If not Bose, then what? (1 Viewer)

[ChrisLazarko]

I agree with Andrew. Speakers used to be big bulky boxes as alot of people know. Recently though, size has cut down, sound quality improved in most areas, and the speaker cabinet is usually very nicely done now. Something like a pair of Klipsch RF-3's are nice even without the speaker grill on.

It comes with a nice natural stained wood finish, and the driver itself is a sort of brass looking piece, adds very nice to decore.

Bookshelves are also nice. Small, hidden, and when seen usually give the room some feeling in my opinion.

 

[Alex-F-V]

I second the energy take 5.2 system,$600 and absolutely beutiful in the maple and silver finish. They are small and have a fantastic sound. As far as the subwoofer you could get the matching energy s8.2 sub they offer for $300 , but I think you could do better with you money on a different sub. But I'm not too knowledgable on subs. I have these because size was an issue and have not been dissapointed one bit, in fact I was amazed.

 

[Kevin G.]

THIS ANTI-BOSE SENTIMENT BOTHERS ME, I'VE BEEN SHOPPING PRETTY HARD TO ADD SOME QUALITY SOUND TO MY HT, AND FINALLY SETTLED ON 301'S W/A SUB AND THE VCS-10 CENTER.
SHOULD I BE CONCENTRATING MY EFFORTS ELSEWHERE?
HAVE I BEEN BRAINWASHED? HELP!!!

 

[Lew Crippen]

Kevin, how much is your budget and what are your aims. I am not necessarily anti-Bose and I think that many of their products have their place. They are not usually among the price performers, but then neither are some other manufacturers.

If you give us a little more information, we can probably help.

 

[Kevin G.]

FUNDS ARE LIMITED AND SPACE IS A FACTOR, AS WITH TOM, MY WIFE DOESN'T LIKE MY GIANT 15'S AROUND THE HOUSE/ AND I SETTLED ON THE 301'S WITH THE VCS 10 FOR VOICEMATCHING, ALTHOUGH I AM WAFFLING ON THE VCS CAUSE THERE'S REALLY NO BASS CONES IN THEM
I HAVE A SET OF 201'S NOW BUT AM USING MY SUB FOR THE BASS
PLANNING TO MOVE THE 201'S TO THE REAR

THANKS EVERYONE ON THIS SITE IS SO HELPFUL

 

[Jeff Gatie]

Kevin,

Please turn your capslock key off. All caps is considered shouting and it may lead people to believe you are angry instead of jusr asking questions.

 

[Lew Crippen]

I have not heard the 301s in many years, but I have read recent reviews that think they provide reasonable sound.

But the VCS 10 is (IMO), not a very good center channel. For HT purposes the center channel is by far the most important speaker as almost all of the dialogue will come from that source. People with systems with poorer center channels often have difficulty in distinguishing dialogue.

Have you considered a product from one of the internet companies, like Ascend, Axiom or Rocket? I have not heard Axioms, but they get a lot of good reviews and make speakers in the 301 size. The Ascend 170 is a bookshelf speaker that is quite good. Rocket makes a couple of bookshelf speakers (they are more expensive than the 301s), but their ELT models cost less, look better and provide very good sound, especially with a subwoofer. The ELT center is a very fine speaker—it is the complete opposite of the VCS 10, as it is really the centerpiece of the ELT system and does a great job of reproducing intelligible dialogue.

The satellites go for $250/pair and the center speaker is $300. I know that the guys at
AV123 have discounts for purchasing various combinations (the only one on mentioned on their site is for all six speakers—but call or e-mail and ask, as they put together and discount other packages).

 

[ChrisWiggles]

Yes. There are many brands that provide MUCH higher performance for the same $ as Bose. If budget is at all a concern you can do the same for cheaper, or much better for the same money. You should try to listen to paradigm, as it's a very solid brand with insane value, and it is relatively easy to find dealers, which tend to be quite good, not your chain-store type crap stores. And also listen to the many other brands out there that have been recommended.

You should scrap the bose idea, and find some speakers with some quality performance. This does NOT in any way mean big gigantic 15 inch driver speakers.

 

[TomA]

Kevin, I am Tom, the originator of the question that started this thread. I have had Bose 301's for about three years and have been satisfied with them for music purposes. I am NOT an audiophile and maybe I'm easily pleased.

