MantelMount MM340 Review: a heavy-duty pull-down TV mount that actually works over a fireplace

I got the MantelMount MM340 because I had the classic problem: the only logical place for the TV in my living room is above the fireplace, and watching a screen that high gets old fast. I wanted something that could pull the TV down to a normal eye level without feeling like it might rip off the wall or crush someone. This model kept coming up with decent ratings, so I gave it a go with a 65-inch TV.

First reaction when I opened the box: this thing is no toy. It’s heavy, all metal, and looks more like something you’d see in a workshop than a living room. That’s both reassuring and a bit intimidating, especially if you’re planning to install it yourself. You can tell right away that the mount itself weighs more than a lot of TVs, so you’re not just slapping this into drywall and hoping for the best.

In use, the main point is simple: you can pull the TV down from above the fireplace to a much more comfortable viewing height, then push it back up when you’re done. It also swivels left and right, which is handy if your seating isn’t perfectly centered. The gas pistons help with the motion so you’re not deadlifting your TV every time, but they do need to be adjusted to your TV’s weight to feel right.

Overall, my experience so far is pretty positive, but it’s not plug-and-play. The product itself is pretty solid, but you pay for that with a longer install and a bit of fiddling to get the height, level, and piston strength dialed in. If you’re expecting a quick 30-minute job, you’ll be disappointed. If you accept that this is a half-day project, the end result is actually quite good.

From a value point of view, this isn’t the cheapest TV mount on the market, not even close. You can get a decent fixed or tilt mount for a fraction of the price. But those won’t bring the TV down in front of your face from above a fireplace, and that’s the whole reason this product exists. If you have a normal wall where you can mount the TV at eye level, I’d say don’t bother with this; it’s overkill and you’re paying for a feature you don’t need. If your only realistic spot is above a fireplace and you actually watch TV a lot, then the price starts to make more sense.

In terms of what you’re paying for, you get: serious build quality, a real pull-down mechanism with gas pistons, swivel, adjustable stops, and a design that’s clearly focused on solving the fireplace problem. You’re also getting something that, once installed, feels safe and solid. Compared to cheaper “pull-down” style mounts I’ve seen, the MM340 just feels more trustworthy. It’s UL listed and has that limited lifetime warranty, which is reassuring when you’re hanging an expensive TV over brick or stone.

The hidden cost is installation. If you do it yourself, you’re paying in time and a bit of frustration. If you hire someone, factor that into the price. For some people, that will push the overall cost into "this is getting steep" territory. On the other hand, neck strain from watching a TV that’s too high is a real thing, and if this mount fixes that for you, it’s easier to justify the spend. I’d call the value good but not crazy cheap: you get what you pay for, but you should be sure you actually need this feature set.

So, is it worth it? If you’re stuck with an above-fireplace setup and you care about comfort and viewing angle, yes, it’s a solid buy. If you have flexibility in where you put the TV, save your money, get a simpler mount, and skip the whole pull-down complication. This is a niche solution, but in that niche, it does its job well enough to justify the price.

Design-wise, the MM340 is clearly built around function first, looks second. Everything is thick alloy steel, big bolts, visible rails, and gas pistons. Once it’s installed and the TV is on, most of the structure is hidden, but not all of it. If you look from the sides or if your TV is a bit smaller than the mount’s range, you’ll see the vertical rails and multiple bolt holes, which give it a sort of industrial rack vibe. Some people won’t care, others might find it a bit ugly compared to low-profile mounts with clean covers.

The movement mechanics are the strong point of the design. The handles at the bottom of the TV frame make it easy to grab and pull, and the path the TV follows is clearly thought out for mantels: it goes down and forward in a smooth arc. That’s good if you have a deep mantel you’re trying to clear. The downside is if your room is shallow, lowering the TV moves it noticeably closer to your couch. With my 65", sitting about 8–9 feet away, it felt a bit too close when fully lowered, so I ended up not pulling it all the way down most of the time.

