Upgrading from Bose (1 Viewer)

[aaron_dewitt]

Well this is my first post and it is about Bose, please dont flame me . Well about 5 years ago my father and I decieded to get into the home theater market. I have been an enthusist ever since. We were looking into a set of THX certified speakers until the Jack off at ABC Wharehouse told us that Bose was the best, and you cannot go wrong. Well look what i found out, 3 years later i conviced my dad that we wanted 5.1 so one day i went out and got a sony DD and DTS 5.1 decoder. Not the best in the world but it would do. I also purchased a paradigm ps1000 sub. It works nicely in my basement. So now im stuck with 5 cubes and a nice sub. all base being directed to my sub, which is terrible sounding in some movies. Well it looks like i finnally conviced my dad into upgrading agian. I was wondering of any suggestions? Especially on the 5 speakers. What do you reccomoned? I want my dad to be able to tell the difference between the Bose and the new speakers. My price range is around 1500, but the catch is it sounds like i can get around 50% off everyspeaker in a store by my house. And if you think i should get a better reciever tell me what i should get, but it must be resonable not some 3,000 dollar unit. Thanks for the help. I have been learning a ton since i joined this board.
Aaron

 

[Brett DiMichele]

Well you have a few options..

Do you want an all in one package (Sats,Center,Sub)?

If so check out the Acousic Research HC-6 and the JBL NSP1

and the Infinity Modulus as well as many other offerings

from Polk Audio, Klipsh, Definitive Technology etc.

There are also many "web based only" speaker manufacturers

that have a cult following here on this forum and they are

Diva's by Swans, Home Theater Direct, Axiom, nOrh and a few

others.

Since I am a diehard AR fan, if your local store carries

the full line of Hi-Res Seperates from AR I would check out

the AR9's AR5's AR11's AR15's AR2C and AR4C.

For example if you want to run your mains as "small" then

you do not need to spend the big dollars on big tower speakers.

In this case I would use AR11's as the mains set to Small

with an AR4C Center and a pair of AR15's as Left and Right

Surround. If you have a 6.1 capeable Receiver you could add

another AR4C as "rear surround" or if you have a 7.1 you

could use a second pair of AR15's as "rear surround".

If you wanted towers to run as large (this is all about

personal prefernce) and your Receiver does not have the Uumph

to push a pair of AR9's as mains (they need at least 100

pure watts per channel) you could instead go with AR5's

which are the same as the 9's but have internal amplification

for the low frequency section.

Others will chime in with many other brands, brands that

they own and feel are worth mentioning. Keep your mind open

to all speaker brands (except bose of course) and listen

to as many products as you can. Even if it requires you to

drive all over hells half acre.

Even better would be if you find a shop that will allow you

to bring home multiple speakers to inhouse demo. A speaker

will always sound diffrent in your home surroundigs.

 

[Terry Flink]

If placement is not an issue...the nOrh 4.0 video system in ceramic is amazing. For $850.00 (delivered) you get 5 identical nOrh 4.0s. I picked up these speakers last year and am using an SVS 20-39CS and the results are truly wonderful. In fact I believe for right around $1500.00 you could pick up the nOrhs and an SVS PCi sub...then you will be really amazed at the improvement in your system. Check out www.norh.com and www.svsubwoofers.com

 

[joe logston]

polks are the best for the money, give them a listen you wont be disapointed Link Removed

 

[Bob Marker]

Aaron: First, I'd say your receiver should be fine for driving most speakers in your price range, especially since you already have a good powered sub that takes some of the load off of the receiver's amps. What speaker brands are carried at the store where you can get a discount? Assuming they have a reasonable selection of brands, I'd suggest you (and your Dad) audition several in your price range and go with the ones that sound best to the both of you.

Good luck.

 

[aaron_dewitt]

Thanks for all of the help so far. Today im going to be measuring out the room and sending it in to the guy i can get the discount from. Im not what store he works at but it is a high end audio store not best buy. I will put the specs of the reciever on here tonight, buy i was looking on ebay and the denon 3802. Would this be enought to power good speakers? Keep the suggestions coming, they all help.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

At a budget of $1,500 for five speakers, you have a lot of options. One to look at is the B&W 600 Series. You could get two 602S2 mains, two 601S2 surrounds, a CC6 or LCR6 center and still have some money left over.

