Hide-Away-Home-Theater Exposed
By Darryl Wilkinson August 30, 2004 — Considering how focused they are on designing ways of incorporating high-performance home theater gear into the smallest amount of space possible, you might think that the folks at Ginni Designs spent their formative years growing up in one of the tinier regions of Munchkin Land. (Although they deny it, I suspect that Ginni Designs has at least one elf - or perhaps a couple of interior-design-oriented descendants of the Seven Dwarfs - secreted away in the back offices helping design their magical cabinetry. It's a "Small Eye for the Home Theater Guy" kind of thing.)

Magical allusions aside, Ginni Designs has carved out a modest niche for themselves in the burgeoning home theater furniture market by catering to homeowners and apartment dwellers who aren't blessed with the kinds of square footage in their homes you'd normally associate with suburban malls or amusement parks. One of their original "Hide-Away-Home-Theater" concepts allowed a full complement of LCR speakers and a flat-panel TV to emerge from a standard-size credenza-type cabinet after which the front speakers extended up to 105 inches apart.

Now Ginni Designs has decided to expose themselves. The GDI-MESA eliminates the cabinet and suspends the entire assembly on a wall or appropriate piece of furniture. It accommodates a 42-inch to 50-inch flat-panel TV along with the left front, center, and right front speakers. When the system is off, the left and right speakers line up snugly against the sides of the TV. When turned on (via remote control, RS232, or other connection), the GDI-MESA automatically extends the left and right speakers outward to a maximum of 105 inches apart. Of course, with this version, the flat-panel TV always remains visible; but the speaker wires are always hidden (without requiring in-wall installation) - and there's no need for speaker stands or wall mounts.

The GDI-MESA - Double T is a self-contained table-top version of the GDI-MESA with two hand-cut aluminum legs that allow it to sit on top of any flat surface (well, okay, sitting it on top of a slab of dry ice probably wouldn't be a good idea, but you can use almost any other flat surface). The Double T version also allows for an adjustable speaker spread of up to 105 inches, so make sure you don't set your coffee cup down next to the speaker before you turn on the system, and includes the same remote control/RS232 communication capabilities as the GDI-MESA.

If you're fortunate enough to live in a home where spacial and/or spousal conditions allow for a full-blown dedicated theater room, you still might find one of the Ginni Designs models just the ticket to bring the maximum theater into the minimum of space when it comes to a bedroom or office system. For more information, call Ginni Designs at 925-895-6589 or e-mail them at ginnidesigns@earthlink.net.