Customer Reviews

BoseŽ LifestyleŽ T20 home theater system--Black

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I can't say enough good things about this product, awesome is not even close enough! Please be prepared to dedicate some time and patience in setting up this system, once it's done right you will be satisfied for as long as you own the system. The remote controller can also be programmed to control most of you other electronic devices in the same room, and so limiting the amount of controllers you have sitting on your table. I must take this opportunity to compliment Bose for manufacturing such amazing products, hat's off, would highly reccommend buying this product!!!!!

The system is all you'd expect from Bose, so I won't repeat all the accolades here. The elegant on-screen interface is terrific as it recognizes every media form out there from Wii to AppleTv, Blu-Ray to VCR. BUT it does not recognize . . . an iPod? In order to listen to your iPod through the system, you're required to open the front panel of the Bose control console and plug in red/white RCA jacks from your iPod in order to "fool" the system in to playing your music. Even a Bose iPod dock that plugs right in to a mere Wave Radio won't work here. No, if you want a Bose Home Theater system that recognizes your MP3 player, you'll just have to cough up an extra $500 to $1200 for a V25 or V35 system. It is a bit frustrating to plug in your AppleTV and have the system read "AppleTV" only to then plug in your (esoteric, I guess) iPod and your $2000 sound system doesn't respond. Ugh.

This is a monster system with little speakers.
I looked at most of the HTIB systems and none could match the sound clarity of Bose.
Down side is you pay a premium price.

Set up is easy.Even the box is neatly organized for easy installation.I was able to install in under 30 mins.
It took more time to run the wires under the carpet.

The on screen guided set up is a breeze.It will guide you step by step to connect various systems.I hooked up my PS3, Wii, Fios Cable box, DVD player.

Even the normal talk based shows on CNN sounded so awesome.

Inspite of the high price, I would recommend this system.It's a sound investment !!

We have been using 2.1 sound system for our HDTV for a while. Recently, decided to upgrade to a 5.1 system; shopped for HTIBs in local stores and online. Checked and experienced the various models of BOSE surround systems both the 2.1s and 5.1s.
Decided to go with this LIFESTYLE BOSE T20 system(instead of the V25, V35,etc. models) for the following reasons:
-No need for AM/FM tuner
-No need for ipod/iphone dock
-No need for a high end remote with LCD screen on it
-No need for DVD player/cd player/Bluray player.(already own a bluray player)
For our requirements, T20 was sufficient (TV and Movie watching)

Unboxing was a breeze. Boxes were numbered so they can be opened one by one. No complaints for the install-quick setup-running the wires was the most time consuming.

The systems directs you to integrate all the sources through onscreen instructions. Remote is a little bit heavy. I connected the optical cable into the wrong socket and it asked me to check it, It was my fault as I didnt look at the back connection panel carefully (I was more excited to get it connected and enjoy the surround sound).
But once all the wires were nicely tucked in and the connections paired correctly, I fired it up with a DVD to check the sound.
I skipped the ADAPTiQ audio calibration system at first.....The sound was great but to me it didnt feel like "the sound fill the whole room" effect.
Then I decided to configure the ADAPTiQ audio calibration system which lets you chose 5 regions in the room and calibrates and adjusts the sound accordingly. This is also an on screen step by step system guided process.
After the whole setup was over, I played the DVD again and the sound quality went from "GREAT" to "super AMAZING". The whole room was full of premium sound. Really satisfied with the product-Sound Quality and all its features. Watching TV and DVD/Bluray Movies has been a wonderful experience with this system.
5 Stars.......
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Update continued August 29,2011
I had to add the following settings feature for the T20 system:
The system (through the Remote) allows you to configure the sound from the source (TV,DVDplayer,Bluray player, etc.)as following
1.Original ...........Plays stereo audio when stereo audio is received from the source/
2.Recommended ...... Plays 5-channel audio WHETHER OR NOT 2- or 5-channel audio is received from the source/
3.Alternative ........Plays 5-channel audio when either stereo or 5-channel audio is received from the source/
4.Enhanced Mono ..... Plays simulated surround sound when monaural audio is received from the source.
(From Bose Manual)

This is a really nice feature because if the input source doesnot have a multichannel audio, using the 2 or 3 setting from the above list would make the audio sound like multi channel (I found it really useful for TV watching or for the DVDs that didnot have multi-channel audio). So far watched many DVD and Bluray movies with this system ( for instance Inception, Clash of Titans, Independence day, The Priest, etc.)..... truly a wonderful experience......STILL 5 STARS.

I am thrilled with my purchase. I know from my web research that there are components which are found on the web which offer similar features at lower cost. Bose has a great overall rep and wonderfull product line. The deal maker for me were the reviews which lauded the ease of setup. I couldn't agree more. Extremely easy to get up and running. I want to paly with my new toy not try to figure out how to set it up. The quality of the components is also a big plus along with the Bose support.
Thank you Bose for your research and developement.

I am not going to review the sound quality of this device, as plenty of other people have covered that here. I am very happy with this system, but I want to touch on two things I did not see covered when I was researching this product:

1) The Good: You can use your existing surround sound speaker wire with this product. I looked and looked and couldn't find an answer to this before buying, and was worried I was going to have to get the proprietary Bose speaker wire fished through my walls. You don't have to do that. Just connect the ends of the Bose provided speaker wire to the wall plate, and then hook the speakers up. I am hoping this doesn't have any impact on the sound quality of the rear speakers, but if it does, I haven't noticed so don't tell me.

