Bose LifeStyle II 535...mm I can already feel the hate flowing

A

Andyk5

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Jul 27, 2011
Messages
1,154
I have an opportunity to get my hands on one of these for a pretty good price and I am consider it. I have listened to them at a friends house and really enjoyed the experience and recreating that experience would worth the money for me.

Before anyone wastes their time trying to tell me how crappy and overpriced the Bose hype machine is, I have read bunch of posts about their speakers being cheap and them using low quality components for not so good audio quality and fidelity for way too much money etc....

At this point, I just want to buy a system and do not want to deal with putting one together piece by piece.

Now three questions,
1) I had another friend of mine who had a large center and front tower speakers that sounded really good, will I miss that using small speaker cubes that bose system comes with?

2) I want to stream audio and video from my computer which will be on a different floor using my home network, does bose support that feature? Do I need to buy something extra for that?

If bose does not support it, is it possible to buy a receiver and speakers ( the thing I would rather not do) and have this capability without a secondary electronic equipment intercepting and supplying the signal to the receiver. I guess looking for a receiver that has an Ethernet input.

3) Does bose do 4k? I did not look up the spec sheet that much in detail but wondering if it would be a future proof system.
 
1. probably ... actually almost certainly yes.

2. you will need a separate streaming device.. that bose has just a usb port so you could hook up a flashdrive or whatever but it doesn't seem to have any network streaming abilities.


3. doesn't say anything ab out 4k in the specs so ...i would have to assuming it does not have 4k pass through..



and then not to be anti bose guy but really that system is $3300~ new... wow.. ok




not sure what the offer price wise is on the used set you are looking at

but nearly pain free 5.1 which (imho) will destroy that bose thing (while admittedly taking up much more space)

http://www.amazon.com/Pioneer-SP-PK...d=1394572988&sr=8-2&keywords=andrew+jones+5.1

$550~ Pioneer SP-PK52FS Andrew Jones 5.1 Home Theater Speaker Package

and

http://www.amazon.com/Yamaha-RX-V47...UTF8&qid=1394573119&sr=8-4&keywords=yamaha+rx

(4K pass // network function ..smrt app )

$320~
 
As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
Andy,

Putting together a system isn't difficult at all. We can walk you through it if you need help. I can recommend Bose if and only if space is tight. From the sounds of things - it seems like the Bose setup won't really work for you.

Questions for you:

1. Is your media mainly on iTunes or just in folders or what?
2. How big is your room?
3. What's your budget? (I'm going to assume your budget is $2000 for now)
4. Do you own the property/are you okay with making modifications to the property?
5. Are you okay with large speakers in the room?
6. Do you have a 4k set already? I'd wait for HDMI 2.0 spec to be in receivers before worrying about 4k.
 
When you buy Bose you are buying roughy 60% marketing and 40% actual performance. I'll give them a few points for style/aesthetics, and fitting into a tight space, but there are so many other great options to work with out there and choices that really put the majority of your cash towards real acoustic performance. Not a hater here, just make sure you are happy with what you are getting and that it meets your expectations. Also, try some of the dedicated audio forums out there - lots of good info to be had!
 
dear god man...your not really gonna spend 3400 dollars on surround speakers? you must be doing extremely well money wise....it would probably blow your mind what can be put together for half that....

How much are you buying these for?If the price was right why not? but for heavens sake don't pay full retail...unless you really have money to burn..then by all means:)
 
450 said:
Andy,

Putting together a system isn't difficult at all. We can walk you through it if you need help. I can recommend Bose if and only if space is tight. From the sounds of things - it seems like the Bose setup won't really work for you.

Questions for you:

1. Is your media mainly on iTunes or just in folders or what?
2. How big is your room?
3. What's your budget? (I'm going to assume your budget is $2000 for now)
4. Do you own the property/are you okay with making modifications to the property?
5. Are you okay with large speakers in the room?
6. Do you have a 4k set already? I'd wait for HDMI 2.0 spec to be in receivers before worrying about 4k.
Click to expand...

1) My media is mainly scattered around in folders. I would want a system where I can use a remote to browse through folders and see file names like blabla.wmv and play it, or put them in playlists.

2)Room is about 15x15 with a large side opening to a dining area

3) Budget is about $2000-$2200 but of course lower the better.

4)I am renting and would rather not do any modifications that are too intensive.

5)Depends on the size of the speakers, I enjoyed large front towers and medium center+rears. I would probably want thinner profile fronts though. The system that I liked I think had Bower Wilkins speakers and a Denon receiver which are both my favorite brands.

6) I do not have a 4k set but I will have one over the next couple years. It would be a shame if I spend a couple thousand on this setup and then had trouble with 4k.



Supercharged_Z06 said:
When you buy Bose you are buying roughy 60% marketing and 40% actual performance. I'll give them a few points for style/aesthetics, and fitting into a tight space, but there are so many other great options to work with out there and choices that really put the majority of your cash towards real acoustic performance. Not a hater here, just make sure you are happy with what you are getting and that it meets your expectations. Also, try some of the dedicated audio forums out there - lots of good info to be had!
Click to expand...

