If not Bose Lifestyle, than what?
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New member Username: Coliver33Post Number: 1 Registered: Mar-05 | I've seen much disdain for Bose on the audiophile forums. That said, tell me what I can find that is better, as unobtrusive, and less expensive than, say, the Bose Lifestyle 38/48. What sells me on Bose is the form factor. Who else can match it? |
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Gold Member Username: Project6Post Number: 2830 Registered: Dec-03 | If you like the form factor, then by all means, get it. After all, it is your money, your ears and your tastes, no one should be able able to tell you what you must and must not have. You will be the one living with the choice you make. If you want to know who else can match it, try shopping around and do some research, who knows what you will find. Happy hunting. |
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Silver Member Username: DmwileyPost Number: 183 Registered: Feb-05 | Interesting. I never bought a speaker based soley on the "form factor" (presumably that means appearance). But if appearance as opposed to sound quality is what floats your boat, go for it. Following that thought to its logical conclusion, I guess its ok to buy a television soley on the way it sounds and not based on the quality of its picture. Man, this is a wonderful world in which we live. Some of us just don't have money to burn. But Thank God there are those who do. |
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New member Username: Coliver33Post Number: 2 Registered: Mar-05 | To Dale: Didn't say the decision was solely based on form factor. It IS important to me, however, as I only have a living room (vs. an entertainment room) to use, and fairly soon I will be a married man with a wife who won't want the room to be dominated by speakers. What I'm looking for is a cheaper alternative to Bose that sounds great but has a similar footprint. I don't have money to burn, either. ;) |
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Silver Member Username: DmwileyPost Number: 184 Registered: Feb-05 | Congratulations. I wish you many years of wedded bliss. You're going to get a thousand answers to this question. I'm partial to Polk Audio but you will find just as many posters who hate them. You're just going to have to listen to some speakers, keeping in mind that appearance is an important factor for you. I wish I could be more helpful. But I refuse to give you advice based on my preferences or listening skills. In my view, that is totally useless although you will find many in this forum who have no qualms about recommending speaker X or Y. |
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New member Username: Coliver33Post Number: 3 Registered: Mar-05 | Thanks for the straight talk, Dale. You're right. The whole sound quality thing is subjective, and instead of going with opinions I'll just listen to different systems and see what floats my boat. |
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Silver Member Username: DmwileyPost Number: 188 Registered: Feb-05 | You're a wise man and it has nothing to do with my advice. When you audition, take a CD or DVD that you know backwards and forwards and one that preferably has good range. Listen carefully to determine if the speakers are more or less revealing. With good speakers, you will probably hear things that you had not previously recognized as being present on the recording. |
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Nicolaskl Unregistered guest | Sound quality is subjective, to a point. Regardless of how subjective it is, if someone tells you a Wal-Mart stereo, for example, sounds incredible, then chances are they either have a tin ear or just don't know any better. While Bose Acoustimass systems can probably take down Wal-Marts offerings in a head to head competition, I'd say the statement above about Wal-Mart applies to Acoustimass as well. You're just not gonna get kickass sound out of a system that functionally has no tweeters, no subwoofer, and apparently completely neglects a large portion of the audible spectrum. I think if you're relying solely on auditions at audio stores you're probably more foolish than relying solely on a professional review. Unless you're going to spend a few hours auditioning each speaker/amp combo you're not going to get a real comprehensive appreciation for the nuances of each set, and even if you DO do that you still have the problem that you're not going to be auditioning each system in the exact same environment, and that environment isn't going to be the same as your home also. Plus some stores may have some systems extremely well setup, and in an ideal environment, that could make them sound better than a superior system that wasn't as well setup. I think to make the most educated decision, short of trying them all out for a week in your home, you have to combine in-person auditions, professional reviews, raw numbers, and practically everything else you can get your hands on. Feel free to ignore most, if not all, consumer reviews. Not many people like to admit the system they just spend 2 or 3 grand on isn't everything they hoped it'd be, and you see a lot of negative reviews from people that have never even listened to the system (which is probably the case with Bose, but in their case they deserve it). Now that I've told you to ignore consumer reviews, I'll also tell you I'd put B&W, Energy, and PSB on your list of systems to check out if possible. Personally I bought, for less than 2500 bucks, a pair of 602 S3s, a pair 601 S3s, an LCR60, a Marantz 5400, and an Infinity Intermezzo 1.2s, and I've been extremely happy with the system. |
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RichF Unregistered guest | For $2,300 to $3,0000 for the Bose systems, you can save yourself a ton of money if you have a little flexibility. I had the WAF to consider and auditioned the following speakers: Cambridge 108 ($450) Energy Act 6 Infinity TSS 750 ($465) Athena Micra 6 ($400) Kiplsch Quintets ($700) They may not be quite a small as the Bose, but all are still very small. There are also some Orb speakers that are as small as Bose, but I find that you need at least 3 1/2" mids to cover the mid range to where the sub picks up. I paired my speakers with a Pioneer 1014 for $350 and added a matching progressive scan dvd for $75 and achieved a decent home theater for under $1,000. Let us know what you decided. |
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New member Username: Beastie10Cayman Islands Post Number: 6 Registered: Apr-05 | I'm pleased I caught onto a Bose thread. I used to have a L/style 50 until Hurricane Ivan blew my house away, so I have been searching for replacements (I was never truly happy with it). What I am stuck with though is their versatility as regards multirooms. I need 5 rooms (for outdoor) and as much as I would like to go with another product, I have not found a system that makes this as easy as the L/S 48. If anyone knows of one, I'd be very grateful to know. |
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Bronze Member Username: Virus5877West Lafayette, Indiana USA Post Number: 40 Registered: Apr-05 | About the only way to get multiroom capability that is worth using is to get a fairly high end, multi room receiver (or separates -gasp-) and then build each room independently. Personally as far as multiroom capabilities go, you can get the Denon 5805 receiver 6 big ones, or as I would recommend, get a harman kardon receiver with A-Bus connectivity (AVR 435, 635, 7300) and buy seperate A-bus modules and an A-bus hub to power every room that you need. Read up on A-bus at www.harmankardon.com. It's sweet, trust me!  |
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