2) The Bad: The remote control does not work well with my Verizon Fios box. The set up of this system requires that all of your components go through the Bose box and you only have one HDMI cord going out to the TV. Therefore, switching the TV input does not allow you to move between your cable/sat box and DVD player, you have to use the "source" button on the Bose remote to switch. Although the universal remote provided is high quality, my preference was to keep using the Verizon Fios remote that was provided with my cable box, as we are used to it and all of the necessary buttons are there. I was able to set up the Bose system as the AUX source, get it to turn on when I turned on the TV and Cable box and the volume buttons control the volume of the Bose surround sound. However, the universal remote codes provided by Bose do not allow the Fios remote to control the "Source" that the Bose is displaying. Hitting TV input does nothing. Therefore, if I want to use the Fios Remote, I have to keep the Bose remote nearby when I want to switch to watch a DVD or Apple TV.

The other option is to use the provided Bose universal remote to control the Verizon Fios box. For most functions this works well, but it takes some getting used to. The biggest headache is that the Bose remote doesn't provide a dedicated "List" button to access your recorded DVR programs or an "On Demand" button. To get to those you need to hit "More" on the remote, which brings up virtual buttons on your TV screen, and you then need to arrow left or right to get to the button you were looking for. I can live with this, but there is one other BIG problem with the provided Bose remote that I haven't been able to solve.

With the Verizon Fios box, when it goes to "sleep" after periods of non-use, there is a message on the screen that requires you to hit the menu button on the remote to watch anything. The problem is that hitting menu on the Bose remote does not wake the system. Therefore, I am back to having two remotes so I can hit menu on the Fios remote to wake it up when turning on the TV.

This may not be an issue with other providers (where you can usually hit any key to watch), but this does seem to be an issue between Verizon Fios and the Bose system. I went into one of the Bose stores and asked the salesperson and he indicated that this was a known issue with Fios. I have not given up on finding a solution for this, but I have found the remote control frustrating. I will update if I find a solution (other than using two remotes)

For basic bose system, this is a great system. Itdoesn't have an ipod dock or a music system, which is ok with us. We have ATT uverse music channels and we use it to listen to music on this system and it's great. If you want to hook up a mp3 player or an android phone, you can buy a RCA cable with a headphone jack and it works great.

It performs well when I play video games using PS3 but falls short of my expectation when I play Blu Ray movies or regular CDs. In those instances I do not feel the "surround" sound much, and certainly not from the CDs. When I called Bose customer service, it was explained to me that regular CD doesn't produce surround sounds and most movies (even Blu Ray) don't also fully utilize the surround features. Honestly I'm not sure if I buy into that. I bought it because I'm not an audio expert but my sense of hearing can tell what's good sound and what's not.

In addition, when I hook up the PS2 through this unit using red/white/yellow cable, the output screen size is funky with my HDTV. So I ended up bypassing this with my PS2. Then there's not analogue cable input for me to hook up my Direct TV IN to this unit so it's also a waste on that. For such limited use, I do question the value of spending $1800 on this.

By the way, when I researched different home theater systems, I was shocked to find many 4/5 stars reviews on units that are $200-500 range. When I went to the retail stores to test hear them, they are nothing but just louder noises. So from that perspective, Bose's unit's sound quality is definitely crisp and very clear, but just didn't give the full "surround" feeling that I would expect as in a movie theater unless I turn the volume to be very loud.

I had Onyx and bought high end speakers--but the sound for TV was never "right". NOW IT IS!!

It also does good things to video quality (upgrades 480/720 to 1080). The controller controls all your video /audio inputs.

It DOES NOT let you shut off your TV and just listen to another audio source just as background music...this is a design flaw if you ask me. I'd like to set up Pandora on my Blu Ray and just listen, but hate to waste the 'trons to have the TV on when no one is watching. This is just STUPID for the system engineers....OK OK, I admit that I am probably picky...but I am a nuclear engineer and I KNOW that it is just simply STUPID not to anticipate this need by consumers.

It DOES NOT let you use TWO remote controls...I know; why would I want to do that? Well, those of us who are married and want to have it loud or soft depending on whether or not we're on the phone with Daddy....let's just say that Bose engineers are pretty stupid not to add a "key code" to each remote/console so that you can have multiple remotes and still not control the neighbors' TV (assuming he was smart enough to buy a bose system)--BTW, that was the LAME excuse given to me by the customer service rep when I called to see why I couldn't set up two remotes for the system (I bought a second one so my wife and I could stop fighting over the remote). Now I have a second remote that makes a great paper weight but is just that useful...to say I'm irritated is to understate my attitude.

These are STUPID issues and the BOSE engineers should be shamefaced for overlooking these consumer expectations. Also, some people will fault it for not having an iPOD dock or bluetooth; but I don't need that, do you?

Bottom line--good sound, easy to use and set up--some STUPID engineering flaws that may make you unhappy.

I initially got a damaged piece which was promptly replaced by Amazon at no extra cost. The product appearance and sound effects are good although I expected a lot more from the universal remote. I am not sure if I am missing something but the universal remote does not seem to work properly with my FIOS cable box and I still need the TV remote to switch on and off the TV.

Anil - Dec 22, 2011