Denon 3803 & Bose acoustimass 16, good marriage ? (1 Viewer)

[ChrisWiggles]

GEEEZ people. Cmon, I think we have enough Bose police already.

Let the poor man respond, and re-evaluate. Sheesh!

That being said, I 100% agree with all the above, bose sucks big time.

There are LOTS of brands out there that will do better. Fewer brands out there that will do WAY better. And a select couple that will be the best at the price, and that you prefer the sound of. I will step in here and recommend that instead of buying some other recommended brand because other people HERE are advertising it to you, that you take pause, and go visit some high-end stores (high-end does NOT mean high-price). That way you can take a listen to what is REALLY out there, away from the crappy chain stores.

I will also recommend that you start with Paradigm, as I recommend this most of the time, for my standard two reasons:

1) They tend to have good dealers, and don't sell via chain stores. This will get you away from cheapo big-box stores, and will give you the opportunity to hear what should be a well set-up system, and all the competition that is carried in these better stores too.

2) They fit very well with some of the other budget leaders mentioned here. Some of the popular brands here too, like axiom, rocket, ascend, etc are not sold in stores, and must be ordered without having heard them. In the end you may buy something like this, but you should at the very least go out and hear what CAN be done for a thousand bucks or so. Makes bose look like the $2 pieces of crap they are.

I don't recommend paradigm because I think they are the BEST out there (i DO own a pair, and think they are among the best budget brands out there), but because they get you in better stores, with the chance to hear the other better brands out there. In the end let YOUR ears decide, and don't let me, Bose marketing, or anyone here TELL you what to buy.

Good luck auditioning!

 

[sameerv]

sounds like a bose bashing festival
well taking all advice to heart, i did go out and auditioned
infinity (alpha and primus series) and corresponding Polk.
I don't remember the series on that. i liked the infinity.
i wasn't able to get them to do the whole demo to my satisfaction.

at a friends place i heard the definitive speakers. man they are outa my league

i do want to try the paradigm speakers. did actually go searching for a place called "hi-end audio" in dallas, couldnt find it.

don't mean to change the topic, but I am sort of confused on the floor standing vs bookshelf. if space is not an issue, what would you take.

heres my current possible setup
Infinity PS-10
Infinity Primus 160 Pair
Infinity Primus 360 Pair
Infinity Primus C25

Thanks for all the comments ! You guys now can feel happy about enlightening a lost soul

cheers,
sameer

 

[Lin]

Sameerv --

Last month I got the 3803 packaged with the ELT speakers from AV123.com and I am absolutely blown away by the sound that comes out of those little speakers. If memory serves me right, I think the package was $1700, and a full Denon warranty! It is a great package, and particularly for the price. I love those speakers.

 

[ChrisWiggles]

lol. I did not mean that the store is actually called "high-end." I just meant hifi stores in general that sell better equipment.

 

[sameerv]

it happened to be called that , notwithstanding the name, i don't want to be at any end, anyway

 

[Nhan_H]

Sameerv,

Is that the store in Garland that's located in the corner of mini China town? If They have some pretty nice stuff there. Vu is very knowledgeable and is a good guy. I learned a lot by listening to all the speakers that he sells.

Also, the ELT package deal is pretty damn good.

 

[Chris Quinn]

"Sameerv,

Is that the store in Garland that's located in the corner of mini China town? If They have some pretty nice stuff there. Vu is very knowledgeable and is a good guy. I learned a lot by listening to all the speakers that he sells."

That is interesting because a couple of the better audio stores here in the Houston area are also in the local "Chinatown" area.

 

[CurtisC]

Tough love,its all true baby.Is Hillcrest hifi(North Dallas) still in biz?

 

[Joe Cole]

[QUOTE Denon 3803 & Bose acoustimass 16, good marriage ? ][/quote]

This is one marriage that will end in divorce court. With you paying the piper and the judge.

Just say no to Bose.

 

[MikeLi]

Great choice on the receiver.. and I mean super choice.. now just go out and get some decent speakers that do it justice!

 

[Lew Crippen]

Tough love,its all true baby.Is Hillcrest hifi(North Dallas) still in biz?

