For $1,500 is the H/K AVR 330 and the Bose AM10 a good choice? (1 Viewer)

[Russell Volz]

I have a 12x12 room and only watch DVDs and not very loud at that. I'm looking at spending about $1,000 on speakers and $500 on a receiver. Is this a good price mix? Is the H/K AVR 330 and the Bose AM10 a good choice? Whatever I pick will have to look nice enough to please my wife. Thanks.

Russell

 

[John Garcia]

Absolutely not. Receiver is OK, but... Do a search on Bose here, it will be an eye opener.

 

[Shane S.]

I think Bose is Ok but for the money you can find allot better. Think about what speakers you here advertisements for? Then think about that fact that with any products up to and often times more than 50% of what you pay goes towrds advertising.

 

[Rex.G]

If I were you I would go for the Harman Kardon AVR-525 Receiver for just a little more money and forget about the bose. I think you could do much better for $1000.00 than the AM10. If you need to get smaller speakers (to please the wife) you should consider JBL NSP1 or even the energy take 5+. Your options are pretty broad in that price range. What size speakers did you have in mind?

 

[Wayne Ernst]

I'll have to completely disagree with the above post.

 

[BobAlbano]

Russell, I would check out the ELT bundle package that www.av123.com is selling. I have a set of these at the house and they are definitely better than any Bose speaker IMO. They are selling the 5.1 ELT speaker package and a Denon 1804 for something like $1395.00. The ELT speaker package has gotten some really great reviews as of late and is quickly becoming a not so secret jewel...Good luck with your decision!

 

[Greg Thomas]

If you must go sub/satellite speakers for half the price of the Bose you could get the new Athena Micra system and it would be way better than the AM-10. That would leave you $1000 for a receiver. Even though you wouldn't need all the power you could buy the HK 430, 630 or 7200 and still have change for a DVD player.

Depending on space concerns, also take a look at these speakers.

Polk RM 6700 or 7200

Athena 6.1 Home Theater system

Energy Take 5.2
JBL NSP1 + Sub
NHT Superzero http://ww1.onecall.com/SPL_973.htm
or SB1 package http://ww1.onecall.com/SPL_974.htm

 

[JeremyR]

To add to your confusion I'll throw in the Paradigm Cinema series. Equally small speakers to the Bose.. and they're actually made of something other than paper and paper-thin plastic

 

[SethH]

You should also check out the Klipsch Quintets for less than half the price of the bose. Of course, you'd want to add a subwoofer to the Klipsch, but you could get the Quintets with a low-end Hsu or SVS sub and have a great system for less than the bose.

 

[LanceJ]

Russell: The H/K AVR 130 should work perfectly fine for you based on that size of room, the requirement for very small speakers and your sentence ".....and not very loud at that"--trust me, a 5 X 45w/channel amp will get plenty loud in there (and H/K's amps seem to be underrated anyway ). So unless there is a special feature on that 330 you absolutely need, don't waste the money on it. I still own a Pioneer SX-6 stereo receiver from 1983 with an amp that also has "only" 45 watts per channel that got me in trouble with many college dorm R.A.s and various apartment-dwelling neighbors.

There are many, MANY good/small/stylish 5.1 speaker systems for sale out there, ones that include real subwoofers. Here's a good example that should be easy to find at a brick & mortar store so you can personally demo them: Infinity "TSS" Series. The TSS450 is the "baby" of this series--it uses satellites with 2 1/2" midbass/midrange speakers. The TSS750 uses a 3 1/2" midbass/midrange speaker and a better tweeter in each satellite. Both systems have a powered subwoofer.

Don't be fooled by flashy store demo kiosks & slick infomercials.

LJ

 

[Drew Bethel]

I'll keep it simple, all of the above - minus the Bose

 

[MarQue]

I predicted a lot of Bose criticism would follow your question and thought I would try to counter some of the Bose-bashing with my story. I used to love Bose. I had a Bose acoustic wave in 1989 (and not that silly little clock radio either). I bought the new CD wave in '91, then the CD wave with remote a couple years later. When it came time to buy a home theater set-up, it was an easy choice. I bought an AM-10 system; five pair of sexy cubes, Bose sub, RF remote receiver/CD player. I mounted those cool looking cubes on the walls in the optimal position on the official Bose brackets and was in heaven for the next three years. I even listened to a friend's $25,000 system, went home and played the same Diana Krall CD in mine and was impressed at how mine sounded just as good! Then I bought a pair of Sennheiser 590 headphones. I listened to them at work all day in front of my computer. I listened for hours and hours and hours. Funny thing, when I got home my Bose system didn't sound so heavenly. In fact, I eventually admitted to myself that it kind of SUCKED! I began to research online and went to every audiophile shop within about 100 miles. Did I learn a lot. Mostly I learned HOW TO LISTEN. When I hear Bose speakers at BestBuy or somewhere I now realize what I'm missing. Most people never will –and I'm not even saying that's all bad. Just like most people never know what a poor beer Miller is or what a poor coffee Folgers is. It's the status quo, the accepted standard – generally thought of to be top-o-the line. For God's sake, Wal-mart is America's most popular store! But, I digress, the point is if you buy the Bose you will be very happy. No question. Maybe for a long time, maybe not for a long time. Also, your friends (assuming they are not audiophiles, beer snobs or cappuccino aficionados) will be impressed too. But sooner or later, if it is really important to you, you will hear your system for what it really is. Miller, Folgers and Wal-mart.

