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Average user rating:
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
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0.5 stars
"An Audio Enthusiast's Review"
Pros: Easy set-up, low profile. But seriously, continue to read.
Cons: Weak highs, no mid-range, boomy "fake" bass, no sub-bass. Out of date by today's home theater standards; it lacks 6.1 or 7.1 surround sound, Dolby Pro-Logic II, and a Blu-Ray player. Overall, it's extremely overpriced.
Summary: I have heard audio equipment costing as little as an $18 iPod dock to a pair of speakers costing $50,000. But, this is a review on the Bose Lifestyle 48, therefore speaker equipment that expensive is irrelevant. The audio equipment that is relevant, however, costs MUCH less than the Lifestyle 48, and that is the main reason I have given it an abysmal rating.
To begin, I'd like to explain what BOSE is about. I'm guessing you've seen their TV advertisements and/or you've heard Paul Harvey, both of which/who proclaim how good their stuff is. You also may have seen their advertising in magazines, too. Maybe you've been to a Bose store. They have their products set up so that they're right in your face, and when you start the demo, the volume is usually turned up really high, and you hear a voice talking about how the speakers work and how great they are. In the demo of the Lifestyle 48 in their "theater room," they "demonstrate" how the system is equal to or better than the sound of bigger speakers. Well get this, the dealer I go to sold Bose for years until Bose went into their own stores. When they had Bose, they separated the Bose systems from their other brands, and they sold quite well. But, when they moved them to their main show room with their other brands, the Bose systems barely sold; people bought their other brands instead way more. This explains why Bose has their speakers in their own stores (or in Best Buy's case, they're separated from all the other brands. A place called D&R even has their Bose stuff in a separate room). This is done so you have no other brand to compare them to. The owner of this dealer also showed me a leather CD case with the Bose logo on it that still contains all of the demo CDs that were used to demonstrate Bose's speakers, all of which are heavily equalized to make the Bose speakers sound REALLY good in the store. This means when you listen to Bose speakers at dealers, that's not how they're going to sound when playing a regular CD. Also, I noted that you might have seen a Bose advertisement in a magazine. But, get an actual audio magazine, such as The Absolute Sound, Stereophile, among others, and try to find a review, or even an advertisement, of something Bose. To save you the trouble of looking, I'll tell you that you'll never find one. Bose is known in the world of hi-fi as being a joke. So basically, Bose is a really good advertising company. Their logo "Better Sound Through Research" should be "Bigger Sales Through Advertising.
To further understand a speaker, speakers are made up of "drivers," which vibrate to make sound. The most common drivers are the tweeter, the smallest driver, which produces the high notes, a mid-bass, which produces the lower notes, and a mid-range, which produces notes that fall in the middle. There's also the subwoofer, the biggest driver, which produces the lowest notes; the notes you "feel" more than "hear." Lets look at the Jewel Cubes and the horizontal center speaker, which the LS 48 has. It's obvious they're tiny; so tiny you'd think they'd contain only a tweeter. But in fact, they have a "twiddler," which is a cross between a tweeter and a mid-range driver. So, these speakers can"t reproduce the highest notes, and are frankly not big enough to produce real mid-range. The Acoustimass generator is a cross between a mid-base and a subwoofer. Therefore, it can't reproduce accurate mid-bass, and it can't play low enough to be a subwoofer. Basically, a Bose Lifestyle system has a lot of negative compromises to get small. A Bose dealer even told me this.
You may have heard a Bose system yourself, or have heard from someone that Bose is really good. If you think it sounded really good or you believe that person, ask yourself or that person "what other brands have you heard?" Yes, we've all probably heard brands like Sony (lower end), Panasonic, JVC; the list goes on of inexpensive brands. There are more than just those brands out there. Go to an audio store that specializes in audio and/or video only. They carry brands that aren't mass-produced like the ones they have at Best Buy, but still can be cheaper than Bose (stores like this often carry pairs of speakers that cost more than a LS 48). There are a wide variety of brands these stores carry, but I'll use Paradigm as an example, which is what I own. To give you an idea how Paradigm sounds, I heard a Paradigm 5.1 system that consisted of their "Cinema" speakers (which are small), a 12 in. Velodyne subwoofer, and a $200 Sony receiver. All together it was about $1200. I tell you what, it's hilarious how bad this system makes the Lifestyle 48 sound. Add a Blu-Ray player, an iPod dock, and a Logitech Harmony remote, and you're up to about $2000; half the price of a the LS 48. This system is much more capable; it has a Blu-Ray player, and those Cinema speakers, although small, have a tweeter and a mid-range, and the Velodyne subwoofer is a REAL subwoofer.
(Continued below).
Updated on Jan 18, 2009My Paradigm system has 2 Atom Monitor bookshelf speakers, a Cinema center speaker, 2 Cinema ADP surrounds, an 8 in. Jamo subwoofer, and a Yamaha RX-N600 6.1 surround receiver. This system is worth about $1600. A couple common arguments (among lots of others) "Bosephiles" would have against this system are 1) it would have too many components if a DVD player and other things were added, and 2) it has to be upgraded constantly. Well 1) having one unit that does everything may be easier to use, but if one feature breaks, the whole unit has to be fixed. In a component system, if a component breaks, you only have to fix that one component, which would allow you to still use some features. 2) Yes, this system is upgradable, but that's an advantage. I plan to get a rear surround, a better sub, and other components in the near future, which will improve my system. In a Bose system, you're stuck with 5.1 surround, and there's no way you can make it sound any better by adding better components.
