Small powerful speakers?

[SuperK]

Ok here is the story. I am gettin married next year and as a wedding present the lovely lady wants to get me a surround sound system. She is also quite adamant about the Bose brand. If I hook up the speakers from the Bose to a nice receiver that will do the HD audio codecs, will it sound like a big lump of poop? She really likes the small size of the speakers, any suggestions for an alternative set of small good speakers? I have not heard too much good about Bose, and i dont want to get stuck with bad sound the rest of my life. Oh yeah, the budget is about $3000. Small size is the key! Thank you in advance!

[daronk]

Bose bashers, don't miss this one!

[Beta Man]

http://www.avrev.com/news/1004/26.bw.html

Add Receiver and their matching Sub.....


http://www.cambridgesoundworks.com/s...item=k1pk728zz

again.... find a receiver....


There are others I'm sure.... if you're not looking for something THAT small... there are better bookshelf styles that will fit your budget.

[Blu Falcon]

If you know how to tweak them right the Bose Acoustimass satellites sound great. I've never had anyone come over to the crib and tell me my system sounds like crap, quite the opposite actually. I will say that the low frequency module leaves a bit to be desired, but I fixed that by adding an Infinity powered sub rather than rely on the Bose module. There are less expensive alternatives out there, but if she's adamant about wanting Bose just get her whatever floats her boat. Some folks just want the Bose badge that says "Look at me. I've got money to burn."

Any minute now all the Bose haters will appear to spit venom and crucify this thread, so enjoy.

[NovaBomb]

Originally Posted by Blu Falcon

If you know how to tweak them right the Bose Acoustimass satellites sound great. I've never had anyone come over to the crib and tell me my system sounds like crap, quite the opposite actually. I will say that the low frequency module leaves a bit to be desired, but I fixed that by adding an Infinity powered sub rather than rely on the Bose module. There are less expensive alternatives out there, but if she's adamant about wanting Bose just get her whatever floats her boat. Some folks just want the Bose badge that says "Look at me. I've got money to burn."

Any minute now all the Bose haters will appear to spit venom and crucify this thread, so enjoy.

I'm with you man, My system sounds amazing and anyone who comes over is always blown away from how awesome the sound is.

[Gio]

Originally Posted by NovaBomb

I'm with you man, My system sounds amazing and anyone who comes over is always blown away from how awesome the sound is.

same here, everyone that has heard my bose has been blown away

[MacDaddyOJack]

Yeah, but those people who come over and say that the Bose system sounds good are probably the same people who watch movies using their tv speakers...

[richteer]

Originally Posted by SuperK

Ok here is the story. I am gettin married next year and as a wedding present the lovely lady wants to get me a surround sound system. She is also quite adamant about the Bose brand. If I hook up the speakers from the Bose to a nice receiver that will do the HD audio codecs, will it sound like a big lump of poop? She really likes the small size of the speakers, any suggestions for an alternative set of small good speakers? I have not heard too much good about Bose, and i dont want to get stuck with bad sound the rest of my life. Oh yeah, the budget is about $3000. Small size is the key! Thank you in advance!

Avoid Bose like the plague. They're over-priced high end wannabes.

For $3k you can get quite a nice system. Once example that comes to mind is the Quad L-ite system, at roughly $2K. Partner those with a decent receiver, e.g., the Onkyo 805 (or better if budget allows), and you'll have a killer system with sound quality Bose owners can only dream of.

[yellowblanket]

what is it with you guys? Bose is a very good product, are they expensive? yes, are the sound exelent? yes. Don't knock the product because of its prices.

[guitarist155]

for 3000 you can do alot better try the b&w mini theater system with an onkyo 705 or definitive technology pro cinema 1000 system with an onkyo 705. these should be in your budget and will blow alot of speakers, not just bose, out of the water

[Beta Man]

Originally Posted by yellowblanket

what is it with you guys? Bose is a very good product, are they expensive? yes, are the sound exelent? yes. Don't knock the product because of its prices.

I simply gave a couple of options......

1) are bose Expensive? NO.... I don't think so... for $3K you can get an entire system.... that's not expensive..... would I ever spend $3k on Bose??? Hell NO..... I also would never even think about getting these other HTIB systems for a main system, but I've considered getting one (probably the B&W Mini-Theater setup, shearly on brand-loyalty) for my bedroom.

2) Are you guys worried about what "people who come over" think of your sound system, or do you want something that will keep you happy for a long time to come. If Bose sounds "great" to you, just go ahead and get yourself a set of bose, I just think somewhere down the line you're gonna hear what other systems are available, and you'll wish you could recoup your $3k that you spent on the bose. $3k will get something decent, but people start to price things out, and it's either "MINI SYSTEM" or "FLOOR STANDERS" There are bookshelf speakers out there that perform amazingly......