You could then sell your Bose system on ebay and probably have enough money to get that Denon 3802 receiver you are looking at. The one good thing about Bose is that they have a good resale value.

 

[DanaA]

Regarding what Joe said, I was at Fry's this last weekend and visited both their Polk room and their Bose room. The difference was profound to say the least, not to mention that the Bose cost much more. If possible, just take him for a listen. I'm pretty sure he'll notice the difference. I'd also take my own software (a favorite CD or DVD) and have him use that, rather than have the salesperson use one that he knows compliments a particular speaker well. I'd also have him play the recording, both with and without sub (as you already have a good one). Polk subs aren't the best, but they blow the Bose sub away, in my opinion. Good luck.

 

[BrianWoerndle]

Look at the Paradigm Studio Line. Since you already have the sub, you should be able to get 5 speakers for $1500.

 

[aaron_dewitt]

Im a big fan of B&W, it seems that they have some very good displays at classic stereo. Is this a good speaker? The 6 series that someone else posted? Are these series 2 or 3? I appreciate the help, i want to knock the socks of my dad. He is a huge fan of movies and sound but really doesn't understand it all.

 

[aaron_dewitt]

I took a look at the b&w series 6, the 602s2 seems to small, what about dm604 for the mains and 2 ds6's for the sourounds? I took a look at the center and it doesn't seem expensive enough to be really good. The lcr6 seemed to be good. If i go with 6.1 would i just get another ds6? well what do you think of this setup. Or is there something better. Thanks

Aaron

 

[EricHaas]

Aaron:
Have you figured out all the brands that store has? If you can get 50% off, that is probably the way to go. So you might report back what brands are there and we can advise you better.
Barring that, I recommend the Paradigm Studio Line as Brian mentioned. I personally prefer the Paradigm Studio line to the B&W's you mention above, although the higher end B&W's are better than any of the Paradigms. I would also recommend Divas by Swans, an internet only seller. www.av123.com. There is a package deal right now where you can get the tower mains (4.1), the center, and the bookshelf rears (2.1) for $1200. That is going to be one of the better deals in your price range.

 

[shankar]

A lot of people talk about home theater direct http://www.hometheaterdirect.com/ speakers and they definitely are in the price range. I personally graduated from my Bose 301's to AR S-40's, AR-S112PS sub, ARPCS25 center. I still have a pair of Bose 141's for the rear though and they seem fine for the time being. I'll get an AR set soon.
Shankar

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I took a look at the b&w series 6, the 602s2 seems to small, what about dm604 for the mains and 2 ds6's for the sourounds?

Aaron,

My current setup includes B&W 604S2 mains, 602S2 surrounds and LCR6S2 center. I am driving everything with a Pioneer Elite VSX-47TX receiver. While I really like the setup, it will definitely blow your $1,500 budget. Paired with a good subwoofer, the 602's will really hold their own.

The Series 3 has some enhancements over the Series 2. I have not heard them, though, since I purchased my speaker system about 2.5 years ago. I may check them out when I purchase another pair of 602's for the back surrounds, but that will be a few months away. I just blew the budget on the new Pioneer receiver.

 

[aaron_dewitt]

Well im going to give the guy a list with the b&w's i mentioned earlier. Im also going to have him give a list of which products they have. Also im going to tell him to get me a price on the denon 3802. Are the b&w series 600 good? or isn't it high end enough.

 

[aaron_dewitt]

for the surrounds why would you want to use the dm602 instead of the DS6? is there a reason?

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Are the b&w series 600 good? or isn't it high end enough.

I wouldn't consider any speaker system in this price range as "high end". I believe they are excellent sounding speakers at their price point. There are also several other brands in this price range that are worth an audition -- Paradigm, Energy, Boston Acoustic, Klipsch, Atlantic Technologies, Definitive Tech, etc.

The best advice I can give is to set a budget for what you are willing to spend, and then listen to as many speakers in that price range that you can tolerate. Pick the ones that sound best to you. Speaker selection is a very personal choice -- each brand has its own characteristics.