Home audio & video forum: bose vs. Sony?

extended Bose thread. There are Bose bashers. There are Bose lovers. A bunch of us old audio buffs generally feel Bose is a marvel of marketing but not state of the art, prone to bothersome proprietary connection things, not high quality innerds & not fine value. We feel a little learning & footwork will get people more long term satisfication by auditioning a few good speaker brands to go along with a moderately priced amp or receiver.

Speakers are the most personal selection of an audio or A/V set up. Good speaker selection will get you sound to be pleased with for many years. For the audio portion of a set up we recommend you budget around 75% for speakers & 25% for the receiver.

Speakers are best made by companies specializing in speakers, not components. Speakers may seem expensive up ront but they basically don't wear out & get replaced like components.

We feel it is important enough to invest some time. Don't take credit cards with you, but seriously listen to at least three trustworthy brands of speakers. I say only two brands a day as hearing is a fleeting experience & confusion comes so easily.

Take at least one CD you are very familiar with & it should contain a decent portion of vocals because unlike Star Wars effects you know how voices should sound. No speakers are perfect. Speaker brands tend to have a same character of sound reproduction within their lines. Take notes at to things like shrillness, boominess, thinness & any distortion heard.

Listen from solid brands such as JBL, Klipsch, Polk, Infinity, & Boston Acoustics.

I would add such specific models as Paradigm Atom, PSB Alpha B, Epos ELS 3, Monitor Audio Bronze B2, Klipsch RF-52, & Energy RC-50 if you run across them as they are examples of highly regarded value.

If interested, post back with details like your budget & what you expect from these speakers if used with what possible HGTV for broadcast sound, DVDs or whatever.

Sonys better reviewed? Yes, along with a slew of others. I'm not saying Bose can't sound pretty pleasant.

convenience is fine. A basher, no; critic, yes. Never an audiophile, a sound/music wannabee of 45 years, yes. When the direct/reflecting 901s came out, I got a rush from the sound until I A/Bd them. The old 901s needed a prodigious amp to drive them well. Very inefficient. At the time I chose Polks over Bose. Eventually preferring a transparent sound stage over rock type, I replaced them with less expensive Missions.

Dr. Amar Bose begat a mass marketer selling convenience & having that WAF (wife approval factor) of neatness with little maze of wires. My grandson even won one of the two sets they give away annually. Impressive home theater effect.

My music is largely classic rock, blues & some jazz; most recorded long ago, perhaps remastered for CD. Ambitious for speakers, nah. I still do have my c.1963 Tannoy dual concentrics in the homely enclosures I built from plans from the dealer. Big sound.

A lot of welcome technology since then. Those "respectable" 60s receivers were mostly really bad compared to decent budget units today. I have gotten to joining in when newbies ask about a sound set up, because I like to encourage those who will go beyond HTIBs & convince them that respectable speakers that will provide sartisfying sound for many years, are a good investment. An urge to try to buy once & buy right. Doesn't most everything we waited payday to payday for wind up just being "stuff" & actually a liability? I choose my cars with care & average 10 years for them. Nice that WalMart has an "enlightened" policy giving public access to their recycling dumpsters, but aren't they a major contributor to trash? (often unneeded)

i live in a real small place so thats the reason i initially asked about the bose 321 and sonys simialr looking version. they both sounded good to me in the store but i think that is a hard environment to get a feel. this is the first time i have used this site for any research. as far as price range, i am willing to go as high as 1k

I will say ditto to what River and NM_Bill have to say.
Take you time listing to speakers, good speakers can last a lifetime. John

If you are in doubt, I'd go to a dealer and listen to both with the same pair of head phones as a different area can render a different sound. I like to listen and adjust the levels or base, treble with all other settings the same for both remaining constant. Bose makes high quality stuff as does Denon but with the newer high tech Sony, it's a matter of choice. Read reviews, consider the costs, self evaluate both by headphones and then decide.

Personally I wouldn't buy the Bose or the Sony. The one thing that hasn't been mentioned about Bose (the one reason I won't buy it), is that it's nothing more than a high-end theater-in-a-box design. The reciver and DVD player are all-in-one. I do not personally like the subwoofer (that the other speakers plug into). I personally prefer to buy my own pieces of the puzzle. For instance, for $150, you can buy an OPPO DVD player that is at the top of the DVD reviews for technical specs. But even for $99, you can buy a DVD player that will match and exceed the DVD player that is built into either the Bose or Sony systems. Then buy a receiver, a sub and satellite speakers, and you've got a nice system. For the price of the Bose system, you can do nicely. A home-theater-in-a-box system generally has lousy speakers, although there are some that have received good reviews.

There is a reason Bose is pricier than Sony. The quality is incomparable. I do recommend, although, that you look at some other brands. Bose is very pricey. If you have a budget, I would recommend the Klipsch iGroove SXT speakers or iGroove HG. They're of great sound quality and the bass is amazing. If you're looking for something pricier I would recommend Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin Air.

You're welcome.