I was talking to a friend last night who is about to move into his first house and the "Bose" word came out of his outh when we were talking about surround speakers. I am looking for an alternative for him as I would hate to have to listen to Bose noise every time I go over to watch sports or a movie. I am open to DIY or pre-made speakers. I am looking for a 5.1 system.
Doh!
Misread he needed a 5.1 system.
Try 2 pair of these:
http://portland.craigslist.org/ele/157060950.html
And for the center channel:
http://portland.craigslist.org/ele/156793540.html
I doubt if he will need a sub.
Misread he needed a 5.1 system.
Try 2 pair of these:
http://portland.craigslist.org/ele/157060950.html
And for the center channel:
http://portland.craigslist.org/ele/156793540.html
I doubt if he will need a sub.
I think you will have a hard time beating Bose on price. Junk is junk regardless if it says Bose.
A more affordable, but still good, system would be Monitor Audio B1 AV Speaker System. Price is about $1000. You will need to add stands to that, which tend to be less than cheap.
Still, I think this system is hard to beat.
Edit: "affordable" in comparison to the post above. Well, you got it.
A more affordable, but still good, system would be Monitor Audio B1 AV Speaker System. Price is about $1000. You will need to add stands to that, which tend to be less than cheap.
Still, I think this system is hard to beat.
Edit: "affordable" in comparison to the post above. Well, you got it.
You might find that once someone thinks Bose is a good thing that it's hard to convince them otherwise. Unless of course they have a chance to listen to them with the alternatives side by side. If you can arrange that, you might not have to do any more convincing. If that doesn't work, let them buy the Bose. They obviously don't need anything better, can't tell the difference and have enough money to do it.
By the way, I have two friends who bought Bose. Well, they use to be friends anyway.
By the way, I have two friends who bought Bose. Well, they use to be friends anyway.
Zaphaudio.com
Build the hivi full ranger on there (five of them)
For a sub get the 8" tang band W8-740c in a 1.5cu ft box with either the parts express 70 watt amp or an even better amp from MCM weighing in at 150 watts for ten bucks more than the dayton amp.
As for a reciever...i have no clue...
Build the hivi full ranger on there (five of them)
For a sub get the 8" tang band W8-740c in a 1.5cu ft box with either the parts express 70 watt amp or an even better amp from MCM weighing in at 150 watts for ten bucks more than the dayton amp.
As for a reciever...i have no clue...
i would go for this Zaphoid design:
http://www.zaphaudio.com/audio-speaker13.html
I never heard it but judging from the design I'll bet it sounds nice.
http://www.zaphaudio.com/audio-speaker13.html
I never heard it but judging from the design I'll bet it sounds nice.
Konnichiwa,
In the UK we have a "discount retailer" for HiFi called Richer Sounds.
My recommednation to potential "B*SE victims" is to go and buy from richer sounds 3 pairs of moderatly large "mini-monitor" Speaker, a subwoofer with at least a 10" Woofer driver and a "well reviewed" major brand surround sound receiver and DVD-Player from last year at the greatest level of discount on the RRP.
Use one pair of speakers placed on their sides tweeter to tweeter and "splayed out" somewhat as center (wire in series), place fronts and rears as needed (generic wall mounting brackets are available), place the sub as best as possible wire the rest up and enjoy "many times better than B*SE sound" on a budget.
I am sure the US has similar retailers.
For reference, looking at the website of Richer Sounds right now I'd recommend in the UK, on todays date:
Mission M2SS Mini Monitors @ £ 50 per pair X 3
Mission M2SAS Subwoofer (sadly only an 8" Driver, still, we only want to beat "B*SE") @ £ 100
Yamaha RXV357 AV Receiver @ £ 170
Sony DVPNS29 DVD player @ £ 40
Complete total would be £ 460 UK, that is around $ US 850 but includes 17.5% ($ 150) Vishiously Added Tax.
Generally, in the UK the Mission miniatures are well reviewed and they sound pretty okay for the money. Using them for the 5 main channels makes sure the sound is well matched and has a resonable dynamic range, the rest of the system will be okay.
By comparison, the UK price for the cheapest B*SE L1F3STYLE system lists as £1,750 or in other words nearly four times as much and that with a performance likely to be appalingly bad in any funloving reference standard.
