Arlington TVBU505-1 Recessed TV Box Wall Plate Kit Paintable 2-Gang, White

Wow, I bought this for four behind-the-tv locations in my house. This, combined with a nice wall mount for the TV, makes for a very professional looking installation. I bought three for "new work" where I attached to the stud before sheetrock and one for "old work" where I used the black tabs to grip to the existing sheetrock. Both methods worked great. I've had trouble lately with traditional "old work" boxes made by Carlon. I don't know what they've done in the factory lately but it's virtually impossible to turn the screws that pull in the black tabs. I end up breaking them off or stripping them. This box, however, worked perfectly. I was able to tighten the box to the sheetrock with no trouble. Like some others have mentioned though, I did have trouble when I went to screw in the electrical outlet and cable outlets (not provided). The screw holes on this box, that accept your desired accessories, are very tight. I dipped those screws in Vaseline before screwing them in and it made all the difference.

Packaged nicely and comes in a comprehensive step by step installation process. Easy for using multi applications, with knockouts on both sides for wiring. Plastic material is hard and the tabs are really robust. I wish the price were lower but this is probably one of the best two gang boxes that is recessed, which is hard to come by.

This is a great recessed box to add a plug and allow for additional wires to pass up to your TV, if you're planning on mounting your TV to the wall. Works perfect in a 2x4 studded wall. It's a little more challenging if the wall is insulated but I have hung 4 TV's using this box and all of them except one were interior walls without insulation. Looks very professional once its installed. I typically install an outlet with a surge protector integrated into it ( you can get that on Amazon as well, highly recommend one of those) to protect the TV. Overall a really good product.If you found this review helpful please let me know by pressing the helpful button below. I do my best to write honest and helpful reviews of products I actually purchase and use. Your feedback helps me to understand how good of a job I am doing. Thanks.

The product itself is great. It works as a 2-gang box (2 receptacle), with one side intended for an electrical outlet, and the other for low voltage, such as coaxial or hdmi inputs. On the bottom of the electric side, there are pieces of plastic that bend out of the way when the wire comes in, but bite into the wire when it tries to go out, thus keeping the wire in place. On top, there is a scored circular punch-out, similar to metal work boxes. You can use this punch-out instead, or in addtion, to accomodate additional wiring going different directions. The former seems to be the intended first-use insert. The low voltage side has no back, so you'll either have to attach the wire to a nearby stud, or just be sure it is attached well to your receptacle, else risk losing it down into the wall. It is solidly built, has all the parts you need (except for the receptacles, of course), and can even be used as a new or old work box (old work box involves using the flaps to pull back against the drywall, while new work boxes are screwed directly into a stud before drywall is installed). The installation was pretty straightforward. I already have walls in place, so I was instructed to cut a 5 1/4" X 6" hole in the drywall for the box to fit in. This leaves about 1/8" on all sides for a little wiggle room to both get the box all the way in there, and to make sure it's level. I used an electrical outlet and a combination coaxial/hdmi receptacle. For the outlet, the hot wire (usually black) goes to the gold screw, the neutral wire (usually white) goes to the silver screw, and the ground wire (usually a bare wire) goes on the green screw. The a/v receptacle I used simply involved plugging the male end of both cables into a double-ended female port of both designs. Be sure to have an electrician complete the wiring if you are unsure of how to complete the job. If you're confident you can do it youself, don't forget to turn off the power. Use a tester. You never know if that one outlet is part of a different circuit than the others. ;) Once it's in and wired up, you simply tighten the 4 screws (2 on each receptacle) into the treads behind them. To install the box, tighten the 4 screws with flaps on the box until you feel solid pressure against the drywall. Be careful not to overtighten, or you may strip out the treads and leave yourself with a loose fit. The receptacle cover installs with 4 screws (notice a pattern here?), and the box trim cover itself also installs with 4 screws. I would advise having the box trim cover in place already, so that when you tighten the flaps, you'll come to perfectly flush. As you would imagine, if you don't you can have it too far in a given direction. The directions also say to do this, but not everyone reads them. ;) To install on a stud, you just use the 1/2" plastic lip on the side of the box as a guide (if you do indeed plan on installing 1/2" drywall) and use the included screws to install in the desired location. I imagine most people would use the flaps, since it's hard to know exactly where you would need an outlet for a tv installation with all of the possible tvs and mounts available. An important note when purchasing receptacles is to be sure to buy the rectangular shaped ones. Just as the picture would indicate, the cover has rectangular holes. if you buy the regular kind (with round holes), you will be left with a sizeable gap, and it will not look good. Another equally important note is to make sure you have enough depth in your wall for the box. This thing is deep. It takes advantage of not only the 3 1/2" of the 2X4, but also the 1/2" of the drywall. If you are using paneling, or somehow have thinner walls, you may be stuck with other boxes, as this thing will stick out into the room, thus defeating the purpose of getting a recessed box. The caveat, of course, comes in the form of receptacle threads that are too small. These are the same basic screws that fit in every other work box around. The screws will still go into them, but with WAY more effort than it should have. It was acting as though I were cross-threading the screws (trying to install a screw at any angle other than the perfect one, resulting in the screw having to eat through the walls of the threads to gain traction...end result is usually a ruined thread or a screw that still sticks way too far out). I had to force all 4 of them in, and despite being as careful as possible, all 4 were stripped out. I even had to use pliers to grab the head of the screws to try to tighten them enough so that I could salvage the installation. Those screws aren't meant to handle that kind pressure...the metal is too soft. If it was just 1 of the 4 threads, I'd think that I HAD cross-threaded them, but all 4 is unlikely. I either got part of a bad batch, or they need to fix how they manufacture this box. Either way, after all that work, I wasn't up to trying to take it all apart and having to hassle with a return. Amazon's good, but I would also run the risk of them assuming I just botched the installation. If the thread problem was fixed, I would give this product 5 stars and recommend it to anyone who wants a quality recessed box for their entertainment needs. Sorry for the length of the review, and for going into too much detail. I just wanted to make sure everyone could make an informed purchase decision. Not everyone starts out knowing every detail about home improvement. :)

