Boston or Bose? which should I keep (1 Viewer)

[john seitz]

which ones to keep?
I bought a set of Boston CR95 (fronts) and a Boston CRC (center) will be useing a Mirage AVS 100 for rear suround and a Mirage FRX-8 sub

or

I also bought a Bose AM10III kits for $669 at CC (price match of 699 at sears plus 10%)


I have a Yamaha HTR-5250 110x5 amp


the reason for the new speakers is my AVS-200 center is shot and the sound is "flat" I figured the deal on the BOSE was too good to pass up... then again I only paid $560 for the three Boston speakers.


What ones should I keep? The Bose wireing seems a little Odd to me and a loss of quaility or I'm I just over reacting? And will the mix of mirage and boston be bad till I can afford all Boston?

if it matters the HT room is/was a converted spare bedroom that is on the small size - about 12x16 with a Toshiba 42" widescreen rear projection TV.

thanks in advance...


John

 

[PaulDA]

Go with the Bostons, you'll get a much fuller sound, besides not having the nightmare of trying to integrate the Bose bass module into your existing setup. If the Mirage are used only for surround duty, they will do pretty well with the Bostons up front.

 

[john seitz]

thanks Paul...

does any one know how good or bad my FRX8 sub is?


I think I'll return the BOSE stuff, even thought I got a GREAT deal on them :-(



John

 

[Peter_D]

Is any Deal ever Great for BOSE ?

 

[PaulDA]

This is a review of the 8's bigger brother, the 10.

http://www.soundstage.com/video/reve...age_frxs10.htm

I assume the 8 is similar in quality, though less powerful. I'm not familiar with it but my general feeling about subs (I'm likely in the minority) is that unless you're looking to be thrown out of your chair while watching a film, monster subs can be overkill, especially in a smallish room. If you're looking to upgrade, the consensus on every forum I've visited seems to be Hsu, SVS or Velodyne. Do a search and you'll find a number of good threads (and a number of pissing contests). Room size, closeness of neighbours and musical tastes all play a role in selecting a sub. Good luck. I know you'll be happier with the Bostons than with the Bose (and you'll have saved some money to put towards a new sub, if you so desire).

 

[Tyler Cookson]

oh so true. Take it from me man, I work in home audio at circuit city. There is a deal going on right now for this polk audio 7200 speaker pack for 899 (reg 1299) I point people in that direction over any Bose system. quality is a hole lot better and you get a $75 gift card.

Thats if your into retail stores anyway. look into the HSU series of HTIB systems. Or go for book shelves.

 

[john seitz]

just to throw a monky wrench into this

CC has a 5 hour sale at the moment on:

Onkyo LSV950 HTIB any good?

 

[PaulDA]

Is that a speaker set or is it a complete package w/DVD/receiver combo? If the latter, then the speaker portion will not hold a candle to the Bostons and unless you need the entire package, I'd stick with the Bostons. If, however, this is a speaker only set, then give them a listen with some of your favourite music (I still think the Bostons will be nicer, but only your ears can say for certain).

 

[Leigh_M]

I have the Cr95s paired to a CRC center and love it! I compared to a lot of more expensive speakers and this was my favorite for music and HT. I also use a yamaha to power them.

 

[john seitz]

yeah tonight I "thought" about keeping the AM10III kit - I guess I always wanted to own a BOSE system

so I boxed up the Boston's to bring them back to Tweeter tomorrow and set up the Bose.

Man I saw the cable rolls the other day - but when you look at them a 2nd time they no longer seem invisable anymore plus the back tracking with the base unit since it will "fit" near the tv rather hide it next to the sofa...


well after I took a couple of the cubes out of the box (wife seems to like the size) and they do blend in nicely -- to my horror the base unit is cracked and you can see the wood (I use the term loosely) it is nothing more then a step or two above cardboard inside... so back to CC tomorrow instead.

so in the end I will most likly keeping the CR95 and CRC units -- unless the wife wants to stick with Bose?



john

 

[Peter_D]

I had Bose at one time take it from me they suck. When my wife moved in with me she brought her bose system with her. it Took me 4 years to get rid of it (Bought a house so i told her the bose wouldnt be good for a big room).

