To all those Bose haters...

[NIIKME]

Not to this audience specifically but I got plain fed up with all the negativity towards Bose on the internet whilst researching my latest acquisition! I've had a Bose sound dock for a number of years and figured if that was anything to go by their home cinema must be equally awesome.

So £1500 lighter and I have a Lifestyle T10 installed in my family room. It is quite simply OUTSTANDING!! I traded up from a sony 1200ES amp, and a Jamo satellite package. This sounded good but was increasingly frustrating for the family (and me) with numerous remotes, turning the TV volume down with one, the AV on with another, selecting the right HDMI input with another remote etc etc. A nightmare. Only to be solved with a geeky programmable remote control from Logitech perhaps - or in fact you could just ditch the lot - which is what I did!

So from the moment I opened the Bose box the quality is unmistakable. It also comes with everything from HDMI leads to a USB key for software updates (nice touch). The speaker brackets are quality, and have a flush mount which is hidden behind a plastic clip over plate (again nice and smooth touch). When you fire it up the setup procedure is a real eye opener! Their "unify" process basically hand walks you through plugging all the cables in, to asking you to use your old sky remotes/tv remotes so that the Bose unit can identify their buttons. Then it asks you to wear some microphone laden headphones in 5 different places in your room so that it can measure the sound waves reflecting off walls! All impressive stuff and I was a happy man already

Then I turned it on. Just about every channel or disc I have put through it has unmistakable surround sound. It upscales everything right out of the box! Any channel in HD is most impressive. To be honest I was a little taken aback at how much better it sounded compared to my old system? I think on reflection my old system was a combination of highs (from the satellites) and bass from the sub. Not much in between and the two components felt 'distanced' if that makes sense? With the Bose you are encapsulated in full sound and have absolutely no idea where its coming from whether it be the front, back, or sub.

So like I say, to all the haters, the lifestyle system is the mutts nuts. I've no idea why I could only find bad reports from so called 'audiophiles' so here is the first good one If you have the money go buy one they are all 25% off at the moment and I hope I have inspired someone else to take the plunge.

Edited by NIIKME on Thursday 8th September 09:19

[.Mark]

Thanks for the post. Been considering the T20 recently and must say I was impressed with the sound demo in store. The setup process does seem really simple.
Also a happy user of Sound Docks for years, and the in ear headphones. Never really 'got' the dissenters. Although I hear music rather than listen to it so maybe that's the answer.

What speakers did you go for? The small cubes or the double cube type where the top one fires sound at the wall?

[NIIKME]

Hi - I've got the single cubes with the T10, the T20 is the same unit but with double cubes for an extra £300. In the store I couldn't hear that much of a difference and was advised the difference only really becomes noticeable in a big room. Since mine is a small room (6x3M) the singles made more sense.

[.Mark]

Useful info - thanks

[oola]

I suspect most people just pick up on internet rumours and follow them.

IMO Bose only make one good product being their headphones ... their products are generally very well marketed and designed but overpriced. For a budget of £1500 I would have gone along the lines of a Yamaha/Denon AVR with a Kef 5.1/7.1 system.

[NIIKME]

Overpriced I hear you say.... But when you realise how much software engineering has gone into making my 1 remote home cinema a pleasure to use it actually feels extremely good value (in addition to sounding awesome).

[.Mark]

oola said:

I would have gone along the lines of a Yamaha/Denon AVR with a Kef 5.1/7.1 system.

Depends on how easy you want it. Setting up and matching components, choosing decent/good enough cabling, figuring how it all plugs together, hoping you got it right.

IMO Bose got it right for Luddites like me

[blindswelledrat]

.Mark said:

Depends on how easy you want it. Setting up and matching components, choosing decent/good enough cabling, figuring how it all plugs together, hoping you got it right.

IMO Bose got it right for Luddites like me

Exactly right.
Bose is expensive, even overpriced, but for people who want excellent sound without 10 foot speakers making thier house look like a tenagers bedroom, then it is perfect as far as I am concerned.

[jas xjr]

One off putting aspect regards the Bose pricing policy they seem to round up prices.
£1500 , £2000 etc
That is very off putting and looks a bit dodgy

[blindswelledrat]

jas xjr said:

One off putting aspect regards the Bose pricing policy they seem to round up prices.
£1500 , £2000 etc
That is very off putting and looks a bit dodgy

Odd isn't it? On one hand it seems dodgy but on the other hand if you see something priced at 1899 or 2199- what does that actrually mean either?

[oola]

.Mark said:

Depends on how easy you want it. Setting up and matching components, choosing decent/good enough cabling, figuring how it all plugs together, hoping you got it right.

