I just found out that a guy at work bought the following Bose Home Theater System .

I had absolutely no idea that he was looking for a home theater system or else I would have steered him toward the axiom light. I guess the system has some type of receiver included but everything hooks into the subwoofer which is called an Acoustimas Module or some BS. However, when using the setup DVD that came with the system he is having surround problems. The test tones play in BOTH the left and right surround speakers when it should play in the left and then the right.

I showed him a pic of the epic 80/500 system that I have. However, since the system is for his bedroom he wants something small, so I showed him the M0 speakers.

I wish I could convince him to return his $2000 bose system and buy some axioms!

Anyway, as much as I hate to help out someone with a bose system, anyone have an idea why the surround speakers would both be playing at the same time when cycling through the test tones?

Thats a tough one. Pushing the brand you just own on him might cause some congnitive dissonance on his part but recommending Axiom (that you own) along with some other respected speaker manufacturers like Ascend, Paradigm etc and other alternative speakers that the store he purchased them carries (which he can get a refund). Explain to him why these manufacturers make better performing speakers and why they offer better value for his money over BOzo and he might be saved.

The sad part is he could have got something like this for a fraction of the price. I would bet it beats the Bose in sound quality.

Give him alternatives to the Bose and an audition of your Axioms while he is within the return period.

$2000!!! for Bose?

:::passes out:::

"Get hosed. Buy Bose." Catchy phrase.

To add to Rick's suggestion, one of the small Energy or Mirage systems would be a great little package as well for far less $$ than the Bose.

I do have the system I linked to and I have also listened to a Bose cube system. The Hsu is a better system hands down.

Good for Bose. They can fleece the dumbos for a ton of cash and not have to build quality stuff. Seems like win win for them.

Oddly, Bose has no user forum on their site so their happy customers can discuss the virtues of Bose gear.

Discuss...

I suspect some trickery was at play... He said that he listened to several systems at the store (Ultimate Electronics), and he said bose was by far the best.

I should add that he said he got the system on sale so I know he did not pay the original $2K list price (they are shown on ale at $300 off at the bose website.) I am not sure what he paid, but I am positive that he is not getting his moneys worth.

He can rest easy knowing his speakers are made with the finest pressed paper and cardboard.

Maybe I could just point him to the following review over at audioholics:
http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/htib/bose-lifestyle-v20

Here is a short segment from the review:

As far as the surrounds playing the same thing, I might surmise that it's in DPL mode or something like that. Do they both play twice (once for right, once for left?)

I was thinking the same thing, that it's using the oldest Prologic mode, of Left, Center, Right, and a Surround channel which has two speakers, but both get the same content.

How's the DVD player connected to the receiver? If it is by only L and R cables, that's pretty much the best he can hope for.

DI asked him how the DVD player is connected yesterday, he said it is with HDMI., yes both surrounds play twice (when they should take turns playing)

I was thinking it may be some kind of DPL mode as well but not sure.

I know you are new but "Discuss..." sounds dangerously close to "Reflect..." Perhaps we have discovered the secret identity of you-know-who.

Well he got things working last night (Which means he won't be returning them I'm afraid). He said he reconfigured the wiring and then made some adjustments in the menu of some sort and things started working.

That's easy. If one is a Bose customer, I doubt they have they intelligence to turn on a computer, let alone find a forum, sign up, and type something intelligible.

Did I type that? Sheesh. Someone needs more coffee....

And regarding the co-worker. Yeah, it sort of sucks when friends "go astray", but there's not much you can do. If he's intent on buying "Brand X", then you might as well let him do it. Going on a crusade to "save" someone from their decision is often not worth the effort. If your friend is happy with his system, Bose or otherwise, then it may be best to just let him be happy with it.

Now on the other hand, if he's coming to you for advice on his purchase, that's different. If that's the case, you need to do an intervention. Pointing out internet reviews is mostly irrelevant to most folks. They need to *hear* a "good" system. Make a CD of high-quality, wide-dynamic-ranged music and take it to his house. Play it on that Bose. Push it. Make the system bleed. It won't take much. Point out the flabby mis-directed bass and the crunchy, broken highs. Now take him to a local home theater store. Someplace that sells decent stuff; Paradigm, B&W, Energy, Martin Logan, DefTek, etc. Play that same CD on speakers that are ~$3k/pair. He'll get it. And when he does, that's when you point out that he can get that level of SQ for half the price with Axiom.

Sadly the Bose owner is not alone, I have seen far too many Bose systems going through the warhouse than I care to count

Someone needs to set up "B.A.".....Bose-a-holics Anonymous.


...a place where "Bose-a-holics" can share their stories with others who suffer the same malady.

"My name is Ivan Deffeer, I watched "The Shopping Channel" and bought a Bose system......."

This set should sound much better than the Bose and suitable for bedroom set and only asking for $900

Sorry to disagree with everyone, but I come from the "push real hard to get your friends to buy the right stuff before they make the final decision, then shut up and say nice things about whatever they bought" school.

