buy bose or not!!! help!!!!!!!

last time i suggested energy or Polk HTiBs instead of Bose i was met with Brand-Scorn (Whats a Polk !)...in fact the only other option many would even consiuder are the wireless speakers from Sony !!

My first entry into HiFi was a Dual turntable, a DIY 2 channel amplifier, and a pair of huge speakers that had huge 10 inch woofers, mid range drivers, and tweeters. I must have listened to Pink Floyd's The Wall a thousand times on this system. The speaker were made in a loose manner. but delivered precise sound.

A couple of years later, I went out and bought a Bose AM5. For some reason I can't fathom even now, I went out and sold off the AM5 within a week. In the recent past, I went and auditioned Bose's headphones. I found the base to be bloated and hollow, and the mid range to be muddled. Comparatively, the Shure headphones were completely clear with none of the frequencies enhanced.

To the OT, I would give this advise. Listen to the Bose with a set of CD you are familiar with. Take the same CDs and go out and listen to a set of well known brands such as Polk, Wharfedales, MS, Dali, Mission...... After this decide for yourself. If size and wife factor is important, also listen to speakers such as Energy, Canton and even Indian brands such as Lithos. They make speakers about the same size and in my opinion, Lithos has more technology in it's tiny speakers than Bose has. I have never seen any other speakers that can make you listen to music for hours on end without any ear fatigue.

Compare, spend a little auditioning, and then decide for yourself. Beyond this, you will feel we are all bashing Bose unnecessarily. That is not our intention at all. What all of us look for in music is transparency, and simple amplification and delivery of music as is. Any electronics that modifies the music on the way, we feel does not do justice to the music. In many of my auditioning, I have heard speakers deliver music through a 'veil'. It is easy to identify such delivery, and many manufacturers have accepted my thoughts. To identify such delivery, it is important you know the music well, and have heard it a number of times.

Cheers
 
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I loved the live music scene for the 3 weeks I was visiting. I also love their eateries, wine and women.

Marsilians,,you spoke for lots of us I guess. I love surround wine (whisky) and women. surround sound I am not fit to appreciate..let the others get submerged in it..I can manage with the former two.. ;)
 
Hey Buddy

Welcome to the Forum...!!!

Bro, i can understand by the city Surat, that as all when you see bose all
around your mind says, that nothings better than this system...
But, as you already had experienced with the reviews, the Bose is a Lifestyle system...
By Lifestlye system, you mean, which sells just for the ambience sake, and are mostly used in commercials like Restaurants and all, even in those places they fail.
Anyways...

Buddy, while considering a Home Theatre, there are many things, that needs to be concerned.. Its not a box selling product as it seems to be, where it requires a lot of workouts to be done...
Please let us know the following :
1). Room Size (LxBxH) in fts :
2). Whether Dedicated Room : (Yes or No)
3). Your Main Use of HT : (Music / Movies / Both)
4). What Kind of speakers : (Floor Standers / Bookshelves)
5). Budget inclusive of : (HT Only or HT with Video)
6). If with Video then the bifocation :
7). Is your House under construction (For Cables) : (Yes or No)
8). If Possible the drawing of the HT...

All the above makes difference, in selection and installation of your HT, because once you ignore any of those, you may not get what you are looking for...

So please help us with the same, we can provide you a solution to you...

Thanks

Mridul
1). Room Size (LxBxH) in fts : 17*8*9 (approx)
2). Whether Dedicated Room : (Yes or No) no
3). Your Main Use of HT : (Music / Movies / Both) both
4). What Kind of speakers : (Floor Standers / Bookshelves) bookshelves
5). Budget inclusive of : (HT Only or HT with Video) HT
6). If with Video then the bifocation :
7). Is your House under construction (For Cables) : (Yes or No) YES
8). If Possible the drawing of the HT...
 
My first entry into HiFi was a Dual turntable, a DIY 2 channel amplifier, and a pair of huge speakers that had huge 10 inch woofers, mid range drivers, and tweeters. I must have listened to Pink Floyd's The Wall a thousand times on this system. The speaker were made in a loose manner. but delivered precise sound.

A couple of years later, I went out and bought a Bose AM5. For some reason I can't fathom even now, I went out and sold off the AM5 within a week. In the recent past, I went and auditioned Bose's headphones. I found the base to be bloated and hollow, and the mid range to be muddled. Comparatively, the Shure headphones were completely clear with none of the frequencies enhanced.

