Bose Cinemate II vs Soundbar

Hey,,,, not sure how much help I can be as I have never heard the Sony 550 inside my house,,, only heard it at the store's and as we all know making a judgment on anything heard or seen in a store is the worst thing anyone can do.

I have had the Cinemate's all over at my house for a visit and know them pretty well and also have owned all the other Sony bars except the 550,,, so I can kinda base my comments off that a bit I guess.

The best Cinemate is the Bose GS series ll, the little gemstone speakers do sound much better than the standard Cinemate speakers on the lower costing series ll.

As far as which is going to sound better in your house between the Bose and the Sony,,, I have no idea,, each system reacts differently to its "surroundings" (pun intended).

Walls and reflective areas will affect soundbars and the Cinemate greatly.

Honestly,, the only way to really know which system is going to work best is to buy them both and demo them side by side or buy each one and take it home for a spin one at a time if you cant afford to buy both at the same time,,,,,,,, return the loser back to the store.

I know for myself,, Im very very happy with my new Bose 1SR soundbar,, it was not cheap and lacks basic features that would be nice to have but the sound Im getting out of this thing is simply stunning,,, sounds like I have a full-on surround system hooked up in my living room,,, sound wise it beat out my Sony 350 soundbar,,,,, but with that being said I think my Bose 1SR would also beat out the Cinemate system's,,, so the Sony vs the Cinemate would be more of a fair comparison.

Hope that helped a tiny bit.

Cheers
Davyo

Have you looked at the Vizio VHT510,,, thats a great little system.

Cheers
Davyo

To me there was a difference with the non-GS and the GS,,, but if you have a wide open type room neither Bose is going to give you a good surround effect.

The Vizio seems like it might be a good option for you to take a look at,,, I had the VHT510 for a while and was very happy with it,,,, much much cheaper than the Bose as well.

Cheers
Davyo

Go check out the the Bose Cinemate 1SR

No,,,almost ALL soundbars and the Bose Cinemate as well are very dependant on walls to bounce sound off of.

Even my much loved Bose 1SR soundbar is very dependant on walls to reflect sound.

The reason I suggested the Vizio VHT510 is because it has the rear/side speakers so it is not as dependant on walls to bounce the sound off of.

Cheers
Davyo

Dont worry about the Bose haters/bashers,,,,, most of the time they have never even heard the Bose system they are bashing,,,, they like to bash cuz it make's them feel like they are some kind of audiofile.

Some of the sheep will even post the typical crap like "No highs no lows, must be blose" and other clever sayings and BS,,,,,,, the opinion that matters most is yours and if you are pleased with the sound.

Im very happy with my Bose 1SR soundbar and in the past have been impressed with the Cinemate's I have personaly demoed at home,,, I dont slam a product that I dont have hands on experience with,,, I base my opinions on real world experience,,,,, and not mindless sheeple bashing slogans.

I have always pointed out the downsides of Bose products and the upsides,,, no audio gear is perfect.

Cheers
Davyo

Or maybe...it is because people are comparing Bose to bigger speakers with full range drivers. Which isn't a fair fight...

However, I think the two major complaints about Bose ARE:

1. their own claims "Get a full range sound in a small form factor speaker" which is complete bull...a 2 1/4 inch driver with no tweeter will NOT sound like a decent bookshelf or tower speaker.
2. Bang versus the buck...even if you go small, there are better speaker (subjective, I know) for the same or less money. I briefly owned the Lifestyle system* and the satelittes and "base module" in that package are garbage! Orb, Cambridge Audio, Klipsch, Polk, hell even Pyle Pro make satelitte speakers as good as those Bose Sats...

That and a set of Companion II computer speakers that are so bad that they have been replaced by 20 dollar Altec Lansing speakers, and well, fool me once...fool me twice...won't get fooled again!

*edit...sorry, it was the Acoustimas system that I had! My bad....

Agreed,,,, the Cinemate can sound pretty darn good in the right setting.

Bose is a love/hate releationship for me,,,, some things they do very well and some things they do very badly,,,,,,,, ohh well, no company is perfect.

I do know I love the sound coming out of my 1SR Bose soundbar, but I hate the price I paid for it and the lack of basic features that should have been included on the 1SR.

