Whalen Furniture - 3-in-1 Console for Most Flat-Panel TVs Up to 65" - Brown Cherry

I purchased the Whalen 3-in-1 Console after doing a lot of homework re: TV stands for my new Samsung 65 inch TV. And right up front I want to say I'm extremely happy with this console and whole-heartedly recommend it to anyone who may be giving it consideration. The finished assembly functions exactly as I hoped, is very sturdy and looks every bit as good as the photos. Before I began looking at stands I thought I'd end up with a traditional, non-glass, console with my TV setting on the top of the console. But right away I found most of the ones I liked the looks of that offered the space for all my components and had the features I wanted, like an open architecture for component ventilation and ease of access to cabling, were well above what I budgeted for a stand. And, when I first saw glass shelved consoles, even though I liked the look of the ones with dark glass shelves, I kinda cringed at the thought of putting a $1,600 TV on a glass shelf. But then, enter the Whalen 3-in-1, with the option of mounting the TV on a swivel mount. And, even though I saw other stands of a similar nature, I kept coming back to this Whalen because of it's looks and reasonable pricing. I read a lot of the reviews for this console before I made my purchase but, since numerous reviews stated the console shipped to their home arrived with one or more broken glass shelves, I decided to make a 21 mile drive to the closest store that had one in stock. I think large and heavy items shipped to stock a store are, in general, handled with more care than a single unit shipped to a home (and all who handle it) by UPS or USPS. In addition to the box being very heavy and needing help carrying it into the house, it has quite a few large heavy staples that need to be removed with pliers to get the box open. But, as others reviews have mentioned, Whalen does an excellent job packaging the parts (both for the stand and for the TV mounting kit) to facilitate ease of assembly and provide instructions that, for the most part, are well written. Though, it's with the instructions where I have my only major complaint. Specifically, Whalen putting a step to align the top shelf frame AFTER two steps that, if followed, PREVENT YOU FROM BEING ABLE TO DO SO! As stated in the instructions, as well as by other reviewers, bolts shouldn't be tightened all the way until everything's been assembled so parts have the "play" needed to fit together properly, which is excellent advice, because the two steps (in my instructions, steps 6 & 7) where you use the provided wood screws to attach the top shelf frame to the left and right leg, are "followed" by the step (step 8) that actually "aligns the top frame properly". I followed the assembly instructions and everything went together just as instructed and I used my drill driver to drive the wood screws into the wood of the left and right legs, as instructed. But in the next step I realized the pre-drilled holes in the Top Shelf Frame didn't line up with the pre-drilled holes in the Inner Metal Legs, and they were off by "a lot". When I used my level to see if the shelf frames were even, vertically, I found the middle and bottom shelves were, but the top shelf was probably 1-1/2" to 2" farther forward than them, which I found later was because the spine was tilted forward because there's nothing done to that point to cause the spine to be absolutely vertical yet. It's aligning the holes in step 8 that actually determines the spines ultimate vertical orientation, and it's just plain stupid to instruct the consumer to drive the wood screws until this has been done. So I removed the 4 wood screws used in the previous two steps and, by pushing the top shelf frame rearward which, if bolts weren't tightened fully, caused the spine to move rearward into a more vertical orientation, allowing the Top Shelf Frame holes to line up with the holes in the inner metal legs. And, once I lined up the holes and put in the 5/8" bolts, all three shelves were even, vertically, and I "then" used my drill driver to drive the wood screws into the wood of the left and right legs, again. It's just ridiculous to put the instruction that actually aligns (via their pre-drilled holes in the metal) the top shelf properly "AFTER" they've had you drive the wood screws into the the wood on the legs which prevents the two pieces from then being able to be moved to align those holes! And this is even more ridiculous because the Top Shelf Frame and the Inner Metal Legs both have "pre-drilled" holes in the metal to align them but there are "NO pre-drilled holes" in the "wood", so the wood screws can be added "anywhere" they're needed AFTER the holes in the Shelf Frame & Inner Leg have been properly aligned"! Makes me wonder if anyone at Whalen ever tried assembling this stand by following the order of the steps provided in their instructions! They really need to either correct the order of these steps in their assembly instructions or insert a seperate note re: this situation. I apologize for going on so about this and just hope doing so may help others avoid a major frustration point in an otherwise pleasant experience. Also, FWIW, the only other comment I have re: assembly is the same comment most every other review mentions re: the suction cups, they're a nightmare to insert! Took me close to an hour to get all 24 inserted. Of the two positions available for mounting the swivel bracket, I chose the highest one so I had enough room between the bottom of the TV and the top shelf to put my center channel speaker without it blocking any part of the picture. I ended up using their provided M8 x 40 bolts to mount my Q70 series QLED Samsung TV. They fit and worked perfectly without using any spacer. The swivel bracket works great and, as they mention, swivels easier after the TV's been mounted. I've attached some pics before the TV was mounted and one with everything completed. I've since re-routed my cabling to neaten things up. Again, I couldn't be more pleased with the final result because I do swivel the TV often from my normal viewing position if I lay on the couch or sectional and, because of the TV'S width, wouldn't have had that ability had I just set the TV on a conventional console like I originally planned. I'm so glad I bought a stand with a swivel mount. Even with my issue w/ the installation instructions, I'm giving this stand a 5 star rating because, if looking for a stand of this nature, I highly doubt you can find one better than this one ... especially for the money!

II had an existing entertainment center that included a bridged adjustable opening to accommodate TV's of various sizes. My new 75" TV is the maximum TV size. This TV stand accommodated the size and weight of 75" inch television.

Well built, holds a 77” LG OLED Marantz AVR, Marantz Amp, LG BluRay Cox cable box with room too spare

Very well crafted TV stand. Packaged well box was damaged but no damage to the stand. Only item I would change is remove the glass shelves, not a fan of glass shelving with heavy objects installed above it, right? Haha. Overall an excellent buy for the product received.

Looks beautiful in my room...fit completely with 55" TV

I had to get this cuz it holds my TV which is a big plus for me cause I could turn it to the side and I could be laying in bed or I'll turn it to the other side and sit in a chair and watch TV which is a good Plus for me.

I love it and I would recommend it to friends and family

I've assembled three of these things in the last two years, and this was not the best or the worst, but probably the best value. Assembly was very simple, and I was initially worried about the plastic suction cups but after assembly I was very happy with the end result in terms of stability, appearance, and function. I use mine for a 55" set, but you can certainly put a 65" on this with no problems. The area where the cords go behind the thing was just the right size to look nice (being smaller) but still handle the cords I wanted to hide.