Are those KEF speakers?

The name of the image seems to indicate they are. I'd like to hear some KEFs someday.

Ok ok, I've held this in ever since the first 'Bose' crack I read on this site, but I can't hold it in any longer...

My dad bought a Bose system years and years ago and put it in his basement. At the time, I had an Aiwa 5.1 channel system hooked up to my 36 inch JVC 4:5 tv, so I was blown away by the Bose speakers... "how do such small little speakers produce such a big sound"??? I had never owned a decent home theater subwoofer at that time (just the crappy little 15 watt thing Aiwa gave me), and I remember him explaining the technology of the accustimas subwoofer... "you can't hear it coming out of the actual box itself, but you feel it from your seat". I was so amazed I almost shit myself.

I was so impressed I had to upgrade my system, but I didn't have the $2000 dollars to make the transition over to Bose, so instead I went with a pair of Cerwin Vega towers, a Cerwin Vega center, and a Cerwin Vega subwoofer and kept the Aiwa surrounds on duty for a while until I came up with the cash to put up 6 Cambridge Soundworks surround speakers. In the end my surround system totaled almost the same as my dad's Bose system, but for the longest time I was still in awe of his set-up. It would take me years of living with my system, and maturity from learning more about home theater systems to realize that what I had was actually leaps and bounds better than his Bose system. And my system was entry level at best!

Heck if I'd have had my fire a decade ago and rebuilt my system with that insurance check, I might be living with a Bose system right now, and be as happy as a pig in shit with it! This just goes to show you how big a factor ignorance can play in liking the sound of something. If you don't know that what you're listening to is severely colored, you might just fall in love with that colored sound and forever wonder why nothing else out there can sound as good as those wonderful Bose sound??? But looking back I realize that Bose was actually quite brilliant in it's marketing sceme. Bose (at least back then) sold everything in packages... you didn't piece systems together like you can an Axiom system. You had to have the cash to buy the whole thing in one shebang! And with them priced the way they were priced, only certain people could buy into Bose. So they had an aura of sheekness to them. In my mind, they were the best because I couldn't have them, they were out of my range. That psychological brain washing went a long way with me. Hell I strived for years to reach a level of audio performance that was many rungs below what I had in my own living room... how in the hell did they do that?

I remember the day I discovered the fraud that was Bose once and for all. I had gotten used to the way my Cerwin Vega subwoofer pounded out bass notes. So I was over at my dads one day really studying his accustimas subwoofer because I wanted to know how it worked it's magic. So I'm right there in front of it, looking it dead in the eye with the music blaring when suddenly it hit me like a ton of bricks to the head... "THIS THING AINT EVEN WORKING"??? I got up and went over and sat down in the captians chair. "Ummmmm... yeah where's all that bass I remember that thing putting out before"??? It was gone, all of it.... GONE!!!! It was like the Emperer's New Clothes... I was told that the thing put out incredibly deceptive bass, and so I believed it. And then one day, just like the day I realized Santa wasn't real, I also realized that Boze was a scam!

I've never had the heart to tell my dad that he has a crap system hooked up to his home theater... how could I? For years I praised it, and now all of a sudden it's garbage? Well the short answer is... yes. I suppose if you grew up for 20 years being fed balogna while being told it was a delicasy you'd believe it. Until the day you finally broke out of the house and went somewhere where they sat a big, juicy porterhouse down in front of you... that's when the truth comes out! But oh well, I'm not mad at Bose... heck everyone's out there just trying to make a buck, right?

Just remember, there are still those under Bose spell out there. I can guarantee that there are diehard Bose fans out there that honestly believe that those little cubes really are magic, and truely sound better than a full on Axiom Epic 80/800 system could ever dream of sounding! I mean if you drink well water long enough and get used to that rotten egg/sulfer taste smell to the point that you don't even notice it anymore, you just might accidentally take a sip of some good Brita water and think it's been pissed in!

I know it can happen because for years I drank that Bose water up and thought everything else was piss water! Oh well, at least I an laugh at myself!

I have heard soem KEF IQ series, the smaller bookshelf ones. They sound pretty good, smooth, not jaw dropping like Axiom's are when you first hear them, much more like many other retail speakers, ie. high end Polk's, Energy etc.

Somewhere I saw a frequency sweep test graphs of an Accoustimas (however it is spelled) system. "Deceptive bass" is definitely the correct term. It was fairly obvious was that they did do acoustic research all right but it was on how the human brain can be fooled into thinking there is solid bass by grossly bumping areas of mid-range frequencies while not going to the expense of actually building in drivers for truly reproducing the low end.

You know what, if they had priced it as an affordable solution to produce "impressive" (as in it does appeal to those who never owned better gear than a Radio Shack boombox.) sound, then I would probably actually commend them on their ingenuity to make a cost effective solution for that market segment. However, when they purposely price it at the extreme top range of what this market segment might pay, essentially the ethics spill out of it pretty quickly.

