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Need to replace Bose with reputable speakers/receiver please help!

posted 13 years ago by PF4Eva
2 replies | jump to latest

Last year, I told my non-home-theater-savvy folks I wanted to upgrade from a 5.1 Samsung HTIB (the HT-TX72 set) to a separate-component 7.1 system consisting of a standalone receiver and standalone speakers. What do they get me instead? Bose. A Bose Cinemate II. I'm hurt. I'm pissed. I have to live with this crap unless I speak up and tell my folks to shove the system up their ass and buy a real home theater.

I confronted my folks the day they first mentioned they would be getting a Bose. I printed out everything I could find to make them think twice about what they would be doing. Later that night, they bought the Bose, against my objections.

Then I really let them have it by starting my Christmas list in OCTOBER, just so I could narrow down my speaker and receiver choices (said choices have come and gone: Pioneer 1021-k, Polk TSi, Bowers & Wilkins CM & 600). That page on my Christmas list was impossible to miss, and did I get any of it for Christmas? Hell *beep* no! I got a 26" 720p bedroom HDTV instead. The nerve!

To add even MORE insult to injury, I confronted them once more and they promised that I would help pick something better if and when finances allowed -- only to order a Bose stereo behind my back!

I have done everything I possibly can to convince my folks that my "opinion" on Bose is plain and simple fact -- numbers, facts, etc., don't lie, you know. I have printed out several webpages and shown them to my folks (AVS Forum, intellectual.net/bose.html, Yahoo! Answers, several AV forums) and nothing is getting through to them. They insist that Bose "sounds good."

MY FOLKS ARE PARODIES OF A TRUE AUDIOPHILE!!!! It's so bad that I refuse to listen to Bose. As soon as I have the TV to myself, off the bastard thing goes and I turn up the speakers built into the TV. THOSE are technically and sonically better -- and that's a sad thing.

Here is the setup I'm currently looking at:

Receiver: Denon AVR-1912 (or whatever a custom installer recommends)
Speakers Klipsch Reference (whichever ones we can afford or whatever said custom installer recommends)

We are far from rich, but I want the best we can get without compromise if funds will allow. The only Klipsch dealers in my area that carry the Reference line are custom installers. Would this option be affordable at all? Does anyone here have any experience with a custom installer? How much would it cost to get somebody to hook up the receiver, speakers, HDMI cable (I already have one going from the Blu-ray to the TV. I would route it from the player to the receiver, so I need one to go from the receiver to the TV), 16-gauge speaker wire, etc. (hopefully in the hundreds or below)? Would it hurt to throw in a 120Hz TV with 24p playback or can that wait so that we can focus on sound first?

So many questions, and do you think I could find answers to any of them on Google? Hell no! That's why I'm asking you. I have absolutely had it. Enough is enough. I'll be Goddamned if these Boses are still in the house by year's end. It's not gonan happen. I'm gonan get 7.1 surround sound, even if it kills me.

Thank you for your help.

"#BringBackToonami We've heard you. Thank you for your passion and interest - stay tuned."

[–] dangus 13 years ago

If you're going with an installer, have your personal assistant give him a blank cheque and tell him which of your houses you want systems in.

For normal people, just get a name brand receiver; 5.1 may be perfectly adequate, but I'd want a 7.1 or 7.2 since that usually gets you internal upscaling for standard def sources and some other features I can't remember at the moment. If you need S-video inputs, those are becoming rare if not absent on current AV receivers, and there may not be many coax or Toslink (optical) inputs.

Normal people may be perfectly happy with the Energy Take Classic system, although I'm put off by the fact that it is now made in China. OTOH, it's cheaper than the original Take 5. On a bigger budget... there's a bewildering choice. I'd probably just go with whatever worthy speakers I found at a good price locally, then range farther afield to complete the set. Or, find a great close-out deal someplace. Or, visit dealers and listen to speakers and buy the ones you like.

Pants-flapping, floor-shuddering bass will impress your friends more than anything else. Invest in subwoofers by building your own, at least two of them, since more subs improves the distribution of bass in the room. $1000 on drivers and MDF and a second-hand pro power amp can get you the equivalent of maybe $5000 of storebought subwoofage. Creativesound.ca is a small outfit that distributes some very nice drivers at reasonable prices, but Partsexpress carries a wider choice and may have sales or quantity discounts. Take a look at the diy forum at AVSforum.com

[–] mikekuhlman-415-393642 12 years ago

Your ungrateful rant aside (I don't know how old you are, but, personally, I think your folks should tell YOU to shove it up YOUR ass, and get a job, work at McDonald's or wherever, so you can pay for this stuff YOURSELF! You're hurt, you're pissed, because you didn't get the home theater system you wanted? Aww, poor kid. Did you WORK, to EARN THAT MONEY, that was required? No? Then shut up. Life's rough, kid. Gimme a break. Making out your Christmas list in October? Must be nice, to EVEN GET Christmas presents. If you haven't noticed, the world's in a bit of an economic recession. MOVE OUT, then pay rent, food, utilities, gas, insurance, etc., and let's see how much money YOU have left for a home theater system! You can KINDLY SUGGEST alternate sound systems, try to "educate" them, but, ultimately, it's their money, and they work very hard for it; you should be grateful for the roof over your head, and be a little more humble), that said...

Yeah, I agree, "older folks" (like me) tend to get easily sold on Bose, because Bose is pushed down their throats on late-night infomercials on TV as the "sound system" of choice, when it's largely two speakers in a cabinet enclosure. Bose DOES put out a really rich sound for its small size as an all-in-one unit, but, as you pointed out, it's not a "home theater", surround, clearly delineated, directional sound, system. Audiophiles, like you and me, know the difference. Now, IF THERE'S MONEY IN YOUR FOLKS' BUDGET TO PAY FOR IT AND THEY CAN AND WANT TO RETURN THE BOSE FOR A REFUND...

Infinity speakers have never let me down. I live in a small apartment, so there's no room, nor need, for 7.1, but I bought the $525 HTS-10 5.1 system with 5 small sattelites and 100-watt, self-powered subwoofer, and it rocks. The small sattelites produce very clean mid-range and highs, and the sub, which I placed in a corner of the room, rattles the walls. You could KINDLY SUGGEST something along this line as a great-sounding system that won't break their bank account (!). Be considerate of their finances.

Receiver? I'm using a "crap" Sony; can't afford the more expensive ones, because I have to pay rent, food, utilities, gas, insurance, etc., etc.