Ok. First, give the guy a little credit here. For a $1,299 total speaker budget including (powered?) subwoofer (implied by the Bose system) it's not such a bad idea to consider a matched sub/sat system from a single manufacturer. Am I wrong on this?
Second, his proposed system won't sound half bad IF it is set up and calibrated properly. A few reviews of the Bose Acoustimass systems I've read point out that the bass module can sound very boomy unless it's positioned well away from an inside corner, contrary to where most beginners will want to place it. I'm not advocating Bose here, just trying to be fair.
Here's my two cents: if you are new to home theater/surround sound, any halfway decent system will most likely be a huge upgrade to what you are using now to listen to your movies and games. Use some common sense when choosing components like making sure the components all have the right type of input/output connections to work together.
If you are not sure how to set up a receiver properly for channel balance, bass management, etc. you will be smart to consider a receiver which will calibrate your speakers automatically. You can get this feature for as little as $499 in a Yamaha HTR-5860 receiver, for example, with plenty of 7.1 power to drive most sub/sat speaker systems (provided they include a powered sub).
I'm going to go out on a limb here, but if you decide againt the Bose and want a very competent matched sub/sat system on a budget you may want to check out Cambridge Soundworks. They do not get much discussion on here on the 'Gon but their MovieWorks systems are pretty decent and will easily run with or surpass the overall performance of Bose for less money. For a little more money the Canton moviepak systems are very good as well..Good luck! JZ
Second, his proposed system won't sound half bad IF it is set up and calibrated properly. A few reviews of the Bose Acoustimass systems I've read point out that the bass module can sound very boomy unless it's positioned well away from an inside corner, contrary to where most beginners will want to place it. I'm not advocating Bose here, just trying to be fair.
Here's my two cents: if you are new to home theater/surround sound, any halfway decent system will most likely be a huge upgrade to what you are using now to listen to your movies and games. Use some common sense when choosing components like making sure the components all have the right type of input/output connections to work together.
If you are not sure how to set up a receiver properly for channel balance, bass management, etc. you will be smart to consider a receiver which will calibrate your speakers automatically. You can get this feature for as little as $499 in a Yamaha HTR-5860 receiver, for example, with plenty of 7.1 power to drive most sub/sat speaker systems (provided they include a powered sub).
I'm going to go out on a limb here, but if you decide againt the Bose and want a very competent matched sub/sat system on a budget you may want to check out Cambridge Soundworks. They do not get much discussion on here on the 'Gon but their MovieWorks systems are pretty decent and will easily run with or surpass the overall performance of Bose for less money. For a little more money the Canton moviepak systems are very good as well..Good luck! JZ