Stud sensors do go along the lines of good - better - best, but it can be still very difficult to locate the studs due to the metal and mesh used in the walls. You best bet is to use a little better quality stud sensor, look down along the length of the wall for for slight variations where the studs might be, then tap around a little with a screwdriver handle, listening for slight differences in sound. When all three seem to come together, mark the suspected location with a piece of masking tape. Then use something like a 1/16th inch drill bit to drill into the area - do you feel a stud or nothing at all? Did you get a little, or a lot of wood on the bit? Home in on it by going side to side. The small holes can easily be filled with spackling compound afterward and are hardly noticeable - a little touch-up paint - invisible. Be careful though since older construction is not always on 16" centers and I have seen many older walls built with 2x3s. I'd stay away from single stud mounts and just use plastic molding to run the cables down along the surface of the wall.

coffee out my nose, thanks to fly... Seriously, though, if it was my DH, and he didn't want the TV mounted to the wall, I wouldn't do it myself as a "surprise." I'm sure your DH has good reasons for not wanting it wall mounted; have you asked him? Perhaps it's because you don't have studs in "traditional" locations. Post-and-beam houses are structurally different. Maybe he doesn't want it that high? If I were you, I'd buy or build a sturdier, larger cabinet or shelving system for the TV. We just moved our 52" flat screen TV to the cabinet DH just finished building, and I was terrified the entire 30 seconds because it felt so wobbly. I thought the TV was going to go over backwards. In your case, I would be very concerned about knocking it off that little cabinet. As far as location, an outlet that's controlled by a switch usually has one "constant hot" outlet and one controlled one. Just plug a lamp or night-light in to figure out which one is controlled by the wall switch, and then plug the TV into the other one. And, I am wondering how much someone who's practicing an instrument is going to be watching TV. ? If you're sitting at the keyboard, it would be very difficult to see the TV above the keyboard. I would place the TV where it's most convenient for watching TV.

We are mounting a tv to a brick wall and had a question about sleeve anchors. What size and length of sleeve anchor is necessary? Does the anchor length need to go past the brick (drill all the way through the brick) or does the length need to be so that the anchor ends in the middle of the brick? From what I found online you need to add the length the the material (~2 in brick) + the minimum embedment . So for a 1/2-in anchor (2 1/4-in min embed.) would I need a 4 1/4-in anchor? Thanks in advance for your help.

the panels are irrelevant since you will be mounting to studs. if the studs dont line up right you can use a wood 2x4 mounted to the studs to give you more mounting choices.