Hi all,

We up(down)graded our old 28″ Panasonic CRT telly a few years ago, the lcd jobby that replaced it sounds pants, I have now got a bit of moola saved up to add a sound system to the thing but really dont want to turn the living room into a mess of flashing-light-ridden-black-boxes. The old Pana’ had integrated 5.1 dolby, which to me sounded great, I have had a listen to one or two systems, and – yes a £200 will do the job, a £600 will sound better etc etc. then I found a Bose T10 system…….. now I know they are despise on here cos they are “crap”, but it sounded okay to me in the shop, and they come with all the cables to everything including 30odd metres of speaker cable (which aint that cheap), for me it is very well integrated and almost invisible in that the ruddy boxes don’t light up like a xmas tree/front of a modern Audi. We ain’t got a big room (6m*5M), so I dunno, plunge for the T10 or is sommat else around that I haven’t seen? – Please help

Must be a windup/troll…

no troll, I have just turned 40, and am not sure that my ears are as good as the better audiophiles would be, plus, the anti Bose thing- they can’t be that bad, they have been going for ruddy ages- if they were crap they would have gone out of business

**** me, just looked at the price of a T10! Nice kit though, have heard one on demo in hi-fi shop, sounded amazing…

Hi Bullet et al,
know what you mean about the price, but it includes all the cables, -£ 50-75 approx, all in one remote that dosent look like a fisher price toy – their around £50-100 I guess, and they are throwing in rear speaker brackets – another £40, brings the effective price down somewhat, but I dunno – still a lot of cash. There must be a dozen other brands, but the all seem full of gimmicks – just want simple and unobtrusive- that sounds great! ❓

If you found the panasonic fine then Surely for 1300 quid you could get a decent sounding telly ???

@ trail rat, a good idea, the current lcd is a samsung- which a thought would be “good” but I guess they cant squeeze decent speaker into a the flat screens?! May have to shuffle down to currys for a gander.

I got some bose compact 3’s for our bedroom, there designed for pc’s or something with a 3.5mm jack, but they out preformed anything in there price range with our tv.

If you’ve got the money Go for it,the bose equiptment holds its value quite well.

If you’ve got the mony go for it. But I would demo some other stuff.

My speaker caple cost £10 fo a real from DIY shop

My boston speaker package came with 5 very nice wall brackets

i think my whole system was £400.

I’m sure the BOSE better, but I’m sure a £1000 would buy soemthing sounding even better

If you want form over function (not a sarcastic comment we kicked the old hi fi out as it blocked the view out of the window) then how about a sound bar

http://www.whathifi.com/review/yamaha-ysp-2200

Just looked at that Bose – it is like the acoustimass systems of old.

you need to be weak in the head to buy a system like that.

those little speakers cannot handle as much of the audio spectrum as satellite speakers are supposed to for that speaker arrangement to work properly.

basically the ‘subwoofer’ is not a subwoofer and handles far more sound than a subwoofer should.

subwoofers need to ‘stop’ at 100Hz or you can hear where they are – so you can just place it anywhere in the room.

but those little speakers can’t handle down to 100Hz, so the ‘subwoofer’ has to handle more than it should, turning your stereo or 5 channel into mono plus some effects.

They might sound impressive in a showroom, but that is what they are designed to do – impress. Put some actual music on, say with real piano, and you will hear that it just doesn’t sound right. Plus you will hear the subwoofer doing too much. I have seen a comment that playing Bary White is illuminating.

The components in the speakers are pretty poor as well – their systems rely on DSP correction to make them work – read this:

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/57625-32-bose-cheap-speakers

I have also seen comments on problems with 3D setups, but don’t know much about that.

