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GF wants Bose.... I say we can get better...

post #1 of 30
11/7/12 at 6:56am
Thread Starter 
So we recently put our TV above the fireplace in my living room, last night the conversation of surround sound came up after hanging out at a friend who has that bose cinemate II. After looking online and seeing the price tag of almost $600 for 2 speakers and a subwoofer, i brought up im sure i can come up with a better system for the same price . I'm no audiophile by any means but i also like to get my moneys worth for a product and get the best i can for my dollar. My GF has said she'll give me until after Black Friday to see what i can come up with for the same price range as what she wanted. So assume you had a $600 to spend on a 5.1 surround sound system,

Budget- I'd like to keep it 600 or under to prove a point, i dont preffer brand A over brand B just want something nice, and better then the cinemate...

Room- i'll measure today when i get home from work.
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post #2 of 30
11/7/12 at 7:11am
Does your $600 limit include the receiver cost?
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post #3 of 30
11/7/12 at 7:43am
Thread Starter 
if possible yes... if not i'll buy one on the side and not tell her... ooh the joys of trien to prove a point to the women lol.
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post #4 of 30
11/7/12 at 7:53am
bose is a rip off! my set up cost me $550 for a 5.1 set up. denon 1612, i got it sale for $179, energy takes 5.0 got it sale for $169, and dayton sub 1200 got it sale for $109. my set up is better than $2999.99 bose!
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post #5 of 30
11/7/12 at 9:23am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by caloyzki View Post

bose is a rip off! my set up cost me $550 for a 5.1 set up. denon 1612, i got it sale for $179, energy takes 5.0 got it sale for $169, and dayton sub 1200 got it sale for $109. my set up is better than $2999.99 bose!

where'd you get your stuff from? Seems like you found some steal of a deal prices!
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post #6 of 30
11/7/12 at 11:04am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gritter99 View Post

where'd you get your stuff from? Seems like you found some steal of a deal prices!

denon 1612 accessories4less, reg. 189, energy takes 5.0 newegg.com reg 199. and dayton 1200 parts express reg. 130.
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post #7 of 30
11/7/12 at 11:38am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gritter99 View Post

So we recently put our TV above the fireplace in my living room, last night the conversation of surround sound came up after hanging out at a friend who has that bose cinemate II. After looking online and seeing the price tag of almost $600 for 2 speakers and a subwoofer, i brought up im sure i can come up with a better system for the same price . I'm no audiophile by any means but i also like to get my moneys worth for a product and get the best i can for my dollar. My GF has said she'll give me until after Black Friday to see what i can come up with for the same price range as what she wanted. So assume you had a $600 to spend on a 5.1 surround sound system,
Budget- I'd like to keep it 600 or under to prove a point, i dont preffer brand A over brand B just want something nice, and better then the cinemate...
Room- i'll measure today when i get home from work.

so the Bose cinemate is a 2.1 system correct? But your gonna get a 5.1 system with the same money? Doesn't seem quite right.
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post #8 of 30
11/7/12 at 11:39am
Quote:
Originally Posted by afrogt View Post

so the Bose cinemate is a 2.1 system correct? But your gonna get a 5.1 system with the same money? Doesn't seem quite right.

+1, you can get a better 2.1 for the money...

...or you can do WAAAAY better for $900

For example:

a) under $600
- Denon 1513, refurb for $130
- NHT Super Zero 2.0, 2 at $100 each
- Outlaw M8 for $250

b) about $850 - $900
- Denon 890, refurbed for $250
- NHT Absolute Zero, 2 at $200 each; or slightly bigger (and my preferred) for $350 pair KEF iQ30
- stick with the M8 for sub (save up for better in future), $250
Edited by rick240 - 11/7/12 at 12:37pm
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post #9 of 30
11/7/12 at 11:41am
^+1
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post #10 of 30
11/7/12 at 12:17pm

oh geez,

just don't buy bose sound bar. My friend has one and it sounds like crap.  Anyway , might wanna look at NHT Audio i hear good things about them and they do have some decent price for bookshelf speakers. 299-500 $ http://www.audioadvisor.com/products.asp?dept=49  :)

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post #11 of 30
11/7/12 at 12:23pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by afrogt View Post

so the Bose cinemate is a 2.1 system correct? But your gonna get a 5.1 system with the same money? Doesn't seem quite right.


i was going under the impression that if i can buy a 5.1 HTIB which is better then the bose for the same $ or a tad more, i should be able to piece together a 5.1 system that will beat the bose/HTIB for around the money as well. Like i said, im not looking for a $2000 audiophile sound system.
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post #12 of 30
11/7/12 at 12:25pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by rick240 View Post

+1, you can get a better 2.1 for the money...

http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/ONKHTS9400/Onkyo-HT-S9400-THX-7.1-Ch-Network-Home-Theater-Receiver/Speaker/1.html

this was suggested to me somewhere else.. Hell this is a 7.1 system for the same money..
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post #13 of 30
11/7/12 at 12:38pm
You will get allot of people on here that will tell you to stay away from Boes but don't necessarily rule it out.

It all depends on what your after. With your TV over the fireplace, Bose may have an estitically pleasing setup your interested in. Bose sounds great for low/med level surround sound.

I would say look around at offerings other than Bose for a dedicated home theater but for a nice TV/movie listening area, Bose may serve you well.