I think it's been said about 1,000 times already here, but here it goes again.

AUDITION SPEAKERS..... find something that sounds good to you, and make your decision. Also, every speaker I've ever recommended, or commented on, I've heard or owned personally..... if you say, "should I get brand A, or B" all you're ever going to achieve is finding out who owns brand A, and who owns Brand B, and occassionally you'll get better advice from someone who has heard both, but it'll be burried in 50 posts of "I have Brand A, and I love them" etc.

[turboedguy]

Originally Posted by yellowblanket

what is it with you guys? Bose is a very good product, are they expensive? yes, are the sound exelent? yes. Don't knock the product because of its prices.

Knock it because they are overpriced, mediocre systems.

Its like buying a Toyota Corrola (a very good car mind you) for $50,000. At what point does it go from being a good car, to a overpriced piece of $hit?
And lets face it, at $50k the Toyota Corrola its a pice of $hit.

[Brian Cash]

hey i like bose alot they sound great own a few systems but i like a real receiver and for the money of bose i can get better speakers

[ManUtd]

Originally Posted by guitarist155

for 3000 you can do alot better try the b&w mini theater system with an onkyo 705 or definitive technology pro cinema 1000 system with an onkyo 705. these should be in your budget and will blow alot of speakers, not just bose, out of the water

Yep I recommend the MT-30. The L/C/R and surrounds are small enough to be ceiling or wall mounted and for the size the sound quality is great.

[MacDaddyOJack]

Originally Posted by yellowblanket

what is it with you guys? Bose is a very good product, are they expensive? yes, are the sound exelent? yes. Don't knock the product because of its prices.

I don't knock them because of the price, I knock them because they are marketed as high performance. Bose does not publish speaker specs, nothing. And according to an independent study, the high frequency extention of those speakers is little over 13k Hz. To make matters even worse, the upper crossover on the acoustimass "bass module" is roughly 120Hz while the low frequency extention for the satellites is around 180. That leaves a 60Hz gap I don't recall the site I read this on, but someone has posted it in this very forum. Bose is only a marginal product, even at half its current price tag.

[Pelican170]

OK here we go again with the Bose, and I just cant keep my mouth shut. The reason you want to stay away from Bose is because they do not accurately reproduce sound the way speakers are supposed to. They tweak their frequency range to sound good to people who dont quite know alot about sound. There are many articles written about this. Best bet is stay away from Bose...

Also, the above comment is very correct!

[richteer]

Originally Posted by yellowblanket

what is it with you guys? Bose is a very good product, are they expensive? yes, are the sound exelent? yes. Don't knock the product because of its prices.

If sound quality is the criteria of quality, Bose is not a "very good" product. Are they expensive? Perhaps, but they are definitely over priced. Do they sound excellent? No. I'd argue that they don't even sound good.

I don't knock a product because of its prices. Check my posting history--I'm a high end guy. My pair of monobloc amps cost $3K+, and my pair of speakers more than that (and I consider those to be on the cheap side of things, but they're all I can afford at the moment).

What Bose *are* good at is hyping their psychoacoustic babble to people who don't know any better.

[un4gvn94538]

Originally Posted by MacDaddyOJack

Yeah, but those people who come over and say that the Bose system sounds good are probably the same people who watch movies using their tv speakers...

i used to have the acoustimass 16 speakers. speakers need some kind of bass but they cant handle it. i sold them for infinity primus set up. sound is much better and complete. very happy i switched.

[Rovic]

Originally Posted by un4gvn94538

i used to have the acoustimass 16 speakers. speakers need some kind of bass but they cant handle it. i sold them for infinity primus set up. sound is much better and complete. very happy i switched.

I'll probably end up doing the same....i have the dual bose speakers and for now i guess it will have to do...

[Blu Falcon]

Originally Posted by MacDaddyOJack

Yeah, but those people who come over and say that the Bose system sounds good are probably the same people who watch movies using their tv speakers...

And here's the first volley of fire from the anti-Bose brigade.

You're probably right, man. And I've learned a long time ago that you just can't win an argument for Bose. However, I will offer this. I consider my old man to be somewhat of an audiophile. Not the over-the-top crazy audiophile, but a man who simply appreciates good sound and is willing to pay the price for it. He's always had really good audio gear and did a lot of research for equipment he was investing in long before the days when Google, on-line reviews and discussion forums became the norm. This is the man that gave me such gems as the Yamaha KX-1200, JBL 4312 and my first Technics SL-1210MK2, and he was quite impressed with the output from my system. For a small package he thought they sounded great. Perhaps it was the way my system was set-up, or the acoustics in the room. Whichever the case, he didn't think it sounded like "poo poo". But there is a possibility he didn't want to hurt my feelings.