Well, It's like this....I have a £3,000 max budget (until the wife finds out!) to buy a new home cinema system incl speakers. Thing is - what to get?!!! For some reason I've always been brought up thinking that the sounds from Bose lifestyles 38 / 48 can't be beaten, but I read all these reviews and think that maybe they're all wrong! Bose don't do HDMI, they don't do link-ups to PC for transferring music....but they do do small speakers, a hard drive for storing music and handy remote for knowing what you like (though this could just be a gimmic!). I was erring towards all in one systems, but if someone can convince me that seperates is def the way to go forward, then lets do it!!!! So, in summary: Bose Lifestyle 38/48, A N Other all in one sys or seperates...... that's easy!
£3000 budget but what to buy????!!!!
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depends on how soon you think you'll want to upgrade really. a separate system would be more flexable and should sound better.
If you get an all in one then obviouly there are less boxes, but you'd be limited with what you can plug in the back (i'm guessing they may only have a couple of aux in's). Do Bose do blu-ray yet? If its a no to hdmi then i'd guess not.
You could get an outstanding system for £3k, i have no idea what to suggest as i've not listened to that level of kit really.
If you want small speakers then the Mission M cube's look pretty small and got good reviews.
If you get an all in one then obviouly there are less boxes, but you'd be limited with what you can plug in the back (i'm guessing they may only have a couple of aux in's). Do Bose do blu-ray yet? If its a no to hdmi then i'd guess not.
You could get an outstanding system for £3k, i have no idea what to suggest as i've not listened to that level of kit really.
If you want small speakers then the Mission M cube's look pretty small and got good reviews.
For that sort of dough you will get some nice kit. Believe me Bose is not the best,not even close. Is the £3000 to cover the TV as well. Things to decide on are do you want floor standing book shelf or design speakers, SkyHD Blu-ray. Stick around on here and other forums you will glean good advice and knowledge. Go to HI FI specialists Richer Sounds, Superfi do your homework you will not regret it
Sc00bied00
Well-known member
Hi Randvv, I agree with fast eddie, separates are more flexible and if you decide to upgrade int the future then you are not as restricted. I don't know what your knowledge is but this forum is a good place to get started, there is loads of advice and help. your budget will see you with a great system. You don't mention if you need a TV / BD player, what percentage of time is split between music and film. You should also factor in cost for cabling, whether you want a style / more traditional speaker layout, room size is also a consideration. The WHF website will give you an idea of a system here look under the home cinema for the budget, mid and high end systems as a starting point. I think most go by the rule of thirds for purchasing, and around 10 percent of system cost for cabling, shop around for the best deals, and importantly demo the items to here/see what your interested in. HTH - sc00bie
Frank Harvey
Well-known member
The Bose Lifestyle 28, 38 and 48 all use the VS2 scaler, which is a 1080p upscaler, video upconverter (composite, s-video etc to HDMI) and HDMI switching box. This is an option for the 18 system, so it's still possible. Obviously a seperate AV amp and speaker package will give you better quality overall, but that's going to take up more space.
A few years ago I bought a Lifestlye 25 for £2300. It is very compact but thats about the only thing I found it had going for it after living with it for a couple years. If you love music then IMO just forget a Bose Lifestyle system, if your only want a compact system and your watching is mainly movies then I'd say its an option for you.
One thing you need to remember is that with Bose your paying a premium for the product, and a fairly hefty one at that. The system I have now has cost me about the same, but I'm only running 2.1 at the minute. Other than the sub its no more intrusive than the Bose was and the speakers in fact look a lot better, but the sound quality is leaps and bounds above what the Bose was.
Here is how much flexiblity the back of my amp has compared to virtually nothing on a Bose =ÿhttp://www.eu.onkyo.com/ir_img/18814710_653973176c.jpg . My amp includes all HD sound format processing, auto setup, 1080p upscaling for all sources, video switching, HDMI inputs and is totally flexible, non of which the Bose gives you.
I would seriously think about what you want out of your system before buying a Bose because if you end up unhappy with it, as I REALLY did, its an expensive lesson to learn. Like I say Ive spent around the same on what I have now and it blows the Bose out of the water, plus I can upgrade individual components as and when I choose, I wont have to simply sell the whole thing at a massive loss (£500 for a 2 and half year old system with the Bose) and start again. There are also solutions available that are as compact as the Bose speakers but sound better, and an AV amp isnt going to take up silly amounts of space. The only place you generally lose out space wise is with a sub as the more performanc you want the bigger the box generally speaking, but even small subs go lower and perform better than the Bose one, which isnt actually a sub at all. Notice how they market it as a bass unit, thats because they cant call it a sub because it isnt one.
I can direct you in the direction of some options if your so desire, just let me know.ÿ
One thing you need to remember is that with Bose your paying a premium for the product, and a fairly hefty one at that. The system I have now has cost me about the same, but I'm only running 2.1 at the minute. Other than the sub its no more intrusive than the Bose was and the speakers in fact look a lot better, but the sound quality is leaps and bounds above what the Bose was.
Here is how much flexiblity the back of my amp has compared to virtually nothing on a Bose =ÿhttp://www.eu.onkyo.com/ir_img/18814710_653973176c.jpg . My amp includes all HD sound format processing, auto setup, 1080p upscaling for all sources, video switching, HDMI inputs and is totally flexible, non of which the Bose gives you.
I would seriously think about what you want out of your system before buying a Bose because if you end up unhappy with it, as I REALLY did, its an expensive lesson to learn. Like I say Ive spent around the same on what I have now and it blows the Bose out of the water, plus I can upgrade individual components as and when I choose, I wont have to simply sell the whole thing at a massive loss (£500 for a 2 and half year old system with the Bose) and start again. There are also solutions available that are as compact as the Bose speakers but sound better, and an AV amp isnt going to take up silly amounts of space. The only place you generally lose out space wise is with a sub as the more performanc you want the bigger the box generally speaking, but even small subs go lower and perform better than the Bose one, which isnt actually a sub at all. Notice how they market it as a bass unit, thats because they cant call it a sub because it isnt one.
I can direct you in the direction of some options if your so desire, just let me know.ÿ
What a fantastic idea this forum idea is! I must admit - I'm rather new to the forum scene....but I've got the bug big time!! So that's the decision made then....Bose is out and seperates is in!
With regards as to where I go from here, I'm going to go for either speakers on a stand or shelf (probably stand to get the right height)......thinking one of KEF, B&W or Mission M cube at this stage...still early days yet!
Amp: Who knows! the Sony STR-DA5400ES looks good, but so does the Pioneer SC-LX81....and Onkyo comes in well. You're all right...the Bose is quite limiting and lack of HDMI must surely affect the quality of Sky HD. For playing music, I'm undecided....maybe hitch up a cd player in time, or link up an iPod I guess
Cables: I've been Quad all the way so far...can't see me going too far wrong there!
exciting times!
With regards as to where I go from here, I'm going to go for either speakers on a stand or shelf (probably stand to get the right height)......thinking one of KEF, B&W or Mission M cube at this stage...still early days yet!
Amp: Who knows! the Sony STR-DA5400ES looks good, but so does the Pioneer SC-LX81....and Onkyo comes in well. You're all right...the Bose is quite limiting and lack of HDMI must surely affect the quality of Sky HD. For playing music, I'm undecided....maybe hitch up a cd player in time, or link up an iPod I guess
Cables: I've been Quad all the way so far...can't see me going too far wrong there!
exciting times!
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