Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Dilema.... what would you do???

So a very, very good friend of mine just had his birthday yesterday. He sent me a picture of his loot. In that picture was a Bose Accustimas system. He was very proud that his wife had gotten him such a 'fancy' surround system. And while I wasn't there to see it, I'm sure his wife was also very proud to have given him the 'best system' money can buy. I mean there are lots and lots of men who fall for the sales jargon, so I'm sure it was easy to convince a woman (who generally don't know nearly as much about home audio than men) that the Bose was top of the line.

All I said was, "congratulations, that looks very nice". But its killing me that she went out and spent that much money on an inferior system for him. I feel obligated to let him know that for the money, they could do much better. Even if they don't buy Axioms, they can still do better than Bose. However, I hate to seem like a killjoy. He seems happy with them (although he hasn't hooked them up yet), and I'd hate to hurt her feelings by telling her that Bose aren't that great of a speaker.

So what I thought about doing was inviting them over with their new speakers to do an 'A/B' comparison. I'm just looking for a way to put it delicately without out right lying to them. So I thought I'd just say something like, "I've been curious as to how they stack up against my speakers". They've never been over to hear mine before, so perhaps without actually saying anything about how Bose perform, they could hear it for themselves and maybe ask about the Axioms.

Of course they might just like the Bose. And if that's the case, then more power to them. But what would you guys do in this situation, would you mention anything at all? I would hate myself if I just let him think he had a great speaker system, and then someday he came over to watch a movie at my place, noticed how much better the Axioms sound, and say he wished he would have known before the 30 day return policy had run out.

I would probably say nothing. He probably has his first "complete" surround system. To replace that with Axioms would definitely cost a lot more. I know because I was going to buy one of those Bose systems before I discovered Axiom. I know people that have the Bose, they are either retired or in a professional career and they are happy with them.

Edit: One other thing. In the recent past, when I have pointed out how much better Axioms were to Bose, they seemed to just ignore what I had just said, like I didn't know what I was talking about.

I would do nothing.

It's probably best to do nothing. But in that situation I probably couldn't resist inviting them over to hear my setup--within the next 30 days.

If I were you I would take actions based on my friend personality and how close I am with him! There are people that just don't accept any kind of disagreement and others do. Usually I don't get involved in other people business, because there are times that this will only get back at you. I think this is more of a Japanese culture thing so I guess that people from different countries think differently though. I have learned on the course of my life that even the best of your thoughts might be misinterpreted sometimes. After having bad experiences trying to help some people I try not to get involved in other people business. Although as being a true friend you should try to point your friend out on the right direction. What a dilemma... There was one time that one of my best friends girlfriend was hitting on me and I pretended that nothing was happening because he was DEEPLY in love with her, better saying totally blind. I knew that wasn't a saint and if I confronted her she would definitely neglect what she was doing and either way I would be in jeopardy because he would not believe me since she has been telling him lies about me. Sorry for writing this stuff, it has nothing to do with the subject... I better go to bed. Hope someone will help you out.

It's too late to say anything. I would do nothing.

Hey, any extra details you want to provide just go into J.P.'s file on you, so never feel they're wasted.

i think ichigo is correct, it completely depends on how close you are with this friend. The only people that i would interject like you are saying, are some of the guys i served with in the military. After the purchase has been made, that can be a sticky situation, especially when a wife is involved...... Also, you need to consider, that they have probably been exposed to 10's of millions of dollars of advertising, think about how often you see a bose commercial? Do you think you can make an argument against that much advertising, without offending anyone?

Oh the A/B comparison, that could be interoperated as snobbery as well.

Thats about all i got bro.

If he is a good friend of yours, he probably knows that HT is a hobby of yours. In that case he will ask you what you think. Then, if he's open to criticism (only you know that), I would tell him the truth without bashing what he already has. I would tell him that his is a decent system but unfortunately way overpriced by marketing for what it is and that if he is willing to spend that kind of money, that he would be better off with something else. I would then put together an Axiom system in the same price range of what he paid for Bose (probably between 2K/3K) and have him come over to listen to your system to give him an idea of what you are talking about.

Good luck.

That'd be a good way to make sure he gets a divorce...

Look, the guy's wife gave it to him. He's thrilled. Don't come between them like that.