I appreciate that, dedicated audio forums are good but a bit beyond my interest when it comes to detail. I do appreciate exceptional sound quality but don't want to go through which speaker to pair with which center, oh that front does not have the right fidelity to match the slow characteristic of the subwoofer hence it is a horrible idea bla bla bla.... I just cant do that.

primetime said:
dear god man...your not really gonna spend 3400 dollars on surround speakers? you must be doing extremely well money wise....it would probably blow your mind what can be put together for half that....

How much are you buying these for?If the price was right why not? but for heavens sake don't pay full retail...unless you really have money to burn..then by all means:)
Click to expand...

I am not rich, but I do buy quality stuff. In 2000 I have purchased a 5.1 Panasonic home theater set with medium size speakers for front center and rear for $699 at bestbuy. It was absolutely crap, It drove me nuts for two years before I literally chucked it in the trash bin. Rears never got loud enough, surround was never pronounced properly, most of the time it was never there. I always thought " That bullet....that bullet, I should have heard that bullet fly by my ear". In every mode DTS, STS, abcdefg, xyz whatever, it always felt like a different version of stereo. It was probably not even good stereo. I also kept on running in to that stupid if the Voice of the actors is in the hearable levels, the action scenes would be too loud, if you turned down the action scenes you could not hear the actors.......

So that day I decided that you probably get what you pay for in the audio business as well. It applies really well in to purchasing wines, why would it not apply to audio systems? :p
 
I'd probably hit up some smaller boutique sellers of speakers and also the Best Buy magnolia store and listen before laying down cash. A good speaker system can be with you for a good long time.

Quality manufactures to look up (check websites, then look up their local dealer listings) include Focal/JMLabs, B&W, PSB, Paradigm, Martin Logan, Monitor Audio, and Kef. Even Infinity, Klipsch, and Pioneer (noted previously) make some good sounding systems for the money.

My one piece of advice is to get an Internet direct subwoofer and don't skimp on it. SVS and Outlaw audio are personal favorites of mine. A lot of your home theater enjoyment will come from it. Also be sure that you really, really like the center channel's performance on whatever system you get.
 
Last edited:
Well for $2000 you can find a nice pair of Paradigm Studio 20s speakers and a nice source amp/dac. I guarantee it would be one of the best sounding speakers you will ever hear. You could add a sub later on if you need more bass.

I'm an audiophile and for the price of those shitty ass Bose , you could have real speakers like Dynaudio, Focal, Paradigm or B&W's. There's no excuse to waste good money on shit with Bose spelled on it when you could have some amazing speakers I listed above.

Always always always spend as much of your budget as possible on speakers. I know the paradigms really come alive with a good 150+ watt amp because of their 91db sensitivity rating. You would pretty much be blown away by the sound. I run studio 10s at my desktop with a klipsch 12" sub and sony str840dn as source from a soundblaster ZxR via optical. The 20s were just to big for my setup so they sit downstairs as rear surround speakers. However for the room size you need, they would be perfect.

Most paradigm dealers will cut you a nice price on em or buy mint used ones off audiogon for a nice price. Kick it up a notch and find some used Paradigm Signature S2's which feature beryllium tweeters :)
 
Last edited:
Venomous said:
Well for $2000 you can find a nice pair of Paradigm Studio 20s speakers and a nice source amp/dac. I guarantee it would be one of the best sounding speakers you will ever hear. You could add a sub later on if you need more bass.

I'm an audiophile and for the price of those shitty ass Bose , you could have real speakers like Dynaudio, Focal, Paradigm or B&W's. There's no excuse to waste good money on shit with Bose spelled on it when you could have some amazing speakers I listed above.

Always always always spend as much of your budget as possible on speakers. I know the paradigms really come alive with a good 150+ watt amp because of their 91db sensitivity rating. You would pretty much be blown away.
Click to expand...

This is the reason why I am attracted to Bose. I don't know any of those brands that you listed up there. I had a pair of kevlar focal speakers in one of my cars and they were pretty good. I know Bower and wilkins is good, but my experience is limited and I am more drawn to their style and name than actually. Also the tower speakers that I would want from B and W plus a good receiver is pretty much already beyond my budget. Most of the affordable stuff with the Pioneer and thing looks absolutely horrible and yes looks is an important part of this equation. The stuff that you are recommending is a 2.1 setup, where I am looking for a surround type arrangement, 5.1 at the very least.

Edit: Those Paradigms do look pretty awesome though
 
Andyk5 said:
This is the reason why I am attracted to Bose. I don't know any of those brands that you listed up there. I had a pair of kevlar focal speakers in one of my cars and they were pretty good. I know Bower and wilkins is good, but my experience is limited and I am more drawn to their style and name than actually. Also the tower speakers that I would want from B and W plus a good receiver is pretty much already beyond my budget. Most of the affordable stuff with the Pioneer and thing looks absolutely horrible and yes looks is an important part of this equation. The stuff that you are recommending is a 2.1 setup, where I am looking for a surround type arrangement, 5.1 at the very least.
Click to expand...