To the OT, I would give this advise. Listen to the Bose with a set of CD you are familiar with. Take the same CDs and go out and listen to a set of well known brands such as Polk, Wharfedales, MS, Dali, Mission...... After this decide for yourself. If size and wife factor is important, also listen to speakers such as Energy, Canton and even Indian brands such as Lithos. They make speakers about the same size and in my opinion, Lithos has more technology in it's tiny speakers than Bose has. I have never seen any other speakers that can make you listen to music for hours on end without any ear fatigue.

Compare, spend a little auditioning, and then decide for yourself. Beyond this, you will feel we are all bashing Bose unnecessarily. That is not our intention at all. What all of us look for in music is transparency, and simple amplification and delivery of music as is. Any electronics that modifies the music on the way, we feel does not do justice to the music. In many of my auditioning, I have heard speakers deliver music through a 'veil'. It is easy to identify such delivery, and many manufacturers have accepted my thoughts. To identify such delivery, it is important you know the music well, and have heard it a number of times.

Cheers

Hi Venky,
My introduction to audio was a friends Akai bush system..which them meant the world,,then another friend bought a philips setup...I then painstakingly built my system piece by piece. norge 2020 amp, arphi super challenger speakers, norge 20 band equaliser, then upgraded to cosmic lab 5000 series with arphi aquarious speakers..all the top of the pops, billboard hits, cobalt, cr 2 tapes, metal etc recorded at 200 rs a piece were heard on this setup. And there on the units kept on upgrading over a period of time.
But those were the days...

Cheers..
 
If you can mix match the spakers by yourself then fine, your experiment may or work or my not, the adivise what others suggest may match their music or movie taste it may not be the same as yours, when you assamble the component system it may sound diffrently depending on your room and the decoration.

My suggetion is to buy bose for peace of mind these speakers would last for decades, Bose expert team would do the installation and calibrate according to your room specs, you have diffrent sound settings according to your mood and taste, Bose DSP based amps helps to change the music according to your taste, and these speakers add charm to your room, connect any comp with creative X-Fi sound card and play online radio with 190-320Kbps songs and forget, your whole room would be filled with sound.
With 150K bose is the best bet, if you have time to experiment and keep fingering your system then please go for component system.
 
I regret I have to disagree on many counts.

Bose expert team would do the installation and calibrate according to your room specs,

All decent AVRs have room correction technology. The Audessey is one of the best in the world, and Bose cannot handle a candle to it.

'Whole room will be filled with sound'.

This is exactly what Bose has been selling for a long time. As I have mentioned many times before, you cannot just fill a room with 2-channel music and claim it sounds better. It is harsh, confusing, and tiring to hear such music. And that is not the way it was ever recorded. When you sit in a concert hall, do you have the whole room filled with music? No, the music comes from the stage. With movies it is a different matter.

With 150K bose is the best bet, if you have time to experiment and keep fingering your system then please go for component system.

For 150K, you can assemble excellent systems that will sound way beyond what the tiny speakers of Bose can ever deliver - in terms of amplitude, in terms of frequency coverage, and in terms of sound staging accurately.

you have diffrent sound settings according to your mood and taste, Bose DSP based amps helps to change the music according to your taste,

The world leader in this is Yamaha and they have over 17 or more settings. Yamaha has been designing and making DSP chips even before Bose was born.

play online radio with 190-320Kbps songs and forget

All receivers can receive. So this is not something special to Bose. I don't know about the 190-329KBPS.

I would request you to do one thing. Listen to the Bose without the sub. You will then understand how weak the system is. On the other hand, a set of decent bookshelves can deliver good sound even without any sub.

Cheers
 
Well,

If I go through this thread, most of us have been bashing Bose for all the right reasons and have been suggesting the original poster of the thread to look elsewhere but haven't gone about being specific about those options.

Im not experienced myself on the small format speakers or the HTIB myself in terms of the auditions etc. but I certainly can say that with 150K of budget an excellent system can be made.

After a lot of help from this forum and some auditioning I picked up the following and would give details here to at least make a start,

AVR: Denon 2309 48.5K
(Recommended for music and movies, but if your usage is more of movies, Yamaha has been preferred by many experts on this forum, though personally I did not find anything lacking in my Denon)

Speakers: Mordaunt Short Avant 908i Floor standers,if you need bookshelves only, 902i is an excellent award winner and value for money), 903i for surround and 905i for center. I do not have the sub as yet as I feel that I do not need it yet and as 908is go down to 30Hz I will actually need a real good one to make the impact. 50K (I do not remember exaclty but around that number, wil check the receipts and update if it is significantly different)

CD layer: Marantz CD 6002 19.5K
An excellent award winner, a great value for money , most in the forum will agree.