I gotta chime in here. Wonderfully stated Micah. I'm one of those guys that grew up with that coloured sound and loved it as a result. Not Bose for me, but cheap boomboxes with "Extended Bass Systems" or whatever. In University I had a cheap Kenwood bookshelf system that was less coloured and that was what started my education. But, until then, everything else that lacked it sounded too light or airy... empty.

Since then, I've heard more and learned more, but I totally agree. If balogna is the best you know the Bose-ogna is the best!

snazzed

I like a balogna sandwich every once in a while, even better when its fried.

I was going to mention fried bologna, but didn't want to seem like too much of a red neck. Ate that stuff almost every day of summer vacation when I was in grade school. Was the first thing I learned to cook myself. Fried bologna with ketchup on a hamburger bun; good stuff.

Oh, and I also agree that once a friend has committed to a purchase, even if you disagree, be nice. I don't see any value in convincing friends that they are idiots and they burned their money.

snazzed

Well I have to say I've never actually tried fried balogna. Something about balogna repels me. However, I am aware many people do love fried balogna. Still, anyone who would rather have a ketchup/fried balogna sandwich over a quality New York Strip or T-Bone... well that's just wrong man!

Absolutely. Still, next time they're over watching a movie at your house it's irresistable to 'accidentally' crank the volume up for a split second, isn't it?

"Oooops, sorry about that! Damn, that was loud wasn't it... but crystal clear, and great bass eh"?

Irresistable!

Say 10 "Hail Axioms" and sin no more, my son.

And since several of us are in confessional - I too almost purchased an "Acoustimass" system (hard to believe that Bose is still using that moniker) - largely based on the WAF of the tiny cubes and hideable bass module. My wife loved it. I did convince her to go with a system that Polk had at the time - I think called an RM3000 or some such. Still have the Polk system in the living room by the way.

And.....I grew up with my Dad furnishing Saturday lunch (mom was at the "beauty shop") which was Creamed Chipped Beef on Toast. Lovingly known as SOS to the Military genre of the time.

Further proof that Bose had us all at 'hello' in the beginning!

Normally I wouldn't rain on someone's party if they had purchased Bose or Monstah products, unless they started with the "blows everything else away" stuff and if counting to 10 and breathing deeply didn't help me, then I'd have to say something before I blew a gasket.

From what I've seen, it seems most of Bose's customers are the unsuspecting elderly...I wonder if they've hit the retirement communities yet with their sales pitches? Most elderly people have never heard of Axiom, Paradigm, PSB ect but they've seen the marketing hype of Bose.

I think it is most people in general.

They do target unsuspecting and uninformed people.

My wife worked for a builder and the whole home wiring (cat5) installation contractor was also a Bose retailer and although not offered by the builder many Bose systems were installed in the beachside and above average priced homes simply due to the fact that *all* of the neighbors wanted a great sound system in their home because they had to keep up with the Jones' ... as sold and installed by the cat5 wiring installer.

And Emily Latella says "What is all the big deal about Booze? We all like a little "nip" now and then?"

ROFLMAO!

Wha, wha, what are you saying. I just got Rockband 2 from him for Christmas. You lie, you lie I say. You have just single handedly negated all your previous post by exposing yourself as a blasphemous Bose-O.

Yes, I said exposed yourself. I'm sure someone will jump on that.

Do-oh. I did it again.

No, no, no... I was talking about Santa.......... Ana, California. It's not real, nobody's actually ever been there. It's all a hoax, trust me.

The OTHER Santa, now he's real. Totally.

Thank you. I'm much better now.

Hey no problem. Say hi to the Easter bunny for me this spring bro.

This thread is still breathing!?!?!

It keeps getting resuscitated.

Here's the thing, you never know which threads will take off and which won't. Some of the most interesting topics run for a page or two and die. Other seemingly inconspiquous threads run for days and days. And for the most part, the life of a thread depends directly on which way it gets derailed by the participants. I don't recall any 20 page threads that were still on topic by the time it was on page 3. Sometimes they weave in and out of being on topic, but not the majority of it.

So when you see a thread that's moving on past 10 pages, don't even worry about what the topic is, get in there... there's probably a good time going on in there!

Come on in, the Water is warm.

I thought it was cold outside, how can the water be warm? The water around these parts is under a couple of feet of ice.

Yeah, it's pretty chilly out tonight. Maybe mid 40s?

That is pretty cool for you guys. We've warmed up considerably in the past few hours now sitting at 18F.

That's 'cuz everybody has peed here a little....

We had a brief snowfall followed by rain last night. By morning we have the dreaded black ice. Worst I have seen in some time. I thought about Murph's thread all the way in to work.

A friend of mine broke the news about "no Santa Claus" to his kids this way when they asked about all the different Santa Claus's they kept seeing around:

"Well kids, the real Santa was shot down by the Russians in the mid 60's."

Sounds plausible to me!

Damn Pinko Commie Ruskies!

According to Trey Parker he was shot down over Iraq.