Best home stereo system?

Question

I listen to a lot of music (classical, piano,) who makes the best home speakers, amplifier, etc? How many watts per channel should I be looking for? Also, as a separate item, who makes the best surround sound system for my television viewing?

Answer 1

Do not buy Bose. Ever. Bose is entirely marketing, and that's all it is. They use marketing to make you think it sounds good. I guarantee you anyone who recommends Bose has never heard better brands. For the amount you pay for any Bose product, you can have something much better for the same money. In fact, you can even get something better for less money.

The systems are pretty low quality too. Their most expensive home theater systems cost about $150 to $200 to make and they charge thousands for them. This is part of the marketing. By charging so much money, they make it seem like a luxury item.

Oh, and those tiny speakers, don't trust 'em. Good brands make big speakers because you need big speakers to get good sound. It's physics. The tiny speaker drivers in those cubes can not go low enough in the sound spectrum. And I'll tell you now, this shows up most in classical. The tiny speakers can't play close to as much sound as they should, mainly they can't go as low or as high as a typical speaker should. Classical music will sound very unlifelike, there won't be as much emotion to it. Bose uses fancy marketing terms to make you think that their speakers give you a "concert hall" sort of sound, and that's somewhat true, some of their better speakers do give it sort of a concert hallish sound, except for one thing. They're still using the tiny speaker drivers, which means that even if it surrounds you like in a concert hall, they still won't sound like real instruments.

That subwoofer thing that comes with all their surround systems is also a problem. Since the cubes don't go as low as they should, the sub goes higher than it should. That means that not only does it erase plenty of the very low notes that it should play, but plenty of higher notes that should come from the speakers will come from the sub. This will cause a very VERY unnatural sound.

And they sound good in the store for a few reasons. One, the speakers are all very close together. There isn't a lot of space to fill with sound, and in that area you're standing in, they sound big and full and magical. And since the subwoofer is right there next to them, the sound blends together. It's different in your house. In your house, the sound is very distant because the speakers are much farther apart. Plus, all the deeper sounds that should come from the speakers are coming instead from the subwoofer behind the TV, so it sounds very unnatural. It doesn't sound as unnatural in the store either because they only use demo material that flatters their speakers. Then they even alter the sound so you won't notice.

People who own them will tell you that I'm lying. I'm not. Once they get into the mentality that Bose is good, they keep thinking it's good like a placebo effect. I used to think Bose was the best too, I thought they were the best speaker brand and that was that. But after I heard better speakers for less money and read a rather convincing article on Bose speakers, ( http://www.intellexual.net/bose.html ) I realized just how fooled I was. Don't be fooled. If you buy Bose, especially for Classical, you WILL regret it.

Now what would I recommend? Well try to find some HiFi audio stores in your area, they will help you. But for brands, Paradigm, Infinity, Wharfedale, and Klipsch are good. I'm not sure about amps, but a Hifi store will help you there. Good luck, and don't buy Bose.

Answer 2

Bose System is the best out there right now!!! Since you like classical and piano type of music bose would be the thing for you!!! Check this website out and see if there is anything you like.... also search on google for a bose store around your are and go and experience the awesome quality!!!

http://www.bose.com/controller?event=DTC...