mufaddalh

I read in Consumer Reports that the Bose Acoustimass 6 Series II set of speakers including the 5 surround speakers and the subwoofer are reasonably priced and sound good. They are priced around $450 according to the article I read. Any opinion on the quality of these speakers? I would like to spend under $700 for speakers. Thanks in advance.

stevevt

Consumer Reports is a great place to learn what refridgerator you should consider buying. It is the worst possible place to find out anything about the relative merits of audio equipment.

And Bose products, with very few exceptions, perform poorly for what they cost.

mufaddalh

Thanks for the input. Do you have any recommendations for home theater speakers that would be in my budget of around $700 or less?

stevevt

Brands I like:
PSB, Paradigm, Energy, Mirage

Other people here tend to like these and would probably add:
B&W, Klipsch, Definitive Technologies, and a few others


If you do a search here, or look through a bunch of older posts, you'll get a better sense of where to start. I definitely recommend auditioning speakers in person, comparing head to head when possible, and using music that you're very familiar with.

lordzeppelin

Check out this thread

http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/showthr...hreadid=260286

And, a little more info from you would help. What would you have pushing these speakers (receiver?)

BOSE = Overadvertised, uninformed trash. It's the definition of good marketing of a very very mediocre product. They sell things based on name recognition, and they are just not good. They provide distorted ranges, unlcear output, and general crummy low end performance. I'm not trying to be real negative here, but I've never heard anything Bose that can compete with stuff that Paradigm or PSB or B&W has put out. And to be pointed about it, Bose Subs suck so bad...they clip all the time. If you ever want to blow a sub, put on the club sequence at the openining of the first Blade movie...and poof!

karnblack

Informative Bose review:
http://www.intellexual.net/bose.htm


Alternative speaker list:
http://www.intellexual.net/speaker5.htm

kngelv

A vote for Paradigms. Great sound great price.

James

Master J

Bose get trashed alot, and much of it is warranted, but they are not the worst speakers in the world as some would have you believe. If you are looking for small unobtrusive speakers, they really are hard to beat. Other manufacturers put out similar packages, but none are really as small and sleek as the Bose. That being said I personally would stay away from the Bose, as there are better ways to spend you money, but if I were looking for a set of speakers for my bedroom or ambiance around the house, I would probably at least give the Bose a look.

J

mufaddalh

I am planning on buying the panasonic sa-he100 receiver that costs around $300. It seems to be a full featured budget receiver with versatility. People seem to like Paradigm speakers a lot. I am looking for a bundled set of speakers rather than put together a set piece by piece. Does Paradigm have a bundled set of speakers (that would be small sized and in my budget of around $700) ? I think I will stay away from Bose now. Another set of speakers Consumer Reports mentioned to be comparable to the Bose set was Polk Audio RM6600. Any opinions on that set? Again I appreciate all of your input.

skar

Why? Does it really matter? In general most quality speakers are sold in pairs.

The first two brands I recommend checking out are PSB and Paradigm. Here is some great deals on affordable PSB speakers (they come bundled):

http://www.yawaonline.com/packagespecial.html

Realize that there often is a big tradeoff between speaker size and performance. The smallest speakers simply can't move enough air. The PSB Alpha Mini's perform really well for their size. The Alpha Intro's are even smaller if size is a big concern.

The Paradigm Atom's are also well worth looking at.

Bose Pro

Stay away from the Acoustimass 6 II. It was made back in the day for Pro Logic Surround Sound, not Digital. It's a good system if used in the envirnoment it was created for.

For $700 and under, try the new Acoustimass 6 III that offers a power bass module and is for Digital surround sound. If size isn't a major concern in choosing a speaker system, many of the ones already mentioned will work great.

kngelv

The Paradigm Atoms are definitely nice, as are any PSB. I'd even go for the Polks if worse comes to worse. No offense to Bose Pro but calling the little plasic box in the Acoustimass set a power bass module is stretching truth in advertising as it is incapable of reproducing what is generally considered true bass frequencies. I hate to bash Bose or any product for that matter but they truly are an inferior product at a superior price.

James

kngelv

Plasic is of course supposed to be plastic. See above.

James

Cheddarmuff

Quote:

Originally posted by stevevt
Brands I like:
PSB, Paradigm, Energy, Mirage

Other people here tend to like these and would probably add:
B&W, Klipsch, Definitive Technologies, and a few others


If you do a search here, or look through a bunch of older posts, you'll get a better sense of where to start. I definitely recommend auditioning speakers in person, comparing head to head when possible, and using music that you're very familiar with.

FYI....Energy makes Bose speakers...they are as good(if not better) than Bose but for less...