Well my views are why waste money on shit speakers cycle after cycle? I looked at my cost of how many times I would replace subpar speakers.... Then I figured out I can own outstanding speakers and basically, never have to replace them.

Your views are mediocre speakers to get the job done... Well you are still wasting money on shit speakers. There's several internet brand speakers that sound really good at the price level of Bose.... Ascends and Definitive Technology being 2 good ones. Emotiva also sells some nice entry level 5.1 packages at the same price point.

http://www.definitivetech.com
http://www.ascendacoustics.com
http://www.emotiva.com

Whatever you do, do not blow that hard earned cash on shitty speakers like Bose... Do it right the first time, then invest in good sources.

Btw, focal home audio speakers sound amazing... However I choose paradigm because basically when it comes to home theater and audio, no one can hold a candle to paradigm or B&W for a dual role speaker. Focal and Dynaudio are amazing speakers for audio playback to me.

I think you will like the ascends or DFTs a lot.
 
Coming from the SQ mobile audiophile direction... these guys definitely know what they are talking about. Focal is all those years of French domination in certain niche engineering tasks like nuclear reactors (think of the Renault engines serving the RedBull F1 team so well) rolled up and focused on audio quality. I'm very fond of all their poly series car speakers. But Focal's mobile products are very modest indeed compared to some of the speakers they build for home audio.

Dynaudio loudspeakers have brought tears to my eyes on several occasions--Yo-Yo Ma sitting dead center before you playing a Bach concerto like you were at Carnegie Hall, while the same recording is flat and hollow from a pair of aggressively priced MB Quarts or even Boston Acoustics. Then the chest whack they can extend (given proper power), a wind-sucking shock from each and every quarter note in a house rhythm or the kick drum from a properly recorded funk band, completely separate and free from the low pulse of the accompanying bassline. You get what you pay for sometimes... and occasionally I've been able to extend this adage to the Bose brand--those times where you have to say "hey that tiny little wave radio sounds a lot bigger than it looks, I admit". But frequency response and hi-tech surround I just don't think of Bose anymore since things got crazy. When 5.1 was brand new, maybe, I really don't remember it was so far off my radar at the time. Alls I'm saying is, Venemous sounds like he knows what he's talking about and I wouldn't hesitate to at least price brands he mentioned after seeing him namedrop Focal and Dynaudio.
 
Bluesun311 said:
Coming from the SQ mobile audiophile direction... these guys definitely know what they are talking about. Focal is all those years of French domination in certain niche engineering tasks like nuclear reactors (think of the Renault engines serving the RedBull F1 team so well) rolled up and focused on audio quality. I'm very fond of all their poly series car speakers. But Focal's mobile products are very modest indeed compared to some of the speakers they build for home audio.

Dynaudio loudspeakers have brought tears to my eyes on several occasions--Yo-Yo Ma sitting dead center before you playing a Bach concerto like you were at Carnegie Hall, while the same recording is flat and hollow from a pair of aggressively priced MB Quarts or even Boston Acoustics. Then the chest whack they can extend (given proper power), a wind-sucking shock from each and every quarter note in a house rhythm or the kick drum from a properly recorded funk band, completely separate and free from the low pulse of the accompanying bassline. You get what you pay for sometimes... and occasionally I've been able to extend this adage to the Bose brand--those times where you have to say "hey that tiny little wave radio sounds a lot bigger than it looks, I admit". But frequency response and hi-tech surround I just don't think of Bose anymore since things got crazy. When 5.1 was brand new, maybe, I really don't remember it was so far off my radar at the time. Alls I'm saying is, Venemous sounds like he knows what he's talking about and I wouldn't hesitate to at least price brands he mentioned after seeing him namedrop Focal and Dynaudio.
Click to expand...

I am not denying the level of knowledge that these people have and trust me, I would love to have a system that would bring tears to my eye. I just don't know how to do it. I do not know if the $799 B&W tower speaker is worth the money or a $1500 paradigm is twice as good or not... and what to do with the sub and rear speakers. Should I worry about 7.1, what receiver and for what reason? Things like that. If there was a box that had matched speakers+sub and a network capable folder browsing receiver with adequate power, in the $2500 range, I would buy it.

Edit 1, the first time I plugged in my AudioEngine A5 speakers to my computer in a small room (no sub) and played a lossless version of Michael Jackson's thriller, I was blown away, I was literally a very happy man just with mid and high response of the speakers, so yeah I do appreciate quality and would love to have something even better than that experience.

Edit 2, A medium B&W 5.1 system is going to cost me 3450 just for the speakers, a min of $650 for receiver and I will be spending $4100 for the system. Is this going to be exactly two times or greater than the top of the line Bose system? I would think as the price goes up, return on investment would steeply go down when it comes to audio equipment.
 
