A 75 inch TV is going over a fireplace. The interior decorator wants all the equipment mounted in the cavity behind the television. Maximum depth 5 inches. I need to place three Sonos amps, a power strip, small Comcast box, and a Roku.

if it is feasible, I would have to meet with a contractor, and see if he could carve out cubbies and set amps on their side. If you were in my position would you attempt to work with the contractor and the other parties, or just say it cannot be done?

If that is what the homeowner wants as well (the person paying my check), then sure. Lets do it.

With only 5" of depth, that would mean to me we are installing a structured wiring cabinet in the middle opening. Either the 28" Open House or 30" OnQ enclosure should work to fit everything in and stay within the height needed for the TV to conceal it. If not, 1 enclosure on each side of the middle stud would absolutely do it.

"We'll install the gear here if we can. DO NOT call us when things need reset, and they will"

If they are willing to pay service calls and you want that, so be it. I guess one could look at it like recurring revenue.

Does this fireplace have a big, masonry chimney? Sounds like it- the interior detonator needs to be welcomed into the real world.

Does this place have a basement? If so, you know what to do. If not, the homeowners need to take that ride to the real world, too.

I'm trying to finish a house where the homeowners said they didn't want to see speakers or sound bars near the TVs, each of which is over a fireplace- I told them the sound will be better if they're at the front, but they didn't want that, so I said I could install them over the sofas. No chance of a centrally-located speaker in either room because it's an older house with exposed beams placed, you guessed it- dead center. Last week, I got a text message saying that the sound at the family room sofa is odd, coming from overhead, so we discussed the situation on Monday. Now, I have to find a small 5.1 AVR for the living room which Snap sells, but isn't expected to arrive until November 30, if even then. The plan was always to use enclosures behind that TV, but not to need an amplifier for more speakers. Since they want a Samsung Frame TV, there's not an option for me to use an articulating mount because they want it as close to the wall as possible and the framing/drywall/plaster/paint are done.

If only I could read minds.....

If there's another place to put the stuff, stand your ground with the client.

You hired the decorator for their guidance and expertise, afford me the same.

I appreciate the input. The more I think about it, the less I like the idea.

There are always more details of course. It is a former brick fireplace that is going to be covered over with stone. The articulating mount is going to take up a good portion of the center area, so I picture the electronics left and right of the mount. The stone would have to be wide open in the mount area, plus amp space left and right, so a non-stone opening 30” high by 48” wide.

Pull the TV out and angle it towards the kitchen and you you get ugly.

Unless you have a good working relationship with contractor, you should pass on the project.

Ever heard the concept "Two objects can't occupy the same space"? That needs to be explained to the detonator- the AV equipment and stone or framing need to be allowed their own space. They also need to realize that the house will be lived in by the homeowners and it's not a damned tribute to their talents UNLESS the homeowners want to recommend it to others.

I hope that there is an option to house the electronics elsewhere. Sure, there will be some cost associated with HDMI extenders and such, but they are already approving the cost of overlaying brick with stone.

Maybe you could have the designer come up with a faux stone overlay to hide the ugly details that will be visible when the TV is extended. Or, design a swinging door of stone that allows rear access. I'm sure that this detail would be worthy of mention in a design magazine -- which is mostly what many designers work toward.

We had one job where the light switches were around the corner and down the hall because the customer did not want to see any technology.

I did have one giggly victory with a pain in the neck designer. This was in a former fire house from the horse and buggy era with a very complex open ceiling that was painted black (exposed pipes, ducts, wiring, big beams).  We were using four surface mounted (black) B&W 804's as "ceiling" speakers. The designer came into the shop demanding to know when we were going to install the speakers because he did not want us to hold up the schedule. I informed him that we had already installed the "invisible" speakers.

Those are good moments, even though they're rare, aren't they, buzz?

I think you should work out the price to roll a truck with two guys to the residence, take the TV down, make the needed slight adjustment (or replace anything), put the TV back up, and roll on home. I'm seeing $200 to $350 per adjustment.

This is just such a bad idea.

Ever notice that water heaters are incredibly simple technology, from bottom to top? But you can't put those behind anything more that a quickly removable door. They want to put all that stuff behind the TV? Nope.

Let's add "interioir desecrator" to the list of synonyms.

Absolutely Brilliant!!!

Don't carve out cubbies. Have them open the entire wall up and reframe (headers like a door way etc) it leaving a large opening almost the size of the TV. Then have them build a plywood box to finish off that space. Use a full motion mount so you can install and service your equipment by pulling the TV out from the wall.

This gives you a large open space so you dont have to fight with each device. My guess is that the contractor would spend the same or less time doing this vs trying to make cubbies between the studs.

This. And use the future automation articulating mount so you have a lot more space to the left and right side of the mounting plate to put the components. If you design and manage this properly, I see no reason why this should be such a big issue.

I’ve done a few installs where we do an in wall articulating mount in the middle & 1 14” versabox on each side. It will fit behind a 70” TV so 75” is fine. I fit 1 Sonos amp & 1 episode sub amp a/ a Wattbox in each versa box. Plus another Wattbox in the mount. With the frame tv you would need to do the 20x14 versa box. So if you do 3 20x14 versa box I don’t see why you couldn’t do that. Make sure you have N IP surge though for power resets. Seems like a pain in the ass but it can be done. Maybe even 3 30” enclosures if it will clear with the tv and bracket.

I dunno.

This is going to be a stone fireplace, obviously making a statement.

Making all that space requires No Stone to a large extent behind the entire TV. Fine when the TV is tight to the wall, but ugly when angled toward the kitchen.