OmniMount CCH1B Center Channel Speaker Shelf
by OmniMount
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List Price: Category: Home Theater See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of OmniMount CCH1B Center Channel Speaker Shelf
Customer Review: Worked out pretty good.
Summary: 5 Stars
Purchased through Amazon.com. I got quick delivery and the shelf worked out great for my DVD and VCR players, (yes, I still have a VCR). Once you get it adjusted right and put on the adhesive foot pads it is very stable and solid on top of the T.V. I would suggest checking the parts list, all the parts are there, but the 2 short spacers are screwed onto the feet and look like one piece. You have to unscrew them to shorten the foot sections and screw on the legs. Do not put the adhesive pads on until you are absolutely sure it is level, screws tightened and centered on the top of the T.V., because once it set in place with the adhesive pads release paper removed there is no moving it around for adjustment. You get one shot at placement. My 42" Sony Wega LCD has a steep back on it and I had to use the long set of legs, the forward mounting holes in the shelf and remove the little lock nuts on the foot sections to get that little bit to make it level. Trial and error test fitting is the only way to go to get it right. Instructions could be better, but as far as the unit itself, it is strong and well made and should hold most anything you want to put on it, within reason. Try to keep most of the weight forward and not sitting on the back edge of the platform for safety's sake.
I am very satisfied with the purchase and the price, plus delivery was fast (4 - days).
Another note:
To all the folks that don't use all 4 adhesive pads, 2 on the rear feet and 2 under the front lip that sits on top of the screen. The pads keep the legs from sliding down the slope on the back of your set causing bending and breaking off. Disaster in the making. The front ones help keep the front edge down so it resists tilting back or sliding if the weight is not balanced. If you are worried about removing the adhesive pads later for some reason, just use a common hair drier to warm up the pads and they should peel off without any damage to the finish or the back of the set. Adhesives soften with a little heat. The pads assure the stability and strength of the platform and becomes a rigid part of the set.
Customer Review: Mount it upside down!
Summary: 4 Stars
This shelf seems to work fine when you use it as recommended however I found a trick that makes it look even better. Mount it upside down using the front lip of the shelf hooked over the front of your TV instead of the 2 pegs. It looks way better this way and functions about the same. When you do this, also be sure to mount the rear legs not in the normal spots, but just behind in one of the vent holes. That way, the screws will not protrude upwards. I also recommend using a bit of sticky tack mount between the center speaker (or other device) and the shelf, to provide a bit of further protection from the speaker being able to slide during an earthquake of if the shelf should get bumped.
My TV stand would only allow my center channel speaker to be placed on it's bottom shelf, not on the shelf directly below the TV. I tried it like that for a while, but the sound was no good. Having the speaker down by the floor made male voices sound muddy and when they spoke low or whispered, I couldn't even understand what they were saying-the sound was just lost with the speaker down there.
Although the look of this Omnimount shelf is not ideal because it detracts a bit from the beauty and sleekness of the TV, you do get used to it pretty quickly. I got the black one and it matches my TV (Sony SXRD 60a2000) and installing it upside down looks way sleeker than having 2 pegs in the front of the TV.
The sound from the center channel speaker is worlds better having it on top of the TV, than down by the floor. While I wish my TV stand allowed for placing the speaker on the upper shelf, this Omnimount shelf is the next best thing.
Be extra careful when installing this shelf so as not to scratch the front or top surfaces of your TV. Once it's on there, it should not scratch anything if you don't move it around. Also, this shelf really cannot support more than 30 pounds so be sure to weigh your speaker or device (or look in the manual for the weight specification).
Customer Review: Some assembly required
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm running a Klipsch center on top of a Mitsubishi 65" DLP, and because of an intelligent design by Klipsch I didn't really need this shelf until my cat decided the speaker wire was a new toy for her. Anyhow I digress, the shelf is sturdy and goes together easily. Once set in place its readily apparent what everone is complaining about with the front 2 silver support rods. I don't agree with the solution of another user about flipping it upside down since the front lip is there to keep your equipment from sliding off the front (accidents happen and my TV screen now has a scratch to prove Murphy's Law). Here's my suggestion:
1) MEASURE the thickness of your screens upper frame (mine is 3/8").