Interconnects and speaker cables, 3.5k (DAC interconnects)

I already had a Sony DVD player which works fine until I go for an Oppo for which I have budgeted 20K

So a total of 141.5K if I include the DVD player. If you want you can add a sub for around 20K, but then you may also replace 908is with 902is as you prefer the bookshelves and the sub will complement 902is perferctly and you save about 10k there, so almost getting to your 150K target!


Putting it politely, this system would beat any Bose system in terms of quality, performance and features.

Would request the gurus on this forum to give their suggestions specifically on the speaker cubes as that would compete with Bose on the aesthetic front as well, though for me the speakers also form a part of the art and furniture!

Cheers!

Danccc
 
Last edited:
1). Room Size (LxBxH) in fts : 17*8*9 (approx)
2). Whether Dedicated Room : (Yes or No) no
3). Your Main Use of HT : (Music / Movies / Both) both
4). What Kind of speakers : (Floor Standers / Bookshelves) bookshelves
5). Budget inclusive of : (HT Only or HT with Video) HT
6). If with Video then the bifocation :
7). Is your House under construction (For Cables) : (Yes or No) YES
8). If Possible the drawing of the HT...

Gullurathi,

Have not heard from you on this thread lately? Just wondering what's your source material? Is it DVDs and Audio CDs? Or d/l content like MP3s, Divx/HD rips? Also, what TV do you have or is that an additional purchase and if so what's the budget allocated for it? Finally, what's the percentage of usage going to be in terms of movies/music i.e. 50/50 or 70/30, etc?
 
For a first time poster, you have strong opinions and incorrect suggestions. I ain't dissin' you but you have to understand the framework of your suggestions.

You are speaking about Bose DSP amps (tons of others do, so no big deal), Creative soundcard (guessing you are connecting to a computer of some sort), online radio (which is absolute crappy sound) and 190-320 kbps which is unheard of for the download streams for radio....and to add salt to the wound you are suggesting to spend 1.5 lacs for this setup!!


If you can mix match the spakers by yourself then fine, your experiment may or work or my not, the adivise what others suggest may match their music or movie taste it may not be the same as yours, when you assamble the component system it may sound diffrently depending on your room and the decoration.

My suggetion is to buy bose for peace of mind these speakers would last for decades, Bose expert team would do the installation and calibrate according to your room specs, you have diffrent sound settings according to your mood and taste, Bose DSP based amps helps to change the music according to your taste, and these speakers add charm to your room, connect any comp with creative X-Fi sound card and play online radio with 190-320Kbps songs and forget, your whole room would be filled with sound.
With 150K bose is the best bet, if you have time to experiment and keep fingering your system then please go for component system.
 
I have just suggested the user to go for Bose for an hassel free setup and to have more user options customize the sound of his taste to watch movie or to hear music.(If anyone is comparing system to bose you can imagine his knowlege on sound)

and about that online radio I was suggesting user was to have better sound quality than the CD players he uses for the music, I guess you have limited knowledge on online radio's Let me help you in that bcause i have an working setup @ home which gives me Xcellent sound output.

Use MAGIX Internet Radio Listener + Recorder e-Version v2.50 to listen, record and Edit the online radio and you would find nearly 4000 radio stations with their streaming Qualities from 23kb-320K, or to start off with use the Hindi online Radio on the Vista Gadgets and listen to the sound quality compare to your CD player(Without upscailer) and then reply back 2 me, and about the creative X-Fi Soundcards it may not bring the studio quality sound but it enhances the sound of any mp3 upto 3 times.
 
For a simple setup he can go for a 5.1 like the

Kef KHT3005SE - around 90k

KEF - Innovators in Sound - SURROUND SOUND SYSTEMS - home theatre - home theatre KHT3005SE

A/V Receiver - Yamaha RX-V663 or even RX-V863 - for around 44k & 60k

RX-V663


16k he can spend on other things like cable and room enhancements.

He can get cute speakers and very good sound ( I guess that is what he wants the speakers to look good as well since it might go into his living room rather than a home theater room) for the money.

if he got more money to spend then with the same receiver he can go for the
B&W 635 5.1 package for around 1.3lacs

For listening to Kef speakers he can goto any ProFx shop which is there in all major cities all over India.

I suggested 5.1 package coz he can avoid the confusion of choosing different speakers for fronts surrounds and sub as well as save time doing that and still get good VFM.

Anyone has any more suggestions do let him know about it.


In the meanwhile Gull do come up with your opinions regularly so that these guys would be able to help you better.
 