<insert loud evil laugh>
Sayonara
j.burtt said:
In the UK we have a "discount retailer" for HiFi called Richer Sounds.
My recommednation to potential "B*SE victims" is to go and buy from richer sounds 3 pairs of moderatly large "mini-monitor" Speaker, a subwoofer with at least a 10" Woofer driver and a "well reviewed" major brand surround sound receiver and DVD-Player from last year at the greatest level of discount on the RRP.
Use one pair of speakers placed on their sides tweeter to tweeter and "splayed out" somewhat as center (wire in series), place fronts and rears as needed (generic wall mounting brackets are available), place the sub as best as possible wire the rest up and enjoy "many times better than B*SE sound" on a budget.
I am sure the US has similar retailers.
For reference, looking at the website of Richer Sounds right now I'd recommend in the UK, on todays date:
Mission M2SS Mini Monitors @ £ 50 per pair X 3
Mission M2SAS Subwoofer (sadly only an 8" Driver, still, we only want to beat "B*SE") @ £ 100
Yamaha RXV357 AV Receiver @ £ 170
Sony DVPNS29 DVD player @ £ 40
Complete total would be £ 460 UK, that is around $ US 850 but includes 17.5% ($ 150) Vishiously Added Tax.
Generally, in the UK the Mission miniatures are well reviewed and they sound pretty okay for the money. Using them for the 5 main channels makes sure the sound is well matched and has a resonable dynamic range, the rest of the system will be okay.
By comparison, the UK price for the cheapest B*SE L1F3STYLE system lists as £1,750 or in other words nearly four times as much and that with a performance likely to be appalingly bad in any funloving reference standard.
<insert loud evil laugh>
Sayonara
I'll second Cal's statement. Once people get that name in their head its very difficult to open their minds up to anything else.
I recall auditioning a set of Bose vs. Mirage to a client years ago and despite the fact that I pointed out all the errors in sound, the client still "preferred" the bloated, chesty, muffled sound of the Bose.
As a salesperson, who was I to argue?
I'd say just let the pieces land where they fall and let your friend invest in what he wants. He may not be convinced otherwise...
Mark
I recall auditioning a set of Bose vs. Mirage to a client years ago and despite the fact that I pointed out all the errors in sound, the client still "preferred" the bloated, chesty, muffled sound of the Bose.
As a salesperson, who was I to argue?
I'd say just let the pieces land where they fall and let your friend invest in what he wants. He may not be convinced otherwise...
Mark
I second the recommendation to go with Zaph's Silver Flute-Vifa design. I've built several pair and gave them to family and friends. Zaph's design sounds really nice ("smooth, accurate") especially in view of the very low build cost - about $50 per speaker for the drivers and xover parts. Thanks and best regards.
I would have to disagree. I have yet to hear a $500-800 home theater in a box that sounds as good as a Bose system. Have I head systems better the Bose, yes. Where they the $500-800 theatre in the box systems, no.
The Bose systems does have a couple of advantages.
- The cubes are small and out of the way. All of the suggestions so far have been much larger.
- The bass is acceptable (especially in a smaller room). I know some will ague it is crossed over too high, but that is a different topic.
- I believe their Lifestyle 38 (cheaper one) system has the EQ that can will auto adjust to your room dynamics.
- I also believe their Lifestyle 38 system has the hard drive for storing songs.
- Very little assembly required.....
Just some counter points.
69stingray said:
Wow, I'm sorry but you could not be more wrong. First of all, Bose systems use 2" drivers for the highs AND mids (NOT optimal in the least). They use 5.5" subs that really can't even be called subs because real subs start at 8" and generally taper off at 15". The sub enclosures are made out of LDF (low density fiberboard) which is aweful for a sub enclosure. They use the cheapest kind of paper cone tweeters that are totally untreated so that they are subject to tearing and moisture over a shorter period of time. Their "receivers" don't even do Dolby Digital, DTS, or Pro Logic II, which is just pathetic.
I could go on all day about how terrible and inferior Bose systems are, even compared to cheap HTIBs. The new Onkyo HT-S790 7.1 HTIB ($500) absolutely kills all Bose systems. I had the chance to compare them, there was no contest.
Link to the Onkyo's.
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