Bose Lifestyle 48 Put to test

[BostonMark]

Ever since I joined Audioholics, I have read about the horrors of Bose, and wondered if they could really be all that bad. Well curiousity got the better of me one afternoon. I packed up my favorite DVDs and CDs to a local Bose store and gave the $4000.00 system a workout! HAAAHAHHa, I actually had the sales people apologizing to me, because it wasn't a system for audiophiles, it was a "high end mass consumer product"

I write for epinions, so I posted my opinion there for the whole world to see.
My review of the Bose Lifestyle 48 - Easy to use, looks good, Bose just SOUNDS awful If you get a chance, read it and let me know what you think. I had fun that afternoon, and discovered that 50 million Music fans can't be wrong, Bose really does sound that bad!

 

[Takeereasy]

I liked it Mark, well written. I also like the fact that you acknowledged the things Bose does right. They are small, attractive, have a "REP", and the system is easy as pie to use. Sure there are better sounding systems out there for much less than half the cost, but there is a demand for Bose products.

I really just wish people would research what they are buying. There are so many superior pruducts that are similar in size that will outperform the CUBES while only costing a fraction of the cost of the Bose set up. I personally like the HSU Ventriloquist set up. You can get all of the speakers, and an stf-3 for $875 shipped, pick up an Onkyo 602 for $250 or less, add a panasonic s77 for the DVD player at another $250, figure in $100 for cables and you've got a $1475 setup that will destroy any Bose cubed offering. For a super budget setup how about this one: Athena Micra setup, $300, Onkyo DVSP502S DVD player $120, Onkyo 602 for $250. Figure $50 for cables and you've spent $720 on a setup that will at a minimum keep up with that bose setup.

Other good alternatives are Mirage Omnisats, Various Gallo offerings, Athena .5 setup, MA Radius, Paradigm Cinema, PSB Alpha, and on and on and on. None of these products cost close to the Bose offering, yet all will trounce them and are roughly the same size.

 

[Sheep]

All of this sat system talk makes me wanna get one just to hear how they sound.

I have big MDF speakers that I adoor (for the $), but I want to put some lesser designed stuff through a test.

The Hsu system is probly the best thing that is close to the Bose system. It has single driver sats, a center to handle bass to 80hz, and you can pair it with beefy subs.

good stuff Boston,

SheepStar

 

[Rock&Roll Ninja]

Its a good review, just don't be suprised if it gets pulled soon.

 

[BostonMark]

epinions lets you post good and bad

I have posted both positive and negative reviews on epinions and read hundreds more that present both sides of a product. Thus far, I haven't read anything about an unfavorable review being pulled. The only time epinions will pull or delete an opinion is when there is a copyright violation or plagiarism. I'm not too worried, I was as objective as I could be, and only stated what I heard with my own ears.

 

[Takeereasy]

I actually just installed a much cheaper Bose setup for a friend of a friend. I did a brief write up in the review section. To sum it up in one sentence, "Not worth the $.

 

[philh]

I have posted both positive and negative reviews on epinions and read hundreds more that present both sides of a product. Thus far, I haven't read anything about an unfavorable review being pulled. The only time epinions will pull or delete an opinion is when there is a copyright violation or plagiarism. I'm not too worried, I was as objective as I could be, and only stated what I heard with my own ears.

I love epinions! The good, the bad, and the ugly! Was looking to buy some RCA wireless headphones on Ebay, and based on what I read, they are not worth any price paid.

 

[claudermilk]

Nice review. Those are the most useful types I've found on epinions. I would expect that one to stay (maybe some slightly uninformed/biased rebuttals, but that's it).

 

[Shadow_Ferret]

Good review.

I'm surprised about the poor sound that came from the rear surrounds. It was a Bose system that got me interested in this whole HT thing to begin with. While my wife shopped elsewhere, I stepped into The Bose Store for lack of anywhere else to go. They had one of their Lifestyle systems playing a loop of "Shrek 2" and it was the scene where they were trying to escape with the potion from the Fairy Godmother's place. The sirens were distinctly coming from the rear speakers. I remember that because I remember thinking how cool that was (it was my first exposure to HT sound), I knew I had to get myself an HT system (just not Bose).

