Burns360 client, BDI, received a great review on CNET by Steve Guttenberg. The link to the original article can be found here.

If you already own or plan on buying an audio or home theater system, I have a question, what do you put it on? Or if you want to keep the gear out of sight, what are you going to put it in? When I was an audio salesman these questions came up all the time. Of course some folks already had exactly the right furniture or audio rack, but a lot of them didn’t. If you bought the good stuff, you wanted to display it with pride. That’s why I’m taking a look at BDI furniture on this edition of the Audiophiliac.

I’ve admired BDI’s products since I first set eyes on them sometime in the early 2000s, and I bought a BDI TV stand more than 10 years ago, and it still looks new. The furniture has always had a great sense of style that seems utterly timeless, but speaking of time it’s been ages since I checked out what’s new at BDI. So I scooted over to their website and zeroed in on the Corridor lineup.

There’s an audio tower, a few low slung media cabinets, and the Corridor Bar, with racking space for wine bottles and storage for more bottles on shelves and doors. The cabinets all have matte finished, micro-etched glass top panels, and the furniture is shipped nearly fully assembled, the buyer just attaches the hardware, door handles, trim, etc. Two finishes are currently available for Corridor pieces, white oak and chocolate stained walnut, but BDI is about to introduce a charcoal stained ash finish for all Corridor models. BDI claims the Corridor’s louvered doors will allow a speaker’s sound or a remote control’s signal to pass through unobstructed. Warranty runs three years. BDI doesn’t sell direct, they have brick and mortar and online retailers.

Turns out a nearby Jensen-Lewis furniture store in NYC had two Corridor media cabinets on display, the 8177 ($1,999) and the 8179 ($2,199), so I hopped on the subway to check them out.

I’m glad I did, when you can touch and feel the build quality of the Corridors you know BDI’s furniture is a big step up from the usual flat-packed, assemble it yourself AV furniture. The wood is gorgeous, the Corridor 8177 can accommodate TVs up to 70 inches wide; the top shelf can support 150 pounds, the bottom shelves support 75 pounds. The center section can host a full-width sound bar speaker shelf and below that you’ll find a media storage drawer. The Corridor 8177 measurements run 28.25 inches tall by 66 inches wide by 20.25 inches deep, and it weighs 207 pounds, it’s available on Amazon for $2,149 with free shipping.

The larger, but very similar Corridor 8179 handles displays up to 85 inches wide, the top shelf supports 175 pounds, the bottom shelf 100 pounds, and the adjustable shelves 50 pounds each. The two center doors open to reveal a large compartment with an adjustable shelf, that you could put a large sound bar on. The cabinet measures 28.25 inches tall by 79.25 inches wide by 20.25 inches deep. The 8179 weighs 217 pounds, and it’s available on Amazon for $2,424 with free shipping.

Audiophiles with big amplifiers or receivers can put them inside the Corridor, and if the electronics run hot, you can remove the Corridor’s back panels to allow for greater air circulation (or if the amp is really big, let its rear end extend an inch or two out from the cabinet’s back. Corridors are heavy, but come with smooth rolling concealed wheels, so it’s easy to move the cabinet out from the wall to gain access to the cables, etc.

So yes, color me impressed with BDI’s Corridor line, design and build quality are first rate, the functionality and adaptability are excellent. If you’ve already invested in the best audio components, a Corridor cabinet would be a fine place to put them.