  • I have just suggested the user to go for Bose for an hassel free setup and to have more user options customize the sound of his taste to watch movie or to hear music.
  • (If anyone is comparing system to bose you can imagine his knowlege on sound)
  • and listen to the sound quality compare to your CD player (Without upscailer)
  • X-Fi Soundcards it may not bring the studio quality sound but it enhances the sound of any mp3 upto 3 times.

Sunny, I was wanting to tell Marsilians that I am giving up and that he should shoot me dead. :), But then I thought why not discuss some of the points with you.

Point 1. Though Bose may be hassle free in terms of setting up, other systems are not so difficult also. I have set up Onkyo, Denon, and Yamaha based full 7,.1 systems. The basic installation takes just about one hour or two. What we do after that is fine tuning.

I am not sure about Bose, but I must say that I have found many of these systems to have a large number of options for customising the sound. You can set speaker distances, individual speaker frequencies, amplitude, impedance, and a host of other things. With Yamaha, during playback, you can choose from a number of DSP controlled options for surround sound effect.

Point 2. I am scratching my head on the meaning of this statement.

Point 3. As far as I know, and unless it is a new technology introduced in the last 24 hours, CD Players do not have 'upscalers'. It is only DVD Players that have upscalers. Unless you are referring to the oversampling or upsampling that is done as part of DAC.

Point 4. If you listen to the quality of sound from a CD or a PC based system such as FLAC or WAV, you will understand that MP3 is a sheer waste of time. How much ever you try and whatever technologies you use, the data that is lost as part of compression can never be gotten back. I don't understand why we should first lose some data, and then spend money and time trying to get it back?

I understand MP3 is convenient and mostly free, but it cannot be included as part of any discussion when your are talking about genuine sound quality.

Cheers
 
Gullurathi,

Have not heard from you on this thread lately? Just wondering what's your source material? Is it DVDs and Audio CDs? Or d/l content like MP3s, Divx/HD rips? Also, what TV do you have or is that an additional purchase and if so what's the budget allocated for it? Finally, what's the percentage of usage going to be in terms of movies/music i.e. 50/50 or 70/30, etc?

was on some business tour thats y was not able to reply back..
well the screen i will b having Sony LCD..
source would b dvds, or blue ray disc, and d/i too..
movies/music 50/50...
 
hello friends...
thank u very much for ur opinions and options that i possess for getting new home theatre..
but tell u wht all the things that u have posted here abt different brands and their options are not available in my proximity as i m frm surat..
so can u help me with the address of the shops in mumbai/ahmedabad where i can visit and get demo for the things u r talking off...
thanx in advance...
 
Ref what hi fi india Nov 08 issue
One of the top 10 audio shop in surat!!
As per magzine

It is absolute sound surat

M/29-34 Asconcity
Near SMC Science Center Citylight, Surat, Gujarat 395007, India
+91 261 2253656

Mr. Jignesh



Mobile Voice- +91 98251 33320
Shop Voice- +91 99251 33320
E-mail- [email protected]


They invited us sometimes back!!!

http://www.hifivision.com/authorised-dealers/130-invite-premiere-new-absolute-sound-store.html


his old post
"Hi,

I am Jignesh from Surat. My first passion is music and have an audio showroom in Surat. I would like to share my views on this forum with the other members and readers.

We are opening a new state-of-the-art showroom next month on 2nd October here in Suart, which is the the biggest showroom in Gujarat state and one of the finest in India!

Friends, you all are invited in the opening of the new Absolute Sound showroom!

You can audition TANNOY, ONKYO, B&W, ASR AUDIO, KRELL, INTEGRA RESEARCH, NAD, ELAN, MAGNEPAN, VELODYNE, KIMBER and ACROLINK Products in our listening room.

A Listening room is available on a reservation only...

Please make a reservation by phone or e-mail in our business time...

Please be sure to bring your favorite disc for audition!

Thanks,

Jignesh
__________________
Absolute Sound
#M-33 Asconcity Citylight
Surat-395007 India

Mobile Voice- +91 98251 33320
Shop Voice- +91 99251 33320
E-mail- [email protected]"

Pls note - I am not anyway related to Abs Sound or Jignesbhai!!!
:lol:
 
Hi gullurathi,
dear dear god, I hope I save you from damnation, but please do not buy BOSE
Bose is distorted sound and there are many truer systems on the market which are far better value for money than BOSE
I hope that this strong NO nO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO message has reached you in time.
There will be many people on this forum to guide you to a better lifestyle than DEATHBOSE!:lol:
 
Yes Hemant,
We know you are not related to him or any such thing. You just have to have an awful lot of useful info to help people :)

Cheers

Ref what hi fi india Nov 08 issue
One of the top 10 audio shop in surat!!
As per magzine

It is absolute sound surat

M/29-34 Asconcity
Near SMC Science Center Citylight, Surat, Gujarat 395007, India
+91 261 2253656

Mr. Jignesh



Mobile Voice- +91 98251 33320
Shop Voice- +91 99251 33320
E-mail- [email protected]


They invited us sometimes back!!!

http://www.hifivision.com/authorised-dealers/130-invite-premiere-new-absolute-sound-store.html


his old post
"Hi,

I am Jignesh from Surat. My first passion is music and have an audio showroom in Surat. I would like to share my views on this forum with the other members and readers.