It is true that Bose products are inexpensively made, sound worse than other comparably priced systems and are the cause of endless frustration and anger to people who know better. But, you might end up liking them just fine. Heck, practically everyone loves Miller beer. Ignorance truly is bliss. I say this NOT to be condescending, I loved my Bose system for years. I still recommend Bose to people who are not audiophiles, have a little extra money to burn and appreciate the simplicity of operation and set-up.

The system I ended up with consists of about $11,000 worth of B&W speakers. I have two pair of B&W CDM-9NT towers, with matching on-wall B&W CDM-SNT rears and a B&W ASW-CNT center channel. Also, I have two 1000watt 12" B&W ASW-CDM subwoofers –turned down real low and balanced with a sound pressure level meter so they don't go BOOM, just a nice low rumble when appropriate. I'm still saving to replace my current Denon receiver. Eventually I'll have a B&K Ref-50 surround proccesor/pre-amp and 200.7 amplifier, but first I have to get my wife through college...

My recommendation? Know where you want to end up before you start. Otherwise, you'll end up with a mismatched mess of speakers and electronics. My personal bias/advice would be to get one pair of bookshelf speakers like the B&W CDM-1NT for about $850.00 used or it's newly re-styled cousin introduced as the 700 series retailing at about $1200. per pair. You're going to want a sub eventually so having floor-standing towers is not that important for bass and you wanted small speakers anyway. Also, be forewarned that those tiny satellite speakers or in-walls will never, ever compare to the sound of $1000. bookshelves. Bookshelf speakers tend to "image" better than even full-sized towers. Start with one pair , then someday get another pair for surrounds, maybe then a matching center, then a sub – you get the idea.

Check out B&W speakers websight online and audition a pair locally if you can. Buy whatever your conscience tells you to, but do check out B&W. Best of luck! I'm going to go get myself a big mug of Folgers...

 

[Wayne Ernst]

MarQue, That is so true. Sure, we all have the "upgrade bug" from time-to-time. However, there are many people who buy a home theater in a box, but quickly decide it isn't enough for them. Like you suggested, a good plan should be in order. Maybe, you can only buy the receiver and two front speakers to start. However, if it were quality gear, it would still be better than that one receiver, 5 speakers and a cheap subwoofer that come in one box - which you might despise every time you use it.

Finally, thanks for your impression on how your Bose system worked out for you. Whether you have a pair of headphones that came with your portable, a factory 4-speaker sound system in your car - or whatever, knowing how to listen is important.

A little story of mine - regarding computers. Several years back, I was very impressed with owning the latest and greatest. I wanted POWER! For what reason? Just to own it. I never harnessed it and used it for what it was worth - just admired the power that it had. Sadly, my wallet was quickly emptied because parts were not so cheap back then. CPUs could easily run $500 - or more and unlike the $100 AMD CPUs that we can get today and the $70 motherboards to install them on. Now, I have a more moderate computer, that I use more than once each day. It provides me with entertainment, education and allows me to run a small business using it. I'm so glad I broke my desire to constantly upgrade ... only for those 4% performance gains that could only be measured by a synthetic benchmark program.

 

[John Robert]

Posting this thread topic is like chumming the water in the Great Barrier Reef during the height of shark season...

The fact that you are using this forum puts you ahead of most HT consumers. Lots of good suggestions already. There is currently a great closeout deal at BB on the 6.1 Athena Point 5 sub/sat system for $399. That or other recommended speakers would be a better way to go...

John

 

[Drew_W]

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...hreadid=185354

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...hreadid=185384

Some recent threads that have been talking about Bose and compact systems...

 

[Drew_W]

I see Russell's already made his choice so further posts to this thread would be kind of useless. Here's a later thread:

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...hreadid=185669

 

[PatrickDT]

Again, people this is a question of principle... regardless of the justifying statements that indeed may be true that you would be happy with a bose product if you bought one, it then becomes a matter of buying into to a 'audio' company built on marketing and not sound. As I think most everyone would agree, here, do some lookin' around on this site, we are all people who have taken time out of our lives to read the fine print and scruitize our love of home theater, or at least have an interest in doing so will tell you bose is a four letter word around here. If adlof hitler was a speaker company, and he made some decent, wife friendly speakers, and advertised them really well, and you know you'd be reasonably happy with the product, would you still buy it? Hell no, it's Adolf Hitler... that's what I'm saying.

Moving on...

I personally am a fan of the Klipsch Quintets... especially on a Yamaha or an HK (the 130 would do ya fine), and the whole system could be had for well under 1500 if you shop around.

 

[Mike_J_D]

Buy anything but bose. All the suggestions and links provided should help you with your decision. However....keep in mind that just because it costs more, doesn't mean it is better. The av123 website along with the other mentioned decide that maybe bose isn't the best choice. Smart move to do alittle research before going out and buying. Although as MarQue said you might have been satisfied with the bose for awhile. But I am a firm believer that you should buy the very best that you can afford.

Good luck