Bose 3-2-1 GS System

[gpraceman]

Looking to replace my cheapo Sony surround sound speakers. I saw the Bose 3-2-1 GS Series II system at Circuit City and it seems to have good sound quality (at least to my uneducated ear) and I like that it doesn't have the rear speakers. Our TV room is very open to the back, so there isn't a place to put rear speakers. Even if there was, it would be a pain to run wires.

It comes with a DVD player, but we already have a Sony 5 disc player, so I'm not sure we would use that part of the system.

Sam's Club seems to be the cheapest source at $799.

I've read some reviews on it. People seem to love it or hate it. Anyone here have experience with it?

[jay]

I have two of them; one on the basement TV and one on my main TV in the corner of the kitchen. The one in the basement replaced a Sony amp with Bose speakers. The room is a lot less cluttered, and the sound is very acceptable compared to a true 5.1 setup.

I like the setup in both rooms quite a lot. Here's the setup I have in the corner of my kitchen, with the 3-2-1 system, a TiVO Series 3, and a Sony Bravia-S 40 inch HDTV.

And it seems that people divide into two camps with Bose - they love Bose or hate Bose. I'm in the former camp, and appreciate the company's excellent customer service.

[Bill Balmer]

My experience with these types of surround systems is that they have improved a lot over the past few years, and if all you want is a sense of spaciousness with sounds coming from unexpected places, the newer designs will satisfy you. If, however, you want an accurate representation of the spacial spectrum as designed into the recording, with sounds actually coming from the correct locations, you need to go with a true surround sound system and all of its requisite speakers.

And Jay's right - I'm not a fan of Bose in general.

[gpraceman]

jay,

Nice simple setup. What do you think of the DVD player and AM/FM tuner itself?

If it is OK, maybe I can ditch my receiver and DVD player and simplify my system. It looks like I can connect my 300 CD player and VCR (yeah, still have one of those) to it.

[OB3]

I was over a friends house last week and he just purchased a yamaha YSP-1 surround sound speaker, and i was quite impressed:

http://www.audioholics.com/productre...Projector1.php



If you have a dvd/receiver already, this might be an opinion, unless you do no have the space for it under the tv.

I know 2 others that have the older versions of the BOSE 3-2-1 and they are very happy with it

[gpraceman]

Originally posted by OB3
I was over a friends house last week and he just purchased a yamaha YSP-1 surround sound speaker, and i was quite impressed:

http://www.audioholics.com/productre...Projector1.php

If you have a dvd/receiver already, this might be an opinion, unless you do no have the space for it under the tv.

I have seen that system and the Polk SurroundBar, but both of them are very big (long) and we don't have the space. Our 30" Sony widescreen HDTV just barely fits our built-in media center.

[jay]

Originally posted by gpraceman
jay,

Nice simple setup. What do you think of the DVD player and AM/FM tuner itself?

If it is OK, maybe I can ditch my receiver and DVD player and simplify my system. It looks like I can connect my 300 CD player and VCR (yeah, still have one of those) to it.

The DVD player is fine; I never even connected the antennae for AM or FM. I have a Bose Wave Radio for that, sitting on top of the fridge.

Besides, I mainly listen to XM Radio, piped into the Bose Companion 3 speakers that are hooked to my computer setup.

Did I mention I'm a Bose fan?

[rocky]

No Highs
No Lows
Bose

[ThePilotster]

Originally posted by rocky
No Highs
No Lows
Bose

Ditto!
I was gonna buy Bose a few years back. The sales guy told me if it has no highs and no lows.... it must be bose!
He took me into his sound studio and had me switch between the bose setup and a mirage setup. The mirage were 1/2 price of the bose package I wanted and sounded night & day difference for the better.
I can only recomend to find a place like tweeter or similar that has the ability to compare side by side.. same source, same room ... best way to compare... then you make the choice that works for you

[tangotango99]

Originally posted by ThePilotster

Ditto!
I was gonna buy Bose a few years back. The sales guy told me if it has no highs and no lows.... it must be bose!
He took me into his sound studio and had me switch between the bose setup and a mirage setup. The mirage were 1/2 price of the bose package I wanted and sounded night & day difference for the better.
I can only recomend to find a place like tweeter or similar that has the ability to compare side by side.. same source, same room ... best way to compare... then you make the choice that works for you

I bought a Harman/kardon system a year ago and I really like it.

[gpraceman]

Originally posted by tangotango99
I bought a Harman/kardon system a year ago and I really like it.

I've only seen 5.1, 6.1 or 7.1 systems from them. That's too many speakers and wires to deal with for my particular TV room.


I see now that Sony has two 2.1 systems out (DVD Dream System DAV-X1V and DAV-X1). Anyone have experience with these? All my other components are Sony (used to work for Sony) and haven't had any problems with any of them. Though, on speakers, Sony isn't really known for making good ones.

[5Gs]

Originally posted by rocky
No Highs
No Lows
Bose

I thought with bose, it was the lack of midrange.

[Bill Balmer]

My objection to Bose is not a broad sweeping statement of "lack of (blank)", but rather the fact that their philosophy is to engineer absurd frequency curves into their amps (aka "controllers") in order to offset the weaknesses inherent in their speaker designs. Consequently they end up with harsh peaks all over the place and never a smooth, balanced, pleasant sound. I'd rather listen to a well-designed speaker that covered 150 Hz to 12 kHz evenly than a 4" speaker that's being force-fed a 50 Hz peak.

Okay, so maybe when I said I'm "not a fan" I was slightly understating.

Surprisingly, I find Bose car audio quite acceptable, but only because I start with the knowledge that trying to get really good sound while sitting off-center inside an odd-shaped box with a variable noise floor that never gets below 70 dB is an exercise in futility. In that environment, I find the compromises Bose makes more acceptable.

[5Gs]

Originally posted by Bill Balmer
My objection to Bose is not a broad sweeping statement of "lack of (blank)", but rather the fact that their philosophy is to engineer absurd frequency curves into their amps (aka "controllers") in order to offset the weaknesses inherent in their speaker designs. Consequently they end up with harsh peaks all over the place and never a smooth, balanced, pleasant sound. I'd rather listen to a well-designed speaker that covered 150 Hz to 12 kHz evenly than a 4" speaker that's being force-fed a 50 Hz peak.

Okay, so maybe when I said I'm "not a fan" I was slightly understating.

Surprisingly, I find Bose car audio quite acceptable, but only because I start with the knowledge that trying to get really good sound while sitting off-center inside an odd-shaped box with a variable noise floor that never gets below 70 dB is an exercise in futility. In that environment, I find the compromises Bose makes more acceptable.

you sorta brought up a point about proper speaker placement and calibration. I currently have an onkyo 7.1 receiver with speakers all around (yes I spent a weekend fishing the speaker wires through the walls and into the ceilings for my rears!). placement and proper sound calibration makes a difference. I used The AVIA Guide to Home Theater and a sound meter to properly calibrate my home theater. what a difference it made!

[jay]

For a home theater setup, a very important aspect is the center channel, which is where the dialogue is. I find that the 3-2-1 system does a fine job creating the impression of a center channel with dialogue, the rest of the sound is perfectly acceptable, and having it all done with two speakers and the sub, making for a clean, easy install, was the big plus.