Lifestyle® 650 home entertainment system of Bose

You can go through the below thread and there are other similar threads and you can decide then.

 
Is this worth to buy this system? or please suggest any up to this price.

Audio Interest is personal choice, but I feel Bose Lifestyle® 650 is overpriced for what we get out of it.
Bose system sounds good , it wont let you feel down. But after sometime we will start to feel something is missing ,
Good Highs and Low end punches are missing in Bose. As per i heard from 10 years till even with new models Bose sounds same , No difference in sound signature.
With the price of Bose Lifestyle® 650 , we can build definitely greater systems that will beat bose any day.

I would suggest you to step in to hifi world and audition all speakers , then decide.

If you still like bose , I would suggest you to get Bose Acoustimass® 10 Series V speakers (i think its 90k), and get DENON / ONKYO AVR and pair with them. By this you can save money. This is what i did with bose in the past 10 years back and then moved on with other speakers.

Looks like They are using same or little upgraded Bose Acoustimass® 10 Series speakers in thier Bose Life style systems as well , but they are charging 4 times of price of speaker just for their Amplifier module. I think their life style systems cost around 3.8 Lakhs. This is not work the investment i believe.
 
Is this worth to buy this system? or please suggest any up to this price.

It is interesting how Bose still manages to enjoy its popularity, as a contender, when it comes to the audiophile & cinephile markets. Kudos to them!

I paid for 2 Bose products, a pair of Computer MusicMonitor that’s more than a decade old & I still use, and a QuietComfort 35 II that my wife uses.

Point being, while Bose gets a lot of flak from around the audio enthusiast community, they can be good at certain things; like the ones listed above.

That being said, when it comes to realistic reproduction of sound, anyone should have better luck looking elsewhere; unless it is an aesthetic choice.

Talking about aesthetic and/or minimal surround sound installations, there are worthy offerings from B&W, KEF etc., or maybe something like Sonos.

Other options could be to consider in-wall/in-ceiling speakers for an unobtrusive set-up; ie. if you have the means (Read: time, money and patience)
 
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Is this worth to buy this system? or please suggest any up to this price.
What is it that you are looking for and what size is the room you are planning it for ?

If you are looking for the best quality of sound for the lowest price and low constrains on Space taken then automatically bose will excuse itself.

But if you are looking for Value for money including a low space usage, ease of setup for anyone in the home as well as a brand value in your drawing room, Bose becomes a strong choice :)
 
Well I would say there are both pros and cons of each decision and for that you need to decide what suits you the best. In case of Bose well it is easy, lifestyle system, and can be installed without further matching and auditioning and it delivers good sound quality and has brand recoognition.

You can do better by going in for more high end products but these will definitely cost much more than the Bose. In case of getting something much better than bose at lesser price is not very simple as the speakers will be larger need more room, the good AVRs will be expensive. Dont skimp on AVRs as they are the nerve centre for any good HT.

I personally feel you should get better components without Bose but still Bose does offer some unique capabilities.
 
For people who dont want big boxes in the rooms but still want a performance in between a full fledged big box system and the cheapo htib sets bose is a good option. Not for purists but for people who need decent sound without wasting space. I was totally against bose before but these days I feel the so called audiophools are also so much stuck in 80s.
 
Well I would say there are both pros and cons of each decision and for that you need to decide what suits you the best. In case of Bose well it is easy, lifestyle system, and can be installed without further matching and auditioning and it delivers good sound quality and has brand recoognition.

You can do better by going in for more high end products but these will definitely cost much more than the Bose. In case of getting something much better than bose at lesser price is not very simple as the speakers will be larger need more room, the good AVRs will be expensive. Dont skimp on AVRs as they are the nerve centre for any good HT.

I personally feel you should get better components without Bose but still Bose does offer some unique capabilities.
For half the price a lot better audio quality can be bought and that too from a reputed brand.( Its very easy too)

Only size and show off are the two major plus points of Bose.
 
For people who dont want big boxes in the rooms but still want a performance in between a full fledged big box system and the cheapo htib sets bose is a good option. Not for purists but for people who need decent sound without wasting space. I was totally against bose before but these days I feel the so called audiophools are also so much stuck in 80s.
How are people stuck in 80s ?
By relying on subjective reviews??
 
How are people stuck in 80s ?
By relying on subjective reviews??
No by still supporting oldschool box systems, so that companies dont need to look too hard for a break through in audio - by making more ways to reproduce sound other than speakers. Comparing advancements in other area, sound reproduction techniques are very slowly developing.

25 years back mobile phones with touch screen costed alot. More research and now we have super dirt cheap phones better than those super expensive stuff.

With audio if we look at amps from 80s and the current day one, its only a sideways upgrade at the best.

Bose is a company atleast trying to do the research in the right direction, shrinking the products yet sounding decent now. But as time goes by companies who 'think out of the box' may only really contribute to the science. In my eyes all so called hifi companies are just making various cocktails ofwhat is known since the beginning of audio reproduction.

And yes, all that without objectively satisfying an acceptable standard.
 
