Bose is overpriced
I have to agree with you guys about the Bose AM series.
My main "home theater" room is terrible for accustics - the TV is in a corner and there's no back wall to speak of (open floorplan kitchen/dining area type house) and the ceiling is vaulted going all the way up to an open loft area. I call it the bass sucker. I didn't want to spend too much for that room so I've ended up with a Sony 110x5 receiver (STR-DE945 I think - not sure about the "4" in that number) and then I started looking at speakers.
My wife was spoiled for the small, out of site sat/sub types ever since I brought home a set of Cambridge Soundworks Ensembles II's.
I had purchased them a while ago as an open box special for 50% off at Best Buy right before they stopped selling CS - They're not perfect, but they beat the hell out of any of the
comperable Bose sat/sub setups for 1/2 the price (before the 50% discount) in my opinion.
The day I bought the E II's I had listened to them and the current top-o-the-line Acustimass set and it was like night and day. (Albiet the Best Buy sound room is far from a perfect venue, but then again, neither is my house) The Bose not only seemed far less effecient (lower volumes at same power) but, like someone else here said, they had no distinct high or low end, not at least compared to the other speakers their. (Not just the Cambridge ones either)
That sealed it against the Bose for me. I couldn't believe how much money they wanted for them! So, after pricing and listening a few other brands, I decided to just keep the E II's and, to keep everything balanced, went with a complete Camb' Soundworks set:
- Ensemble II Sat's/Woofer
- Center Channel II
- and a pair of The Surround 5.1's
Later, my brother-in-law bought one of the first editions of the Bose Lifestyle systems. The tiny cube speakers and all in one design is nice and (at least in his house) the base is pretty good, but it seemed to distort the mid-low's a lot.
FWIW, a couple of years later, I got a powered sub - it was like aI had a whole new system! To get wife approval it had to either be small or hidden behind something - I brought home a few different ones and settled on a Sunfire True Subwoofer Jr. Man, I cannot believe how powerfull it is and how low that little sucker goes!
If we ever move I'll probably relegate this system to a master bedroom setup and go all out for a real HT, but that'll be years from now. (I'll probably go with a Sunfire Signature True Sub as I almost drooled on one when I
felt it putting out 10Hz at 2000+ watts!)