Are Bose speakers any good?

[hoppinghippo]

Hope this isn't too OT, but I'm planning to have a home theatre kind of setup (ie. at least got rear and front speakers) but I"m a total newbie to audiophile stuff unlike you guys. I don't have the $$$ nor the sensitive ears to warrant an expensive set up, I"m thinking of getting those all in one dvd players with 5.1 and all first then later upgrade if necc. But I"m thinking of first getting better quality cables as these will be embedded in the false ceiling of the living room so hard to change later.

May I know if for a not so sensitive listener like me, do cable quality really make much difference? And can anyone reccomend a value for money but lower end (not so ex) cable?

Many thanks!!

 

[Hewland]

Thanks 2100 and deathangel for responding. Will look up Kingsley.

I have been patronising this car audio shop in Bukit Timah, near Cheong Chin Nam and they did a pretty good job. The best by far was an a/d/s setup (speakers, subwoofer and amps) for jazz. I don't see much of a/d/s these days, wonder what's happened to them. Good thing I kept the a/d/s stuff when the car was sold.

Of the ex-factory car systems I've heard, I find harmon kardon very decent, more so than the Mark Levinson.

I've pretty much stopped mucking around with car hifi. I'd rather listen to a good home setup.

 

[Hewland]

Hope this isn't too OT, but I'm planning to have a home theatre kind of setup (ie. at least got rear and front speakers) but I"m a total newbie to audiophile stuff unlike you guys. I don't have the $$$ nor the sensitive ears to warrant an expensive set up, I"m thinking of getting those all in one dvd players with 5.1 and all first then later upgrade if necc. But I"m thinking of first getting better quality cables as these will be embedded in the false ceiling of the living room so hard to change later.

May I know if for a not so sensitive listener like me, do cable quality really make much difference? And can anyone reccomend a value for money but lower end (not so ex) cable?

Many thanks!!

Hi hoppinghippo,

Good plan you have there. If that’s your intention you might want to set aside a portion of your budget to get better cables, considering they won’t be upgraded for a while. This will give them the chance to “grow” with your next component upgrades.

Try Rega Quattro cables from CD Acoustics at 4th level, Adelphi. Look for Jimmy, he’s an honest guy you can seek advice from. The Rega is decent (I use it for my home theatre) but sorry I can’t remember the price. It’s designed to be laid flat under carpets, etc and is easy to work with, a criterion since you need to push them inside the false ceiling.

I suggest using the stock cables, if any, that come with your system. Then upgrade to whatever you’ve bought. Only when you hear the standard issue stuff and the better stuff do you appreciate the better cable and money well spent.

Who knows, maybe after the cable upgrade you may find the bargain system is capable of rather good sound.

 

[hoppinghippo]

Thank you very much Hewland! Will check it out! :

 

[2100]

If anyone is going for killer resolution, can check out Stax earspeakers + amp combi. Entry level solid stage earspeaker amp + electrostatic earspeakers for just $900, which is reasonable as i compared to converted prices on the net.

Kingsley has it (top floor, Adelphi). You miss out stuff like soundstaging from conventional 2ch but resolution is easily better than any dynamic speaker + amp combi up to 10X its price. If we include speakers which are "not worth it", maybe 20 or even 30X that price. ;p Don't think martin logan that cheap, so pretty safe to say that....

If you have more money, they have more in the line-up. Killer stuff for low dollars.

Might not be good if you are after that dynamic bass punch, they don't do that. It's not that they are lack of bass, its just that we are all too accustomed to listening to room nodes with subwoofers and stuff. May not be your cup of tea either as it just reveals everything. But it sounds better in some areas than my HD650 directly running off Siemens E88CC outputs and Mullard ECC81 M8162 inputs which i thought is already very very good (of course my Marantz DV6400 has something to do with it but already using SACDs so not that bad).

Just some info, didn't manage to find this on echoloft.

 

[XXX Boy]

Bose is only a lifestyle brand, nothing great about it! :thumbsd: