Bose Acoustimass......

ChristianBeccy

Established Member
Joined
Nov 20, 2006
Messages
313
Reaction score
18
Points
98
Age
49
Having spent months considering In-Ceiling Speakers to overcome the problem of not wanting to trail wires around the room, I have today looked at the Bose Acoustimass 6 system. It consists of 5 Satellite Speakers and a Sub. I am happy with the sound, but wonder if there are any other systems on the market that can offer the same? Other manufacturers?

I plan to mount the brackets on the ceiling over-head, they look really nice and still reasonably subtle like that, due to their size.

Also, does anyone offer any discounts on Bose? Best I can find for that kit is around £550.
 
Bose are definately the smallest speakers out there but they are not the best. I have an Acoustimass 3 in my kitchen and to be honest that is where it belongs :)

I am a bit out of touch with speakers at this price range but I am sure you can achieve better performance for the money, although the speakers are likely to be quite a bit bigger.

Hopefully someone will chip in with some advice :thumbsup:

Adam
 
Maybe try the Genies (i think they're £599 in Richer Sounds) or the Kef 2005.2s?
 
Thank you very much everyone. I am interested to learn that the buck doesn't stop with Bose as I (uneducated as it might be) always assumed they were among the best!!

I am very interested in being able to ceiling mount the speakers, which is something that made the Bose units very favourable, also they come in White. However, I don't want to make the wrong choice of speaker purely for that reason.

I will check all those links out (and would welcome any further suggestions)......:smashin:

By the way, these speakers are likely to be driven by the Sony 1200 AV Receiver (you know, the popular one that is around £400).:thumbsup:
 
Granted, Bose aren't the ultimate in sound quality, but as you've already stated yourself, you're happy with the sound quality, and their visual appearance. You're only going to better them by having something larger. Mission M Cubes are about as close as you'll get to the size of the Bose, and they come in white. Well, Ivory.
 
Helicon - Thank you for that. Indeed I am happy with the sound of the Bose units, not having an expert ear and being confined to the demo room of the dealer that I visited. I really should jus buy those!!

However, it is in my nature (and SO annoying it is too), to feel as though I must scour the entire market!! As such I usually end up frustrated and over-loaded with information!!

Anyway, I will take a look at the Mission ones. Thanks!!:clap:
 
Beware....never heard of them.
 
Have a look at KEF KHT packages, there are 3 series, and personally I think they blow the bose away. Also come in white...
 
OK, thanks for that. It looks like Bose are out of the equation then!!:smashin:
 
Have you looked at the AE Aego T's?

They come in gloss white (as well as black) and are quite small and also come with wall brackets. They'll blow any Bose kit out of the water sound wise.
 
SimonTSM

You talk an absolute load of rubbish!

What a totally uneducated person you are and I feel really sorry for you
 
If you shop around you can buy the same speakers used in the Bose system for £20 each. Bose just rebrand them.

They also fall apart, sound poor, and not very powerful.

I wont repeat what has been said in this article: http://www.intellexual.net/bose.html

Just to balance this, I have read the intellexual site a few years ago with interest but just because it is on the internet doesn't make it all fact. I don't blindly disbelieve anything written there and a lot makes perfect sense but I don't trust it with my life either.

I already stated there are better products for the money than Bose even though I own a set.

Just for the record, I have had mine for about 6 years, used every day with a Denon midi system and they haven't fallen appart. They don't sound amazing and don't go all that loud before they distort but they are fine for the kitchen at sensible volumes. :)

If you want something for AV at decent volumes then please don't bother with Bose unless you absolutely must have the smallest speakers possible.

PS. Mine is the Acoustimass III which is an entry level single cube 2.1 system. From what I understand the 'better' models still use the same drivers though, just more of them.


SimonTSM

You talk an absolute load of rubbish!

What a totally uneducated person you are and I feel really sorry for you

I don't know what you hope to get from this kind of reply but it isn't really helpful to the OP and IMO is a bit rude. If you don't like what he has to say why not dig out some Bose reviews that paint a more positive picture or let us know about your own experiences? :)

Cheers,

Adam
 
SimonTSM

You talk an absolute load of rubbish!

What a totally uneducated person you are and I feel really sorry for you
Riiighht. Ok, thank you for that. As for being uneducated, I'm very educated in the science of sound thank you very much.

I have heard, seen and examined quite a few Bose products, I feel that the arguments made in the URL I posted are fair.

I will not repeat what others have written. For interest, I can see this thread going down the same road: http://episteme.arstechnica.com/eve/ubb.x?a=tpc&s=50009562&f=67909965&m=207098011

I remember that being a part of the FAQ's on Audioasylum and Audioholics.