No by still supporting oldschool box systems, so that companies dont need to look too hard for a break through in audio - by making more ways to reproduce sound other than speakers. Comparing advancements in other area, sound reproduction techniques are very slowly developing.

25 years back mobile phones with touch screen costed alot. More research and now we have super dirt cheap phones better than those super expensive stuff.

With audio if we look at amps from 80s and the current day one, its only a sideways upgrade at the best.

Bose is a company atleast trying to do the research in the right direction, shrinking the products yet sounding decent now. But as time goes by companies who 'think out of the box' may only really contribute to the science. In my eyes all so called hifi companies are just making various cocktails ofwhat is known since the beginning of audio reproduction.

And yes, all that without objectively satisfying an acceptable standard.
What about brands like genelec, JBL who put in a lot of money in research and development..

Did you check hypex amplifiers ? Aren't they a significant development?
 
What about brands like genelec, JBL who put in a lot of money in research and development..

Did you check hypex amplifiers ? Aren't they a significant development?
Yes they are. But the overall picture is same- we still have a 6,5 inch woofer and 1 inch tweeter like it used to in 80s to produce sound. With amps yes, hypex like things have some break throughs. The companies you mentioned are the only few ones which are making some progress. But look at the number of main stream hifi - they are just still making new cocktails everyyear

On a side note, i have friends who did intership at harman before and i know they arent spending all that money on improving amps and speakers. Its more on their newer futuristic object based audio and stuff.
 
Yes they are. But the overall picture is same- we still have a 6,5 inch woofer and 1 inch tweeter like it used to in 80s to produce sound. With amps yes, hypex like things have some break throughs. The companies you mentioned are the only few ones which are making some progress. But look at the number of main stream hifi - they are just still making new cocktails everyyear

On a side note, i have friends who did intership at harman before and i know they arent spending all that money on improving amps and speakers. Its more on their newer futuristic object based audio and stuff.
Look at the cabinet development done by genelec..
And for certain factors physics is king..
Check genelec the ones series..
3 way speakers in extremely compact cabinet..
Yeah other brands are selling speakers by subjective reviews and that's extremely saddening..
 
Heard the Lifestyle 650 at a relative’s home few months ago. While it did a decent job with the movies (I don’t have much reference there, not being into HT myself), but to me that particular system suffered at music. I tried with many songs but just couldn’t bear listening to music on it. I don’t know if it was the installation (done by Bose service guys) or the system itself.

I am not a Bose basher... I have enjoyed BT music on my Soundlink for years despite its obvious limitations. But not the Lifestyle 650.

And the price tag! Am sure one can rig up a far better sounding system at 60% the cost.
 
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No by still supporting oldschool box systems, so that companies dont need to look too hard for a break through in audio - by making more ways to reproduce sound other than speakers. Comparing advancements in other area, sound reproduction techniques are very slowly developing.

25 years back mobile phones with touch screen costed alot. More research and now we have super dirt cheap phones better than those super expensive stuff.

With audio if we look at amps from 80s and the current day one, its only a sideways upgrade at the best.

Bose is a company atleast trying to do the research in the right direction, shrinking the products yet sounding decent now. But as time goes by companies who 'think out of the box' may only really contribute to the science. In my eyes all so called hifi companies are just making various cocktails ofwhat is known since the beginning of audio reproduction.

And yes, all that without objectively satisfying an acceptable standard.
Laws of physics can't be defied. I owned bose lifestyle v25 for 8 years it's not worth the money. Take measurements of current top of the line Bose lifestyle and then speak. If you want I will lend my UMIK1.
 
Heard the Lifestyle 650 at a relative’s home few months ago. While it did a decent job with the movies (I don’t have much reference there, not being into HT myself), but to me that particular system sucked at music. I tried with many songs but just couldn’t bear listening to music on it. I don’t know if it was the installation (done by Bose service guys) or the system itself.

I am not a Bose basher... I have enjoyed BT music on my Soundlink for years despite its obvious limitations. But not the Lifestyle 650.

And the price tag! Am sure one can rig up a far better sounding system at 60% the cost.
Laws of physics can't be defied. I owned bose lifestyle v25 for 8 years it's not worth the money. Take measurements of current top of the line Bose lifestyle and then speak. If you want I will lend my UMIK1.
I never told bose measures better. I said, its smaller and works without having big boxes. And there I "spoke" .
 
Is this worth to buy this system? or please suggest any up to this price.
If you are looking for an elegant and easy to use setup, Bose ticks the right checkboxes.
Pros:
- good looking
- ease of setup, ease of use
- save space
- some models have wireless too (not many wires to conceal)
- acceptable sound quality

Cons:
- not accurate reproduction of sound (especially for music, remember movies have a lot of music content too)
- not upgrade-able part by part (ecosystem concept)
- somewhat expensive (compared to the same market segment)

Take an audition. Their stores are there in many malls.
You'll get an idea.

Cheers,
Raghu
 
A beautiful, well-constructed speaker with class-leading soundstage, imaging and bass that is fast, deep, and precise.
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