Customer Reviews

BOSE (R) Lifestyle 28 Series II DVD home entertainment system

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

 

 

Clarity is superb. Subwoofer is ok but lacks a little in deep base response. Had a little problem positioning the surround speakers in a 20' x 20' room being that my tv is in a corner and not centered. The AdaptIQ proceedure helped alot, but a fade control from left to right and front to back wouldv'e been appreciated. All in all I've compared this system with others in about the same price range and couldn't find any better.

I've had this system for 5 years now without a problem. The thing I like most is the clear sound and also the cool operating temperature. It gets warm but never hot like amps do. It has a nice design and appearance.

I bought this system about three years ago. I bought it more for the HomeLink system than as for its functionality as a surround sound system for our entertainment center. I didn't need or want the mp3 storage capacity so opted for the system II vs the III.

Once I upgraded my TV to an HDTV (Sony Bravia), I wanted to use the HDMI connections. The solution was to acquire the Bose VS Video Enhancer. Evidently this device is used even now on the Bose Home Entertainment Centers that also feature a CD/DVD player. I just got off the phone with Bose technical support. They will be sending me my second replacement of the Bose VS. While not happy that I've had nothing but bad luck with the VS (the signal to the television over the HDMI connection eventually failed entirely - resetting no longer solved the problem), I must give a shout out to Bose Tech support. They have been nothing but helpful and made the process of diagnosing and subsequently replacing the ailing component an easy one. The replacement is in the mail and a return label for the old VS is enroute to me via e-mail.

Quite often in posts here at Amazon, Bose gets slammed for not being responsive to customers. I can't say that I've ever had that problem with Tech Support.

The HomeLink feature that I purchased this unit to use, works quite well. My wife wanted music in 5 rooms of the house when guests arrived. Our first inclination was to rewire the house and install speakers in the targeted rooms. The minimum bid to do that approached $10,000. So, we opted instead to try the Bose LS 28 vII. Since we already had two Bose Wave Radios, I thought I'd roll the dice and gamble that the HomeLink worked as advertised. I had to buy a transmitter and two receivers as well, but after setting up the LS 28, I found there wasn't a spot anywhere in the house where the Bose Wave Radios didn't receive a good signal from the transmitter attached to the LS 28. This solved our whole house music system problem. I've subsequently acquired tow more Bose Wave Radios and receivers. When we have company, we pop an mp3 CD into the Bose LS 28 and bingo, we have music in every room we set up the Bose Wave Radios, as well as the room with the Bose LS 28. If we don't want music in a particular room, we simply turn off that room's Wave Radio, or use that unit independently of the HomeLink setup.

The only problem is that the receiver cones are bulky and unattractive, as are the home-link cables. Hiding these in the rooms with the Bose Wave Radios is a challenge. They can be tucked into cabinets out of sight if these are convenient. Managing the remotes for all of this is a bit less straight forward in practice as it is in theory. It will take some experimentation with the remotes to figure everything out. If you're in a remote room and have a HomeLink remote, you can advance to the next song, adjust volume etc. on the LS 28 from the remote location. However, we've found that once the individual radios are playing, that its best to use the remote for the Wave Radio to adjust volume locally. And to use the master remote for the LS II for other features.

Given the huge difference in cost between rewiring our house and investing in the LS 28, the transmitter, 4 receivers and two additional Bose Wave Radios, we're fairly content with the LS II with HomeLink.

Good luck.