There are also adjustable stops built into the design so you can limit how low it goes or how far it tilts, which is honestly useful. You don’t want to discover the hard way that your lowered position hits a soundbar, mantel, or console. The gas pistons are adjustable with a socket extension so you can tune how much assist you get based on your TV’s weight. Out of the box, they were a bit strong for my lighter TV, so the TV wanted to snap up more aggressively than I liked until I backed them off.

If I had to nitpick, I’d say the design is missing a couple of quality-of-life touches. There’s no cover to hide the rear rails and bolt holes, so from certain angles it looks a bit unfinished. Also, there’s no built-in soft-dampening at the very top of the travel, so if you just let it go, it can snap up faster than you’d want with a fragile OLED. You can manage that with your hands, but a small damper or bumper would have been nice. Overall, the design is practical and robust, but definitely leans more toward utility than style.

The first thing you notice with the MM340 is the weight. The mount itself is around 25–30 lbs, which in real life feels heavier than most TVs people are putting on it these days. It’s made out of thick alloy steel, and nothing about it feels flimsy or like it’s going to bend easily. The arms, wall plate, and vertical rails are all beefy. This is the kind of mount where you don’t question if it can hold a 55" or 65" TV; you’re more worried about whether your wall studs and installation are up to the task.

The gas pistons feel solid as well. They don’t creak or grind, and once adjusted, the motion is pretty smooth. You can tell they designed them to last, not to save weight. The hinges and pivot points use solid hardware; I didn’t see any cheap pot metal or thin brackets that would make me nervous. All the major structural pieces are powder-coated black, which is fine. It’s not fancy, but it doesn’t look cheap either.

The included hardware is mixed. The lag bolts for the studs are serious: thick, long, and sized like something you’d use for structural work. That’s good for safety, but the pre-drilled holes you need are quite large, and not everyone wants to drill that big into their studs. A few users mentioned swapping those out for structural screws like GRK RSS, which I get: those bite hard, need smaller pilot holes, and still hold very well. The included bolts for the TV are pretty standard; depending on your TV model, you might need extra spacers or washers to get the tilt just right, especially if you want a slight downward angle.

Overall, the materials give you confidence. It’s overbuilt rather than underbuilt, which I prefer for something hanging an expensive TV above a fireplace. The tradeoff is the mount is heavy, and moving it around during install is tiring. I’d rather deal with that than a light, flimsy mount that flexes, but you do need to plan for a two-person job and real tools. If you’re expecting something slim and minimal, this isn’t it. If you like hardware that feels like it was made for a garage or pro environment, you’ll be happy with how this is put together.

On durability, I don’t really have doubts. The steel construction and overbuilt hardware give the impression it’s going to outlast a couple of TV upgrades easily. There’s not much here that feels like a wear item besides the gas pistons, and those are the kind of parts that usually last years unless you’re constantly yanking the TV up and down all day. The joints feel tight, and after repeated moves up and down, there was no noticeable play or wobble developing in my case.

Where things get interesting is the installation side, which does tie into long-term durability because a bad install equals long-term headaches. This is not a lightweight bracket you throw up in 45 minutes. Realistically, you’re looking at 2–3 hours if you’re reasonably handy, and 4–6 if you’re slow, cautious, or run into issues (stripped screws, misaligned studs, mantel clearance surprises, etc.). You’ll need: a drill with decent bits, a socket set (preferably something you can chuck into a drill for the big lag bolts), a stud finder that actually works, a level, and probably a second person to hold things during the heavy parts.

The mount needs to be solidly anchored into studs; drywall alone is a non-starter. The weight of the mount plus the TV will absolutely rip out of anchors over time, especially with the repeated motion. A few users had to mount the wall plate off-center because their studs didn’t line up with the fireplace center. That’s fine, because you can slide the TV horizontally on the mount to re-center it, but it adds some mental gymnastics during install. You also have to plan for outlets, cable pass-throughs, and mantel depth carefully. Measuring twice (or five times) before drilling is not optional here.

