Bose's surround sound system

[J. Peterman]

Bose is one of the best...................but.

Even with the best, you have to take into consideration the room that you will be putting it in. If you have a lot of glass sliding windows then you will distort the sound. You can aleviate the problem some what by putting a thick curtain in front of the glass when you use you stereo.
IMHO, If you are looking for a good alternative to place in an home enviorment. I would consider the Yamaha single speaker unit ( with sub-woofer )that directs the sound at the viewer. This would be best for small living rooms especialy if you live in a condo. Check it out online or at Future Shop.

 

[acco34]

Best system out there...

I have had several Home theatre systems, Sony, Kenwood, Pioneer to name a few and Bose is by far the best I have owned....it is also the most expensive unfortunatley. But if you can afford it you won't be dissapointed. The Lifestyle 38 and 48 systems allow you store your CD's right on the system, play all in a random shuffle and learns your preference from you skipping songs from time to time.
Watching a movie is almost like being in the movie theatre.

 

[Franzappa]

Retailer

Does anyone own such a system? I've been hearing a lot about it on U.S. radio, and it would seem to be the greatest thing since sliced bread. However, while the Bose system seems to be very popular in the States, my sense is that it's hardly known in Canada. I even wondered at one point if the company had any retail distributor here at all, but, according to their web site, it seems that they do. Here's a link.

http://www.bose.com/controller?event=VIEW_PRODUCT_PAGE_EVENT&product=surround_subcategory&ck=0

You can find Bose system at Future Shop, Audio Centre in St-Laurent, Dumoulin store on Sherbrooke St. East and Quebecson on St-Denis.

 

[Big Bee]

I have had several Home theatre systems, Sony, Kenwood, Pioneer to name a few and Bose is by far the best I have owned....it is also the most expensive unfortunatley. But if you can afford it you won't be dissapointed. The Lifestyle 38 and 48 systems allow you store your CD's right on the system, play all in a random shuffle and learns your preference from you skipping songs from time to time.
Watching a movie is almost like being in the movie theatre.

What price range do they go for ?

 

[ck_nj]

Here's Bose's Canadian site:

http://www.bose.ca

And the Canadian link from the above US link:
http://www.bose.ca/controller?event=VIEW_PRODUCT_PAGE_EVENT&product=surround_subcategory&ck=0

 

[Techman]

Bose are high end audio speaker systems, but you will get your money's worth. Years ago I dreamed of owning a pair of Bose 901's but could never justify spending the money for them. They have a great variety of systems and their acoustimass technology delivers amazing bass quality from such small sized speaker systems. Bose have always been masters of putting out great sound quality from incredibly small packages but they aren't for the budget minded.

 

[pinkworm]

No offense to anyone, but Bose is way, way over-rated.

 

[chef]

No offense to anyone, but Bose is way, way over-rated.

I was not going to say anything, but since you started, in the world of high-end audio Bose is considered low-fi. Check out the discussion forum at www.audiogon.com.

 

[chef]

I have to agree. Bose speakers are excellent if you account their sizes. In high-end audio (and sometimes if you believe what women say) size doesn't matter ...

Actually, size DOES matter. For true bass you need to move a large amount of air, which a small cone cannot do

.....Sound is colored but since many are using for home theater it is less important to be exactly flat.....

As the sound is colored they are okay for home theater, but less suitable for hi-fi.

 

[chef]

..... I own large JMLabs myself and having been a sound engineer I am embarressed having made such a typo

JMLabs do make nice speakers. I am an engineer too (though not a sound engineer), and own large Martin-Logans.

Take a look the link I provided about the ETF5 software. Impressive. It does both temporal and spectral analysis and give correction templates for at least one affordable microphone

Thanks for the link. I'll check it out.

 

[acco34]

What price range do they go for ?

The Lifestyle48 will run around $4500 and it stores up to 365 hours of music. You could probably get it cheaper off of ebay, that is how I got mine.

I don't know about the technology chef and LeGuy are talking about as it is over my head , but this is the best system I ever had and the sound quality is great to me anyway. Plus the ease of playing your music without having to insert CD's is a real bonus, especially with the LCD screen remote that comes with the Roommate speaker, an addition to the system that is a wireless speaker you can put anywhere in your house with great sound quality and no crackling noice like most wireless I tried in the past.

 

[JustBob]

Bose is a running gag and the object of ridicule on most high-end A/V forums. Bose is certainly not high-end. I mean if Future Shop sell it...

 

[chef]

Acco34,

You have discovered the golden rule of audio systems: If it pleases you it is OK.

I concur.