But it is your money…

I’m sure almost everything turnerguy says is true. Although “mono with effects” is a bit OTT and “weak in the head” rather assumes we all live to the same value systems

But the reality is that putting 5 speakers that can reach down to 100Hz in your living room will have a big impact on space/ visuals. I think my satellites cut off around 180Hz. But even with the sub woofer off they blitz the tv sound

Its a personal choice thing but I’m glad I compromised on sound quality to have a less obtrusive system. Athough its not a compromise I’ve ever really thought about whilst watching a film. Like a bike once your going along your looking at the view and enjoying the action, well at least I am

My views will change when I win the lottery and have a dedicated cinema room…

Note this will be more likely if I buy a ticket

I have a set of Cambridge audio minx S325 combined with an onkyo amp, nice a descreet and sound great to me.

Have you considered a sound bar? I bought a Yamaha yas101 and it’s transformed our movie viewing.

I’d second a soundbar – I bought a 2nd hand Yamaha YSP800 a while ago – great sound and no wires trailing everywhere.

Go into somewhere that knows what they are talking about (rules out Richer sounds…), like Sevenoaks – tell them you were thinking of blowing nearly £1500 on the Bose system and see what they can offer.

Beware of the demo in a shop though – the sound levels they use are normally much higher than you would use at home and the high sound is what makes it sound impressive (your ear has different responses at different volumes, for one thing).

A shop may have a higher noise floor than at home as well if you are not in a dedicated demo room, and a demo room might have different room acoustics – for example they could have a lot of soft furnishings around and the room could be more of an ‘ideal’ shape than your living room, so whereas the bass was OK in the shop, you might notice how boomy the Bose system is at home.

If you do go to Richer they have several Kef speaker packages that might be OK. Don’t let them sell you expensive speaker cable or hdmi leads though – I met a guy a few weeks ago who RS had persuaded to buy a £80 hdmi lead!

Thanks all, the plan is now to trail the streets for a hifi shop, and have a good old listen-

@turnerguy, good points about the “perfect listening rooms” they have in shops

gonna have another listen with a sound bar- wasn’t convinced the first time around.

something like this would be give much better sound per £
http://www.superfi.co.uk/p-10374-onkyo-txnr616-networked-3d-ready-home-cinema-receiver-with-dali-zensor-1-51-speaker-system-sizzler.aspx

take some barry white as well…

I think Richer sounds also have a cooling off period, or maybe if you take their warranty, or something like that.

A cooling off period is always worth while as it is common that a system sounds completely different at home. A good hifi shop should allow for that.

this van damme speaker cable is fine and cheap:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Van-Damme-Professional-Studio-Speaker/dp/841311330X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1354464023&sr=8-1

and the well rated and cheap hdmi connectors on amazon are also fine – just check for hdmi 1.4

If you are happy spending £1500 on a Bose system, then that amount spent on equivalent separates with sound amazing and not necessarily be any more/less obtrusive.
You could probably spend £1000 on kit then another £500 to spare for a ‘proper’ install.
You could try Here for a local custom installer.
Loads of good advice (and a slippery slope waiting for you!) Here
Have fun and as above try and demo before you buy.

No flashing lights on my speakers and they look quite nice too. Coupled with a nice HD sound enabled Yamaha AV amp, they sound amazing. Room shaking bass from the sub and spine tingling detail from the surrounds. The difference to an old Dolby 5.1 is comparable to VHS against DVD.

I looked at all-in-one’s a few years ago, and the key thing that put me off was they couldn’t handle all the inputs I wanted (TV, Sky, DVD, PS2 etc). So bought separates.

An amp, DVD and 5.1 speakers c/w subwoofer – all from RicherSounds. Basically I walked in and asked for recommendations, with a £300 budget. I spent a bit more, due to cables etc, but not much.

I hard-wired it into the house, sound was brill.

We’ve just moved and I’ve re-installed it all – sound is still great.

OP I have a brilliant B&O CRT and Im getting a average surround sound system.

600+will get you a decent LCD tbh.

OP I have a brilliant B&O CRT

old school!

why’s that then?

Why?

Why a CRT still?