[Shenzhener]

Can anyone advise?

I will be receiving keys to my new apartment in Shenzhen soon. It is only a small 2 bedroom flat and comes with nothing except for a front door, windows and walls. Not even a toilet.

Since I am decorating from scratch, I am going to have tubes put under the floor boards which will allow for speaker cables to be put into. Will also have holes drilled into the wall for speaker cables too.

I want a home cinema system with small wall mounted front speakers which are unobtrusive and look nice. I am thinking of the Bose Acoustimass 6 or 10 speaker package and buy a receiver (I would like to have the option to upgrade or change at a later date). The price is acceptable and I think they look great. I listened to them in the Bose shops and they sound good to me.

However, everything I have seen on Hi Fi forums say that Bose are a rip off and not worth the money. I am not sure whether the people on those forums are simply snobby? Or maybe they are right?

Can someone please advise if the Bose speakers are worth buying or whether I should consider another make and model? I have not really seen any other similar speakers except for a small speaker set by Tannoy (FX5.1 I think) which look butt ugly. Any suggestions will be much appreciated.

Also, with the HD DVD/Blue Ray formats, will a normal receiver do the job for the surround sound? Or will I need to buy a receiver which can cope with the new formats?

Thank you.

[KnowItAll]

Bose is ok to great for home theater. The music snobs will be the first to complain .. not HT folks.

Best to get a receiver that can handle HDMI inputs .. Denon ranks high on my list of receivers.

[Boris]

OK. That is if you cannot swing for a B&O system.

Truelly the best and they tune it to your room dynamics as well.

[KnowItAll]

We've got these @ home...

http://www.hometheatersound.com/equi...rgy_take52.htm

Due for an upgrade .. but once you have kids.. you really really cannot turn up the volume and enjoy a full surround sound version of your favorite THX movie..

Their current line up is here...

http://www.energy-speakers.com/v2/pr...duct-lines.php

[discobay]

Bose Acoustimass are superbly designed and finished. They sound very very good for their size. If you have more cash and are really fussy with a larger apartment then get something more discrete.
I would go for the best a/v receiver that you can afford as then you will not to think about upgrading or replacing it further down the line. Denon, Sony (yes you would be surprised) and ofcourse Yamaha would be on my shopping list.

[Katanga]

Bose speakers are great and you can actually buy software from Bose which will allow the accoustics to be set up for your room.

My dream is to buy the Bose home theatre system but looks like I'll need to speak to KIA first on the best combination.

[GTX]

Bose is for looks. Its designed for looks.
I must admit, It does look good.
Your getting 5 or 7 tweeters and a subwoofer.
Where is the mid range? You don't have it & you'll never will. Its all smoke and mirrors.
Here's a test. Tell the Bose dealer that your going to buy the cube speakers only and that your going to run 125 watts from a receiver to each cube speaker and see what he'll say?
The answer is: they will blow up.
First of all, if the speakers are so great, how come they don't sell them separately?
I cannot tell you what to buy, because everyone's budget and taste is different.
However, I can tell you Bose is not worth its price tag.
Not even close!

[Shenzhener]

Thank you all for your advice. I think I will go with Bose as my living room is small and my wife will hit the roof if I have floor standers. KIA, your system looks impressive, but my living room is not big enough to handle THX.

Also the price of Bose in China is the same as Hong Kong. Other brands tend to be much cheaper in Hong Kong but I really do not want to have to buy in HK and lug it across the boarder.

I am not interested in music and only watch DVDs. Living in China, I have now amassed a huge collection of discs.

GTX - The Acoustimass speakers are speakers which are sold seperately. They are not sold in a bundled receiver/DVD player kit.

[Mile High]

If Bose spend as much money on the product as the marketing things maybe different.

Make an informed decision before you spend your hard earnt cash

BOSE = Buy Other Sound Equipment

[jayinhongkong]

I'd personally go with Klipsch. Love the high frequency reproduction from their horn tweeters. Bose is extremely overrated and definitely overpriced. I know of someone here in HK who's spent about HK$4 million on their system. It's been fine tuned for the room's acoustics by engineers from Europe and Japan. I'd be happy with something a lot less expensive, but for now, I'll stick to my crappy 5.1 Samsung system :P