Cheers
Davyo

I am not arguing with you, davyo...you have forgotten more about audio that I have learned! And I did buy a Bose Wave CD player for my mom, becuase she needs SIMPLE and SMALL FOOTPRINT...and this thing is perfect for her.

I have been debating a similar problem. I have the original Bose Cinemate system which I really like. We bought an LG 55LW5600 3D TV and I figured it might be time to move up to a digital hdmi based system or perhaps at least optical. I have to use the headphone jack on the LG to connect to my Bose as there are no RCA out ports. Works fine though. Mind you I feel I hear a slight hiss from the speakers.

I went and bought a Sony 550w soundbar. The subwoofer was fine but I must not have given the soundbar a fair try as it sounded no better than the TV speakers. The reason I took it back after a day was that I could hear the fan in the receiver. It's a small fan and it was driving me crazy. I must have had a defective unit as surely Sony would not have a receiver that was noisy for a Home Theatre?

I have been debating giving the Sony another try. The question then is whether or not the receiver is totally silent? Can the soundbar be placed behind the TV. I don't like it sitting in front. The other option would be on a shelf below the TV.

I have a Sony iPhone dock which gives rich sound. The 550w, apart from the subwoofer, gave thin, tinny horrible sound. I am hoping it was just me.

Am not interested in surround sound, but fewer wires, stereo sound with a nice subwoofer. The hdmi switch is a real plus. If not the Sony or the Cinemate then what else? Would it be worth moving to the Cinemate II to get optical?

I never realized that audio could be so complicated!


Philip

Hello,
try using an optical to rca converter. 20 bucks on ebay. I to have the first cinemate and have connected with the converter. it works real well. sound good.
better than spending 719 dollars for a new gs system.

Hello,
try using an optical to rca converter. 20 bucks on ebay. I to have the first cinemate and have connected with the converter. it works real well. sound good.
better than spending 719 dollars for a new gs system.

I work at Fry's and have demoed both units for customers over and over. I personally think the Bose Cinemate II gives a better sound than the Sony Soundbar mentioned. Highs and mids sound more crisp and clear, and the lows were better sounding to me. If I had to pick a system that's simple and easy to use, the Cinemate II is a great system for your average consumer (albiet a bit overpriced)

I did a great deal of research and testing to find a suitable soundbar under $600.00. The Bose Cinemate II sounded OK at the store display. I liked the Harmon Kardon SB 16 ($599.99) and the Klipsch Icon SB 1 ($599.99). When for another trip to Best Buy and they had the Polk Audio IHT Soundbar 6000 for $399.99. That is $200 less than the Klipsch model I really wanted. Ended up buying the Polk 6000 to avoid the wrath of my wife and took it home for a spin. I have an open concept living/dining room with marble floors. The Polk sound decent, but not great. I had to ditch my old 5.1 surround sound system and got tired of dragging out the rear speakers (on stands) when I wanted to watch a movie. The amp finally died, so the trash it went. I realize soundbar would not provide true surround sound. I wanted good music playback from Pandora, etc., and wanted decent movie sound. I really was not totally satisfied with the Polk. It was OK, not great. Then, 2 days after buying the Polk, Best Buy put the Klipsch Icon SB 1 on sale for $449.99! I took the Polk back and paied the $50.00 bump for the Klipsch and I could not be happier. This guy rocks! Music sounds great and movies are better. For a mid-priced soundbar, the Klipsch is a winner IMO.
Cheers

The klipsch is a great soundbar, probably one of the best at around $500. I have heard the polk many times and everytime it has left me disappointed. Another great soundbar is the Harman Kardon SB16.

The problem is, is that you guys think the Sony 550w sounds better, I hear that sony htct260 and 550w play like every other weekend and by comparison the htct260 which is cheaper sounds better to me.

Isn't "better" a subjective description?

Can be but I have showed numerous probably in the 100 range by now the comparison between both the htct260 and the htct550w and everyone prefers the htct260 over the 550w. Music and movie sound.

The 550W may have better specs, but I personally think the HT260 sounds better as well. Although it may be because of where the sound bar is being played (in a very open show room).

Just some advice, never just listen to a soundbar directly in front of it. Listen to it at 45 degrees angle doesn't have to be exactly there but you get a better accurate hearing at an angle of how the sound bar sounds like.