I asked the initial question because I wanted a good surround system and I originally was thinking about incorporating my 301's along with a new center channel, Sub, and surrounds. By the time I started piecing decent speakers together, in my opinion, it made financial sense to just get a matching system. The more I read about Bose the more I realized that there are many other systems available that the critics believe are better so I began my research.

As far as the VCS10 goes, Consumer Reports had it rated last on its list saying that there are better centers available for the money. Unfortunately, I don't have it with me, but I believe the top three included NHT, Polk, and JBL.

Now for my news, after much reserch, I auditioned and purchased the Infinity Modulus system. It lists for around $1499, but my local discount electronics store Brandsmart had it on sale for $998 which was at the very high end of my budget.

I got wife buy-in by getting her to listen to the Klipsch Quinted and a Sony Athena at Best Buy. When she heard the Modulus at the store, she agreed with me that it sounded far better than any system we had heard previously. And, the speaker size was slightly larger than she would have liked, but she is able to live with them (and therefore, me with her).

I just got it yesterday so I haven't gotten a chance to set it up yet. It will probably have to wait until the weekend. I'll follow up to let everyone know how it sounds!

 

[Kevin G.]

Thanks Tom,

I guess I'll keep shopping,
I have been interested in the past, and looked into, Paridigm, but thought the cost was way outta my league.
If I could get something comparable to the 301's in size and cost,(and possibly have better sound quality?), then all the better eh?

 

[ChrisWiggles]

!??!?!

Bose 301s, are $328/pr according to the Bose website. Paradigm Atoms are $189/pr, smaller, and WAY better. Paradigm titans are $220/pr, roughly the same size, maybe a bit smaller, very similar to the atoms, but larger and more bess extension. Moving up to the paradigm monitor series, you have the mini-monitors, for $350/pr, and these WILL totally obliterate any bose product out there, guaranteed, in terms of sound quality. In fact I would take the $189 atoms over the thousand-dollar bose 901s in a heartbeat.

This is just paradigm, and I think the value that these speakers i mentioned is amazing, I own a pair of the mini-monitors, so I'm biased, but they were by far the best of the many brands I auditioned. I also picked them over more expensive B&Ws, because they were better to my ears. I own a pair of bose speakers, older 201s, and also a pair of paradigm Titans, and there is absolutely no contest, the titans are way better than the Bose.

So I don't know what Paradigms you were looking at, but they are a value leader, and for much LESS than the bose you can get a FAR far BETTER speaker.

So you should go back and find that paradigm dealer again, and also look through the models on their website. You're not gonna find much that can keep up with the value they offer, IMO, unless you take some risks with internet direct, but I am not familiar with the sound those brands (e.g. axiom, rocket, swan, etc), so I cannot comment whether they can compete, although from the discussions here, I am willing to believe they compete.

Just listen, and it should be painfully obvious how superior most brands are in comparison to Bose. And then how superior some select speakers are to the all the rest.

 

[GrahamT]

Kevin, if you can afford bose, you can afford Paradigm. Take a look at the cinema or performance lines on the website. These speakers are impressive for their cost. Yes they will sound much better than bose.

 

[Kevin G.]

Thanks everyone,

sorry Tom, for barging in on your thread, but I got some good info from you as well.

I'll definitely check out the atoms/possibly the monitors
any thoughts on a matching ctr channel?

 

[GrahamT]

Get at least the cc170. 270 if you can afford it.

 

[ChrisWiggles]

The cc 70, 170, and 270 match the performance series. If you go with something from the monitor series, the matching center is the CC-370. You can still get one of the cheaper (and still great) centers from the performance series, but it won't be a *perfect* match. It should sound great though.

 

[Ari*S]

I second the Energy Take 5 option. I myself went for the Encore, which pretty much is in the price range as you are looking for. Very smooth sound, with good high-end clarity. The finish (and apparent robustness) of the speakers, in maple and silver, also goes a long way in pleasing the wife

 

[Ari*S]

(double post)

 

[Adam_mmm]

It seems everyone has brand names that they associate with quality. I would consider myself a newbie, yet willing to pay for quality. My question is if I am on a 2000 budget should I mix and match different components or is there a 6.1 package system that is worthy of this price tag?

 

[Kevin G.]

As I mentioned on another thread, I auditioned the paradigms this weekend, if you can afford 2k then they have some serious packages available.

Their towers were 2nd to none. I just don't have that deep of pockets

 

[GrahamT]

Adam,
Feel free to mix and match equipment but not speakers. Whatever brand you choose try to stay with one line if possible. The Paradigm performance series or Polk RTi series should fit your budget.