Sams Club Bose Demo (1 Viewer)

[Andrew O'Brien]

In shopping around for a receiver for Christmas I listened to several Surround Sound demos at various stores, not serious audiophile stores mostly the Circuit City/BestBuys of the world. Most had poor auditioning areas, many did not even have rear speakers actually in the rear.

I was surprised today to find a good demo area at Sams Club of all places. I stood on a line, pressed a large red button and the rear speakers (4 or 'em) moved out on a motorized frame and took position above and slightly behind me. The Bose demo then played various videos with audio designed to show off each speaker , including the sub-woofer.

So, now I finally know what 5:1 is supposed to sound like. Should help in setting things up at Christmas.

 

[GrahamT]

No,this is not what it is supposed to sound like. The "speakers" are about one foot away.

 

[Jack Briggs]

Not sure what is being discussed here. If you want to talk about Bose, this should be moved to the Speakers/Subwoofers area. But if you're discussing what 5.1-channel surround should "sound" like in general terms, then it can remain here as a beginner's-level thread.

 

[ChrisWiggles]

including the sub-woofer.


Bose makes a subwoofer?

News to me...

 

[ChrisLazarko]

Ummm Bose? Unfortunatly most places don't have good places to demo full surround sound systems unless you go to an audio specific store... CircuitCity sometimes has some decent demo's, depending on how the room is setup.

 

[Ed Moxley]

5.1 is very impressive when setup right. It's nice to hear things go around the room. Listen to a spaceship come from behind and go by you. Maybe hear a car in the front left , voices from center speaker, dog barking in front right, someone hammering on a house in the right rear and children playing in the left rear.........all at the same time. Very interesting listening.
As far as the demo........... did you see any specs on the bose? Specifically, the bose speakers? NO! And you won't either. Bose will not advertise the specs on their speakers. A guy from another forum called them on the phone, and asked for specs. They wouldn't tell him. Sounds like they have something to hide? If you understand the specs they tell you, you'll know that you're not getting your money's worth. So, they won't tell........
Best place to audition a system, is in your home. Make sure the place you buy from has a good return policy, in case you don't like what you get. Good luck!

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

Quote:
No, this is not what it is supposed to sound like. The "speakers" are about one foot away. It’s not supposed to be a reference system, just an on-site demo for the uninitiated, and the Bose displays at Sam’s do that just fine. Once these people get their system home and get it set up with proper distances and everything, they’ll find it’s even better than what they heard at the store. Nothing wrong with bringing something home and having it exceed your expectations.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[Andrew O'Brien]

Yes, as Wayne suggests it was a good Demo. My point with this thread was that is was nice to see a demo area that worked and that it is somewhat ironic that a warehouse sales outlet did it better than the electronics stores. It will give me a better idea of what my sound should be like when I get around to setting it up.

Speaking of set-up, if you want to amuse yourself...go to a store and ask if they sell surround-sound test DVDs. I asked at Circuit City, had to talk with three people before they knew what I was talking about...they don't sell them. I asked at Media Play and the first clerk told me "try the Techno-Dance section" She got another clerk to help when I persisted with my question, he said that he knew what i was talking about and took me to the New Age CD section. I gave up after that.

Andy.

 

[Scott Kimball]

The best thing you could do is go to an audio specialty store, or HiFi specialist. They always have demo rooms where you can hear what things are supposed to sound like. Almost all of them will let you demo hardware at home and bring it back if you're not satisfied.

You'll also be surprised at the quality for the price at these stores. Without picking on Bose in particular (there are entire websites that do that) - you can get better quality at a specialty store than at a mass-market retailer, and not spend any more money.

-Scott

 

[Michael Knieriemen]

If that is the same demo/setup at the Sam's near me, they are using Microsoft's X-Box as the source for the audio and video in that Bose demo.

 

[Dan Hitchman]

Bose blows as everyone should knows ( ), so I wouldn't call it a fair setup.

Go to a specialty A/V store that knows a thing or two about audio and you'd be far more impressed.

Dan