2) If you kept the small spacers that were originally attached to the leveling feet; screw the rods into the spacer to protect the threads from damage during the rest of this process.
3) Cut the rod down measuring from the threaded edge to match. If you marred the surface in your vise or plier its not a problem since the next step is to rough up the surface.
4) Using a grinder gently smooth any high spots you may have caused, then sand the rest of the surface with a medium grit paper.
5) Get a can of black appliance enamel spray paint. Available at most paint supply stores.
6) Using several light coats cover the entire surface and let dry over night.
7) Remove rod from spacer. Using a utility knife to pre-score the edge where the rod and spacer meet.
And voila! You now have front rods that won't invade your screen and almost disappear completely while watching, but still are fully functional!
Only complaint is the included "rubber" pads that you are meant to attach to the leveling feet. They've got adhesive on both sides so if you use them then the shelf is, more or less, permenantly mounted to your TV. The shelf seems to work fine without them, but its better piece-of-mind to have a bit more friction back there.
Customer Review: Very functional with slight room for improvement
Summary: 4 Stars
First off, let me tell you that this is an excellent shelf for mounting a center channel speaker above your TV. I am using it to mount the center speaker in my Onkyo SKS-HT540 speaker system. The speaker is a little over 8 lbs. so it is well within the weight limits of the shelf. I chose to mount the shelf upside down as explained here by another reviewer as this method looks much better in my opinion. Since the top of my TV is quite a bit higher than ear level I had to angle the center channel speaker down quite a bit. This concerned me because I was afraid the speaker may slide off over time from the vibrations. Just to be on the safe side I used the pins left over from mounting the shelf upside down as a barrier in front of the speaker so that it has no way to slide forward and come crashing down on my glass TV stand. That would not be good at all.
One final note that may be of interest to some people. I bought this shelf to go on top a my very slim Sony Bravia 52" xbr2. This is where OminiMount could slightly improve this product. If they just included some longer legs with this unit than the 4" and 11" ones that they have in the box, then they could market it as being able to fit any TV as opposed to just projection, DLP, cabinet-style TVs. I knew about the mounting problems I was going to run into beforehand as this product was clearly not intended for slim flat panel TVs, however, it was pretty much my only option. So, a quick trip down the road to Home Depot and $7 later I had my mounting issue under control. I bought two 3' aluminum rods that perfectly matched the diameter of the receivers that the stand uses. I cut a couple of inches off of the rods so that they were the right length from the base of the shelf to the top of the TV stand. Worked well for me, was easy to fabricate a quick fix, and is very sturdy.
Customer Review: Works fine
Summary: 4 Stars
I upgraded from a 32" tube TV in an entertainment center to a 61" Samsung DLP HDTV sitting on a TV stand. The top of the Samsung is nowhere near wide enough to be able to hold my Klipsch center channel speaker (which had previously been sitting on top of the entertainment center), so after doing some searching, I ordered one of these shelves.
The two pegs that are intended to anchor the shelf on the front of the TV ended up being too long for my TV (they hung down low enough that they would have blocked out part of the screen) so I took the advice of some other reviewers and just mounted the shelf upside down, using the shelf's lip as the anchor instead. This worked without any problem.
The double-sided stickies that are included to help keep the shelf on the TV are *very* sticky (which is a good thing), and so I would recommend ignoring the instructions that suggest that you affix them to the shelf first. Instead, measure the top of your TV and pre-place the two stickies so that the shelf will be centered without any guesswork, and then lay the shelf down on top of them. Initially, I mounted it a bit off-center, and I had to (rather gingerly) unstick the (very stuck) shelf to fix the positioning. Once you get the front mounted, there is enough "play" in the legs to be able to place them appropriately.
I'm knocking off a star because (as other reviewers have noted) many of the parts come screwed together in non-obvious ways and the instructions are somewhat lacking (though assembling the shelf is hardly brain surgery). That aside, this shelf works perfect to hold my 10-pound speaker above my TV -- with the upside-down modification -- and it was even deep enough to conceal a small OTA HDTV antenna behind the speaker.