Customer Reviews

BOSE (R) 321 GS Series II DVD Home Entertainment System - Silver

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(31)

 

 

After jumping on and then off this system's band wagon about 40 times in the last month, my wife and I finally decided to get this system. When I decided that I was finally going to break down and get some speakers, cause the ones in my TV were going out, I originally saw this system in a infomercial and fell in love with it, just because of it's simplicity. After reading the reviews online, I have to admit I was leery about it, since it didn't really shine to some people. But after visiting a factory store this last weekend in Las Vegas and getting to hear this system, I realized for what it is, it is outstanding.

First of all, if you are wanting full 5.1 or 7.1 system, don't buy this. If you want to run the wires to get the true surround sound, this system isn't what you are looking for. Know what you are buying people.

But if you are looking for an adequate solution to better sounding TV, games and DVD's, then this is the system for you. These little speakers and subwoofer are able to bounce sound off of walls to make you feel like you are surrounded in sound. We have a big living room were this is set up, and it works great. In a 15 X 25 room with vaulted ceilings, it still sounds great. We watch Mission Impossible II as our first full length movie and it delivered like were were at a theater. We then put in the grand daddy of tests for me. Jurassic Park. The T-Rex scene was clear and loud and scary as ever.

Set up was really easy too. Took me about 2 hours, but that was because I was being really careful to keep my cords organized and also being really lazy by not pulling the TV out from the wall. The DVD until runs well with my Direct TV and Xbox. I can't wait to load up a game and see how the sound is on that. As far as regular TV viewing, we watched the Grammy's last night, and you could hear the crowd noise like it was around you, not just coming at you.

All in all, this unit is exceptional. For what it is, it is great. True, it isn't the same as a true surround sound system, but I don't think it claims to be. We bought this system as a starter, cause when we build a new house we are going to run the speaker wire to do a true system and them move this one to our master bedroom for future use.

We used this with a 10 year old TV too, and it's like the TV is brand new. We plan on adding a 46 flat screen in the near future, so I can only imagine the experience will get better.

My recommendation, take these reviews (even mine) with a grain of salt. Try to find a factory store where you can go and hear them in person, then come here to buy if you want. They also have great deals on refurbished systems, which carry the same warranty that the new systems do. You can save 300 bucks just to buy one that someone returned because they didn't like it and get the same warranty.

After spending 4 weeks investigating wireless home theater system. I realized that they are not really wireless. So finally I came across this Bose 321 GS II System. I went to my local electronic store to listen to the sound and I was blown away. The price is not cheap but you really get what you pay for. The sound quality is excellent. I can't believe this is only from two speakers and a subwoofer. Now I am even able to listen to my regular TV program in surround sound. The setup process is easy to get you started. Everything you need is included in the box. The universal remote control is great. Now I am only using one for my TV, VCR, and Cable box. If you want to take full advantage of this BOSE system then you might want to think about buying extra cables which is all described in the setup CD.

By far, the absolute WORST purchase I have EVER made in Electronic equipment!

The DVD player can't play over half the DVDs out there (and I am NOT even including monoaural which is in excusable.)

It overheats in 2 seconds and I constantly have to un-plug and re-plug in the AC to reset the thing so that the sound comes on.

Every time I get a new DVD, I have to cross my fingers and pray that it will work....maybe 50% of the time it does.

I have another $39 DVD player I got from Target, that works better.

Unfortunately it is WAY past the return date otherwise I would exchange this for a piece of equipment that wasn't such an over-hyped piece of garbage.

I am STUNNED by the rave reviews people are giving this thing !

I bought this system at a Bose Outlet store after listening to it at Circuit City. When I first listened to it, the small speakers blew me away. I was interested in it in the first place because I was hoping for a two-speaker solution that would simulate surround sound. I didn't (and still don't) want to run wires all around the ceiling of our TV room to reach speakers hung on the back wall. I bought into the Bose hype about bouncing sound off the walls to achieve a virtual surround effect. Maybe it works in a smallish room that's all hard surfaces, but it doesn't work in our TV room, which is 16' by 22' and has floor-to-ceiling windows with soft blinds on one end and an open staircase on the other. That stipulated, I'm still pretty satisfied with this system after fooling around with it for a couple of weeks.

We have a 55-inch Sony LCD rear-projection high-def TV with many, many inputs and outputs. All the sound runs through the TV, and an optical cable takes it from the TV to the Bose "media center", which processes all the digital audio whatnot and sends it on to the two little speakers. I don't use the Bose DVD, which seems kind of cheesy, actually. We have a Sony "upscale" DVD player connected to the TV with an HDMI cable.

To cut to the chase, I now find that I get the best performance from this system by putting the speakers (on floor stands) on either side of the TV and toeing them in (angling them toward each other) just slightly -- maybe 15 or 20 degrees. This seems to give a real sense of separation between left and right without messing up the "center" of the sound. I think solutions will vary with different rooms, but this is what's working for me.

I think my expectations for this system were unreasonably high going in because when I listened to it the first time at Circuit City, I was standing very close to it, which was the only way to listen to it there. It was almost like listening through earphones, so of course all the effects were heightened in a way they never would be in my own TV room.

Bottom line: This system delivers a remarkably good sound as far as my ears can tell (but I'm no audiophile). I listened to it side by side with a KEH KIT 100 (another two-speaker solution), and the Bose sounded much better. I saved $100 by getting a "factory-renewal" system directly from the Bose outlet store, and I've had no problems with it.

The Bose 3-2-1 Series II is pricey, for sure, compared to five-speaker systems, but if you're like me and you don't want to hang or bury wires everywhere, it could be your answer.

