BDI MEDIA CONSOLE REVIEW - Audio Furniture with Style
BDI MEDIA CONSOLE REVIEW BY ANDREW ROBINSON. AUDIO FURNITURE WITH STYLE
AUDIO FURNITURE WITH STYLE AND FUNCTION
We all love our hifi equipment. We stress and obsess over it at times, but one component that is often overlooked is our choice in AV furniture. There is a lot of furniture on the market masquerading as AV furniture, but when you get right down to it, a lot of it simply doesn’t work. Sure it may be stylish, but it’s either constructed of materials that cannot withstand the weight and/or heat that AV gear can have, or it is simply not big enough to accommodate components larger than say a Blu-ray player or small sound bar. The BDI Octave media cabinet sets itself apart as audio furniture with style and functionality.
BDI Media Console Review
BDI Furniture makes purpose-built AV and office furniture that is as stylish as it is functional. Kristi and I reached out to BDI because we were in the market for a new media console as we were at our wits end with our aging IKEA cabinet. After going over all of the many designs BDI offers, as well as making a sort of wish list as to what we wanted our next media cabinet to have, we settled on the Octave Media Console.
We immediately knew it would fit our love of mid century design. The Octave Media Console comes in two sizes, and two finishes. We opted for the largest of the two models and ordered it in its Toasted Walnut finish. We chose the Walnut because we thought it would be the most complimentary to our modern, mid-century tastes and it was a good match for our JBL L100 Classic and Klipsch Heresy IV loudspeakers and U-Turn turntable. The Drift Oak finish would’ve worked in our bedroom where we have a little bit lighter esthetic, but out in the living room we liked the contrast of the Walnut.
The BDI TV stand arrived about a week or so after solidifying our order and it arrived nearly fully assembled! The Octave ships as standard this way, resulting in the end user merely having to attach the legs themselves. With the legs bolted in place I was able to simply roll the Octave into place thanks to its built-in castors that are recessed inside the legs themselves.
Once in place Kristi and I began outfitting the Octave every which way from Sunday. It’s included adjustable shelves are perfect for full-size AV gear and can accommodate even heavy pieces such as amplifiers up to 55 pounds like the Yamaha A-S3200. The bottom “shelf” or base of the console can hold considerably more weight at 100+ pounds for those with really heavy gear such as the M8xi from Musical Fidelity. The Octave’s added depth was welcomed as several amplifiers I had on hand required an AV rack capable of housing their 17 plus inch length.
BDI MEDIA CABINET
Functional HiFi furniture with Style
The four dark grey metal doors are a mesh-like design that allow sound and remote control commands to flow freely through. We installed two bookshelf speakers from XTZ Sound inside the left and right cabinets on the Octave turning it into a modern day, old-school console stereo you might remember from back when you were a kid. This worked well and due to the Octave’s larger size still resulted in us having a proper stereo performance proving you can have functional HiFi furniture with style.
The BDI Octave is as beautiful as it is functional, and a media console that will likely last for many years to come even with all the wear and tear Kristi and I put on AV furniture given our schedule. We’ve lived with the Octave now for several months and have had zero complaints.
Shop this BDI cabinet here.
OUR FAVORITE HOME THEATER AND HOME AUDIO SETUP