Updated on Jan 18, 2009The $4000 Lifestyle 48 gets you 4 Jewel Cubes, a horizontal center, an Acoustimass module, and an integrated component. For that $4K price tag, you could get something AMAZING. People often like Bose for their speaker's small size, so I'll use small speakers as an example. Get 2 Paradigm Cinema "90s" as fronts, 4 Cinema ADPs (surround-specific speakers), a Cinema center speaker, a Velodyne Optimum-8 8 in. sub, a Yamaha RX-V863 7.1 receiver w/ an iPod dock, a Sony BD-S550 Blu-Ray player, and a Logitec Harmony multi-function remote. Including misc. parts, this would be almost exactly $4000. If that $1200 system could easily beat a Lifestyle 48, this would slaughter it sound quality and feature-wise. BTW, I'm not advertising these brands. Heck, some other good brands are Wharfedale, PSB, and Speakercraft, plus others. Sony also makes some great receivers. Speaking of which, even the least expensive receiver I know of has a room-optimization feature just like or better than Bose's AdaptiQ.
Updated on Jan 18, 2009Along with people liking Bose for their small size, I've heard some people say it's "the best" and/or superior to big speakers. Well, remember what I said about that Bose dealer saying their systems sacrifice performance to get small? They're right. Although Bose systems sacrifice MUCH more than the systems I've given as examples, all small speaker systems can't produce the mid-bass and power bookshelf and tower speakers can produce. Therefore, if you have room for bookshelf or tower speakers, then GET THEM. And, for the price of a Lifestyle 48, take the $4K small system example, and get a pair of Paradigm's Mini Monitors+ stands, 4 Monitor ADPs, a Monitor center, the same Blu-Ray player and Harmony remote, plus parts; but then exchange the receiver and subwoofer for less expensive models. This would also be almost exactly $4K. And, for about $300 more or so, you could get Paradigm's Monitor 7 towers. Also, please note that just because a speaker is "bigger" doesn't mean it's "better."
Updated on Jan 18, 2009I'd like to note something about this equipment I've been recommending. You won't find it at "big box stores" such as Best Buy or Circuit City. Paradigm does not mass-produce their speakers, and are built to extremely high standards, which is unlike similar brands these stores carry, such as Klipsch, Polk, and JBL. Also, I do know for a fact that the dealer I go to use to carry all three of those brands, and the owner told me that both Klipsch and JBL are very difficult companies to work with for the consumer and the dealer (warranty, service, etc.). I also remember them having a pair of higher-end Polks on clearance, and it took them nearly 6 months to sell, for people didn't buy them in front of their Wharfedale and Paradigm speakers.
Also, make sure to get Yamaha's "RX" and Sony's "STR" model receivers. Big box stores do carry these two brand's receivers, but they are mostly oddball models. I did see a Yamaha RX model at a Best Buy before, but it was an out-of-date version.
Updated on Jan 18, 2009Anyway, I will update my review to answer any replies this review may receive. If you reply, check back later and I will most likely have followed through on my word.
Updated on Mar 14, 2009Alright, I've figured out the LS 48's worst nightmare. If you're set on spending $4000 on the Lifestyle 48, then this is what you want instead:
2xParadigm Cinema 70s (fronts)
4x " Cinema ADP (surrounds)
1x " Cinema CC (center speaker)
1x JL Audio f110 Fathom subwoofer
A Yamaha RX-V663 7 channel receiver w/ iPod dock
A Sony DVP-NC800H 5-disc DVD player
A Logitec Harmony remote
And add a Blu-Ray player for about another $300.
While I've mentioned the Paradigm Cinema speakers before, I haven't mentioned the JL Audio Fathom. You may notice my username refers to this. While although you really cannot say one company is the best, JL Audio's subwoofers, car and home, come extremely close. The Fathom subwoofers are the best-reviewed home subwoofers ever, and they compete with subs costing 10x as much. Speaking of which, the 10 in. Fathom here is about $2K; so it does represent half the price of this system. But, if you're set on spending $4K, you want this sub in this system.
- 2 replies to this review
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To Dan688:
Thank you for commenting. The dealer I go to used to sell Bose, and they showed me the leather CD case that Bose sent them, which contains the demonstration CDs. I think a better term other than "equalized" is that the music on the CDs is music which has characteristics that just happens to match the characteristics of Bose's speakers, which makes them sound REALLY good. Also, in these Bose stores and demonstrations in places like Best Buy, they put the speakers 3 ft. in front of your face and behind you, which is a very unrealistic environment; and an environment that is bound to sound very good because you're right in the speaker's sweet spot, and they're turned up really loud, which is bound to really catch people's attention. Bose speakers are also are separate from any other brand, so you have nothing else to compare them to.
Sorry if I sound rude here, but I'm also calling it as I see it. -
Just a simple comment....i know for a fact that regular everyday cds and dvds are used inside the Bose stores to demonstrate the systems. I've worked there for 2 years and have never seen any "heavily equalized" cds. Sorry, I'm just calling it as i see it...
Where to buy
Bose Lifestyle 48 Series III (black):
$2,499.88 - $3,695.00
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