This bose 321GSii is great for its simplicity and beauty. The media player is good. I have tried alot of dvd types. As long as your computer (real player in PC or laptop) can read the dvd, this bose can will read it just fine.

About the true surround sound, I feel it projects sounds around my small room very well. Don't be fool with the comercial demo disc from bestbuy or circuit city. You will be dissapointed for the first few days because the sound you get from your regular movies will not be that good.

It does an excellent job on music and nice job on movies. I connect Sony HD receiver to this bose, I got a nice TV sound filling the room and dont want to listen to the speaker from my TV anymore :)

I think the base is not quite strong, but after increase the base up to 5 to 8 points. I feel it is good.

If you have a small room, and dont want wire everywhere. This system is perfect. I have to admit that this system does not produce good sound effect like having a GOOD 5 speaker system. and this small bose speakers can't beat tower speakers obviously. But when talking about the sound in term of speaker size and beauty, it is just amazing.

I'm going to keep this relatively simple and just cut to the facts of my own personal experience with this system.

The sound is amazing in my apartment. Even though it's not "true" surround sound, I can clearly hear things coming from the rear left and right spaces in my living room. Check out the intro bit to "Tenacious D's The Pick of Destiny" for a great example of what this system can do in regards to a surround effect.

I have never had any problems playing any discs in this sytem with regards to it reading the discs themselves. DVDs, DVD-Rs, DVD-Audio, and CDs have all played without a hitch. My iPod also sounds great playing through this system.

There were a couple times where the disc tray wouldn't open because my son had gunked up the playable side of a DVD with sticky fingerprints, but a SOLUTION IS GIVEN IN THE PRODUCT MANUAL ITSELF for rectifying such a situation. It takes all of two seconds to "fix," and this wasn't Bose's fault at all.

The picture quality is as groovy as any I've seen on a higher-end model. Personally, I don't own an HD TV, so I don't care about the hookups regarding that. It looks stellar on a standard def set. That's all I need it to do in regards to that.

I don't care that it doesn't have a headphone jack. I bought this thing to fully hear and experience some great sound. I got what I paid for. When I had a house, I had a full 5.1 system with the speakers wired behind me and everywhere else. Guess what? I still prefer this sytem.

I have my TV set on a standard entertainment console that I got at IKEA. The two main speakers I have sitting in front of the TV's speakers (I have the TV speakers shut off). It's perfect separation to my ears and provides all the effects flawlessly, with no need to find a "sweet spot" in my living room to sit in or any of that hoo-ha. I was amazed at this player's sound even while standing in the adjoining kitchen and at a perpendicular angle.

This is a rare high-end purchase where I've never felt bad about making a monthly payment. It's everything I hoped it would be and then some. Hardcore audiophiles are going to gripe about technicalities till they're blue in the face. This system is obviously not for them. And for the reviewers saying you can get a 39 dollar DVD player that's just as good, I say you're full of it. I've had a numnber of those, and yeah, they play DVDs just fine, but they don't offer an outstanding audio experience like this system.

To finish, I'd like to say that the setup was a snap, and I was able to easily integrate my Tivo and video game console with no problems whatsoever. Bose has made a great product here, period.

If you think this is a dvd player, you are wrong. It will sometimes play dvd's, however sometimes it will not. I have returned the media center for repairs 2 times in the first six months. I now possess a new media center--still skips and stops on its own. Bose was not receptive to my problems and required threats of legal action to exchange it.

If your life is perfect and you need something to spice it up, please try this product. It should take a couple of years off your life.

I wanted a surround sound system for my 1 bedroom apartment, but, didn't want to have cables cluttering up the floor. I have allways liked the sound of Bose speakers having used them since back in the 70's.
I orriginally was going to go with the 3-2-1 base system but I listened to them side by side and went with the GS II.
After a simple set up I inserted the demo DVD-CD that came with the system. I was totally blown away. Good bass, and although nothing really can replace 5.1 for sound placement, there were sounds that I could tell were definetally coming from front center, and rear right and left.
The system isn't cheap, but I feal you get what you pay for.

My neighbor bought this system, mainly because his wife liked its compactness and sleek look. Sure, I have no argument against that---about the only thing Bose is good for is pretty looks. Actual performance and value, however, is uniformly dismal with Bose products and this one is no exception.

This system claims to deliver "surround" sound basically by running some funny algorithms on the music, i.e. using funny equalization and minute time delays. The result? A thin and distinctly unnatural sound, especially when listening to music, or any movies that have lots of midrange-intensive orchestral music. It's OK if all you watch is explosions and car chases though. The bottom line is that there is NO substitute for having bona fide surround speakers, as well as bona fide decent electronics not just pretty little cases which Bose does so well.

For less than half the price of this system, you can get an Onkyo boxed system which blows it out of the water effortlessly in all departments. That's what my neighbor did, even though he lost a lot of brownie points with his wife---but now even she has to admit the Onkyo sounds a million times better.

Well, I had Bose 321 for about 2 years, never felt great or worth the money. When they came out with 321 GS series, I called the Bose sales department to check, what are the improvements? Needless to say, tons of changes and improvements is what they said. After I bought the system, honestly I did find any damn changes or improvements, only change is speakers are small.

Negatives issues:

Sound: bit of distortion and humming noise, sent to bose for repair twice, (not solved).

DVD Player: Does not work most of time.

Remote control: worst, you have to point it directly to the media center, if not it will not work.

Subwoofer: is ok, not the best.

Positive feedback:

System looks pretty and simple.

Will I ever buy another bose product? Absolutely not, I take no pleasure in fooling myself beyond second time.