Also, I don't think mufaddalh will be able to pick up a 6 speaker system from "B&W, Klipsch, Definitive Technologies" for under $700. I agree, they all make nice speakers, however, they will cost way more than $700.

stevevt

lordzeppelin

I'd LOVE to know where you got that one...

schmedy

I'd say go with Klipsch, but doubt you can do it in that range unless you went with the KSW10, and the Quints, you might be able to squeeze in the KSB1.1 set up. If not I would go for the Energy's, that was my initial choice before I went crazy with my budget.

acronimbus

WRONG! I am the author of the Acoustimass Review article linked above. I check up on all sites that link to mine and usually remain a lurker on them all, but this statement here disturbs me greatly.

I own Energy speakers, in fact I've owned an Energy speaker from all model lines they've ever produced except for the newest Connoisseur line. I'm quite familiar with the history of Energy speakers, and I'm pretty well accquainted with a few Energy employees. Energy speakers are made by Audio Products International, a Canadian company, not a shameless Indian-owned Massachusetts-based cash cow. I am offended that a company as respectable as API was so disparagingly associated with a worthless company like Bose. Canadian speakers have awesome bang-for-the-buck value because R&D is subsidized by the government, whereas Bose performs nearly ZERO R&D and has perhaps the industry WORST bang-for-buck value.

You want to know who makes Bose speakers? Well we'll probably never know who Bose subcontracts their parts from because one company is too ashamed to reveal that information, and another is too afraid to lose business from it. If you're curious about their worth, then check this out: http://layneaudio.hypermart.net/specials.htm . They run less than $15 each driver wholesale, so they probably cost about $10 or less to make. And since their sat speakers have no crossovers, you can probably build the AcousticMess sats yourself for about $32/each.

flyingdragon

Stay far far away from Bose. Get Canadian made speakers like Energy and Paradigms, etc.

flyingdragon

Hey acronimbus, nice review. I find it very entertaining, informative, and articulate. Continue the quest to warn others of the Bose theocracy.

audrey

Nothing to add to the perennial Bose debate; I’ve made my views known in prior threads. I do, however, find it odd when people bring up parts cost as an direct indicator of quality. It reminds me of the following oft told story:

There was an engineer who had an exceptional gift for fixing all things mechanical. After serving his company loyally for over 30 years, he happily retired. Several years later the company contacted him regarding a seemingly impossible problem they were having with one of their multi-million dollar machines.

They had tried everything and everyone else to get the machine fixed, but to no avail. In desperation, they called on the retired engineer who had solved so many of their problems in the past

The engineer reluctantly took the challenge. He spent a day studying the huge machine. At the end of the day, he marked a small "x" in chalk on a particular component of the machine and proudly stated, "This is where your problem is".

The part was replaced and the machine worked perfectly again. The company received a bill for $50,000 from the engineer for his service.

They demanded an itemized accounting of his charges. The engineer responded briefly:

item 1) One chalk mark $1
item 2) Knowing where to put it $49,999

Total $50,000


It was paid in full and the engineer retired again in peace.

I’m not suggesting that there is no relationship between parts cost and quality---only that there is far more to the story than build cost. After all, the two most expensive parts on most amplifiers are the shipping box and the heat sink.

Cheddarmuff

Quote:

Originally posted by acronimbus
WRONG! I am the author of the Acoustimass Review article linked above. I check up on all sites that link to mine and usually remain a lurker on them all, but this statement here disturbs me greatly.

I own Energy speakers, in fact I've owned an Energy speaker from all model lines they've ever produced except for the newest Connoisseur line. I'm quite familiar with the history of Energy speakers, and I'm pretty well accquainted with a few Energy employees. Energy speakers are made by Audio Products International, a Canadian company, not a shameless Indian-owned Massachusetts-based cash cow. I am offended that a company as respectable as API was so disparagingly associated with a worthless company like Bose. Canadian speakers have awesome bang-for-the-buck value because R&D is subsidized by the government, whereas Bose performs nearly ZERO R&D and has perhaps the industry WORST bang-for-buck value.

You want to know who makes Bose speakers? Well we'll probably never know who Bose subcontracts their parts from because one company is too ashamed to reveal that information, and another is too afraid to lose business from it. If you're curious about their worth, then check this out: http://layneaudio.hypermart.net/specials.htm . They run less than $15 each driver wholesale, so they probably cost about $10 or less to make. And since their sat speakers have no crossovers, you can probably build the AcousticMess sats yourself for about $32/each.

Once again everyone is an expert on the internet...did you ever consider the very fact that since you don't know who makes Bose speakers leaves open the possibility that they could be made by Energy?!?!

I am not here to convince anyone of anything. Everyone can make their own decisions....

Mr. Salty

However, your statement was not one of subjective taste. Either Energy makes Bose speakers or they do not. There's no "convincing" about it. What is the source of your information?

gcribbs

why would Energy make such good speakers for themselves and use such horrible parts for Bose?

I would love to see or hear some sources for this.

Mr. Salty

If Audio Products International manufactures Bose speakers (and that's a big if), I can only see API acting strictly as the contracted manufacturer. Bose would provide API with the designs, specs, etc., and API would simply provide the tools and labor.

But I can't find anything anywhere that indicates that API manufactures Bose. API has four lines of its own to worry about.