Is BIC an upgrade from Bose?

Hi all...

I'm new to these discussion boards, but have been lingering around for many months now.

So if I may pose a quick question for some of the more experienced folks in this forum, allow me.....

I recently parted ways with a Bose system, 301 Series IV , VCS-10 center channel and 141 rears. . My first Dolby Digital experience as it turned out, was less than satisfactory due in large part to my negative experience with these speakers. I found them fairly lifeless, especially the center channel.

So I've been seeking a low price replacement alternative and was wondering if I'll get: Higher power handling, greater efficiency,better high frequency response and better imaging from the Bic Venturi line. I'm on the fence with the DV84, the DV62CLRS and the DV62si as my new set up. I've read any online reviews (there are VERY few) I could find and was hoping to get some input from the knowledgeable persons in this forum as to if this would be an upgrade in the previously mentioned areas of concern.

I've always been told "if its sounds too good to be true, than it is"

So are these Bics an exception to the rule? I had a pair of old, old Venturi's from the 70's (Formula 6??)about 15 years ago that were fantastic for their age. Are they still producing great speakers? I know it's a few questions to answer so thanks in advance.



Dee

Bose makes what could be considered the worst center channel ever, and it goes perfectly with their crappy little cubes. The 301s are a step up from the tiny satellites, but they are far from great. I haven't even heard the BICs, but I can honestly say I don't see how they wouldn't be an improvement.

I have the Bic ACOUSTECH line. Depends on your listening choice...movies or music. I've been reading in this forum that if you listen to mostly music, you might want th bic's, but if your mostly going to be watchin movies, then take a look at he bic... acoustech line. I just bought the 2 front speakers... and they are incredible for the price. Search acoustech in google and amazon to get some good pics of the speakers. Also I have a bunch of pics that I posted of the fronts. Its under the Loudspeaker section... Hope that helps

Thanks for the response. I have researched the Acoustechs a little bit, they sound pretty good for home theater use. I guess I should've been a little more specific. I mostly listen to music, I would say 80/20 split. Steely Dan being a favorite because of the depth of their recordings and huge dynamics. I'm only running 45 wpc in theater mode and 55 wpc stereo (Harmon Kardon AVR130) But I like to listen at very high volume when I'm rockin' tunes. I know its nearly impossible to describe the sound of a speaker, so I was hoping that maybe someone had experience with Bose speakers and Bic speakers and could give me an idea of what kind of difference I might expect if I were to purchase the Bics. I've auditioned the Klipsch Synergy series speakers as well as the mid-level offerings from Polk Audio and neither seemed extremely impressive in the listening rooms I was in and neither really fit into my price range these days.... I'm poor, it sucks, but thats the way it is. So if anyone with knowlege of the Bics (mainly the DV84's) could give me their input, I sure would appreciate it.

I have the DV62 speakers and Fagen sounds quite good on them. I plan on getting the crossover mods done soon, which should help with the brightness a little bit. I would say that you should order a pair of Amazon and see if you like them. They're $120 with free shipping. Also, you can do a few cheap mods on them that will improve the sound, effectively giving you better sound for not much more money. The crossover mods run $30 for the pair, plus the small cost of shipping them to Ed.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00006JPDI/sr=1-1/qid=1138767309/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-6577313-5905636?_encoding=UTF8

What's the budget? That's the first place to start, we'll go from there. I am mostly a music listener too, so that was priorty one for all my speakers. IMO, on a budget, I'd highly recommend looking used.

Music

The Infinity Primus 140s, 150s, or 160s would do you great for music. And they handle HT pretty well also. I think you can get the 150s for around $180. Maybe cheaper if you surf around. Good Luck.

I took the plunge and ordered the Bic DV84's. Due to arrive Friday $292 shipped. Next up..... DV62CLR and DV62si for rear channel.

Think I'll try them "as is" allowing for break-in period and if I just can't tweak it right from my AVR, then Mr. Frias will be getting some crossovers.

I'll post first impressions when I finish the initial audition.

Deemic,

Ed Frias won't modify the DV84's. The only towers that he modifies are the DV64's (and the older DV736) . I know you don't want to hear this, but change your order if you can because Ed's crossover mod makes a huge difference with these speakers. Also, the DV84's only go 2Hz lower than the 64's according to their specs. so you're not missing much in the low end.

I 've been listening to my modified BIC's for the past 5 hours (just received them in the mail this morning) and the difference is incredible. I was very skeptical, and now I'm kicking myself for not doing this sooner. Before, there was no way I would listen to my DV64's in direct mode with no sub. It sounded sloppy and very bright. I always had to eq them and use a sub to get any enjoyment out of music (couple beers helped too). Now it is very, very enjoyable in direct mode with no sub. I know I sound like all the other reviews, but I am seriously astonished that these are the same speakers. Much warmer and detailed sound. I was considering selling the BIC's because I wasn't happy with their performance with music even though movies/TV sounded just fine. Now, I plan on keeping them until I have the money to make a BIG upgrade. Someday.

While the crossovers were out, I hooked up my old Klipsch KG4.2's (another bright speaker, but more balanced than the BIC's) and some Athena surrounds. I've always liked the Klipsch more than the BIC's for music. Now, the modified BIC's blow them away. I know that may not mean much to some of you, but that is my only fixed variable. I've been without the BIC's for about a week, so it's hard to remember exactly what they sounded like before. All I can say is, now they sound great in 2 channel (something I never enjoyed before the mod), and they sound much better than the klipsch (which I prefered over the BIC's prior to mods) that I have been listening to for the past week.

bose

Great. Any other speaker is an upgrade from Bose. Good luck.

