[Shadowsteeler]

Chuck,

Where did you source the grill material?

Thank you,

Kevin

Originally Posted by Chuck v

Dick,

I did a similar "adjustment" to the cherry wood frame that held in the original front Jensen TV -- what I found particularly useful was the quarter-round trim that is sold to be used with hardwood flooring. This molding is pre-finished, and available in a stain that is quite close to the existing cabinetry. I just used it on the two side portions of the existing frame as the opening was a bit too wide for the new Samsung TV.

I mounted the TV as high as possible in the opening, which left the most room for a grill at the lower edge to let the speakers be heard. I used the mount boss from the Samsung's pedestal, but screwed it to a block of wood about 6 inches long and 2.75 inches square that I drilled with a hole saw to accept the mount boss. This wood block is then cross screwed into the frame member at the rear of the cabinet and everything is very solid. I painted this wood block black and used a black grill such that the opening is visually subtle and looks like it should be there.

This Samsung TV is the same three inches thick as the earlier Jensen, so the wooden "picture frame" holds everything in place pretty much the same as the factory installation.

The bedroom TV was much more of a custom fit. I mounted the Vizio 26 inch unit on the OUTSIDE of the framed box that held the little Jensen, but used a VESA mount from CW to attach it firmly to the rear panel of the box. This method allowed the edge mounted controls of the TV to be accessed if the remote should fail for any reason... This TV is very thin and looks fine on the outside of the frame. The speakers on this Vizio are on the front and did not need any special consideration for this application. A little foam weatherstripping made the two side edges look finished if you should peer around the TV far enough, and the top is open enough to let out what little heat this set generates. Then the whole box+TV combination was remounted in the vanity cabinet using the existing screws in the corner of the wooden frame. I added a small DVD player with HDMI output in the upper vanity cabinet adjacent to and just right of the TV as that was where AC power is prewired, this gives me a source of 'real' HDTV content in addition to the ATSC, since there is no HDMI cabling from elsewhere in the coach. Of course I also used the existing coax for the antenna connection and the video/audio connections from the front A/V selector just as they had been used for the little Jensen that was removed.

Chuck