This is now the fifth of these units I have bought. Family room and four bedrooms. In the low voltage side I install a two outlet Keystone plate, with HDMI couplers in both. One comes in-wall from the TV cable box, the other from the BluRay/DVD player. In my single-story home, power comes down from the roof. Naturally you could use any Keystone couplers, HDMI, RJ45 (Internet), USB, Audio or Video. Four outlet Keystone plates are available if more are needed. The units are sturdy, the wing tabs do not break, and the screws seem to be long enough for any finished wall depth. The unit is easy to install for any reasonably experienced Do It Yourself person. Test your multi-meter in a known hot outlet, TURN OFF THE BREAKER, check you turned the right one off, cut the drywall, and install unit. Not directly related to this product, but as part of installation, be sure to use only cables, HDMI, Category 5, etc. that are certified for in-wall use. These can easily be found on Amazon in various lengths to suit your project. Also follow all NEC, State and local codes. I paid less for this one than previous ones, so as demand grows prices fall. A great product, and excellent value for money.

I installed these behind three of my wall mounted TVs. Some as old-work and some as new-work boxes. They work perfectly and hide all my cords.

I chose this recessed box for use with an electrical outlet and a combo coax/ethernet faceplate. Being installed behind my TV in a plaster wall, I didn't have a lot of options for a recessed box but this fit the bill perfectly. Not only does it work great with my plaster wall, it holds the wall securely and has plenty of room for the outlet and the data cables. Would absolutely buy this again if the need arose.

Simple solution for being able to flush mount the TV. I don't have a cable box, so just wanted to be able to recess the electrical outlet.

Very nice unit. Looks good on the wall and quality seems good. I wish it would have came with both top and bottom wire connectors, but you only get one. There is a knock out for a 2nd one, but you have to purchase it separately. One problem I did come across was that the receptacle mounting screw hole stripped when I threaded the screw in. After looking closer at it,I noticed the screw had stripped as well after taking it out. What had happened is that when they assembled it, the metal ground lug overlaps the receptacle mounting screw hole and it was not quite on centre with the hole. When I threaded the screw in, the metal overlapping the hole stripped the screw, which in turn stripped the plastic thread in the receptacle mounting hole. They should put a metal thread insert in the hole and this may have been avoided. Like the unit, but be careful with the receptacle mounting hole plastic threads.

Easy to install and have great quality

I like the fact that there's a divider between the low voltage box and the AC box.