Last edited:
Andyk5 said:
I am not denying the level of knowledge that these people have and trust me, I would love to have a system that would bring tears to my eye. I just don't know how to do it. I do not know if the $799 B&W tower speaker is worth the money or a $1500 paradigm is twice as good or not... and what to do with the sub and rear speakers. Should I worry about 7.1, what receiver and for what reason? Things like that. If there was a box that had matched speakers+sub and a network capable folder browsing receiver with adequate power, in the $2500 range, I would buy it.

Edit, the first time I plugged in my AudioEngine A5 speakers to my computer in a small room (no sub) and played a lossless version of Michael Jackson's thriller, I was blown away, I was literally a very happy man just with mid and high response of the speakers, so yeah I do appreciate quality and would love to have something even better than that experience.
Click to expand...

7.1 is out unless you are Into virtualized surround. I spent over $20k on speakers and equipment that took me 8 yrs to save for. My goal was a badass 7.1.. Well it ended up being a 11.4. Side channels, front high channels, rear high channels and 4 subs for my room. Bottom line is, DSP's can be great but for surround and room correction you will be chasing your tail. Very few blurays support 7.1 too...

I ended up going to 5.1 because of the virtual effects barely tapped those speakers... Sold off the majority of the bookshelfs and kept the 20s, 10s,100s, center and 2 subs.

So, if you really want to do this one time, piece it together. Start with a 2.0 or 2.1 and add to it.

B&W are great speakers but you should audition them with movies and music you know VERY well. That's how you will find the speakers that best fit your taste. Every speaker company offers entry to top tier. Paradigms entry start at the monitor line, mid level is Studio line and top tier is 30th anv & Signature series.

B&W, Focal, Dyn, etc all have equal levels like paradigm. When shopping simply figure out what you are comfortable spending and start listening at your local retailers. This took me about a year to settle on which I would buy and with what equipment.

My recommendation to you still stands... Go balls out on the best speakers you can justify as affordable. For a starter receiver my recommendation is still the 165 watt sony 840 or 1040 because of it's power. I'm a yamaha guy but was pretty impressed with the sony because of it's price and power. I can take some pics of my computer setup if you like and you can see how simple I went. The sound is fuckin amazing :)

Between the sony and klipsch sub I spent less than $500. Already had the speakers which were $1400/pr at the time I got them for surround duty. They have dropped in price as the 30th anv model was released. You will need some adjustable stands to dial in your staging and that's it.

High end speakers LOVE power.
 
Last edited:
Andyk5 said:
A medium B&W 5.1 system is going to cost me 3450 just for the speakers, a min of $650 for receiver and I will be spending $4100 for the system. Is this going to be exactly two times or greater than the top of the line Bose system? I would think as the price goes up, return on investment would steeply go down when it comes to audio equipment.
Click to expand...

Yup, that's so too rich for my blood I wouldn't even fall asleep thinking about them. But maybe the other brands he mentioned with more entry level SQ products like the Emotiva 5.1 set.

I do not think 7.1 is the big step from 5.1 that manufacturers would have you believe. In the theatres--we're talking as many as 32 or 64 directional speakers with Dolby Atmos. That's perhaps worth paying for to hear the spectacle. But does adding 2 more directional points really make a difference? Can the decoding accurately place the bullet you missed whizzing by your head? Well, if it can't with such a large sound stage as 5.1 can provide, than I don't think it can with 7.1 either.

And as venom pointed out... sources are pretty much half the equation. Everyone is saying you can get away with a better system for the SAME PRICE as the discounted Bose system you were looking at. So B&W being out of range shouldn't stop you from looking further at alternatives to the tiny satellites in that bose system.
 
Andyk5 said:
I should have just fucking bought the bose, never post it here and be done with it...
Click to expand...
You knew better. But I'll be honest, you did it anyway, so somewhere deep down you had doubts. Because you knew what people here would say.
 
Andyk5 said:
I am thinking about this receiver
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/in-comm...451&skuId=7928053&st=denon reciever&cp=1&lp=4

btw BW DM603 brand new or used 684 for fronts if they are the same price?

I should have just fucking bought the bose, never post it here and be done with it...
Click to expand...

You should check accessories4less to see if they have that as a refurb but other than that, nice receiver and has audyssey for room correction.

Id buy used speakers to get the best... Speakers don't wear out at that level.
 
Andyk5 said:
I do not know if the $799 B&W tower speaker is worth the money or a $1500 paradigm is twice as good or not... and what to do with the sub and rear speakers. .
Click to expand...

You'll never know until you go out and listen first hand.

btw BW DM603 brand new or used 684 for fronts if they are the same price?
Click to expand...

I wouldn't buy any speakers in this price range without listening to several options first and a good return policy. That said, I have some B&W DM604 S3s that I really like, but I've heard rumors from other B&W owners that their newer series has improved. It's noteworthy that piecing together a 5.1 system from the old DM603s as a base will be trickier most likely - due to the center and surrounds being also being out of production for a while.

