Boston Acoustics SoundWare XS 5.1 (1 Viewer)

[diet2011]

Hey guys i was looking at the Boston Acoustics SoundWare XS 5.1 for my new home theater setup for the first time.Is this a good system to start out with? Any suggestions or alternatives? Thanks!

 

[sminyard]

I have 4 of the Soundware XS cubes for my front/rear channels, with a Bose center channel and a Boston Acoustics Horizon HPS 10SE sub. Movies sound absolutely great, but the front cubes' small size are lacking when listening to music. I will likely replace my fronts with the larger Soundware cubes, which use the same mounting brackets. My recommendation for you: Get the sub mentioned above on clearance at Circuitcity.com for $100 (marked down from $350). Get 2 of the larger Soundware cubes on sale right now at Best Buy for $80 each. Get 2 of the smaller Soundware XS for your rear channels (directly from Boston for $70 each). And, finally, get a better center channel speaker, as I seriously doubt that the little XS will be very good for voice. All in all, you are probably looking at around $500. Alternatively, you might look at the Energy Take 5 Classic system. The speakers are larger, but they routinely get rave reviews for the price point.

 

[scottmiz]

Thanks Scott for a very help post. I did go ahead and order the powered sub woofer, I received (2) 4.5" cubes from Bestbuy for $99 each; however I could not find the smaller cubes on Boston's site, nor do I know what a good Center-channel speaker would be to get or if I can even go with a sound bar. Was hoping maybe you can make some reccommendations. I am coming from a 14 y/o accustomatic system.... Thanks for any help

 

[sminyard]

Go to the xs 5.1 system on boston's website and scroll down. It will give you the option to buy individual cubes. Most good center channels will have dual drivers for better voice delivery. Try vanns.com for starters. I also recall that amazon had some clearance boston's for less than $100. I have a Bose center channel which, like all things Bose, is ok but overpriced.