Entertainment Center Set in Ebony - Bedford - 5531-ESET Review

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(More customer reviews)Don't be fooled by the description of "solid wood and wood veneers" ... the only solid (real) wood in this whole set is the front frame of the TV stand (which came cracked at multiple joints in my set). Everything else, including the moulding and other trim, is medium-density fiberboard ("MDF", not to be confused with lower quality/less rigid particle board) and I'm not sure what the veneers are -- they don't look or feel like real wood either. There is no wood grain appearance like the other black furniture I have bought, some of which was also made by Home Styles.
That said, the quality of materials and finish is pretty good, and MDF is probably going to be a lot more durable than real wood anyway. The unit looks really nice when it's all assembled. It strikes a perfect balance between high-tech and traditional, and has gotten favorable comments from everyone who has seen it in our family room. We were specifically looking for something under 5.5' tall to fit under our accent windows.
There are 4 parts that make up this entertainment center. The TV stand and 2 piers require full assembly, and use a cam-lock construction system that worked okay most of the time, but in several cases the pins and cams did not align properly and had to be adjusted and/or forced (which at one point resulted in a bad head gash when I was trying to align a pin with a hole and the piece slipped). The cabinet doors also did not align well. It ended up taking me most of a day to put everything together with the challenges that came up during assembly.
I'm giving this 4 stars because, as mentioned, it does look nice and seems reasonably well constructed, and it fits our needs perfectly. Maybe I'm being too generous or not objective enough. Of the five Home Styles pieces I bought (these 4 pieces plus an end table) four of the sets had damaged parts. It may have been shipping-related (these extremely heavy boxes surely don't get handled with kid gloves) but there was no external evidence of shipping damage and the damaged parts were packaged in between other parts that were fine. The manufacturer agreed to send out all the damaged parts to me, but 10 days later they're not here yet.

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