Upgrade or equivalent to Bose lifestyle 28 5.1

[chamix]

Hello,

I'm currently having annoying issues with to many hdmi devices and my Bose receiver does not have any hdmi ins/outs. I'm overall pretty satisfied with its sound quality but can't stand not having all the inputs that I need. I purchased it a while back for maybe around $1200. I hear that Bose is insanely overpriced so my question is for around $1000 is there any receiver/speakers set that can match or even have better quality than my Bose?
I keep reading good things about Onkyo 608 and 808. Do you guys think that this would be a good start as an upgrade to my current system?

Thanks in advance!

 

[GranteedEV]

The most important question is:

Does it need to be as tiny?

 

[chamix]

The most important question is:

Does it need to be as tiny?

Not at all! I purchased this Bose system in the first place because I did not know anything better at the local store.

 

[GranteedEV]

sweet Next question:

Is HDMI1.4 and 3D important, or is HDMI 1.3 enough?

For 1200 I would recommend

Receivers:
http://store.audioholics.com/product/3141/69/yamaha-rx-v667-surround-receiver
http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/MARSR5005A/MARANTZ/SR5005-100w-X-7ch-3-D-Home-Theater-Surround-Receiver/1.html

and if you wanna sacrifice HDMI 1.4 and save some money:
http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/MARSR5004/Marantz/SR5004-90w-X-7ch-Home-Theater-Surround-Receiver/1.html

For speakers I recommend looking into the lower end offerings by the following brands:

Behringer TRUTH
Ascend Acoustics
EMP Tek / RBH
PSB
Revel Concerta
Infinity Primus
Boston Acoustics
Usher Audio
Mackie Studio Monitors

Most of these websites will have a dealer locator for you or are available online.

Go audition the speakers which are available for audition. Preferably audition at varying volumes - never let the dealer control the volume knob because they may go for the loudest possible volume before strain. You want to hear how loud they'll go before strain and also hear them at a comfortable listening volume. You want to listen for naturalness, for instrument separation, for directional cues, while also keeping in mind the nature of the room you are in will have a reasonable effect on what you're hearing. You may want to ask the dealer to allow you to bring the speakers into your home for this very reason. A good dealer will acquiesce. A bad one isn't worth your time anyways.

Also look into not only speakers from, but also subwoofers from:
http://emotiva.com
http://www.svsound.com/products-spks.cfm
http://www.hsuresearch.com/products/asw-1203.html

My major recommendation is before going for a full-on 5.1 try out a quality 2.1 or 3.1 first. by spending more on mains you may really get a nice experience. Then you can also get surrounds later as the receiver is 7.1 or 7.2

 

[markw]

A conundrum.

Do you want an upgrade or do you want something equivalent to what you have? An upgrade can cost less than what you currently have although the styling might be a bit different.

 

[chamix]

Do you want an upgrade or do you want something equivalent to what you have? An upgrade can cost less than what you currently have although the styling might be a bit different.

Yes, since I'm spending money I might as well upgrade and don't mind having different styling either.

 

[chamix]

sweet Next question:

Is HDMI1.4 and 3D important, or is HDMI 1.3 enough?

For 1200 I would recommend

Receivers:



For speakers I recommend looking into the lower end offerings by the following brands:

Behringer TRUTH
Ascend Acoustics
EMP Tek / RBH
PSB
Revel Concerta
Infinity Primus
Boston Acoustics
Usher Audio
Mackie Studio Monitors

Most of these websites will have a dealer locator for you or are available online.

Go audition the speakers which are available for audition. Preferably audition at varying volumes - never let the dealer control the volume knob because they may go for the loudest possible volume before strain. You want to hear how loud they'll go before strain and also hear them at a comfortable listening volume. You want to listen for naturalness, for instrument separation, for directional cues, while also keeping in mind the nature of the room you are in will have a reasonable effect on what you're hearing. You may want to ask the dealer to allow you to bring the speakers into your home for this very reason. A good dealer will acquiesce. A bad one isn't worth your time anyways.

Also look into not only speakers from, but also subwoofers from:


My major recommendation is before going for a full-on 5.1 try out a quality 2.1 or 3.1 first. by spending more on mains you may really get a nice experience. Then you can also get surrounds later as the receiver is 7.1 or 7.2

Thanks,

Yes I would like to be future proof with hdmi 1.4

That Yamaha looks to be a great unit. Is it much better than the Onkyo 608?

I looked up the prices on amazon and the Yamaha is $499 and the Onkyo $379. I also noticed that the Onkyo has the VGA input which is what I connect my older Xbox 360 with, although I could also use the component connections with the Yamaha.
What do you think? Is the $120 difference justifiable for the Yamaha.