Bose acoustimass 10 Yes or No?? (1 Viewer)

[Kamal_K]

I am seriously considering the acoustimass 10 series III. it is 719.00. I am not that familiar with many speakers and which brands are better than others. I heard the bose in the store and thought they were good. Is there another brand comparable at this price or even less, I only wanted to spend around 500.00, I really dont need a sub either but bose will not sell the cubes separate. thank you.

 

[ChrisWiggles]

NO. a BIG no. Walk away. Step out of the Bose store. Keep your money in your pocket. 700 bucks for the Bose spent elsewhere will get you IMMENSELY superior sound. I'm sure others will recommend many other brands, and they are right, because almost anything but Bose will be better for the price. And since you "dont really need a sub", you could get some dynamite speakers from say, paradigm, or PSB, or JBL, or any of many other brands. I am biased towards Paradigm cause I own some, but PSB and jbl get mentioned frequently here. There are lots others too. The reasono Bose doesnt sell you the cubes alone is cause they are so ridiculously small they cant put out any bass, so they NEED a "bass module." It can hardly be considered a sub, it doesn't go very deep at all. Depending on your needs though, a sub would be recommended. I am assuming since this acousticrap is surround-oriented that you will be using it for theater? In which case you may have to get smaller speakers, like say the Paradigm titans (220/pr), and a sub to go along.
One last thing, to reiterate this very clearly:
No. You are not. Bose is crap. Keep your money in your pocket. Walk away.
"no highs, no lows...mus be bose"

 

[Khoa Tran]

GO CHRIS!! PREACH ON BROTHA, Kamal you are so lucky you came here before you bought those bose paper boxes. Where do you live? maybe you could visit some audio stores near by and listen to some real speakers...

 

[Kamal_K]

I am glad you are being honest, I was on the fence but you just convinced me not to go bose. I have a sony strde845 100 watt 5 channel receiver with a sony wm20 50 watt sub. So what I am looking for are speakers preferably smaller sized because they are going to be hung from the walls. The room is 20x15 with a 55 inch mitsu 55511.

 

[JoeyT]

Have you considered used speakers:
say used NHT's 1.5, etc...
Read this:
http://www.intellexual.net/boseframes.html

 

[JoeyT]

To add to your list of options
http://www.adnm.com/
(look in used gear}
http://www.audiovideologic.com/

 

[Chris Tsutsui]

I would audition JBL Studio speakers. As well as Energy, Klipsch, and Paradigm for a good variety of sound.
Here's a nice setup:
JBL S38 mains $300
JBL S-center (center channel) $150
JBL S26 Surrounds $200
Total = $650 With no subwoofer.
If you like watching movies and are a bass fan:
JBL N24 five speaker package ($250)
JBL Studio 12 subwoofer ($400)
Or perhaps the best option yet for $900, you could assemble the speakers yourself with some soldering and screwing in drivers. It's a parts express kit part number #300-655
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/pshow...number=300-655

 

[Erik Farstad]

You may also consider looking at the Energy Take 2's. I had a pair for a while and have heard them used in a home theater setup and they are very dynamic for their size!

E

 

[ChrisWiggles]

So, as you take the time to look at other brand/options, It might also be useful to look at subwoofers. I have that exact sony sub, the WM20, and while it does what i need it to do (bass for some junky speakers just for watching tv/bad movies on TV/cspan), it really isn't a good sub. The WM40, for about $160-200 is much more formidable, and seems to be a good bargain sub. Since you have a decent budget for speakers only, not getting a sub, and using the WM20 would be ok, it depends on taste. For instance, I like my movies with lotsa bass, BUT I care more about music, so I will be using my WM20 temporarily with probably some Paradigm mini-monitors for some time once i get my theater up and going. I am willing to wait longer, and spend more, by not compromising on the speakers. (I'm willing to spend twice as much as i had budgeted for a sub to try out the much-revered SVS) Sure, while a sub is important, especially for movies, I'd rather be listening to a $600 pair of speakers, than just a $600 sub, with no speakers.
So, I guess my point is, you can get a very nice setup for 600, and if you stretch as you were going to for the Bose, a quite nice setup for 700. Getting a new sub is kind of a judgement call. The WM20 is poor, but it can crank out some bass for movies. I leave mine off for music. Getting a nice sub is gonna eat into that budget a lot, leaving you with substantially less left for speakers, which, IMO are the most important part. Find some nice local dealers (not big box stores like best buy, CC, GG, sears, god forbid radio shack ) and take a look around, have them help you, and listen. And go to several stores and listen to different stuff. JBL seems pretty popular, I personally don't like them too much, but that's only because I've not been impressed by some of their professional installations (I should go listen to their home stuff huh...There were actually a pair at my orthidontist's, and they sounded fine, so perhaps I'm not the best source on JBL ). However, the other Chris mentions a nice setup, and JBL is easy to find. Brands like Paradigm are gonna be a little harder to find, but IMO are better.
And while I think the regular Sony products are acceptable, their ES line seems to be superior. I think for your needs your current receiver will be more than adequate. Once you realize how much better (and cheaper) great speakers are than the Bose, you might get addicted to HT (like the rest of us), so watch out.

 

[Kamal_K]

Thank you everybody for helping me come to the right decision. I am leaning toward the paradigm from everything that gets mentioned on this forum. Without people like you I think alot of us would be making ill purchases and wasting our money. I think I will head out to a few audio specialty stores and check out some speakers. thanks again
I am now a newly addicted HT nut.

 

[Brett DiMichele]

Since size is a concern and these will also be suspended
check out the Acoustic Research HC-6 package (Center, Left
Front, Right Front, Left Rear, Right Rear and Sub) all in
one package.
They are relatively small (similar to the Energy TakeII's)
sound fantastic and look stunning.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Since size is a concern and these will also be suspended
check out the Acoustic Research HC-6 package (Center, Left
Front, Right Front, Left Rear, Right Rear and Sub) all in
one package.

A co-worker has this speaker package matched with a similar Sony DE-line receiver to yours, Kamal. I was quite impressed with the sound quality for the money he spent. That Acoustic Research package is a good value, IMO.

Also, I use four of the JBL N24 speakers mentioned above for a music-only application in my basement recreation room. These speakers are also a great value.

Either option is a much better choice than the Bose Acousti-crap system.

 

[Kamal_K]

I checked out the hc6 package, it runs around 414.99 which is in my price range, I also looked at the hc2, is this package better or worse than the hc6? do you know if they can be mounted on the wall? I was also looking at cambridge soundworks. I was looking at the "Cambridge SoundWorks Newton Series™ S200 MultiPole® Surround Speaker 229.99(Pair)" for my rears and the mc50 or mc100 for the fronts. I will use the existing sub and look for a new center. what do you think?

 

[MarkyM]

DO NOT I REPEAT DO NOT BUY ANYTHING BY "BLOWS"

 

[DaveM]

Kamal_K
It sounds like you bought the same HTIB setup that I did. I second the replacement of the little 50watt sub. I purchased a SAWM40 about a month and a half after the box set and it just made a tremendous difference! Currently the little 50watt sub is in the rear of the room to provide a little extra bass. I recently upgraded to the JBL NSP1 speaker package which IMO was a big step up from the little Sony speakers. If I had a little more money to work with I would of checked out some better speakers but I definitly feel the NSP1 set was worth the 250.00 I paid for them.

David