Long-term, once it’s in and properly bolted, I don’t see much that would fail easily. The finish seems tough enough that it won’t rust indoors, and the mechanics aren’t complicated: just pivots and pistons. If anything does go, it would likely be the gas pistons losing some strength after many years, but that’s speculation. Based on how it’s built, I’d trust this mount far more than the thin, cheap ones you see for half the price. Just accept that the durability comes with more weight and more work on day one.

Day to day, the performance is the main reason to buy this thing. Once installed and adjusted, pulling the TV down and pushing it back up is pretty straightforward. The gas pistons carry a good chunk of the weight, so you’re guiding it more than lifting it. With my 65" TV, I can move it with one hand using the handles, though I usually use two hands just to keep it steady. The vertical travel is enough to take the TV from that awkward high-above-fireplace position to something close to normal eye level when seated.

The swivel function works as advertised. You get up to about 30° left or right, which is handy if you’re watching from a side chair or have a sectional that wraps around. It’s not a crazy full-motion arm that swings way out into the room, but it’s enough to correct for a slightly off-center seating position. The auto-straightening claim is mostly true in practice: the TV tends to stay level as you pull it down and push it up, but if your wall isn’t perfectly straight or your install was a bit off, you might still need to tweak the leveling adjustments.

One thing to be aware of is the forward motion when you pull the TV down. That’s perfect if you have a deep mantel you’re trying to clear. If you don’t have a mantel and your room isn’t very deep, the TV can feel too close when fully lowered, especially if you’ve got 65" or bigger. In my case, I ended up using a middle position for daily use: not all the way down, but lower than the fixed mount would have been. That still reduced neck strain a lot without making the TV feel like it was in my lap.

The only performance quirk I really didn’t love is the way it can snap up if the pistons are set too strong or if you just let go near the top. With an LCD it’s annoying; with an OLED, it’s a bit stressful because the panels are all glass and thin. You absolutely need to keep a hand on it when raising it and not let it slam into the top stop. You can tune the pistons to reduce that, but it never becomes as soft as, say, a slow-close cabinet hinge. Still, once you get used to it and handle it with care, the mount performs very well for what it’s designed to do.

The MM340 is basically a heavy-duty wall mount that’s designed specifically for TVs installed above a fireplace. The big difference compared to a standard fixed or tilt mount is the vertical travel: it can pull the TV down up to about 27 inches and out from the wall, so the screen ends up closer to eye level. On paper it supports TVs from 44" to 80" and 20 to 90 lbs, with VESA patterns up to 600x600. I used it with a 65" around 50 lbs and it handled that fine.

It also has swivel (around 30° left/right), which is useful if your couch is off to one side or you’ve got an open-plan room. When it’s up, the TV sits fairly close to the wall, then when you pull it down, the arm moves forward and down in an arc. That arc is clearly designed to clear a mantel up to about 18" deep. If you don’t have a mantel, just know the TV will come closer to your seating when lowered, which can feel a bit in-your-face with larger screens.

MantelMount throws in a few extra features: pull-down handles, adjustable motion stops so you don’t slam into your mantel, cable management clips, and some “auto-straightening” and “auto-stabilization” stuff via the gas pistons. In real life, that translates to: the TV doesn’t flop around, and it tends to stay straight when you move it, as long as you’ve installed and adjusted it decently.

What it’s not: it’s not a small, discreet, minimal mount. The hardware is big, industrial-looking, and the rails behind the TV are visible from the sides if your TV is thin or you’re close. It also isn’t a quick DIY for someone with zero tools. This is more for people who either don’t mind a 2–4 hour install with power tools, or are okay paying someone to put it up. If you just want a simple tilt mount, this is overkill and more hassle than you need.