little update to the gameroom. Bought a magazine rack. It just about fits, but I think I can get away with it.

[Socksfelloff]

I think I may steal that idea from you!

[New002]

Yo I had that top-left issue of EGM!