EDIT: Bose litigation. They tried to sue CEDIA for the use of Lifestyle, and AES for using their name in minutes for meetings. Meanwhile, an anonymous loudspeaker manufacturer (well some people here may know what company, it became good gossip at a CEDIA Expo a few years ago.) are suing Bose for using their subs in demo rooms to sell Bose products, I have been to a few, and they were hidden in the ceiling. Surprised Yamaha are not suing because they had a AX1 to power all the speakers, the customer just saw the Bose hi-fi and thought all the sound was being powered by that.
 
SimonTSM

Give me some examples then of what you state

You said they are £20 rebrands - example please

You said they fall apart - example please

You said they sound poor - ok personal preference that is ok

Why do you quote that well known site? For what purpose? If you actually believe the rubbish stated in that site then I really do feel sorry for you

The AM series that Bose make are typical of any other sub-sat system on the market, so any criticism levelled at them is a criticism of any sub-sat system on the market

One of the absurd comments made at that internet site, is that the bass made by the bass module is heard at the bass module itself, which is utter rubbish, because bass cannot be localised, and if you listen to an AM system you will find that the bass fills the room and is not localised at all

Just go down to SevenOaks and get a demonstration of the AM15, and you will see that its utter rubbish what you say

Other facts -

What Hi-Fi sound and Vision gave the AM15 4 out 5 stars when it auditioned it, and said it was good movie speaker system

Bose were the first to come up with the sound bouncing off walls idea to give a wider sound stage - the dual cube allows the soundstage to be spread, because it bounces the sound off walls - This is how the Yamaha sound projector works YSP1000 also - it bounces the sound off walls creating a surround effect from only the center speaker - Bose were here first with this technology and the AM15 has this incorporated into it

At a cinema you have loads of speakers, so Dr Bose tries to create this for you in your home, by bouncing the sound off walls, to create more sound dispersion

Dr Bose was the first to recognise that people want an easy to use, plug and play, home cinema speaker system, that you don't have to be a brain surgeon to set up. This is why the acoustimaster system was born. You plug all your speakers into the bass module, and it works out the rest for you. This means you can never stress any part of the speaker system, by say having the volume too high, because the acoustimaster module stops it

Also you don't have to worry about sub-woofer phase and crossovers, because the acoustimaster module does it all for you

Also they are extremely easy to fit into a space, been so small, and Bose were the first with this idea

Not everyone wants ugly speakers in their listening room, unless you have the benefit of a dedicated cinema room, in which case the small Bose cubes are probably not right for that type of environment, and the skies the limits as to which speaker package you choose in that circumstance

Agreed the acoustimaster module does lack what some dedicated sub-woofers produce, but these dedicated ones costs around about £500 - £600 alone, plus you will probably damage your hearing, if used alot, with that type of low frequency effects been made constantly at you, so again the acoustimaster module is more friendly to the average home cinema viewer in this respect too

It is not every ones cup of tea, and people are advised to audition before making a purchase, to see which they like the sound of the best, and sound is a very personal thing
 
SimonTSM

Give me some examples then of what you state

You said they are £20 rebrands - example please

You said they fall apart - example please

You said they sound poor - ok personal preference that is ok

Why do you quote that well known site? For what purpose? If you actually believe the rubbish stated in that site then I really do feel sorry for you

The AM series that Bose make are typical of any other sub-sat system on the market, so any criticism levelled at them is a criticism of any sub-sat system on the market

One of the absurd comments made at that internet site, is that the bass made by the bass module is heard at the bass module itself, which is utter rubbish, because bass cannot be localised, and if you listen to an AM system you will find that the bass fills the room and is not localised at all

Just go down to SevenOaks and get a demonstration of the AM15, and you will see that its utter rubbish what you say

Other facts -

What Hi-Fi sound and Vision gave the AM15 4 out 5 stars when it auditioned it, and said it was good movie speaker system

Bose were the first to come up with the sound bouncing off walls idea to give a wider sound stage - the dual cube allows the soundstage to be spread, because it bounces the sound off walls - This is how the Yamaha sound projector works YSP1000 also - it bounces the sound off walls creating a surround effect from only the center speaker - Bose were here first with this technology and the AM15 has this incorporated into it

At a cinema you have loads of speakers, so Dr Bose tries to create this for you in your home, by bouncing the sound off walls, to create more sound dispersion

Dr Bose was the first to recognise that people want an easy to use, plug and play, home cinema speaker system, that you don't have to be a brain surgeon to set up. This is why the acoustimaster system was born. You plug all your speakers into the bass module, and it works out the rest for you. This means you can never stress any part of the speaker system, by say having the volume too high, because the acoustimaster module stops it