My advice? Take it slow, relax, try to enjoy, and make auditioning different speakers a fun little trip and experience.
 
Andyk5 said:
I should have just fucking bought the bose, never post it here and be done with it...
Click to expand...

Ok, I just have to say this for closure:

Buying Bose is like paying for a high-end hooker and then expecting a dedicated long term, satisfying relationship. This simply doesn't happen.

By posting here, you may have saved yourself! :p
 
Andyk5 said:
I should have just fucking bought the bose, never post it here and be done with it...
Click to expand...

Then you'd be stuck with a system with holes in the frequency response and forget about anything resembling bass with that "sub woofer" (it's more of a mid bass). That Bose system is an overpriced home theater in a box. Bose is for people who like telling people they own Bose because it's more of a lifestyle statement product (B&O are guilty of this too despite them having some high end gear) than an actual performance product (you are on [H]ardforum right? ;)) and for guys who have had their balls taken away by their wife who won't let them have decent speakers in their living room because "big and ugly" speakers fuck up the flow of her decor.

With your $2000 budget you're either going to get pretty speakers that don't sound that great or ugly speakers that sound good. My advice is hit up http://www.Accessories4Less.com like Venomous suggested for a receiver. Denon or Onkyo will suffice. You don't need a $600+ receiver unless you NEED pre-outs for external amps, Audyssey Multeq XT32, or plan on going beyond 7.1. Stay in 5.1 for now, if and when budget permits go 7.1 if you really want to but there isn't a lot of content without virtual surround sound crap.

Also I don't get your idea on how hard it is to get a matching center, most brands have matching lines of towers, centers, and bookshelves. Unless you're buying something that's been discontinued for years it shouldn't be hard to figure out. It is hard to figure out what speakers you might like if you can't audition them thought and there isn't much you can do about it these days with B&M stores going away. :/

There's a lot of internet direct companies that are worth checking out like Venomous mentioned. There others like:

http://www.aperionaudio.com/
http://www.svsound.com/
http://www.theaudioinsider.com/ (Arx got some good reviews over at Hometheatershack forum last year)
http://www.hsuresearch.com/
http://www.axiomaudio.com/
http://www.rythmikaudio.com/ (subwoofers)

A lot of them have 30 day in home trials. Yeah you have to pay return shipping but at least you get to audition them in your own home which is the most important place to listen to new speakers.

Also check out for refurbished/factory refreshed, open box deals, or recently discontinued products. http://www.audioadvisor.com/ Sometimes has deals like that. I got some of my MartinLogan gear from there discounted because they were recently discontinued and factory refreshed. You missed some hella deals on discontinued MartinLogan speakers on Newegg last year.

Do you research, take your time, and don't be afraid to ask questions. :)
 
Last edited:
I met Dr. Hsu went I picked up my 4 vtf15s. Thanked me for my purchase and spent time with me how to go about setting them up for optimal performance. In the end I only needed two and found a great home for the other 2.

Nice to see other fellow Audiophiles on here :) this is becoming a great thread.
 
Op have you thought of building your own speakers?
You can make something amazing for a lot less than you would believe possible.
There are plenty of kits and guides on the subject.
I made a set of Transmission Line woofer + Ribbon tweeter speakers, they are gorgeous.

I'm also an Emotiva amplifier fan, currently running an XPA-2 (300Wpc stereo) and XPA-3 (200Wpc 3 channel).
http://shop.emotiva.com/collections/amplifiers/products/xpa-2-gen-2
http://shop.emotiva.com/collections/amplifiers/products/xpa-3
The XPA-2 is a better quality amp than the XPA-3.
Imported them from the US to the UK after reading a lot about them and havent been disappointed.
Previously I was running an Onkyo 875 AV amp rated at 140Wpc RMS and it was pretty gutsy.
Changing to these amps with the Onkyo still as a pre-amp opened up another world of detail and extended bass deeper.
We compared the XPA-2 to the Cyrus x-200 (£2000) and couldnt tell which was playing (using the Oppo 105 mentioned below as the pre-amp).
http://www.hifix.co.uk/stereo-and-mono-power-amps/cyrus/mono-x-200.html


If you arent using an AV amp as a pre-amp, you will need a sound processor because the above amps only take a raw analogue input, they have no volume control.
I'm not keen on recommending Emotivas sound processors after buying their UMC-1 which is a pita in many respects and is only about the same quality as the Auzentech Prelude soundcard, a big waste of money.
A good option is the Oppo 105 Blu Ray player as this acts as a very high quality pre-amp and can take HDMI (7.1) and USB (stereo) inputs from a PC, this is what I am using.
http://www.oppodigital.com/proddetail.asp?prod=BDP105
This player uses 32bit DACs (so can control the volume of 24bit media and retain full quality), it uses one DAC for 7.1 and another complete 8 channel DAC dedicated to USB stereo for maximum quality with music.
Having said that, they are releasing a newer version this year that I would prefer to have as it includes a dual core processor. The processor on the 105 occasionally slows down and locks up when trying to do too much with it.
But the sound quality is exemplary.
http://www.audioholics.com/blu-ray-and-dvd-player-reviews/oppo-bdp-105

Get sensible cables for your kit.
""You dont need to spend a lot to get most of what it can achieve"", upgrade if you want to push the boundaries.
I made some silver interconnects and they are amazing but cost quite a lot. You need high quality kit to appreciate them and you also need to be bothered about extracting the max detail otherwise its a waste. They make the sound a little brighter so if your system is already a little bright, you will need to tweak the speakers crossovers to suit.

Fat oxygen free copper speaker wire is my preference (for deeper bass and less detail loss) and I recommend cheapish oxygen free copper interconnects until you know its worthwhile spending more.

Van Damme speaker wire is my current favourite budget speaker wire.
I bought 12m of 6.0mm OFC cable for bi-wiring the front speakers, you probably will need 1/3 of the amount I bought.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Van-Damme-6...4682787&sr=8-12&keywords=van+damme+6.0mm+hifi
It passes more detail than the Van Damme blue series and extends bass deeper too.
2x 3m 6.0mm OFC cables for £27, bargain!
 
Last edited:
As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
If you like the Bose, Get the Acoustimass 10 for $900 from Crutchfield and pick up an entry level receiver for $300-400. Save a bit from the lifestyle system, use the rest for media players.
 
quick plug for NHT... super nice stuff

I have some SuperZero speakers and they are just a delight (need sub for lows) but great speakers $800 5.1 package

http://www.nhthifi.com/bookshelf-speakers-subwoofer-Super-Surround-5-1?sc=12&category=3780

plus a yammy network av receiver... you'd be in nice shape... (of course if the room is super big the superzero's might not be the right choice but if the bose thing would work than certainly the NHT's would.
 
Venomous said:
You should check accessories4less to see if they have that as a refurb but other than that, nice receiver and has audyssey for room correction.

Id buy used speakers to get the best... Speakers don't wear out at that level.
Click to expand...

|Tch0rT| said:
Then you'd be stuck with a system with holes in the frequency response and forget about anything resembling bass with that "sub woofer" (it's more of a mid bass). That Bose system is an overpriced home theater in a box. Bose is for people who like telling people they own Bose because it's more of a lifestyle statement product (B&O are guilty of this too despite them having some high end gear) than an actual performance product (you are on [H]ardforum right? ;)) and for guys who have had their balls taken away by their wife who won't let them have decent speakers in their living room because "big and ugly" speakers fuck up the flow of her decor.

With your $2000 budget you're either going to get pretty speakers that don't sound that great or ugly speakers that sound good. My advice is hit up http://www.Accessories4Less.com like Venomous suggested for a receiver. Denon or Onkyo will suffice. You don't need a $600+ receiver unless you NEED pre-outs for external amps, Audyssey Multeq XT32, or plan on going beyond 7.1. Stay in 5.1 for now, if and when budget permits go 7.1 if you really want to but there isn't a lot of content without virtual surround sound crap.

Also I don't get your idea on how hard it is to get a matching center, most brands have matching lines of towers, centers, and bookshelves. Unless you're buying something that's been discontinued for years it shouldn't be hard to figure out. It is hard to figure out what speakers you might like if you can't audition them thought and there isn't much you can do about it these days with B&M stores going away. :/

There's a lot of internet direct companies that are worth checking out like Venomous mentioned. There others like:

http://www.aperionaudio.com/
http://www.svsound.com/
http://www.theaudioinsider.com/ (Arx got some good reviews over at Hometheatershack forum last year)
http://www.hsuresearch.com/
http://www.axiomaudio.com/
http://www.rythmikaudio.com/ (subwoofers)

A lot of them have 30 day in home trials. Yeah you have to pay return shipping but at least you get to audition them in your own home which is the most important place to listen to new speakers.

Also check out for refurbished/factory refreshed, open box deals, or recently discontinued products. http://www.audioadvisor.com/ Sometimes has deals like that. I got some of my MartinLogan gear from there discounted because they were recently discontinued and factory refreshed. You missed some hella deals on discontinued MartinLogan speakers on Newegg last year.

Do you research, take your time, and don't be afraid to ask questions. :)
Click to expand...



I only checked accesoriesforless so far and the receiver that I want is $399 refurbished instead of $650 which is a great start tbh. I may be able to do get this done with refurbished receiver and used/openbox B&W speakers

Now an even more important question. How do I go test/listen to speakers? Do I bring a CD? My Iphone? Is it important to bring a lossless source? Also where do I go? I live in LA area and the only place that I know where I can play with equipment is bestbuy/magnolia but usually when I go there, it is pretty hard to get help and have a tech sit down with you and go through the material.
 
