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U-22T RW/B Rosewood / Black Screen Cabinet | ||||
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We received the Ultra U-22T RW/B, which features a beautiful hardwood (rosewood) veneer contrasted with a sturdy metal black screen material. The combination is stunning and adds a rich look to any home entertainment system. Handle bars are symmetrically placed on the right and left doors. The black metal screen design allows air to pass through freely, which works well for sound transparency (for the center speaker) as well as preventing heat buildup. The cabinet can easily accommodate a large plasma or LCD display up to 70 inches diagonal. The unit measures 67 inches wide, 24 inches tall, and 24 inches deep. Packaging
Normally I would shy away from using casters on fine looking furniture. However, there was a need for us to move the unit around once the wires were in place, so we went ahead and installed the optional wheels. In doing so, we forfeited the attractive looking legs that were included with the cabinet. If there is no need to move the cabinet, we would recommend staying with the original legs as they look more elegant in our opinion. However, we moved the cabinet quite a bit during installation and the casters were wonderful, especially on our hardwood floors. StudioTech has pre-drilled holes in the cabinet that accommodate either option (legs or casters), so switching back and forth is not a problem. The high quality European-style hinges used on the cabinet doors make assembly simple and with the quick release design, the doors are easily installed or removed. Adjustment screws allow the doors to move in virtually any direction, so that they fit optimally on the cabinet. The doors have rubber pads that prevent them from slamming when they are closed. Cable
Management
The fans change speed based on the temperature detected by the two wired remote sensors. The user can place these sensors on the hot components to control the fan speed as needed for cooling. This closed-loop design help prevent overheating of the electronics inside of the cabinet. Under normal circumstances, the fans will remain off or very quiet depending on the temperature of the wired sensors. In the event of high temperatures, the fans may become audible until the temperatures reach a reasonable level. Since the fan assembly is mounted in front of the shelf, components behind the fan will not be easily accessible. Some components such as our Dish Network DVR do not need to be accessed and run quite hot, making it an ideal candidate for the fan option. Since we use a wired IR repeating system that receives codes from our RTI T3 Remote Controller, this option works well for use. Other may need a clear line-of-sight to the component to control it.
Conclusion Special note: I cannot say enough about the quality packaging that ensures that each piece of the cabinet arrives in pristine condition. Having received many damaged goods in the past and then dealing with rectifying the problem really makes me appreciate StudioTech's professional packing. - Kevin Nakano | | |||
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| Review System |
| Projector:
Optoma H77 High-Definition HD2+ DLP™ Projector |
| Review at a glance |
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Ultra
U-22T Assembly Instructions
Company
Information Model Number:
Ultra U-22T RW/B (Rosewood) URL: www.studiotech.com |
| Any comments or questions regarding the LAAF Web Site should be forwarded to laaudiofile@socal.rr.com Copyright © 1985-2007 L.A. Audio File. |
Anyone
who has taken the plunge into a home theater system has quickly realized that
there is more to a system than the A/V components alone. Furniture is an essential
part of any A/V system and finding that piece to house your components and be
aesthetically pleasing can be challenging. A company called StudioTech has introduced
a contemporary line of quality A/V furniture that not only looks good, but offers
a design sturdy enough for heavy components and displays. StudioTech is based
locally here in Irvine, California and initially broke into the market in 1989
when they introduced the S-1 speaker stand. Soon after, they found themselves
creating A/V furniture for the audio and home theater market. We had the opportunity
to review one of their latest designs, the attractive Ultra U-22T cabinet.
Normally,
packaging is not a topic we would cover on a review such as this, but having dealt
with so many products shipped via the Internet it seemed appropriate. The Ultra
U22T cabinet comes in three separate boxes. The first box is the largest and contains
the top and bottom pieces along with the back panels. This box is 71-inches long
and requires an oversized pallet for delivery. A full 2-inches of foam padding
is provided on each end of the 40 pound pieces. Padding is provided on all six
sides of the contents to protect them from damage. Other pieces inside have their
own boxes for extra protection along with each panel being foam wrapped. The second
box contains the cabinet sides and center support panel. Finally, the last box
contains the front doors. This type of packing is very important to a company
as it minimizes the number of damage claims and avoids dealing with ultimately
unhappy customers. I've personally have had many items damaged in shipping and
it is not fun to resolve. Even the picky customers will be impressed the the packaging.
Assembly
Once
you have wired a 5.1 or 7.1 audio system, you soon miss the days of two channel
stereo. An over abundance of cables can make wiring a system very busy. The A/V
processor is almost always the most difficult component to wire simply because
all other components must connect to it. It is essentially the Center of the
Universe for all A/V systems for this reason alone. The thought of rewiring
the back of our Parasound AVC-2500u makes me cringe and I always seem to have
to allocate a least a couple of days for the task. To make matters worse, wiring
components inside a cabinet can be a even more difficult with the limited space
and no visibility to the connections. In fact, wiring the processor in my custom
cabinets I built over a decade ago required that I get a diagram of the back of
the processor to know where the connectors are located. Since I could not see
what I was doing my sense of touch had to be used to wire to the correct interface.
StudioTech must have experienced the pain and suffering because the back panels
on the U-22T were completely removable, leaving full access to the back of the
processor. For once, I could actually see what I was connecting to. The removable
panels are also handy for those oversized components such as our behemoth Parasound
HCA-2205AT 5-channel power amplifier weighing 85 pounds and measuring 21 inches
deep. My back still hurts from lifting this monster into the cabinet, yet the
U-22T handled it with no problem. I would recommend placing any item this heavy
on the top or bottom portion of the structure. While the shelves are strong, they
can't hold the same amount of weight as the top and bottom portions of the cabinet.
Routing
the cables to each of the components is made simple with the channel design of
the rear portion of the vertical supports. No longer do cables have to lay on
the floor. Instead, they can sit in the angled cutouts designed to organize and
keep them off the floor. This design also helps minimize dust buildup which often
occurs over time. Once the cables are in place, each of the three rear panels
can be installed by sliding the door into the upper slot and dropping down into
the lower slot. The design works well and is a simple concept. However, due to
play in the upper slot, the door can vibrate. We recommend placing some dampening
material (thin foam from the packaging) in the top section to help prevent vibration.
As you can see from the photo, there are large openings on the sides that allow
for plenty of air movement. This design helps keep the components from overheating.
Cooling
Storage
Final
Placement