 

[brentl]

PLEASE read a few posts by the old folks at this site about Bose, they are enlightening to say the least!

Hey, I'am old fogey here but never bought Bose so I skipped that tragedy.

Brent

 

[PaulDA]

If your wife insists on staying with small speakers, have a look at the Micro series from Boston. I guarantee they will sound better than the Bose and won't take up any more room, if that's an issue. Check out their web site.

 

[john seitz]

Correct it is a size issue -- wife likes the sound of the Bostons - but the center speaker is about 4x the size...


I saw these on Tweeter's web site (I can't post URL's yet)



Boston SYS8000B -- But I can't seem to find any details on them anywhere (including Boston) ???

Basics
Model Number SYS8000B
Satellite Speaker Dimensions Satellite Speakers 6.875-in x 4.25-in x 5.75-in, Effects Speakers 4.25-in x 4.175-in x 4.5-in
Center Channel Speaker Dimensions 4.675-in x 8-in x 5.175-in
Subwoofer Speaker Dimensions 19.875-in x 10-in x 10-in

Does any one here have a say on these little guys?



Thanks again

John

 

[PaulDA]

I found the product manual on the Boston website and I read it. These seem similar in design to my Harman Kardon HKTS6 sat/sub system. I would give them a listen, if possible. It is an older product (1998 according to manual) but that doesn't mean it won't sound nice. However, I think your sub is likely better than the one that comes with this system (not a problem, you can always use speakers from one company and a sub from another, they don't need to be timbre-matched). My gut feeling is that this would be as good as, if not better, than the Bose. However, you'd be buying a sub that you might not use (though you can always hook both of them up and get better bass). Soundwise, I'd stick with the CRs but if size is too much of a problem, then consider these.

Boston Acoustics Micro series http://www.bostonacoustics.com/hs_pr...p?CategoryID=3

They have the top of the line Reference series tweeter. I'd go with a pair of 120s up front, 110s in the rear and the Micro centre. (retail 800$ but you should be able to haggle a bit). They are similar in size to the set at Tweeter but at least one level up in quality. The difference is probably noticeable, though not enormous, but if you don't need the extra sub (and I don't think you do), you'll benefit with this setup.

All of this is my opinion, of course. Your ears should be the final arbiter.

 

[john seitz]

thanks Paul!


today I returned the both sets of speakers (Bostons and BOSE)

while I was CC returning the BOSE - I looked at a totally differnt direction (name and style) and ended up with:


Polk - RTi4 (front)
Polk - R15 (rear surround)
Polk - CSi3 (center - man is that thing BIG)
Polk - PW202 (it was "free" might sell it on ebay)

I hope I made the right choice? I won't have any spare time till next week-end to set them up but I'll report back ASAP


Any one here think this will be OK?



thanks as always


john

 

[PaulDA]

Well, the important thing is if you like the sound (and your wife doesn't mind the size of the speakers, I guess) then just press play and enjoy

As for the sound, I've never auditioned Polk speakers so I can't comment there. If they make you happy, then

Have fun.

 

[john seitz]

Update...

I returned the Polk's - they looked nice and sounded OK... But seemed lacking a "fullness"

I picked up a set of AS-F2's and C1 from bestbuy... I hope they sound better?


will use my avs-100's for rear fill and will hold off on a sub for now - might also use my Mirage FRX8 sub. just don't know how that 8 will do any better then the 4 built-in into the fs2's?



thanks agian

 

[Nathan W.]

You got rid of those "cubes" so your doin' fine. Those Athena's should definitely have that "fullness" you're seeking.

 

[Drew_W]

The Athenas are noticeably bigger than the Bose cubes. But they're fantastic for the $. But again, many other options at that range from Energy, Paradigm, B&W (maybe a bit of a stretch, but worth a listen)....