Well I was going to change my order based on recommendation and further reading on this forum, but my order had already shipped so I'm kinda stuck for the moment. I have also read that some people are content with the way the speakers perform right out of the box though. I'm thinking I'll give em a go the way they are and run them through a good 40 or 50 hours of break in before making a decision. And also post a review/opinion after auditioning several types of music.

Thats the nice thing about 30 day return policies

If they sound overly bright, as seems to be the case in some opinions, I would definitely consider getting the DV64's and having them modified.

I do have a question though....

Why would Ed not perform the mod on these speakers? You would think he would give valid reasons, I mean a crossover is a crossover right?

deemic said:

Well I was going to change my order based on recommendation and further reading on this forum, but my order had already shipped so I'm kinda stuck for the moment. I have also read that some people are content with the way the speakers perform right out of the box though. I'm thinking I'll give em a go the way they are and run them through a good 40 or 50 hours of break in before making a decision. And also post a review/opinion after auditioning several types of music.

Thats the nice thing about 30 day return policies

If they sound overly bright, as seems to be the case in some opinions, I would definitely consider getting the DV64's and having them modified.

I do have a question though....

Why would Ed not perform the mod on these speakers? You would think he would give valid reasons, I mean a crossover is a crossover right?

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Don't worry, I'm sure you won't be dissapointed with the 84's. I can tell you they aren't bright in the least bit. The imaging and midrange clarity is very good at that price point. The bass can get a little muddy but some polyfill in the cabinet, and a sub will fix that. You will be happy with these speakers.

Ed will not modify the 84s because he believes that an 8" driver is not optimum for reproducing midrange, thus they are not worth his time and effort.

AudioArcher said:

Great. Any other speaker is an upgrade from Bose. Good luck.

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I'll second this. In fact, if you can find the infamous white van, or Theater Research on ebay, get them, they'll be better than b{l}o{w}se. Best of all, with the infamous white van, or Theater Research on ebay speakers, you will not feel bad about attempting crossover modifications despite the fact that you have zippo technical knowledge (but then again, maybe you do).

MacManNM said:

Don't worry, I'm sure you won't be dissapointed with the 84's. I can tell you they aren't bright in the least bit. The imaging and midrange clarity is very good at that price point. The bass can get a little muddy but some polyfill in the cabinet, and a sub will fix that. You will be happy with these speakers.

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Hi Mac,

Your reviews were one of the reasons I decided to take a shot at these speakers. Thanks for your input.
BTW, How much polyfill are we talking about? And do you recommend lining all of interior walls? Any other suggestions.... placement, toeing???
They're arriving today, keeping my fingers crossed that they show up without damage from UPS....

Mudcat said:

I'll second this. In fact, if you can find the infamous white van, or Theater Research on ebay, get them, they'll be better than b{l}o{w}se. Best of all, with the infamous white van, or Theater Research on ebay speakers, you will not feel bad about attempting crossover modifications despite the fact that you have zippo technical knowledge (but then again, maybe you do).

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The "white van" has a pretty shoddy rep in most aspects of life.... think I'll avoid it altogether.

I'm a fledgling Elec. Tech.... and I consider my knowledge to be just slightly above zippo, but not much Still learning something new everyday.

deemic said:

Hi Mac,

Your reviews were one of the reasons I decided to take a shot at these speakers. Thanks for your input.
BTW, How much polyfill are we talking about? And do you recommend lining all of interior walls? Any other suggestions.... placement, toeing???
They're arriving today, keeping my fingers crossed that they show up without damage from UPS....

Click to expand...

Just shove a few handfulls in there, kinda fill it up, you will notice a difference right away. For placement, just play with them, I didn't fool around with them too much, as I had them in a very small room. You will notice that the imaging is very good, and the soundfield is pretty full too. They don't have the same kind of bass as the 62 series, its not boomy at all.

I've never heard the DV84's, so maybe they'll sound better in stock form than the DV64's. Since you're an elec tech, I'm sure you could do your own mods to the crossover if you're not happy with the sound from the factory. I'm sure you'll enjoy them.

johsti said:

I've never heard the DV84's, so maybe they'll sound better in stock form than the DV64's. Since you're an elec tech, I'm sure you could do your own mods to the crossover if you're not happy with the sound from the factory. I'm sure you'll enjoy them.

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If its just a matter of swapping caps, resistors, chokes etc... .sure no problem. I just wonder if there were any additional mods that Mr. Frias was doing outside of that though. Changing simple components in the crossover I wouldn't consider to be all too challenging if you knew what exactly what crossover point you were looking for, the equations to achieve it and were somewhat handy with a soldering iron. But I digress..... Mac gives em the big thumbs up and I am speculating that they'll sound fine as is. Getting kinda pumped up , only 2 more hours of work and I'll be on my way home to hook em up and try em out

deemic said:

Hi Mac,

Your reviews were one of the reasons I decided to take a shot at these speakers. Thanks for your input.
BTW, How much polyfill are we talking about? And do you recommend lining all of interior walls? Any other suggestions.... placement, toeing???
They're arriving today, keeping my fingers crossed that they show up without damage from UPS....

Click to expand...

And guess what.....
One of the speakers showed up in good shape, the other was destroyed. Looks like someone in the warehouse impaled it with a forklift. Man am I bummed out
I was so looking foward to trying these out tonite. Outside of the forklift mishap, the packing in general is very much sub-par.

The one good speaker made it o.k. and looks pretty good, but you can't really audition one speaker. So it appears that I'll be waiting until the replacement arrives before I can do any listening. Damn I'm upset about this....