Also you don't have to worry about sub-woofer phase and crossovers, because the acoustimaster module does it all for you

Also they are extremely easy to fit into a space, been so small, and Bose were the first with this idea

Not everyone wants ugly speakers in their listening room, unless you have the benefit of a dedicated cinema room, in which case the small Bose cubes are probably not right for that type of environment, and the skies the limits as to which speaker package you choose in that circumstance

Agreed the acoustimaster module does lack what some dedicated sub-woofers produce, but these dedicated ones costs around about £500 - £600 alone, plus you will probably damage your hearing, if used alot, with that type of low frequency effects been made constantly at you, so again the acoustimaster module is more friendly to the average home cinema viewer in this respect too

It is not every ones cup of tea, and people are advised to audition before making a purchase, to see which they like the sound of the best, and sound is a very personal thing

Easy sum up, "Each to Their Own" end of story.
 
Just to balance this argument and to put things in perspective, I've heard a £20 Eltax centre speaker that performed better than a £170 Bose centre speaker, both in the same setup. The Eltax had greater power handling, wider soundstage, more clarity and depth... ok, to be fair, they are not as diminutive as the Bose but surly with all the money spent on R&D and with all its proprietary 'space age' technology, one would expect a little more from Bose... but hey, on a positive note, the Bose looked slick. :cool:
 
Just to add my two pence worth, I sold Bose for 13 years and they are overpriced and undertalented. Bass is still directional at the frequencies that the Acousticmess (sorry Acoustimass) module operates at. It's not a sub-woofer, it replaces the mid and low frequencies that the cube arrays are unable to reproduce. Any decent pair of conventional hi-fi loudspeakers for half the price will outperform them. They are 'lifestyle' audio products not 'hi-fi'. Up until a few years ago, they were even more overpriced but offered with 'trade in' offers based on the size of the speakers you swapped in. How we used to smile as people traded in better sounding speakers to get the 'cute' Bose cubes.
 
They are 'lifestyle' audio products not 'hi-fi'.
You've sort of punctured a hole in your own arguments here. Yes, Bose IS a lifestyle product, just like numerous others from many manufacturers, known or unknown. A product that carries the 'lifestyle' tag comes with more pleasing aesthetics, but also lacks audio quality compared to a product that's designed to do a specific job, whether it's 2 channel or multi channel reproduction.

The fact is that, regardless of how good or bad Bose is, it's the type of product the majority want in their living rooms. Some manufacturers can only dream of having as many users as Bose have. And as the number of 'high end' customers begins to dwindle, the number of high street dealers who sell quality product disappear one by one, along with the specialist manufacturers supplying them, products like Bose will become more and more popular, whether we like it or not.
 
Audio fidelity of Bose aside, there's another reason why some including myself tend to avoid spending money with Bose; whilst they are not alone, their sales practices are incredibly restrictive and generally prevent their products falling in line with fair market value through competition.

Their channels are aggressively policed to prevent decent discounts, out of territory sales, and even fair comparison between competitive products in-store.

I'm not adverse to paying a reasonable premium for a 'top of the market' product, or a knowledgeable reseller, but I always get the sense with Bose that they'll use any tactic to milk the punter.
 
Those that do want to buy Bose products can enjoy 'freebies' being supplied with various Bose systems at the moment, anything from free stands to a free Wave Radio II, and free travel bags with Bose I-pod docks.


their sales practices are incredibly restrictive and generally prevent their products falling in line with fair market value through competition.
What competition do they have, like for like?

Their channels are aggressively policed to prevent decent discounts, out of territory sales, and even fair comparison between competitive products in-store.
Bose doesn't carry the sort of profit margin that other manufacturers do, which is why you won't see silly prices. A 10% discount for the consumer doesn't mean a 10% loss in profit for the retailer.......
 
Just to balance this out, there are quite a few examples where those that have bought Bose's hifi series speakers have had free driver replacements well out of warranty. There was even one guy who had a faulty 901 speaker and Bose replaced them for a new pair even though the old ones were like six or seven years old (I will attempt to find this but it was some time ago when I read it). I will also say that their auto-setup and ease of use are both very good indeed.

But, their driver tech is not good at all. I have never seen a dome or ribbon tweeter - just full range cone drivers of different sizes. The acoustimass bass modules, different to the old "Lifestyle" system described in the Intelexual site, use three 4" drivers firing downwards with a transmission line bass port out the front. While I am not a sub expert, but the use of 4" drivers can't be good for shifting air at low frequencies?

Russell
 

The latest video from AVForums

TV Buying Guide - Which TV Is Best For You?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom