Bose Lifestyle 12 Theater System
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- Included Components: Receiver Radio Tuner
- Number Of Speakers: 5 Speakers and Subwoofer
- Subwoofer Power Output: 350 Watts
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Old Technology to Rip-Off New Users
Pros
Small, integrated, good remote and good customer service
Cons
Old design, non-upgradeable, bad sound quality, and overpriced
Recommended it?
No
I'm not much of an audiophile, but I do wish that I'd done my homework before putting down $1800 for incredibly outdated technology backed by a large marketing budget. The Bose systems are visually appealing, compact, and integrated, and Bose customer service is top-notch. However, if you want beautiful things around your house, buy some art and paint the walls instead of littering the airwaves with this clearly obsolete technology.
Pros:
- Compact speakers take up very little room
- Easy set-up due to tight integration of components
- Looks great and will fool your friends who listen to Bose advertisements instead of music
- Great RF remote works through walls and from any angle. No pointing to the system necessary.
- Great customer service - Bose has shipped me replacement parts for free, no questions asked!
Cons:
- There are MANY $600 systems that your local audiophile can help you with, that sound much much better. The Bose systems have no high-end, muddy bass, and a confused middle. A simple set of B&Ws with a nice separate amp will serve you much better. You're better off letting the local sales guy at the audiophile store rip you off. Even if you have a bad ear, listen to these and then go to an audiophile store and listen to speakers in the same price range. There is no comparison.
- Obsolete technology. It doesn't do Dolby Digital or DTS, can't be upgraded, and their proprietary "video steering logic" is next to useless. This design hasn't been updated in close to 20 years.
- It doesn't work well with separate systems. For example, my DVD player can do Dolby Digital 5.1 decoding, but the Lifestyle 12 can't accept the DVD player's input.
- Very expensive. Correction, it's way overpriced. No, scratch that, it costs an arm and TWO legs for what you get.
Update (7/27/00): The new Bose Lifestyle systems now offer Dolby Digital 5.1 decoding, but the sound quality still stinks and the system is way overpriced. For more information, check out the Bose FAQ at:
http://home.earthlink.net/~busenitz/bs.html
Pros:
- Compact speakers take up very little room
- Easy set-up due to tight integration of components
- Looks great and will fool your friends who listen to Bose advertisements instead of music
- Great RF remote works through walls and from any angle. No pointing to the system necessary.
- Great customer service - Bose has shipped me replacement parts for free, no questions asked!
Cons:
- There are MANY $600 systems that your local audiophile can help you with, that sound much much better. The Bose systems have no high-end, muddy bass, and a confused middle. A simple set of B&Ws with a nice separate amp will serve you much better. You're better off letting the local sales guy at the audiophile store rip you off. Even if you have a bad ear, listen to these and then go to an audiophile store and listen to speakers in the same price range. There is no comparison.
- Obsolete technology. It doesn't do Dolby Digital or DTS, can't be upgraded, and their proprietary "video steering logic" is next to useless. This design hasn't been updated in close to 20 years.
- It doesn't work well with separate systems. For example, my DVD player can do Dolby Digital 5.1 decoding, but the Lifestyle 12 can't accept the DVD player's input.
- Very expensive. Correction, it's way overpriced. No, scratch that, it costs an arm and TWO legs for what you get.
Update (7/27/00): The new Bose Lifestyle systems now offer Dolby Digital 5.1 decoding, but the sound quality still stinks and the system is way overpriced. For more information, check out the Bose FAQ at:
http://home.earthlink.net/~busenitz/bs.html