Andyk5 said:
I only checked accesoriesforless so far and the receiver that I want is $399 refurbished instead of $650 which is a great start tbh. I may be able to do get this done with refurbished receiver and used/openbox B&W speakers

Now an even more important question. How do I go test/listen to speakers? Do I bring a CD? My Iphone? Is it important to bring a lossless source? Also where do I go? I live in LA area and the only place that I know where I can play with equipment is bestbuy/magnolia but usually when I go there, it is pretty hard to get help and have a tech sit down with you and go through the material.
Click to expand...

if you are in LA you might also check out Pacific Sales the one near me has a decent listening room and a more helpful and knowledgeable sales guy then the magnolia/bb's

they have PSB, Monitor Audio ...i think B&W and some other decent speakers there

I'd probably take a cd or two.. and / or my smrt phone with some flac encoded stuff (winamp for android, among others plays flac) for the demoing.
 
Go to the manufactures web site they will have a dealer locator. Plug in your zip and they will give you a list of dealers. You can always call and see what models they have to demo. Take a few of your favorite CDs and Blurays to listen with.

When you go listen take a notebook. write down where you are, what speaker, material and your gut reaction in the first few minutes. Dont listen to something too long or too many things in one day as they will all run together. Youll know when you have found the right speakers. It will be one pair you forgot to write anything about b/c you were too busy listening to them

Aside from B&W you might want to check out.

http://www.psbspeakers.com/
http://www.vandersteen.com/vandersteen_001.htm
http://www.thelsagroup.com/
http://www.epos-acoustics.com/
http://www.silverlineaudio.com/
http://ohmspeaker.com/
http://www.tektondesign.com/index.html
http://www.emeraldphysics.com/
 
Nenu said:
I recommend cheapish oxygen free copper interconnects until you know its worthwhile spending more.
Click to expand...

Which it never is. And I can't imagine why this guy would be using analog interconnects anyway.
 
Frankie said:
Which it never is. And I can't imagine why this guy would be using analog interconnects anyway.
Click to expand...
For you maybe :p

You managed to read what you quoted, not sure how you missed the rest.
I demonstrated how a better amplifier can be integrated.
Its up to him what he does, this thread is giving him options.
 
Why would I want an $1100 blue ray player while my computer or a PS 4 can play blue rays already and can transfer the image and audio to a receiver?
 
It comes down to the quality of the DAC and analogue circuits.
The player I quoted has a superb DAC and well designed high quality 7.1 / stereo analogue circuits. The Digital to Analogue Conversion is very good, retaining more of the detail and balance of the original recording.
No matter what system you have, detail is lost and the sound changes from playing back the recording, to it coming out of your speakers.
Each component of your system will distort (change) the signal, it is about minimising this distortion.
You may not be bothered much, but if you can appreciate the extra detail, it adds another level of enjoyment to music and films.

For example.
My PC soundcard is the Auzentech Prelude, which is a pretty nice soundcard.
Its fairly detailed and sounds sweet, a great casual listen.
My old AV amps DAC sounded extremely similar, it was a close call which was best and wasnt really worth debating.
I chose to use my soundcard because it was easier to setup and use given that I played all my music and movies from my PC.

My External DACs (Oppo 105, Minimax Tube DAC plus) give deeper bass so can get more depth from films/music and extract a lot more detail which adds to stereo effects and brings recordings to life, making everything more immersive to listen to.
Some stereo music has 3D sound cues built in when listening through only 2 speakers, a better quality DAC can allow you to place voices, instruments, noises etc more precisely between the speakers.
The quality of the recording matters a lot for this aspect.
The sound quality is markedly better, I can hear many things that are just not present on my PC soundcard.

It can be difficult to find out what you can appreciate or care about.
If you know someone who has a decent setup, discuss it with them and have a listen.
Check different kit in quality hifi shops. Its not worth listening to equipment that isnt properly set up as there is a lot that can influence what you hear.
There is a LOT of kit out there and a lot options how to set them up.
A great system that is badly set up or badly configured can sound terrible.
Beware of being sold something when you arent ready to buy, salesmen are trained how to pressure you.
Verify what they tell you at other shops or online, some like to embellish what they want to sell to a large degree!
fyi.

The Audioholics link in my first post is a review of the Blu Ray Player from a Home Theatre / music player perspective.
This will help you understand how it is such a good player/DAC.
I'll post it again
http://www.audioholics.com/blu-ray-and-dvd-player-reviews/oppo-bdp-105

Another crucial basic element is how your room, speakers and seating are arranged.
This can make a big difference to how your system sounds.
I can explain if you are interested.
 
Last edited:
For the preamp function in the hypothetical system they were imagining for you. It's nice to see people still using preamps. The best systems I've ever heard used tube amps that all needed preamps to control the volume, iirc. On the mobile side I pretty much always incorporate a signal processor/line driver/preamp into systems because it cleans up the source and gets it hot volted for the noisy runs past the mosfets.
 
