Bose CineMate GS Series II user reviews (black)

Pros Easy setup, great sound, superior customer service at The Bose Store

Cons Price, although they make up for it with great sound.

Summary I have a 50" Samsung Plasma. Not wanting the hassle of setting up 5+ speakers in my 17x18 living room, my wife, daughter and I ventured out to Best Buy. I started by testing 4 soundbars from Sony, Vizio, and Polk (2). The Polk sounded the best, but was still short of what I wanted. My wife was standing in front of the Bose setup and brought me over to see. Of course I've known the Bose brand, but the price always kept me away. We did not buy that day, but we did walk away knowing we wanted.
Our opportunity to buy came the day before Thanksgiving. The Bose Outlet Store at the Tanger Outlets was offering a refurbished Cinemate for $200 off of the regular price beginning on Black Friday (today). Their customer service is / was top notch. I had called the Wednesday prior to buy the system telling them I'd pick it up Friday. When I walked into the store, a young lady greeted me right away and asked if I could be helped. I responded by saying I had called before and was shocked to hear her say that the other associate I had spoken with on the phone would be right with me. Super communication between staff!! The checkout associate registered my product online on the spot and my system was carried out to my car.
I have a corner built in 3 shelf setup. The shelf which housed my old 36" tube TV is where I decided to place the subwoofer. The Samsung hangs in front mounted on the wall. Setup was a breeze!! The optical cable was used and not the RCA jacks. I bought some speaker mounts off of Ebay which saved me significant money from the Bose Store (sorry Bose, but it is what it is).
I am now watching the Rolling Stones movie "Shine A Light" on Palladia and it FEELS like I am right there. I don't know what else to say other than I will not buy any other system than a Bose. As of today, I am a customer for life!!!

Pros i cant believe so much power can come out of 2 speakers.universal remote and nice all around

Cons the price.

Summary two words...buy it

Pros looks great- awesome sub- easy to install

Cons the fiber optic plug doesn't lock in place. sound appears to have an echo effect

Summary The sound is very good with this system. It is sold as a simulated surround sound. It sounds like some of the TV shows were recorded in a steel chamber. Music, however, plays very well. I spent all day listening to and pricing out different systems and decided to go with this one. The sub sounds better if you point it at the wall or into the corner (even though Bose recommends that you point it outward). So far I am very satisfied with this system.

If you don't want the hassle of wiring up surround sound, and trying to hide wires behind your couch, then this is a very good system for the price. I bought a new Sony 3d TV and I wanted Sony surround sound to go with it, but the quality of Sony didn't come close to the great sound of Bose.

Pros Excellent sound quality, easy install, small size

Cons No cons. Okay maybe would have preferred more connectivity options and a lower price point, but other than that very happy with this system.

Summary I was on the fence about this at first due to the high price, but once I bought it and installed it then turned it on (this all took about 10 minutes by the way), I was blown away at how good it sounds and what an improvement it was over our previous system.

Best for for people who want a simple, elegant sound system (best for an apartment or smaller room) without compromising sound quality. If this is you, then look no further. People will knock Bose and say how you can get equal or better sound for less, but honestly I have not found a 2.1 channel home theater in a box system that sounded as good as this one. We've also had good results with the universal remote that was included and we now only use 1 remote where we previously had to use 3 or 4 depending on which device we were using.

Very impressed and happy with this purchase, and although it is a little pricey, no regrets and would highly recommend this product for the customer and room environment for which it was designed.

Updated on Oct 31, 2010

I was on the fence about this at first due to the high price, but once I bought it and installed it then turned it on (this all took about 10 minutes by the way), I was blown away by how good it sounds and what an improvement it was over our previous system.

Best for for people who want a simple, elegant sound system (best for an apartment or smaller room) without compromising sound quality. If this is you, then look no further. People will knock Bose and say how you can get equal or better sound for less, but honestly I have not found a 2.1 channel home theater in a box system that sounded as good as this one. We've also had good results with the universal remote that was included and we now use only 1 remote where we previously had to use 3 or 4 depending on which device we were using.

Very impressed and happy with this purchase, and although it is a little pricey, no regrets and would highly recommend this product for the customer and room environment for which it was designed.