The funny thing about The Bose Store is they have a large demonstration theater where they envelope you in this audio-visual experience. Sounds pretty decent, but if you notice, they aren't using their Lifestyle system in there. They are using large boxy speakers that I don't think they even sell to consumers (bigger even than their old 601s that I once owned). Just seems strange to me that to create this wonderful theater experience they'd use product they don't even sell.

I asked the salesman if I wanted the equivalent of that in my own home how much would it run and he said around $5000.

Go figure.

 

[supervij]

If it's anything like the Bose experience in the Toronto store of Bay Bloor Radio, then the large boxy speakers are fakes. They're just boxes made to look like speakers, sitting on top of the Bose cubes. At one point in the demo, the speaker-like boxes rise up to reveal the real speakers, and you're left marveling at the wondrous sound coming out of such tiny cubes!

cheers,
supervij

 

[Shadow_Ferret]

Guess I left before then, but if it is the same then I WOULD marvel at it because I don't believe it possible for those little cubes to put out the kind of SPLs that it took to fill that room so loudly with sound.

 

[JeffD2.]

When I decided to upgrade from my initial HTIB and before I joined any forums, I auditioned Bose at CC and found them clearly the worst system in A-B tests. They did not have their proprietary, sliding rail booth (oooh, aaah) in this store. Totally agree with your review. All style, no substance.

 

[Sheep]

Beating a dead horse guys....


SheepStar

 

[aarond]

I lost all respect for Ken C, Pohlmann when in the nov 2004 s&v mag he reviewed the lifestyle 38. Here is a quote from the review

"MUSIC PERFORMANCE This sophisticated system put me in the mood for some sophisticated music, so I loaded a new DVD-Audio disc of Mahler's Symphony No. 1 with the Utah Symphony Orchestra conducted by Maurice Abravanel. The 1974 recording captured a great performance. The system isn't designed to play the disc's high-resolution tracks, but the Dolby Digital mix was still impressive. I could hear a good amount of detail in the massive orchestra, and the acoustic space of the Mormon Tabernacle was vivid in the surrounds. The long delay and reverberation added a sense of grandeur to this “Titan” of a symphony. In case you have stereo favorites you want to hear in surround, Bose provides its own Videostage 5 surround sound processing to synthesize multichannel playback even from mono source material."

 

[Rock&Roll Ninja]

"Someone set up us the Bose!"

"You are on your way to Direct/Reflection"

"WaveRadio you say?"

"You have no chance to Videostage 5. Make your time."

 

[jaxvon]

"Someone set up us the Bose!"

"You are on your way to Direct/Reflection"

"WaveRadio you say?"

"You have no chance to Videostage 5. Make your time."

Priceless.

 

[BostonMark]

If I want cheesy lines..

"Someone set up us the Bose!"

"You are on your way to Direct/Reflection"

"WaveRadio you say?"

"You have no chance to Videostage 5. Make your time."

I prefer all my cheesy lines be uttered by Bruce Campbell, as I watch his movies with my Polk Audio speakers

"This is my Boom Stick" sounds so much better than "This is my Acoustimass Module"

"Hail to the King Baby!"

 

[mustang_steve]

I still think if they made a DVD player/preamp module like their lifestyle consoles, they could make a killing.

I'd buy one, and buy some nice amps to power my stuff (and hide them somewhere unobtrusive).

Also great would be making a 5-channel amp (thinking 50x5) that could be hidden somewhere easily.

 

[MDS]

I still think if they made a DVD player/preamp module like their lifestyle consoles, they could make a killing.

I think they would make a killing too, but only if they adhere to standards and drop their proprietary connections and lack of upgradeability. Alot of people would like the small size and generally nice appearance.

 

[BMXTRIX]

What do you mean...

oh wait...

OOOPS! Your broke your DVD player, that will be another $3,000 for a complete brand new proprietary system.

Thank you.