What Ever Happened to the Basic Audio Tower?

Since the day my child was born, I knew I'd inevitably have to take measures to protect my home theater gear once she was mobile enough to press buttons and turn knobs. My taste in style has always been what I would call "understated contemporary," meaning plain, simple, and functional. I'll also admit I have little desire to spend a fortune on something that holds my A/V components. I'd rather buy new gear. 

My prior solution was the pinnacle of cheap, yet functional. Many of my components are stacked on top of my big 55" CRT rear-pro HDTV, while the others are stacked neatly under my left and right speakers using a stackable desktop wire shelf/organizer system I picked up at an office supply store. It doesn't support the bulk of my larger components, like my 65 pound receiver, but it does handle my light weight devices like my cable box, DVR, DVD player, component width surge protector, and my VCR. On the right side, I've used the same shelving to house several game consoles.

I think I spent twenty-five bucks in total for my current solution, and it has performed far better than expected for over 8 years. Unfortunately, the problem I'm now facing is many of my components are near the floor, putting many of my components and game systems within easy reach of tiny hands. She could easily push the components through the back (it's not a "secure" solution by any means) or do things like stick toys into the VCR (yep, I still keep one of those connected).

After careful consideration, I have two solutions. Gate off the entire living room wall in front of the TV, or consolidate everything that's currently stacked on top of the TV and in the wire shelves below each speaker into a single audio tower. The decision is pretty simple, a gate across the entire living room would look terrible (I do have SOME sense of style), not to mention the total cost of all those gates would be pretty pricey. So, it's off to find a simple audio tower with a door.

Thinking back to my days working in a home theater specialty shop, I remember Mitsubishi made a simple, black audio tower to match up to their 50" and 60" TVs. It was made of fairly cheap materials, but had ample space for gear, several adjustable shelves, one fixed shelf that could support a lot of weight, and a glass door. Best of all, it sold between three hundred and four hundred bucks. Surely they still make something like this, right?
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Apparently not. After looking at several stores and almost everywhere online, I've been having a devil of a time finding one with a door that can accommodate my receiver... at any price point. The receiver is almost 9.5 inches tall, 20 inches deep, and really, really heavy. Those cabinets with a door simply aren't deep enough, or can't support the weight. 

Even the open shelf designs are typically, well, weird. So many of them sport flashy metals, glass shelves that barely support any weight, over styled designs... many are just rediculous looking, in fact. Not all, but a lot of them.

In all my searching, I did find one thing that would work; Salamander's Synergy line is a modular system that can accommodate my needs, and it didn't look completely stupid. After building it with their little online design tool (complete with perforated side panels and doors), the grand total was over twelve hundred dollars for a six shelf cabinet. That's right, $1,200. To give you an idea, the Salamander cabinet shown to the right is similar to the one I priced out, and this one came in around $1,300. Are they serious?

Seriously, what ever happened to the basic audio tower? I know the selection of audio cabinets, in general, has gone down-hill from the rise of flat panel TVs, given that now many people now have a wide cabinet base that houses their (probably more reasonable number of) components. I'll also admit that most audiophiles with massive receivers, separates, and boatloads of components are probably okay with spending a fortune on furniture, but isn't there a middle ground? Isn't there someone else in this world that also finds the vast majority of audio towers over-priced, over-styled, and under-performing?

Fortunately, I have another few months until the little tyke is going to crawl, which gives me a little more time to keep hunting. Who knows? Maybe I'll get lucky and score a used Mitsubishi cabinet at a garage sale.