Better Manipulation Through Research
Written: Jun 09 '01 (Updated Jun 09 '01)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Bose Uses Another Name For Dolby Pro Logic???!!!
Cons: Expensive, Not Many I/Os, For $2500 You Can Do Much Better!
The Bottom Line: Read my 'Verdict'
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| soupcraze's Full Review: Bose Lifestyle 25 Theater System |
I can't believe that I fell for the Bose marketing long ago. I used to be one of those people who said, "Bose is the best." Well, times have changed. Now, the Bose Lifestyle 25 sounds good, but you have to look much deeper into it. I was playing the tuner on my Marantz, and then I heard a Bose radio ad. The guy on it kept praising Bose and said that Bose uses, "A revolutionary new technology that allows you to play all sources including mono on all 5-channels." I remained very skeptical, and based on epinions.com, I decided to check out one of their life-style systems. The most popular one on the site is the Bose Lifestyle 25, so that's the one I decided to look at. I went to the store, and pretended to be a moron who actually wanted to buy one of these. After looking at the Bose Lifestyle 25, here's what I found:
Price:
The price tag was $2,500 for the Bose Lifestyle 25. You know, you can buy some pretty good (Did I say good? I mean EXCELLENT) systems for that much. You can build yourself a component system with components with your choice for that kind of money! Let me think of a good configuration. You want power and clarity? Nakamichi has got it. Put the Nakamichi AV-10 behind closed doors (Cooling fan is loud), and you've got yourself a great center! The Bose Lifestyle 25 has direct-reflect speakers, so I think that you would want a system with great imaging. Well, Boston Acoustics has the speakers that you'd want, how about the VR950s. Alright, now you want some good rear-channels that can provide some powerful and detailed sound in either music or home theater, you'd go best with the Klipsch SB1B speakers. Then there's the center channel, you can top that off with a Boston Acoustics VR910. Then for your subwoofer, you'd want a powerful yet economical JBL PB12. Now, there are your speakers. For components, you'd want to top off the system with a Marantz CC-4000OSE CD player and a Yamaha DV-S5350 DVD player. Now, here's what you have:
Nakamichi AV-10: $900
Marantz CC-4000OSE: $279 (Off audioreview.com, look for the ad at the bottom)
Yamaha DV-S5350: $250
Boston Acoustics VR910: $349
Boston Acoustics VR950: $700
Klipsch SB1B: $349
JBL PB12 12" Powered Subwoofer: $265
TOTAL: ~$2743, yet you may find components cheaper.
HAVING THE SATISFACTION FROM A GREAT SYSTEM AND NOT BUYING BOSE: PRICELESS
Ok, as you can see, you can get much more for around the same price. Does the Bose Lifestyle 25 have DTS? No. Does it have more than 4 I/Os? No. Does it have 6.1 or 7.1 channels? No. Does it have... much much much more features than a normal system would have? No. Then what are you paying for? Bose.
Looks and Styling:
I don't accept the idea of hiding speakers away. Some like it, but I don't. I bought my Paradigms for a reason, because they look good. Some people say "you shouldn't buy speakers that take up so much space", but they actually look better. They not only look better, but they tend to have more drivers built in, such as on the Paradigm Monitor11s. Try the Monitor11s against the Paradigm Mini-Monitor, they both sound great, but the Monitor11s have a much fuller sound. Bose has one speaker that is built on top of the other, but that doesn't compensate as a 3-way speaker that you'd simply expect for the price. Distinct drivers are usually better than one...
Durability:
Bose speakers last people for a life-time. So I'll just take it from them. The Bose Lifestyle 25 should last for a long time. But if any piece of equipment works for at least a month without failing, then it should last for years. I had a Sony stereo that was damaged by a flood in the house, it lasted for more than 20 years. Durability shouldn't be a problem for most products if they aren't beaten upon. So don't think that Bose will last longer than buying components from Technics (Which is by far superior, and yet I hate Panasonic) or Marantz. Well Marantz is another story, those will really last a life-time!
Sound:
What the hell are we getting in this $2,500 system? Well, I decided to see, "how low in price can you go with a reciever that has (drumroll), DTS and Dolby Digital 5.1!? Well, I've seen some TEAC models selling for as little as $199 with an MSRP of $235. Along with 100Watts x 5! Ok, how low can you go with 6.1 w/o DTS ES? $199 for a Sherwood R-6106. How low can you go for a DTS ES reciever? ~$600 for an Outlaw Audio reciever. Ok, for how much can you get a 7.1 THX reciever for, let's say $2,199 for the Onkyo TX-DS989. So, the Bose Lifestyle 25 doesn't incorporate any of those features except for Dolby Digital 5.1. If you're paying so much for a system, wouldn't you already expect DTS? Well, not with Bose. Now some people may say, but those speakers and subwoofer come with it! Ok, let's start with the subwoofer, it's an Acoustimass sub, which they say is a revolutionary design. Well, I went onto eBay and saw a brand new one selling for $9.99. So I immeadiately sent an e-mail to the user and said, "Are you trying to rip us off here?" The bass is okay, but you can't really compare it to some 10" and 12" subs out there. If you run an Acoustimass next to a JBL PB12 for instance at maximum power, the JBL will tear the Acoustimass to shreads. The speakers, have't I seen two non-swiveling ones on the Acoustimass (3 or 5) for $210. Well, that means in the Bose Lifestyle 25, you're sure giving a large gift to Bose. You're not getting much better quality with the Bose Lifestyle 25. I tried out the sound, and it was 'good'. Good as in not being compared to anything else. I tried some other component configurations in the price range and for much less, and they blew the Bose Lifestyle 25 away completely! The midrange on the Bose Lifestyle 25 is alright, but it lacks the high range which I expect in some guitar solo songs, and it misses a very good low range. The Bose Lifestyle 25 was well inferior to a home theater system that even costed only ~$1500. The configuration was:
Yamaha RX-V596 Reciever
Yamaha DV-S5350 DVD player
Onkyo DX-C380 CD player
Sony Hi-Fi Stereo VCR
JBL N-center Center speaker
Sony SS-MF515 Front Speakers
Sony SS-MB115 Rear Speakers
Cerwin-Vega! LW12 12" Powered subwoofer
Sony KV27FS12 WEGA Television
It gives off 100Watts x 5, DTS and DD, and some good quality sound. Very good for the price...
This is my grandparents hook-up. Thank god for store return policies, and I actually bought the Bose Lifestyle 25. I brought it in their house and tried them out side by side. My grandparent's hookup beat the Bose Lifestyle 25 in every possible aspect. It also had a much nicer look to it with the larger speakers. The Yamaha reciever also had sleek looks. I don't care what some people say, I love Yamaha. But anyway, I don't know what the hell Bose was thinking? The Yamaha RX-V596 had many more I/Os including numerous optical inputs, the Bose Lifestyle 25 'music center' had only 4 I/Os.
The there was something on the radio ads that just confused me. They say that Bose introduced a revolutionary new technology that allows you to play any source over 5-channels. Well, wasn't that introduced in the early 90s as Dolby Pro Logic? I can play anything on Pro Logic whether it's a Pro Logic program or not. Also, on the Yamaha recievers, they have DSPs such as Mono Movie, TV Sports, etc... that allow you to play any source including mono over 5-channels. Bose calls the Videostage5 circuitry. Well, I think that's something that Bose has done to mislead consumers. You will find Dolby Pro Logic on any non-stereo reciever. The first surround sound recievers were called Pro Logic recievers, and every one still has it now. Shame on you Bose! Thank you for misleading some consumers!
Also, the least they could've done was to add a distince center speaker. There isn't anything wrong with using a satellite as one, but the center handles much more sound and dialogue, about 50%. Well, you won't find one on the Bose Lifestyle 25. You'll just find one of their conventional cube speakers.
Overall, the Bose Lifestyle 25 is not worth anything close to $2,500, and yet I wouldn't even pay $500 for it! The 'music center' lacks features and I/Os. It has a handy dandy 6-CD changer, but yet you can buy an RCA 6-CD changer for $69.99. The sound is poor in comparison to a system that will cost you $1000 for instance. The Bose Lifestyle 25 was more comparable to the Sony DAV-S300, which I didn't recommend to consumers. I'd rather have the Sony though, at least there's some quality sound there. Bose still uses outdated technology? Revolutionary? No. Same old paper cones. The sound is decent, the midrange is whole, but the high and low ranges are moreover lacking. Do yourself a favor and stay away from Bose.
Bass:
The Acoustimass module is just not comparable to today's subwoofers. Don't be fooled by the advertising, the designs are very lacking. If you compare an Acoustimass module from let's say 1977 to one in 2001, you could hardly tell the difference. So of course, everything like Velodyne and M&K are just inferior then. Go look for yourself. As myself, I have a craving for great bass, and my Velodyne CT-120 (Which is proudly in my home) will deliver much more than the Acoustimass. The bass on the Velodyne is also cleaner, and just much more incredible.
Ease of Use:
The Bose Lifestyle 25 is actually very simple to use. Once you get the hang of it, it isn't all too hard to operate any recievers at all. The Bose Lifestyle 25 may be good for beginners, but once you get tired of it, your $2,500 will just go to a complete waste. Overall, there was nothing hard about using the Bose Lifestyle 25.
The Verdict:
At the Bose Store, the people there don't know what the hell they are talking about. I asked the guy if the Bose Lifestyle units were the best in the world, and he said, "Unbeatable." Well, that does mean that I will from this point regret that I ever bought my Marantz reciever and Paradigm speakers. They are no so terrible considering that I bought a Bose Lifestyle 25. The following week it went back to the store, but it really belonged on the curb. Spend your $2,500 elsewhere. The Bose Lifestyle 25 and other systems are all inferior in quality, considering this price range. Bose is using outdated technology, and I saw how truly 'good' those ads were. If I knew nothing about music systems, then I would've dragged myself to the store and would've bought one myself. The Bose Lifestyle 25 doesn't have 6.1 or 7.1 channels, DTS, or many I/Os. The direct reflect technology is dead. Today we have transparent sounding speakers that have simply superior imaging. The direct reflect technology makes the sound sound a bit unrealistic. My Paradigms have very natural sound, and I can close my eyes and imagine where everything is coming from. A normal subwoofer is better than the aging Acoustimass subs. Please, put your money elsewhere, because Bose is here to manipulate and cheat you.
I'm also wondering where their research comes from? They are using the same exact designs from 1967! So, you're using 33 year old technology. It was good back then, but it is incomparable today, even at this price? I think that Bose is putting their research into keeping peoples' mouths like mine shut. They will do anything to sue companies or anyone that gives bad reviews to their products, and no joke. They actually sued Cambridge Soundworks, and wouldn't let some HT magazines post the specifications in. They also don't post any specifications on the site... Hmmm.... That means that they know they are inferior. I must admit that I was very impressed with their advertising. It was pure genious. It can get anyone who doesn't know electronics and stereos to buy their products. Bose has truly put in a lot of effort to research how to manipulate you and steal from you...
Recommended:
No
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soupcraze
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Member: Soup Enthusiast
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Reviews written: 488
Trusted by: 185 members
About Me:
I enjoy many of life's passions... Music, medicine, people, and life itself.
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