Customer Reviews

Bose Lifestyle V30 Home Theater System - Black

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I am amazed at the ease of installation. I had the whole system up and running in less than 1/2 an hour- granted that I used the speaker wires and wall/ceiling mounts from my old BOSE AM 15's. The only added step was installing an adapter on the speaker wires from my Bose AM 15 so I could connect the Jewel cube arrays. (I had to use the old speaker wires because they where already installed in the walls.) The Adapt IQ is really what sets this system apart. We have a really wide living room in which the TV is off center. Balancing my old Bose AM 15 Direct Reflective speaker arrays with the old receiver was a nightmare. AdaptIQ did all the work in minutes. Every speaker is now perfectly balanced. We where a little concerned about spending an extra $1,000 for the V30 opposed to the V20, but the Jewel Cube Speakers are so crisp and clear. Music never sounded better. The surround sound fill the room evenly at all volumes. It's powerful when it's suppose to be, yet the dialogue is clear and coherent. The only adjustment I made was to increase the bass to +2 and Treble to +4. I left everything else on automatic. My old receiver was overbearingly powerful in which the details would get lost. The minimalist design of the Lifestyle systems is superb. The system blends in the room's decor perfectly. One note of caution, IF YOU SEE "PCM 2.0" ON YOUR BOSE DISPLAY-MAKE SURE YOUR DVD SOURCE IS ON THE RIGHT SETTING. Contrary to what the Bose saleman said to me, PCM 2.0 is not the same as Dolby Digital or DTS 5.1. I was getting PCM 2.0 on movies and Dolby Digital 5.1 on cable tv and video games. I have a PS3 in which I had to change the HDMI setting from 'linear' 2.0 to 'bitstream'- Problem solved - I now get 5.1 on all forms of media. In conclusion- If you have the means, I highly recommend this top end Lifestyle system. You will save in the long run. I spent $2,300 in 1999 when I mixed Bose speakers with a Yamaha receiver and was never 100 percent satisfied. I would have been much better off shelling out a few hundred more and getting a Lifestyle system back then.

Replaced a seven year-old Onkyo system with the Bose V30. The system worked well right out of the box. The jewel cube speakers are outstanding considering their size. Unlike conventional speakers, they are broken into two speakers each (per speaker) and allow you to swivel each speaker in different directions. I am quite aware that I spent alot of money compared to other systems available, but the Bose design blended nicely into my room's decor. You don't even know there is a home theater system in the room. Classical music is amazing on this system. Movies are awesome. I use the system with a Sharp Aquos 42 1080P and a Sony Blu-ray player. Of course, my cable provides 40 or 50 HD channels. One thing I have discovered is that I can use the Bose system 100% of the time, even when watching a TV program. With the Onkyo, I only used it for movies and music because it was overbearingly powerful. The Bose V30 fills the room with rich sound and it is pleasing, even at lower volumes. Sure, I could have spent less on another system, but for the minimalist design and outstanding sound, nothing else compared. I did have a few issues during installation and Bose customer service was personable, patient and effective (and also English-speaking AMERICANS). Bottom line: if it fits your budget, it is a fantastic system!

