OK. I won't name names to protect the guilty... Anyway, I was flipping channels this weekend, and came across a show that was about installing a home theater into a house. It was one of those generic home improvement shows where you don't actually do any of the work yourself, but pay some "expert" to do it for you...

I watched it anyway. This guy who was the host of the show was having a home theater installed in his living room. So he hires some expert to come in and do the set up.

They did a nice, clean, professional installation, but it was their gear choices that surprised me. It was almost like they were home imrpovement guys that would also install a home theater if you wanted, instead of home theater guys that also did installations.

Anyway, they threw up the typical plasma TV. Looks cool, is wide screen, and HDTV. Probably a good choice for a living room situation. Then came the part where they "pro" talked up surround sound and 5.1 sound, blah blah blah, and that the system that they were going to install would be top of the line and yet very descrete in physical appearance... I knew where it was going, but was hoping that this "pro" woulnd't do it....

Out comes the Bose system. The little cubes for the 5 main speakers and the bass module. The wires and mountings for the subes is nicely done, but they have to run all of the wires to the bass modulewhere they plug in and then the bass module goes to the receiver. They focused so much on Bose (they must have continued to spend their money on marketing and product placement than actually making good speakers) that I don't even recall much about the receiver or DVD player. As if that wasn't enough, they mounted the front right/left all the way to the side corners of the room (which was pretty wide), and much too far apart considering the 40" plasma. We are talking something like a 30' wide room, putting these little cubes over 13' to each side of the edges of the screen. Then, they took the two rear speakers (which were also on the side walls) and angled them down towards the listening area. Ugh! I have read article after article about people that DO know what they are talking about, and you do NOT want to point the surround speakers at the listening area. You want to, in this case, point them up towards the ceiling to reflect the sound and create a bigger sound field, not focus them right to a specific seat on the couch...

OK. Now, I do not make a living, or even $0.05 a year on home theater anything, but some of this seems pretty basic. How is it that these folks can continue to be called "professionals" with these types of recomendations and installs? Is the general consumer supposed to pay an inflated premium for sub-level quality components? I guess so.

And on drones the marketing monster....

Man those Bose people...you have to admit they do have a great misinformation (errr, i mean MARKETING) department.

But I had no idea you were supposed to angle the surrounds towards the ceilings...then again I never claimed to be an expert in speakers/HT.

My Son has a "Sub module and Sats(thankfully not Bose-he spent less than fifty bucks US for the whole set)on his computer for gaming. And it sorta sounds OK in his somewhat small bedroom.

I couldn't begin to imagine what such a set-up would sound like in a listening room of more than average size

Discreet, hidden looks; and discreet, hidden audio.









Or Worse.

I was just thinking about my Sons' system, and what I think I know about Bose.

While playing games, I couldn't help but notice(and I even recall thinking about it at the time)that during up-and-down and back up sound effects, that the dear cheap(OK, inexpensive)system did a very good job of leaving no gaping holes in the frequency spectrum. The bass, although a "little" boomy, was fairly well controlled to, probably, the low 40s or maybe even the upper 30s.

Bose, on the other hand DOES have that famous rhyme: "No Highs no Lows; Must Be....."

What then is kinda sad when you think about it, is the fact that if someone "really" wanted a cube system, they could probably do better and save a couple of $K in the process!



Yeah....I guess if you spend untold millions on marketing, you gotta recover it somewhere

Don't feel too bad, the "home improvement" shows that are on TV these days are pathetic so the choice of Bose products doesn't surprise me.

Phony deadlines plus decorating hacks who turn every room into a nightmare do nothing for me except raise a smile.

Speaking of which... the S.O. and I are fans of Holmes on Homes (for the Americans, he's a contractor in the GTA - Greater Toronto Area that goes in and fixes up previous "contractors'" work)... gets the right permits, goes above code, that sort of thing.

But his drywallers NAIL drywall... sure, they go back and screw in the "field" of each sheet, but they nail the edges. Nails pop... that's always been a big issue with me (I used to deliver the stuff - by hand back then, one Loadall forklift, and that was for industrial roofdrops!) and I worked insulating after that for some time... I've never worked for a company that drove a single nail in drywall, ever.

Hell, even Supergrabber screws pop if you don't dimple them right...

Bren R.

I think I've seen the Holmes show once or twice.

My basement was being finished by the former "to-be" owners of the house. The contractor let them work on drywall and nonstructural walls in the basement before they ended up losing a job or something and backed out of buying the new house. The guy was supposed to be a drywaller, and his cuts and joints were spot on, however, I didn't like the way that they had chopped up the basement into small rooms, so I started taking down the drywall. What a pain. The nails on the outside just would not give. The middle was screwed and that was easier to get out (obviously)... When I redid everything, I used 100% screws. They must have done something similar (nails and screws and not just screws) in the rest of our house too as we have a could nail pops that keep coming out. I am going to take out the nails and put screws in and patch it myself.... When I get around to it...

I heard a stat. the other day from a friend that is a true professional. Bose has 13 people in the marketing department and 2 people in R&D. B&W has 15 people in R&D and 2 people in Marketing.

Don't know how true it is. But from what I have seen from these two companies in products, i can believe it.

You forgot to find out how many people are on the manufacturing floor....
I would guess that Bose has quite a bit more than B&W, or many other quality manufacturers. They (Bose) need to keep the underinformed consumer stocked with their product.

Found a site that someone linked here in the past... Cool...

Bose=Bad

But macaroni and gold spray paint are legitmate decorating and building materials! C'mon!

It's easier to use drywall nails when hanging in some areas because you can stick a nail through the paper at the studs, hoist it up with one hand and use a hammer to drive the nail. Other than that screws are the way to go.

I've never seen a drywall nail in my life, but I'm told they exist, they're like ring shanked roofing nails, no?

Bren R.

i built RTMs for a summer when i was in high school and that was what we used to get a sheet started on a wall. There is always that risk of them popping a bit, but much, much easier to get a sheet started and not having to carry around the screw gun. It didn't take too much practice to get to the point where you only needed to push the nail in a bit to set it and then one swift shot with the hammer - it was buried with a perfect little dimple in the drywall.

Now my disclaimer - i only did this for a summer so my knowledge is very limited. However, i do know that the people i worked for were extremely quality conscious so if they expected major problems, i'm sure they would be going the 100% screw route.

Yes they are ringed for a better grip. They are about the size of roofing nails but not galvanized. SidV is correct in that most pros would only use these at places like the top of a wall where it meets the ceiling.

thanks TJ, i knew that i knew, i just didn't know!

Makes sense to me, bottom/top of sheets are also often covered by baseboards or borders.

Just for the record;Gypsum nails nails

USG web site[you might have to register] actually allows for nailing, although most professionals do not.