It's been awhile since I looked at Bose surround system but I would make sure they offer an integrated Blue Ray player and HDMI input to add something like an Apple TV or other device to expand your options.
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post #14 of 30
11/7/12 at 12:56pm
Ask your girlfriend to google the phrase "no highs, no lows" to see how many results she gets. When I was in college the SMARTEST person I ever met in my entire life looked at the Bose speakers, then their specs instantly started drawing some charts and wave like patterns and then said - "bose suck"
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post #15 of 30
11/7/12 at 1:25pm
Ask on the Bose Owners Thread.

Oh, yeah, right....rolleyes.gif
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post #16 of 30
11/7/12 at 1:38pm
What size bookshelf speakers are you looking for? Is there a size limit?
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post #17 of 30
11/7/12 at 1:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by drober30 View Post

You will get allot of people on here that will tell you to stay away from Boes but don't necessarily rule it out.

Right, you may secretly like unpleasant things - like going to Cental America and drinking the water, listening to hours of yodelling, hanging out at the DMV or extremely long conversations with your girlfriend where she starts with "we need to talk"
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post #18 of 30
11/7/12 at 1:44pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gritter99 View Post

http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/ONKHTS9400/Onkyo-HT-S9400-THX-7.1-Ch-Network-Home-Theater-Receiver/Speaker/1.html
this was suggested to me somewhere else.. Hell this is a 7.1 system for the same money..

That is exactly what i first started looking at when i needed a system about 4 months ago or so, and i was only a couple clicks away from purchasing it. if i HAD to buy a htib setup, that is the one i would buy because my research showed it to be the top of the line htib, but the weak point is the speakers, or so i was told. i went from that to what i have now which costs me just a bit over $1000 for the denon 2112 receiver, 2 reference klipsch subs, 3 Andrew Jones designed pioneer speakers, and 6 mirage nanosat speakers. all pictured here:

IMG_5038.jpg
IMG_9594.jpg


good luck with what you decide, but either that onkyo 9400 or a setup like mine will blow away that bose!
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post #19 of 30
11/7/12 at 3:29pm
As bad as the Bose cubes are, I think the cineMate satellites are worse- a blast of mid range, withnothing else! If you want small bookshelves, the recommended nht speaker would be great! Also, the infinity primus p163 can be had for close to 100 bills/pr. Throw in a decent sub and you got 2.1 for the same or less than Bose, and will be much better sounding (IMHO)!
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post #20 of 30
11/7/12 at 6:11pm
If she likes the Blows size, look at NHT's absolute zeros in a 5.1 setup. I noticed NewEgg has a killer clear-out on Definitive Technology StudioMonitor 450s that would be a great start for the price if a bit bigger than junk cubes.
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post #21 of 30
11/7/12 at 8:30pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by lespurgeon View Post

If she likes the Blows size, look at NHT's absolute zeros in a 5.1 setup. I noticed NewEgg has a killer clear-out on Definitive Technology StudioMonitor 450s that would be a great start for the price if a bit bigger than junk cubes.

+1

The Def Tech StudioMonitor 450s are $280 (use promo code EMCYTZT2484). Get the Klipsch RW-12d to go with them, and you'll have a seriously rockin' good 2.1 setup for just under $600.
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post #22 of 30
11/8/12 at 7:33am
Quote:
Originally Posted by cel4145 View Post

+1
The Def Tech StudioMonitor 450s are $280 (use promo code EMCYTZT2484). Get the Klipsch RW-12d to go with them, and you'll have a seriously rockin' good 2.1 setup for just under $600.

This would sound so much better than the Bose Cinemate system it is not even funny...
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post #23 of 30
11/8/12 at 12:53pm
If small form factor is a key part of the acceptance factor here I would consider the Hsu Ventriloquist system.
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post #24 of 30
11/8/12 at 1:42pm
Has the GF ever heard of anything but Bose? That's often an issue. The Cinemate II is not even a 2.1 system as it doesn't have a sub....it has some sort of strange mid-bass module that's pretty weak. smile.gif

Any of the suggestions above should work well enough to spank the Blose thingie.
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post #25 of 30
11/9/12 at 6:25am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by cel4145 View Post

+1
The Def Tech StudioMonitor 450s are $280 (use promo code EMCYTZT2484). Get the Klipsch RW-12d to go with them, and you'll have a seriously rockin' good 2.1 setup for just under $600.

Suggestion on a receiver for this setup?
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post #26 of 30
11/11/12 at 1:48pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gritter99 View Post

Suggestion on a receiver for this setup?

For the DefTech SM450 I'd go with an Onkyo TX-NR6xx or greater or Denon AVR-16xx or greater. I have the SM55 ( same configuration as SM450 ) and these take every bit of the 150 watts RMS I'm feeding them. My receiver is a Denon AVR-5308ci, which was a $5500 unit -- not including the extra $1000 spent on the recent upgrade. The SM450 would be an excellent start since they can be used as surround speakers if you upgrade to towers up front.
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post #27 of 30
11/11/12 at 8:58pm
I agree go with the def tech i have some higher end def techs and they are amazing.
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post #28 of 30
11/12/12 at 5:03am
I have the DT SM450 and while they may not be quite be full range, they sound very good and hit pretty low. I have them in a 2.0 music set up and they sound great. Got mine for ~210.00 a few months ago...haven't seen them that low since!
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post #29 of 30
11/12/12 at 1:27pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by ack_bk View Post

What size bookshelf speakers are you looking for? Is there a size limit?
no size limit for the bookshelfs
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post #30 of 30
11/12/12 at 3:02pm
You are correct you can do better. I have < $300 invested in my speakers/sub that will blow those Bose away. That's the entire problem with Bose, low bang for buck ratio. It's the lazy or uniformed that go the easy (but expensive) Bose route.
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