It is. There is a store in Plano. I think in Dallas also, but I can’t remember the address (don’t think that it is on Hillcrest anymore).

 

[Nhan_H]

quote:

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Tough love,its all true baby.Is Hillcrest hifi(North Dallas) still in biz?
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It is. There is a store in Plano. I think in Dallas also, but I can’t remember the address (don’t think that it is on Hillcrest anymore).
---------------------------------------------

One is in Plano off the North Dallas Tollway and Parker. The other is off of Preston and 635. I think they're bought out by Tweeter's now (at least the one on Parker). I bought my Yamaha RX-V2200 receiver there last August and one of the Sales guys mentioned the Tweeter thing.

 

[Keith*D]

They did get bought out by Tweeter, and as a result are no longer carrying Paradigm. There is a store right next to the Hillcrest on Preston called The Home Theater Store, they carry B&W, Definitive, McIntosh, and several other high end brands. A neat place even if you can't afford anything there.

Keith

 

[sameerv]

Hmm, maybe it is there, although when I looked on mapquest it lead me nowhere.
Anyhow, I didn't get an audition to Paradigm. I did listen to Kef, Infinity and Definitive. I suppose people already know this, but ultimate electronics is a good place to audition a variety of audio systems. Just don't miss ur own DVD or CD.
Well, still looking !


Thanks,

Sameer

 

[Keith Mickunas]

Hillcrest is still called Hillcrest, but it also has "A Tweeter Store" or something like that in their name.

I bought my TV at The Home Theater Store, it's a nice place, but they only have a few brands of speakers, including Bose!

There was a place at Park & Preston that was nice, it's name was Home Entertainment, but it got consumed by Tweeter and moved next to Stonebriar. There's a few high-end (really pricey) places on 75 in Plano I like to peruse on occasion, but that can be dangerous for the bank account.

I found a place in Arlington that sells M&K, Polk LSi, as well as some other mid-range stuff similar in price to the Polks. It's a bit of a drive, but might be worthwhile to look up. Go to M&K's site and do a dealer locate and you should be able to find it.

Strangely enough, the Great Indoors carries a few good brands, although it's not a place I am inclined to recommend because it's not a dedicated HT store. Still, they had some things that are mid-fi that you might not find at other places. I don't believe they had Paradigm, but it couldn't hurt to take a look.

 

[Matt Odegard]

If size is the factor with you going with Bose, you may want to check out Gallo Acoustics. They have very small and I've read pretty nice speakers. Definatley better than Bose from what I hear. Haven't heard them for myself though.

Here is a link, there are 2 types, Nucleus Micro and A'diva

http://www.roundsound.com/products/micro_adiva.html

 

[sameerv]

Thank you all.
I finally got this setup.
Denon 3803 AV receiver
KEF Q5 fronts,
KEF Q9 center,
KEF Q1 rears,
KEF subwoofer (dont remember the number)
I like them
Well in doing this, I was hit by some additional expenses that I hadn't counted on. Speaker wires, connectors, power supply filter and stands. Obviously except for the connectors and filter I should have expected the other two. Anyway they all do add up significantly!!!
To this I a going to add two bose bookshelf to make this thing 7.1. Unless I hear boses distorting the KEF setup, I will keep the 7.1 setup.
Good luck all !
Thanks once again.
Sameer

 

[Andy_A]

wait a minute-- Aren't Bose some of the best speakers available anywhere? That is what I've always heard

 

[Mando-R]

No DON'T add two Bose bookshelves to make for two rears, just use the same exact speaker for rears you're using now! AAGGGHHH!!!!

You picked a nice choice of speakers. I was going to comment that the Infinity set you picked out, while it was nice, it wasn't matching. The C25 center channel is only a two way center channel while the 360's were 3 way floor standing speakers.

A good tip is for the two surrounds, rear surround and two rears, you want to match the brand, timber and speaker style. Preferably, you just match all the speakers the same. The two fronts the same, the center the same type, and the rest ALL the same.

 

[ChrisWiggles]

Andy, was that a sarcastic comment/joke that needed a smiley ? Or is that a legitamate question....?