BOSE isn't by far ultra high-end audio, my pair of JMLabs cost more than double of the entire BOSE system but you know what? You might have the same level of enjoyment with your system as I have with mine. Matter of tastes and experience. I, and suspect Chef did too, listened to many sound systems in so many rooms and to so many live bands that my tastes changed.

I too have spent insane amounts of money on audio, and am still looking for the nirvana I experience in a concert hall listening to a symphony orchestra. And yes, that has shaped my tastes.

.......... Even Best Buy have them. It is a very affordable to get the maximum of your investment

I would like to add that we make some great small speakers in Canada. Check out Totem, Paradigm, etc.

 

[acco34]

Acco34,

You have discovered the golden rule of audio systems: If it pleases you it is OK. BOSE isn't by far ultra high-end audio, my pair of JMLabs cost more than double of the entire BOSE system

Exactly, like I said, what you guys were talking about was way over my head and I presume most average joes head as well as mine/their wallet But with what I can afford, which is the Sony, Kenwood, Pioneer, Bose of the world, I found this one the best for me. I very seldom listen to music real loud and it mostly gets used for movies.
It is somewhat like picking out the perfect SP....everyone's taste/budget is different.

I strongly suggest that you experiment with different speaker locations in the room. Just for fun. You'll be amazed at the difference. Room acoustics is extremely important and also why, sometimes, your brand new speakers won't sound as good in your house than they were sounding where you bought them. You can also buy a test DVD. Even Best Buy have them. It is a very affordable to get the maximum of your investment

The system comes with an ADAPTiQ audio calibration system headset, which is suppose maximize your sound quality to the area you usually sit, but I will try the test DVD to see if it would make a difference. Thanks

 

[mack]

I concur.

I would like to add that we make some great small speakers in Canada. Check out Totem, Paradigm, etc.

And be sure to check out Axiom! Truly incredible speakers and equally incredible value!

 

[Fat Happy Buddha]

I have a question regarding computer speakers (of which I know next to nothing about).

I've been gradually upgrading my computer on which I spend 5-8 hours a day, sometimes more. I've recently got a new monitor and graphics cards. The next logical step is a sound upgrade. I always listen to music while I work, but for the last couple years I've stuck with the cheapo speakers that came with my computer.

My question is this: First, is it possible to improve the sound of a computer and, if yes, what factors do I need to consider? Secondly, would a speaker upgrade make an important difference and what speakers would anybody recommend? Ideally, I would like to spend $50-70 but I would go up to $150 if the results were really worth it.

I think my sound card is a SoundMax Integrated Digital Audio.

 

[Techman]

FHB, a new speaker system would make a great difference in you PC's sound quality. You can easily spend over 500$ on a pc speaker system in fact. But is it worth it? First, check what kind of sound card you have. If it is a recent system, you should have decent on-board sound processing. If it is an older system, you will be better off buying a new sound card along with your speakers but that will increase your budget. For sound cards you only have one real choice in manufacturer and that is Creative Labs. They have a series of cards called Audigy at different price levels, pick the one tht meets your needs and budget.
Speaker wise, look for either Creative Labs or Logitech. You should be able to find their low end 5.1 surround systems starting at around 75-100 dollars.

Even if your sound card isn't the greatest, you don't have to replace it. A new set of speakers with a subwoofer will make quite a difference by themselves.

 

[metoo4]

I have a Creative Lab 5.1 on my desktop. About $150 a few years ago. True, it's not a hi-fi, high quality but it's still great and is competent with both music and movies.

Bose is "colored" big time, on all their products. They tend to enhance low frequency to a point where it becomes almost annoying. They used to have (don't know if still) concert speakers made of a huge assembly of small speakers. These were good for shows and rock concerts. I have Bose noise cancelling earphones (QC-2) and they are great at noise cancellation (amazing in planes or computer room) but are quite "low frequency oriented" for music.

 

[chef]

One thing I should mention is when evaluating speakers be careful about the music you use. As an example, I enjoy watching Shakira's "Hips Don't Lie" video on my computer, and listen to the music on my cheap computer speakers of course. I bought the CD yesterday so I could listen to a better version on my high end system, and guess what ? The recording sucks big time. It sounded like hell on my system. I then put on a Diana Krall CD, and all was well.

 

[metoo4]

Chef, I did the same thing...

Most "pop" commercial music have so much artificial enhancement to make them sound good on iPods, computers and such, where digital compression is the norm, they sound like crap on any "regular" quality system. There's no choice if you want some bass and treble from a $5 earphone!

My gf recently bought Nelly Furtado's latest CD. I like Nelly's music but when I put the CD on my home system, I had to stop the play immediately and felt like stomping the cd to oblivion because it sounded so crappy.