IMO Bose got it right for Luddites like me

As when purchasing most things, you research it, find a good retailer/installer and that's it. All other amps have a self set-up procedure using a supplied microphone which is just as simple.

blindswelledrat said:

Exactly right.
Bose is expensive, even overpriced, but for people who want excellent sound without 10 foot speakers making thier house look like a tenagers bedroom, then it is perfect as far as I am concerned.

There are plenty of options for smaller speakers elsewhere. I don't know many manufacturers who don't have a more discreet option within their range ...

[oola]

NIIKME said:

Overpriced I hear you say.... But when you realise how much software engineering has gone into making my 1 remote home cinema a pleasure to use it actually feels extremely good value (in addition to sounding awesome).

Look into my eyes, look into my eyes, not around the eyes ...

[NIIKME]

Oola, nice website!
I look forward to the day I have £50k to spank on kit with hidden racks, speakers, and key pads in every room.
Then we might be able to talk business. Until then....

[.Mark]

jas xjr said:

One off putting aspect regards the Bose pricing policy they seem to round up prices.
£1500 , £2000 etc
That is very off putting and looks a bit dodgy

I was looking at the T20 in May, in the local outlet store. £2500, decided to leave it, phone them yesterday for a refresh of info to be told they have 'realigned prices' - new price? £1575. You don't get that very often.

[oola]

NIIKME said:

Oola, nice website!
I look forward to the day I have £50k to spank on kit with hidden racks, speakers, and key pads in every room.
Then we might be able to talk business. Until then....

Thanks for the compliments ... we all look forward to that!. I must say its hard salivating over new products whist not trying to spend every last penny of your own money on them.

[headcase]

It isnt 3d complaint out of the box (apparently there is a software upgrade but im yet to see it) so if you have a 3d tv and a 3d Blu-Ray then it wont work in 3d unless you plug it straight into the TV but then defeating the whole purpose of unify and it also dosent get 5.1 from a Sky HD box, its the age old problem where sky only ouputs stereo from the HDMI and 5.1 from the optical, the problem is that these new T10's dont allow you to get the picture from the HDMI and the sound from the optical as the optical is permanently mapped to the component or composite input so unless you have a old HD box with Component out you are cream crackered. The get around is to plug sky into the TV then optical to the Bose but yet again you are defeating the whole purpose of unify...
Apart from that its a nice bit of kit, especially the one with the propper ipod dock.

[NIIKME]

headcase said:

It isnt 3d complaint out of the box (apparently there is a software upgrade but im yet to see it) so if you have a 3d tv and a 3d Blu-Ray then it wont work in 3d unless you plug it straight into the TV but then defeating the whole purpose of unify and it also dosent get 5.1 from a Sky HD box, its the age old problem where sky only ouputs stereo from the HDMI and 5.1 from the optical, the problem is that these new T10's dont allow you to get the picture from the HDMI and the sound from the optical as the optical is permanently mapped to the component or composite input so unless you have a old HD box with Component out you are cream crackered. The get around is to plug sky into the TV then optical to the Bose but yet again you are defeating the whole purpose of unify...
Apart from that its a nice bit of kit, especially the one with the propper ipod dock.

Hmm confirm I do not get 5.1 through hdmi.....thanks for pointing that out! With that said i am amazed i hadnt noticed since it sounds so good?? Perhaps theres a lot of processing going on.
Have not tried a 3d blu ray, but 3d sky is just fine.

Edited by NIIKME on Monday 12th September 12:36

[headcase]

Yours may of course be one that has the latest software hence 3D is working, Apologies for pointing the 5.1 issue out You can get round it by connecting HDMI from SKY directly to the TV and optical from SKY to the Bose but it basically makes the unify system useless.

[swiftpete]

It's good you're happy with it, the thing is you can get more for your money, but if you're happy with ease of use then there you go. I prefer to get the best I can for my budget and will read up on stuff pretty intensively before a purchase. I usually don't like to settle for something if there is something better for the same money.
You tend to find that a new system sounds good if it's your first proper system, your best bet is to not listen to a proper separates system now and you won't get disappointed!

[Toffer]

Of course the £1500 Bose system sounds great.

Buying a Bose system in a Bose showroom does not give much opportunity for listening comparisons?

A visit to an independent retailer, should allow prospective buyers to compare a Bose system with alternatives.

A choice can then be made based upon the buyers priorities that may include price, value for money, style, convenience, ease of setting-up...and sound quality.

I would not put too much emphasis on ease of installation and setting-up... you will probably only ever do it once?

Bose make some great products...though not necessarily the best value or performance.

Sorry to sound like the "Devil's Advocate".