Andyk5 said:
Why would I want an $1100 blue ray player while my computer or a PS 4 can play blue rays already and can transfer the image and audio to a receiver?
Click to expand...

I forgot to mention, that particular player (Oppo 105) still allows you to play all your movies and music from your PC or PS4 if you wish, while still benefitting from its high quality.
It has 2 HDMI inputs and 2 HDMI outputs, 7.1 and stereo analogue out, SPDIF and PC USB input too so is very versatile.
You can even plug a hard drive into one of its other USB ports with movies or music on and play them from that with no PC involved.
It has direct Youtube and BBC iPlayer support amongst many others.
Its almost the perfect device!
 
Nenu said:
I forgot to mention, that particular player (Oppo 105) still allows you to play all your movies and music from your PC or PS4 if you wish, while still benefitting from its high quality.
It has 2 HDMI inputs and 2 HDMI outputs, 7.1 and stereo analogue out, SPDIF and PC USB input too so is very versatile.
You can even plug a hard drive into one of its other USB ports with movies or music on and play them from that with no PC involved.
It has direct Youtube and BBC iPlayer support amongst many others.
Its almost the perfect device!
Click to expand...

Hold on, so you are saying that it will act as an external audio/video DAC for any digital input? That is pretty sweet actually.
 
Yeah, its pretty damn good.

And it plays stereo and surround SACD disks directly in bitstreamed DSD format.
(SACDs are bitstream DSD media, but not all disks are native bitstream, some are converted from 24bit PCM)
We have compared the difference between 24bit PCM and proper native DSD bitstream media and the sound is a little smoother/easier/more laid back when using DSD.
You need a good amp/speakers to hear it.
Another little delight.


There is one annoyance with the Oppo 105.
When using HDMI from PC to play surround music, you cannot send anything higher than 24bit 96KHz.
The Oppo HDMI chip is reported to be capable of 24/96 with 7.1 and 24/192 with 5.1.
But my PC will not allow 24/192 when configured to 5.1, it still reports the max is 24/96.
To counter this I use Foobar2000 to play surround music from my PC and tell it to downsample to 24/96.
My Movie player downsamples to the acceptable bitrate.

To play stereo 24/192 material in full quality "from my PC", I use the USB interface.
USB sounds a little bit better than HDMI anyway when using a decent quality USB lead :)
(yep, different USB leads do sound different. Hard to believe, but its definitely true, this makes some people foam at the mouth lol ;))

The above limitation does not apply to playing surround music/movies from a USB hard drive or from a disk.
This will give full 24/192 into 7.1 because it doesnt need to use the HDMI in interface.


Oh yeah, one last niggle.
There is a tiny video lag on the HDMI outs from the Oppo.
When gaming, its better to make your PC output one HDMI port to the Oppo and another to your monitor, so the Oppo is only used for sound processing when gaming.
Its not a problem for playing movies as the sound/video are synced.
 
Last edited:
Well I was thinking about using a PS4 or an Xbox One for my media server but now I find out that that option has been taken away, also considering that they are not great blue ray players, I might be better off just streaming my media content from my hard drive to Oppo and then play blu rays directly in it.

So then What is the purpose of the receiver than. I do not like sound processing that takes lets say a stereo signal and tries to make it sound like surround, so basically all my receiver is going to do is send power and the pre decoded signal (by oppo) to the speakers. That does not seem like a major job.

Also What about 4k content. I don't want to spend $1200 on a blu ray player with 4k content right around the corner. Oppo will probably release an updated model that can play 4k soon right?
 
Venomous said:
I met Dr. Hsu went I picked up my 4 vtf15s. Thanked me for my purchase and spent time with me how to go about setting them up for optimal performance. In the end I only needed two and found a great home for the other 2.

Nice to see other fellow Audiophiles on here :) this is becoming a great thread.
Click to expand...

Are these HSU speaker and subs all that? Why haven't I heard of him except through a limited community on the internet?
 
Andyk5 said:
Are these HSU speaker and subs all that? Why haven't I heard of him except through a limited community on the internet?
Click to expand...

I have HSU subs as well. I've recommended their subs and amps to a bunch of people.

The reason you don't hear much about Hsu is that they operate solely on direct sales - they don't have their products at Best Buy or anything like that.

Are you looking for a set of big speakers or small ones? Bose speakers are tiny, and although they might not look big in the picture - Hsu speakers are actually quite large.
 
Nenu said:
I forgot to mention, that particular player (Oppo 105) still allows you to play all your movies and music from your PC or PS4 if you wish, while still benefitting from its high quality.
It has 2 HDMI inputs and 2 HDMI outputs, 7.1 and stereo analogue out, SPDIF and PC USB input too so is very versatile.
You can even plug a hard drive into one of its other USB ports with movies or music on and play them from that with no PC involved.
It has direct Youtube and BBC iPlayer support amongst many others.
Its almost the perfect device!
Click to expand...

your Oppo 105 must be a limited edition or something cause mine has one HDMI Input.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top