Bose Starter Setup

Hi Guys,

I'm about to start putting together a Good, Somewhat-futureproof HT system. I love my music [Rock,Jazz,Blues,Acoustic and Unplugged, Crisp Stuff] and my movies [Everything, but love orchestral sountracks]. I need a 60:40 Music:Movie setup on these.

After quite some lurking on the web, discussions with friends who listen to a similar kind of music/movies, listening to bose-basher rants, and some savings, I've set out to accomplish step 1 of my goal.

A source, An initial 2.1 speaker setup.

For the Source - I choose the Philips DVP5986K - Futureproof enough for my needs at ~Rs.5K - Wot say?

For Speakers-

For my music and my ears,[and might I add my Budget] It was always a choice between:

1.Bose Acoustimass 3 Series , ~14K, 2 Front Channels and an Acoustimass sub module. RMS rating:10-100 watts per channel
Impedence: 4-8 ohms

2. Bose Bookshelves , ~17k, No Sub.
RMS rating: 10-150 watts per channel
Impedence: 4-8 ohms

I prefer 1 for its scalability. Now, Which one do you think is better off?

I hear these are pretty power hungry? Can I run without an AVR for now? I have only a shoestring budget of 20K in this first phase, so the source+2.1 is all I can think of.

I have a small/Medium sized room for which these speakers will suffice.I will add surround and center speakers later. Cant afford an AVR now, can probably shell out 15K for it in phase 2.

Over to the forum.

paul, both the bose speakers need amplifiers/receivers. So, you cannot get all these for 20k as the receivers typically start from 14k themselves. sorry about that. But, for 20k there are quite some better options there still available and there is a good chance that you might like these better than bose.
First of all if you don't want a receiver and just buy dvd player and speaker, then you should look for active speakers. The best within your budget is Audioengine A5 for about 18k. On the other hand if you want to go passive speaker route then decent bookshelves will start at rs.10k and you might need to buy some used receiver/amplifier from this forum or somewhere for about 10k. there was a nad320bee on sale. there are some more as well in the forum. give these a check. By the way, I am from hyd too.

Gopi, Thanks for your input. Im pretty sure I want to buy the Bose Acoustimass 3, I dont have room for bigger speakers and I really like the way they sound for my non-audiophile music tastes.

So I guess, I will save up to include a decent amp in my budget, I did see the NAD you are talking about in the for sale thread. Where can I get good deals on Amps/AVRs in Hyderabad, even demo/preowned? I dont mind spending 15k to max20k on them.. Also , what do you think of the source? Please advice..

Some info about the bose acoustimass

intellexual net · m k i v

Im aware of this all famous war on bose :-). I think theres a nice line between audiophile preferences and of those who prefer to rely on their ears to be the best judge. Im one of those. But perferctly respect the views expressed in the link.

Just curious... did you listen to anything else other than bose?

I completely agree with you. You should buy what your ears like.

At the same time, you must understand that there are a huge number of choices available out there. The sub-sat systems that Bose introduced have been improved upon and are now offered by manufacturers such as Polk Audio, ELAC, Athena, Mission, KEF to name just a few. PSB's Alpha speakers are again a sub-sat system and have been unanimously praised by experts and users alike. It is one of the very few budget systems that has ever entered Stereophile's recommended list and stayed there for years.

What we are asking you to do is simple. Listen to two or three sub-sat systems before you make up your mind. Unless you do this, you will never know what else is there in the market.

There are a few Indian companies that also manufacture sub-sat systems. Sonodyne is one and is used extensively in retails areas such as Landmark. There is another company in Mumbai called Lithos Acoustics who make simply superb sub-sat systems. Their technologies such as Q-Balance and Sloping Baffles, allows you to listen to music for hours without any ear fatigue. I have once heard nearly 5 hours of rock music on their systems, and wanted more.

If ylu heard other systems, and yet want to go in for Bose, you are welcome. if not, all we are saying is that please audition a few other systems first.

Cheers

I live bang next to the bose showroom and that's where I started my search. (http://www.hifivision.com/amplifiers....html#post7522). It might be worth looking at other options to get a feel...

I am interested in knowing the answer to this question too...

Yes Paul, you should buy what pleases you in case you have already done your research. I recall the famous line by Clint Eastwood 'Opinions are like a$$$$$$s, everybody has one'.

Thanks for all your thoughts guys.

@venkat and reignofchaos: I have auditioned my music on at least 5 other speakers including some venkat has mentioned. Nevertheless, I could probably check out some other options you have mentioned for sure. Id like to take in the communities unbiased opinions.

My audition CD contains vintage blues, many mtv unplugged numbers, tommy emmanuel, sting and some OSTs. The crispness/warmth/Depth of the Bose appealed to me the most. I know that I dont need earth shaking hip hop/rap bass.

If you listen to similar music, help me with any specific choices for my auditions, as you've probably seen budget ~15k for the speakers, 12x12 room (for now, but will scale to a 5.1 setup and use these for front or surround when I move on). Comments on Source(5k) and preferred amp(say 20k) are also welcome.