Home audio & video: Denon vs Bose

Denon vs Bose

In general you can get more bang for your dollar with Denon. Not their pre-assembled "Home Theater in a box", but by picking out and individual components and buying them. Then choosing decent - doesn't need to be lavish - speakers and wiring it up yourself.

Bose is famous for "PLUG AND PLAY" but you pay dearly for the convenience and until they came out with the new V-Series Home Theatre systems you were stuck with a NON Blue Ray DVD player in all their units whether you wanted one or not. And of course you paid for it, too. Also, their earlier units did not directly support HDMI connectivity - which I personally think is the greatest thing since sliced bread! One cable, once connection and you're got multi-channel stereo, and a great HD pic all in one small, relatively cheap cable! Amazing! The new Bose V series does NOT make you pay for a crummy DVD player you don't want or need, and it does support full HDMI connectivity albeit at a healthy price. But they sound great if you don't mind shelling out >2k (or more.)

My best advise is go shopping for a nice Denon Receiver with 5/1 or 6/1 sound, HDMI, and unless you have a huge room, don't worry about power. 50 watts per channel is ample for most normal rooms and speakers. More if you've got a 20 x 50 foot room. But not mandatory. Also, if you really care about storing a lot of digital music, get a Denon receiver that allow you to plug in your iPod and you'll have more storage online than you could ever dream of with any other set-up short of a real music server!

You should get the receiver on sale for less than $400. Then a set of decent speakers. Stick w/ major brands, B&W, Polk Audio, etc. Their low end speakers are usually better than most kit or "ht in the box" speakers. Buy yourself some decent cable, speaker stands or wall mounts if needed, and the requisite HDMI cable. You should get out the door for under a grand if you shop well. Remember you need BASIC not "state of the art" here. If you want to be a real audiophile you can pay upwards of $20k for a pair of speakers. But personally I'd rather have a used SL to drive! (grin) You can put together you own very respectable and great sounding system for far under the 995 or so that Bose charges for their 321 series. Which BTW is NOT that great in terms of sound. I've heard built in speakers in the TV sound as good on some Samsung LCD's and Plasma's. If you insist on going the Bose route, then get the Bose V series or don't bother. It's about the only one of their products that's really worth paying for right now. The rest of the line is kind of "old" technology and in line and way overdue for a major upgrade.

Good Luck and happy shopping.

Oh, One More Thing... when you get the Receiver, and the HDMI connectors, make sure you've got at LEAST two HDMI in and one out. (Three or four in and two out are better, but will bump you up in terms of price on the receiver. And a 5/1 receiver is FINE for most home applications. The 7 and 6 channel stuff is mainly hype until you're spending over $50k for the set-up. Then consider it. Not at the entry level!