Steer my friend away from Bose Acoustimatics and towards a better speaker pkg. (1 Viewer)

[Jeffrey_B]

Ron

I have the Bose AM-15 which I replaced last winter with a Polk LSi setup (and an SVS 20-39PC+). I used the Bose for about 3 years (I was a newbie then). Of course the Polk/SVS combo is way better but contrary to most of the Bose bashers out there, my setup didn't sound too bad (it takes a lot of experimentation in positioning of the sats and bass module to get it right).

If your friend is stuck on Bose, mine are for sale (in perfect condition). JEFF

 

[Raman_K]

Ron,

I too tossed out the acoustimass and have never looked back since. Aided by the comments / observations provided by this forum (Thanks a lot, guys!), I went in for 5 Home Theater Direct Level 3 bookshelves for a grand total of $199*2 +$90 = $488.

This combo alone beat the AM hands-down. There was no comparison. Excellent imaging and soundstaging. The sound was a bit on the warmer side, but that suits me fine. None of the exaggerated treble on the Bose's which used to cause me a lot of listening fatigue, not to mention the boomy bass from the (so called) "bass module".

Now if you add in a "decent" subwoofer ( I currently use a Polk PSW 202 which I bought for $199 and which does not do justice to my speakers, but is still fairly good for my needs) for about $250-$300(ish), and you have a winning combo for about $750-$850, which will run rings around the Bose.

By the way, my Bose AM system replaced a pair of old Acoustic Research AR6 BX speakers, and I had to convince myself time and time again that the new sound was an improvement.

I use a Denon 2802 receiver by the way ....


Cheers

Raman

 

[Justin Ward]

I had heard great things about Paradigm, so that's what I ended up getting. For about $1300 Canadian (about $900 US) in total (after tax, wires, stands, bargaining etc...), I ended up with 4 Titans, a CC170 centre channel, and a PDR10 subwoofer.

I have a very similar setup. I have Titan mains, cc170 and Atom surrounds with a Tempest subwoofer. I'm sure your co-worker would be happy with a small performance line setup. 4 atoms or micros plus a CC-70 and a small sub would beat a Bose system if most of what I hard about Bose is true. If size is very important, the Micros are very small and can be wall mounted. The Micros are availible at my dealer for $160CAD/pair.

 

[Brett DiMichele]

Raman,

Silly man! What did you do with the AR6 BX's ?

 

[JohnnyN]

Instead of adding bass into when required, the small cube speakers produced there sound, and the woofer just seemed to throw in 'booms'.

I think this about sums it up... what a great comment...

A little over 10 years ago my dad bought a bose system... having never heard better, I thought they were the best thing since sliced bread... Since then I've graduated from Home Theater school... and now that bose system is tucked away like my high school diploma...

The only reason anybody should ever consider a bose system is because of their simple small form factor, but that seems to beg the question of how small do you really need them? If you've got bookshelves then use em for slightly bigger better speakers... or get stands...

IMHO, the mirage omnisats are a very nice set of speakers that are relatively easy to mount and the b&w VM1's are sexy and sound better than the bose... Even the Canton cubes are very nice...

 

[Jorge UF]

A little off topic, but a question for RON.
Is there any place that I could read your DVD reviews that you have made in the past. Not just the ones that are currently posted.

P.S If your friend can manage book shelves than he would get a huge improvement.

 

[Adil M]

CC is offering the Velodyne Deco system plus an Onkyo 500 receiver at a package cost of $999. This is flat out ridiculous.
http://www.velodyne.com/
That's all five speekers and a small discrete 8 inch SPL Velodyne subwoofer in the package. You also get the Onkyo 500 tossed in there. You could sell that off or if you don't have a receiver you may be "allowed" to upgrade to another HT receiver like the Kenwood VR6070 which is going for 370 and is in low supply. It would be even less for the OpenBox Display which is almost always a good deal.
That means for the same price you'd pick up:
1. An excellent HT package in the Velodyne Deco system.
2. Either a new Onkyo TXSR500 or for a little more a Ken VR6070 or even the Pio VSxd811 (both Ken and Pio are being discontinued)
3. The comfort of having bought at a local concrete tangible place and CC's one year upgrade policy on their speakers. This means in 11 months you can bring the speakers back and get how much you paid for them and move up to another set of speakers as long as you pay the difference.

I rec'd you go to your local CC and listen to them. Don't worry about timing your local CC should be empty .
This is my rec'd. I don't think there's much on the internet that beats this deal. You might be able to do better if you buy used. Check the For Sale section.

 

[Raman_K]

Silly man! What did you do with the AR6 BX's ?

Don't worry! I wasn't daft enough to get rid of them. They grace my bedroom now.

The Bose speakers, on the other hand will probably continue to gather dust in my garage.

 

[Brett DiMichele]

Raman,

*Whew* I was gonna say.. If the 6's were gathering dust in
the garage I'd have ta come and get em!