We are opening a new state-of-the-art showroom next month on 2nd October here in Suart, which is the the biggest showroom in Gujarat state and one of the finest in India!

Friends, you all are invited in the opening of the new Absolute Sound showroom!

You can audition TANNOY, ONKYO, B&W, ASR AUDIO, KRELL, INTEGRA RESEARCH, NAD, ELAN, MAGNEPAN, VELODYNE, KIMBER and ACROLINK Products in our listening room.

A Listening room is available on a reservation only...

Please make a reservation by phone or e-mail in our business time...

Please be sure to bring your favorite disc for audition!

Thanks,

Jignesh
__________________
Absolute Sound
#M-33 Asconcity Citylight
Surat-395007 India

Mobile Voice- +91 98251 33320
Shop Voice- +91 99251 33320
E-mail- [email protected]"

Pls note - I am not anyway related to Abs Sound or Jignesbhai!!!
:lol:
 
Sunny, I was wanting to tell Marsilians that I am giving up and that he should shoot me dead. :), But then I thought why not discuss some of the points with you.

Point 1. Though Bose may be hassle free in terms of setting up, other systems are not so difficult also. I have set up Onkyo, Denon, and Yamaha based full 7,.1 systems. The basic installation takes just about one hour or two. What we do after that is fine tuning.

I am not sure about Bose, but I must say that I have found many of these systems to have a large number of options for customising the sound. You can set speaker distances, individual speaker frequencies, amplitude, impedance, and a host of other things. With Yamaha, during playback, you can choose from a number of DSP controlled options for surround sound effect.

Point 2. I am scratching my head on the meaning of this statement.

Point 3. As far as I know, and unless it is a new technology introduced in the last 24 hours, CD Players do not have 'upscalers'. It is only DVD Players that have upscalers. Unless you are referring to the oversampling or upsampling that is done as part of DAC.

Point 4. If you listen to the quality of sound from a CD or a PC based system such as FLAC or WAV, you will understand that MP3 is a sheer waste of time. How much ever you try and whatever technologies you use, the data that is lost as part of compression can never be gotten back. I don't understand why we should first lose some data, and then spend money and time trying to get it back?

I understand MP3 is convenient and mostly free, but it cannot be included as part of any discussion when your are talking about genuine sound quality.

Cheers

Rightly said Venkatcr !! Sorry for the OT comments and no offense meant. But, really I couldn't control my laughter especially after reading the point # 2 & 3 :p
 
Advise on home theater

Hello all.
My name is sai. I am looking for a good home theater system for my newly built home. I had been thinking of bose till date. Thank you for all the forum members for giving suggestions on bose.

My requirements are as follows.

1. Home theater in budget of 40K, including speakers, amplifier and cables (not DVD). I have a philips DVD for 5.1
2. I gave provision for internal cablings in walls for 7.1 system, at height of 7ft from flooring.
3. Prefer wall mount or floor mount speakers. Not very particular
4. The home theater will be in my living room, where we spend most of our time.
5. Room size of of 16x17 sqft and mostly emply. I have seen bose system, which automitically adjests itself to reflections.
6. Room height is of 11ft.
7. There are no absorbers of sound on walls.
8. My preferences are surround sound, music, movies etc. I might not use home theater all time, but want to use specially when I want to see good movie or hear light music.
9. I live in bangalore. Any pointer to any store is appreciated.


Rgds
sai
9449595885
 
Hi Saijayram,

For 40K the best/VFM deal would be the Onkyo 5100, walk into any electronics mall like Reliance Digital, Croma, E-Zone, etc. where they have a dedicated Home Theater Demo Room and check it out. It will cost from Rs. 38,000 to Rs. 41,000 or so, bargaining recommended. It's an all inclusive product except for the DVDP which might also be thrown in free as part of a deal. Audition it and check it out. Another alternative is the Onkyo 5105 which will cost around 32K or so.
 
Get the Wharfedale EVO 4.2 3-Way Standmount Speakers at a Special Offer Price.
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