Like others out there, I have waited a long time to purchase a Bose Home Entertainment System. My visit to our local Bose Factory Store in Manchester Vermont was nothing short of fantastic. The staff and our audio attendant were very attentative to our customer needs with service and attention to product detail that I have not seen in quite some time in a store. Our initial intent was to look into the Bose 321 System as we were looking for a system that could deliver a home theatre experience in a compact package. As we looked into other systems we came across the V class Lifestyle systems and we were drawn to it's sleekness in overall design as well as the cube style speakers. I was unaware that Bose produced such a system, but found it to be the perfect compliment to our home theatre as we recently invested in a Blu-Ray Player. In order to get a better sense of overall performance, we decided to experience the home theatre demonstration room as they had the Jewel Cube Speakers we were interested in. The sound produced from these speakers was so crisp and lifelike. We decided on the V30 System as the Jewel Cube speakers were decidedly better in overall sound reproduction and at about $1,000 additional I feel they were absolutely worth it. As we do not have an ideal room for home theatre speaker placement, the AdaptiQ feature can and does calibrate brilliantly to give every person in the room the ideal home theatre experience. For those who may wonder, the Acoustimass Module does have both a Bass and Treble Compensation allowing you to customize to your taste. We run our Blu Ray directly to our TV to take advantage of the HDMI 1.3 version and the Satellite System runs through the Media Center and the Audio is hooked up via Digital Optical Cable providing the best overall sound experience for which Bose is known for. Yes the HDMI is 1.2, but version 1.3 is not available on most cable systems and broadcasts are usually in 1080i format. We went in eyes and ears wide open and were focused on the acoustic features of the Bose. I would say that we are very happy with our overall purchase and can highly recommend the Bose Life Style with Jewel Cube speakers.

My new V30 replaces a 10 yr old set of Bose AM 15 speakers conneted to a Yahama 995 receiver. The old system was powerful but too much so. if you turned the volume up to here spoken words clearly you would get a loud thunderous surprise when there was sudden action. Turn the volume down and you couldnt hear speech. The V30 elimated that problem. it sounds great at all volumes! The adapt IQ is brilliant. My speakers had to be placed in a manner making them not equidistant and adapt IQ adjusts them for a very even sound. I hated having to constantly adjust my old system. This system is expensive but performs very well and allows connection to any current or future technology.

The system with ADAPTiQ acoustic environmental compensation produces good sound reproduction with DVD's or pure Audio. My only complaint is that the remote cannot be programmed to operate either my five year old Panasonic DVD Player or my General Instruments Cable box so I'm stuck using three remotes.

I have had this system for about a year now. I purchased it at a Bose outlet store as a reconditioned system so I received about 20% off of list price. The following is a summary of my feedback.

While most people buy this as a surround sound system for a single room, the system does much more. My audio requirement was that I needed to provide stereo sound to the first floor of a 5,000 sq ft home. A few of the features that were most important to me were being able to 1) separately feed sound to 6 rooms and 2) control the main system and a separate i-pod from each of the rooms. And while I didnt need the 5.1 surround system, I was glad it was included. The following is my feedback.

FEEDING SOUND TO SEVERAL ROOMS: I investigated several other manufacturers multichannel amps which permit one to send sound to several rooms but they all had one thing in common. You had your choice either a 10 channel amp (for 5 rooms) or a 14 channel amp( 7 rooms), etc. What if you only needed 8 channels for 4 rooms or if you needed 12 channel for 6? One size does not fit all! Bose did a very smart thing by designing the V30 system so that you buy as many seperate modular amps that you need. The first connects to the main unit and all the rest daisy chain to each other. You can add up to 14 amps (28 channel) for up to 14 rooms. That way, you are buying exactly the amount of power and channels that you need. And another nice aspect of this is that you have your choice of amps with either 30 watts per channel or 100 wpc. If you buy another manufacturers 10 channel amp in a single unit, all channels usually have the same amount of wattage so you are over-supplying or under-supplying some rooms. As an example, I chose a 30 watt amp for the porch speakers and 100 watt amp for the outside deck speakers. I am a real estate broker by day and set up, rough wired and finished wired the entire system myself as my room was being constructed. Bose made it dummy proof.

CONTROLLING THE UNIT FROM SEPARATE ROOMS: I could not believe how hard it was to find a multi-channel amp that could be controlled by a RC controller. And I was looking at many units that cost up to [...]. They either wanted to sell me a full color wireless remote for about [...] or a wall wired unit that I would have to get up off the couch and walk over to a wall to control. I was thrilled to see that the Bose not only have wireless remotes that control the system, but 1) they are RC (radio control) meaning you dont have to "point" them at the unit or a IR receiver in a room to control the system, 2) they will also control an I-pod connected to the system, and 3) they only cost about [...] each!

