Bose 3-2-1 DVD H.E.S...?

T

TBONEU

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 5, 2003
Messages
500
I have a cheap DVD player that's getting ready to die on me. So I'm looking at a decent dvd player with speakers to replace it. I have many DVD-Rs too.

So far I found three interesting ones:

Bose 3-2-1 DVD Home Entertainment System (I like the compactness of it a lot but not sure on the price)

Sony DAV-BC150 5-Disc Progressive Scan DVD Home Theater System (don't know if I want 5 speakers all over the room)

http://www.kefinstanttheatre.com/ (Way out of my price range but like the compactness too)

I guess I like the Bose for being compact. I have read mixed reviews but more people seem to like it then dislike it. Also, I heard it at Best Buy and it sounded very good compared to my 27" TV.

Any one have had experience with the Bose system?
 
Well, bose in general is "buy other sound equipment."

Is that the 3-2-1 system that costs almost a grand or so? If so then... yeah get something else. A good pair of speakers and a receiver (if you're doing stereo) wouldn't be as compact, but would sound tons better and be a lot cheaper.

What is your budget exactly?
 
I could buy the Bose for $800 but rather spend MUCH less. Could you offer some sources to look for a decent receiver and speakers? I still need to replace the DVD player too, that's why I was looking for an all in one solution.

I'm totally lost when it comes to audio/video equipment!

Thanks,
 
TBONEU said:
I could buy the Bose for $800 but rather spend MUCH less. Could you offer some sources to look for a decent receiver and speakers? I still need to replace the DVD player too, that's why I was looking for an all in one solution.

I'm totally lost when it comes to audio/video equipment!

Thanks,
Click to expand...

Pffft, go get an Onkyo reciever (6.1, DTS-ES support) and 4 speakers, a center, and a powered sub. You can get it all in an effective kit for that price; hell may even sound good. Oh, and the point of surround sound is to surround yourself with sound; you need speakers around you to do that effectively. You name other ways of course, but hell, to sound good, do it right.
 
A lot of those Onkyo HTIB's come with DVD players too. They might not be the best sound quality on the planet, but for $5-$800 they are pretty good, and Onkyo usually has good built quality/warranty support.
 
JackieO said:
A lot of those Onkyo HTIB's come with DVD players too. They might not be the best sound quality on the planet, but for $5-$800 they are pretty good, and Onkyo usually has good built quality/warranty support.
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Exactly.
 
I would like to reaffirm that Bose sound products seriously suck. I got an entire Bose system free with my house, its all terrible quality and reeks of "marketspeek". All of my friends think Bose is the best quality becaue its the highest priced stuff at CC and BestBuy. Definately not true. Listen to these guys, they know the best in your price range.
 
If you want to get a little more serious and don't mind ordering from more than one company you could check out Rocket Tykes or HSU Ventriloquist systems. I know right now the Tykes plus an Xbox/Gamecube/PS2 are on sale for $399. Find a receiver for ~$200 and a DVD player for ~$100 and you've got a killer setup for $700 plus a console of your choice.

Oh the Tyke thing ends on 9/29, btw.
 
Thanks for the advice guys!

I think I will ditch the Bose and consider Onkyo HT-S677C model instead. I'm not sure if the extra $100 is worth it for the HT-S777C model?

Forgive my newbieness, but what is so great about DTS-ES support?

Any one own one of these models by chance?
 
I'll second the Rocket Tyke deal. I'm contemplating doing that for a setup of speakers for the living room, but I'm not sure I'll have the cash on me by the time the deal ends.
 
You can look at the Sony Dream system, more powerful than bose at half the cost. Go to Frys or Circuit City and take a look around..
 
AV123 is also selling the Kenwood VRS-7100 for $99 with purchase of a ELT or Tyke system. That comes to a 5.1 speaker system w/ receiver for $499. Drop in a good DVD player, like the Pioneer DV-275-S for $~80. If you are looking at $1000 systems, then the ELT speaker package + VRS-7100 for $1098.00 would be an excellent choice.

read about the deal here:
http://www.av123.com/products_product.php?section=speakers&product=42.1

Look at more pictures here:
http://forum.av123.com/photopost/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=1191&thumb=1

Look at a set installed in a typical space here:
http://forum.av123.com/photopost/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=8&thumb=1
 
DTS-ES is 6.1 channel DTS sound support. 1 centre front,1 sub, 2 fronts, 2 rears, 1 rear centre.

Not really nesessary, not a lot of movies support DTS, even less support DTS-ES. So it shouldn't be considered a make or break feature. Remember you need to buy a second centre channel speaker for the rear too.

As long as you have Dolby Digital you'll be good to go.

Dolby ProLogic I and II are formats that take a stereo soundtrack and make a sort of surround sound. You're reciever will switch to these when watching regular TV, VHS, and other older formats.

DTS is a less compressed form of DD, so the sound is more clear but still 5.1.

DTS-ES and DD EX are 6.1 channel formats of the above.
 
The only problem with the Kenwood receiver they are selling is it doesn't have analog ins, so if you intend to have 5.1 sound for games, it's a no go unless you have a sounstorm mb. Otherwise the kenwood+tyke deal is really (here I go dating myself) out of this world.
 
Thank you vodkajello for the explainations of all the A/V lingo.

I think I'll be looking for the Dolby ProLogic feature too.

I saw Fry's had an ad for Panasonic DMR-55E (Progressive-Scan DVD Recorder) and SC-HT05 (5.1 Home Theater System) for $400 after $50 rebate. I'm wondering just how decent is the 5.1 system compared to Onkyo HT-S677C?
 
analog speaker inputs on a receiver would not matter as nost of us will us s/pdif. think chaintech av-710 (25 dollars)
 
re: thanks. No problem, that's what we hang around here to do.

You won't be able to find a surround receiver without ProLogic I or II.
They all have it, it's the most basic form of surround sound.

The only problem with using spdif output from the computer is that no surround will work unless it's from a movie. If you want surround in games you have to output with the analog outputs. Conversely this means your AV receiver needs 6 channel analog inputs.
 
Bling said:
analog speaker inputs on a receiver would not matter as nost of us will us s/pdif. think chaintech av-710 (25 dollars)
Click to expand...

Digital outs = no surround in games. If you want to have 5.1 in games (think Doom 3, fallout, etc...) you need to use the analog ins unless you have a soundstorm board.
 
Sorry. I thought this was strictly for HT DVD use. This is why I pointed out the kenwood deal.

Look at Ecost.com for Denon AVR-484 or Denon AVR-1403.
 
If it is for DVD's only (no games or sacd's) that Kenwood deal is definitely the way to go.
 
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