Quote:
Originally Posted by bossy22
IRC it was around $1100 with the Harmon Kardon reciever and the polk audio subwoofer. I bought it at Visions and was the third one I tried. I did what Photon suggested and bought the Bose system first, which didn't sound that good in my space. Then I tried a Yamaha system, and then the Polk.
|
A popular saying is, friends don't let friends buy Bose, and I subscribe to that wholeheartedly. Photon needs to convert! They are garbage packaged to look nice. This was true in the 80's when I first tested them, and even more so now. Currently, they are tuned for very low volumes and artificially enhance the sound at those volumes, but do not perform compared to even much cheaper speakers and receivers.
Also, sound bars do not work as advertised, they use artificial processing to create a false sense of surround sound. If you're happy with that, so be it, and those in certain high rise condo situations might not have a choice.. .but eventually you will realize the sound is not what you first thought it was in the store.
A good 2 speaker system combined with a 10 or 12 inch sub and a decent receiver will sound much better than a "fake" surround system like a sound bar. If you can't run rear speakers, focus on getting better sound up front.
Also, if you buy a good subwoofer, you will only buy it once in your lifetime. And there are resources online where, if you have a few skills you can make a sub for a few hundred dollars which performs much better than one that costs 1500 plus. Those 8" subs with powered drives are awful sounding in even a small condo. Get a 12", and it will more naturally reproduce lower frequencies using lower power... and the sound won't rattle or sheer at even medium volume like an 8" will.
EDIT: I should add I'm in a condo (or more specifically, something which is a called a "stacked townhouse" such that I have someone underneath me, and can't run wires through the floor). For the two surrounds, I had to run 100 feet of speaker wire (70 feet for the right, 30 feet for the left) through the walls which took days of part time cutting, patching and filling drywall, but it was worth it if you really want good sound with wires unseen.