5.1 CHANNEL SURROUND SOUND: I already have a Runco theater set up in my home with 7.1 surround sound so I didnt need another surround system. And while I was thrilled to see that the V30 could supply my home with great stereo sound in up to 14 rooms, I was dismayed to know that I was forced to take the V30 surround package that included the 5 speakers and sub-woofer. Since the V30 was being set up in my family room, I begrudgingly bought it anyway to accompany my new 55" Sony TV. Boy am I glad the surround system was included as although I now have two surround setups in my home, the Bose system provides clear and spacious sound to my new TV. The system automatically switches from 5.1 on high def TV channels to 2.0 PCM whenever needed. I still wish it were 6.1 or 7.1 however. I thought the small V30 speakers provided cleaner, clearer sound in the treble frequency range than the larger V20 speakers which sounded a little duller.

VIDEO PROCESSING: You could just use the V30 to process sound and circumvent the control of all video, but I decided to give the unit a chance to perform as designed and connected EVERYTHING through the V30 (every input is utilized) including the TV, Bose i-pod dock, 6 Bose power amps, DVD player, FIOS Cable Box and CD player. The main Bose RC control does a fine job of controlling all the components as designed. I did a test by passing the video signal from the cable box directly to the TV, and then tried it through the V30. There was no denigration of signal which is great as its easier to control everything if they all pass through the V30.

TECH SUPPORT: When I had a few questions on speaker placement, I received quick response from an American tech support person with little wait time. Very helpful and friendly.

SMALL GRIPE: My only issue is a small one and it involves the fact that when controlling the music volume in other rooms using the separately added amps, the sound is adjusted at pre-determined factory levels. As an example, when you hit the volume up or down button on the remote, the sound adjusts by a fixed increment when you are seeking a finer adjustment. I found myself wanting to change the volume of music at a smaller incremental level than the remote was allowing me to. This issue does not exist when adjusting sound levels with the units integrated amp for the 5.1 surround sound.

SUMMARY: Very happy with sound, design, functionality and customer service. Would buy again.

[...]

No change. Performing perfectly 1.5 yrs later. Happy and would purchase again

My buddy owns a V20 system and he purchased almost a year back.
Ever since I saw the V20 I always dreamt of buying a V30 as the magnet inside V30 is 10times powerful than V20.
Finally when I saw the price of 1699, it was too tempting not to miss the product.

For me:
Black Friday came early in September in form of BOSE V30, Absoultely loving the product, design, features and of course its sound..

BOSE 2nd to none

Easy setup. The remote controls my motorola DVR and also my philips TV
I switched from a full Harman and Infinity speakers to this system. The sound is pretty good for a small system.

Movies sound clear. I feel a bit too much sound is coming from the center channel.
The bass is perfect.

It works for a small place.

Setup:
Bose V30
Philips LCD TV
PS3
Slimdevices player
Motorola DVR + cable card

Cons:
Bit pricy.

Pros:
Easy Setup
Small form factor
Nice Sound
Nice RF remote that controls everything.
Nice system to turn on your TV

AMAZON IS MY PREFERRED PURCHASING CHANNEL, I WAS ABLE TO BUY THE V 30 AT 500 USD LESS THAN REGULAR PRICE . THE V-30 SYSTEM WORKS SUPER , THE SOUND IS GREAT, PICTURES IS GREAT AND THE SPEAKERS LOOK GREAT ON THE WALL TOO - RECOMENDED! ......INSTALLATION MAY TAKE A BIT OF TIME, IF YOU DON'T WANT TO DO IT YOURSELF CONTRACT A BOSE TECNICS... A BIT PRICEY BUT WORTH THE MONEY AND YOU GET IT WORKING RIGHT...RIGHT AWAY!

I bought the Bose Lifestyle V30 Home Theater System for $1999 and that includes shipping, if you own a Blu-Ray player or DVD player, then this is the one you want. No reason to pay an extra $1500 for the V35 version, that includes the little extras. The sound quality is awesome and the remote is solid, my only real problem is the lack of customing the highs-mids-lows.