Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater So a co-worker bought Bose :(

I suspect some trickery was at play... He said that he listened to several systems at the store (Ultimate Electronics), and he said bose was by far the best.

I should add that he said he got the system on sale so I know he did not pay the original $2K list price (they are shown on ale at $300 off at the bose website.) I am not sure what he paid, but I am positive that he is not getting his moneys worth.

He can rest easy knowing his speakers are made with the finest pressed paper and cardboard.

Maybe I could just point him to the following review over at audioholics:
http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/htib/bose-lifestyle-v20

Here is a short segment from the review:

As far as the surrounds playing the same thing, I might surmise that it's in DPL mode or something like that. Do they both play twice (once for right, once for left?)

I was thinking the same thing, that it's using the oldest Prologic mode, of Left, Center, Right, and a Surround channel which has two speakers, but both get the same content.

How's the DVD player connected to the receiver? If it is by only L and R cables, that's pretty much the best he can hope for.

DI asked him how the DVD player is connected yesterday, he said it is with HDMI., yes both surrounds play twice (when they should take turns playing)

I was thinking it may be some kind of DPL mode as well but not sure.

I know you are new but "Discuss..." sounds dangerously close to "Reflect..." Perhaps we have discovered the secret identity of you-know-who.

Well he got things working last night (Which means he won't be returning them I'm afraid). He said he reconfigured the wiring and then made some adjustments in the menu of some sort and things started working.

That's easy. If one is a Bose customer, I doubt they have they intelligence to turn on a computer, let alone find a forum, sign up, and type something intelligible.

Did I type that? Sheesh. Someone needs more coffee....

And regarding the co-worker. Yeah, it sort of sucks when friends "go astray", but there's not much you can do. If he's intent on buying "Brand X", then you might as well let him do it. Going on a crusade to "save" someone from their decision is often not worth the effort. If your friend is happy with his system, Bose or otherwise, then it may be best to just let him be happy with it.

Now on the other hand, if he's coming to you for advice on his purchase, that's different. If that's the case, you need to do an intervention. Pointing out internet reviews is mostly irrelevant to most folks. They need to *hear* a "good" system. Make a CD of high-quality, wide-dynamic-ranged music and take it to his house. Play it on that Bose. Push it. Make the system bleed. It won't take much. Point out the flabby mis-directed bass and the crunchy, broken highs. Now take him to a local home theater store. Someplace that sells decent stuff; Paradigm, B&W, Energy, Martin Logan, DefTek, etc. Play that same CD on speakers that are ~$3k/pair. He'll get it. And when he does, that's when you point out that he can get that level of SQ for half the price with Axiom.

Sadly the Bose owner is not alone, I have seen far too many Bose systems going through the warhouse than I care to count