17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
Techy guy who wanted 1 Remote Simplicity (and some good sounding surround sound)
OK, so all I wanted was a great surround system that would accept an optical cable to throw out surround, and did NOT want to have a large receiver sitting under my TV for just that only purpose. The Display being separated from the Media Unit is awesome. I have an Xbox 360, Comcast Tivo (yes, Tivo from Camcast), and an Apple Mac Mini hooked up to a 52" Samsung LCD...
8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
Its just not what I expected
I bought this system 6 months ago, replacing my older Bose acoustimass 10 Series II with a Yamaha htr-5460 what a disappointment. By no means I am a music expert but Im guessing the speakers are fine. The amp is what Im thinking is lacking. It does not fill the room with warmness like the AM10 had done in the past with music. And as for movies well lets just say I have...
This review is from: Bose Lifestyle V20 Home Theater System - Black (Electronics)
OK, so all I wanted was a great surround system that would accept an optical cable to throw out surround, and did NOT want to have a large receiver sitting under my TV for just that only purpose. The Display being separated from the Media Unit is awesome. I have an Xbox 360, Comcast Tivo (yes, Tivo from Camcast), and an Apple Mac Mini hooked up to a 52" Samsung LCD (1080p) TV, and just wanted surround sound. I was not evening looking for a remote...no remote shipped with any system actually works, right? I was still looking for a 1 remote control solution. (more on the remote later)
Forget the fact that I paid $1700 for this...I know would still pay the $2,000 for it. I know Bose can be pricey.... If you are looking at this, you're considering it too. I would do it again, even without the sale price.
It sounds damn good. It blows away any of those all in one's you see out there for $1,000 or less. I'm sure that at some price point, an all in one will sound better, but I'm sure it will cost a pretty penny. There is even good bass. Can I get more rumble with at 'proper' 8" or 10" subwoofer? Yes, if I want to, but LIstening to Rush, Moving Pictures sounds PERFECT! (had to up the Bass to a +8 to make this sound like that).
Surround is good, bass is good, TV pass thru (for video) is good...even the remote is more than I expected.
Points:
Ships with (just about) everything you need: HDMI, components, composites, & speaker cables, remote, IR transmitters, batteries.
Speaker wires: 3 x 20', and 2 x 50'
Wishes:
it came with speaker stands/mounts. But, most high-end systems don't, and look what it DOES come with. OK, I can give some slack here, but the stands/mounts were $30 (MSRP) each. Found them online for less than 1/2 of that.
REMOTE
Now, I was ready to go buy a true universal remote (Logitech, or old Harmony remotes), but was going to try the Bose remote first.
Waited until I had a few hours, because I had to re-run my HDMI cables. Took the Xbox360 and Comcast Tivo, removed them from the TV, and hooked them up tot he HDMI in on the Bose. Bose is now connected to the TV over HDMI. Played with the remote settings, and was surprised as anything when it worked EXACTLY like I wanted it to. Thought I would have to run the IR Emitters....nope. PLEASE...take your time with the remote settings. There are a LOT OF CODES for your to search through. Don't stop at the first one just because the power on/off feature worked. Write down what worked, and keep moving down the list. Took me 7 working TV codes to find the one where the menu button actually brought up a working menu. Took me 3 tries to find the right Comcast Tivo code. I figure this is why people have problems with the remote's universal feature (that they stop on the 1st working code). The remote is Radio Frequeny for the Bose controls, and will do IR for the other components without requiring the IR Transmitters.
Enjoy
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
This review is from: Bose Lifestyle V20 Home Theater System - Black (Electronics)
We waited over ten years before finally taking the plunge with Bose and it was well worth the wait. The sound quality is superb and it does everything I need it to do. I test ran it with Saving Private Ryan and finally re-experienced the theater quality sound I couldn't get with our Klipsch or Sony systems. HOWEVER, it took me two weekends to figure out how to make all the connections (DirecTV, TIVO, DVD...) work like they are supposed to; if I had it to do over again I would pay the Geek Squad or somebody to set it up for me. But now that it is up and running I only regret that we waited so long.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
This review is from: Bose Lifestyle V20 Home Theater System - Black (Electronics)
First time buyer/user of Bose. We were looking for good quality sound and small size. The design is very good: visitors cannot tell where the sound comes from: speakers were easily installed and incorporated in our current living room. The sound is great for movies and very good for music. The more dynamic the range the better the sound. It does well with PCM 2.0, 5.1, the mp3, wav files and nice with mono recordings.
Upgrading video signal is good too. Standard cable looks better on 40" LCD TV. It does well with trhough HD signal (no loss/distortion). I have Blu-ray from PC hooked to it (no HDCP conflict here yet). Looks great!
Issues: 1. We had handshake issues with a motorola cable box. 2. We had to return first unit as it had color distortion (Bose customer service is good). 3. Infrared signal comes from display so the other devices need to face the display, otherwise use the IR sensor.
SummarY: It's a nice unit, provides enough power, quality and upgrading of audio and video signal in an elegant, discrete design. It can satisfy the average consumer.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
This review is from: Bose Lifestyle V20 Home Theater System - Black (Electronics)
I bought this system and hooked it up. Sounded fantastic, but when I heard a V30 at a Bose store, the Jewel Cube speakers blew me away. The V20 gives you more mid range, the V30 gives more mids to highs. Both systems sound superb, but the V30's Jewel Cube speakers provided more detail and a crisper sound. I ended up returning the V20 for a V30. Both are amazing systems, but the clarity and the crispness of the Jewel Cube system impressed me to the point of shelling an extra g-note. Bottom line is you can't go wrong with either system, but definetly listen to both before choosing one.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
This review is from: Bose Lifestyle V20 Home Theater System - Black (Electronics)
I purchased the Bose v-20 a couple of weeks ago. I have a PS3 for blu-ray, a new Samsung LCD, and Direct TV HD DVR hooked to the bose. The remote didn't initially work with anything until I figured out how to change it to IR. I had to search on line for a solution. The biggest problem is that when ever I change chanels on the Direct TV HD DVR the Bose goes "dead" for a minute or 2 and then will come back on. It really is annoying. The sound is ok but not great. I have the surround sound up almost all the way and I still am not super happy with it. My room is about 20 x 25 but that should not be a problem. Since I have my components hooked up using HDMI and I am having problems switching channels and losing sound I'm going to try hooking my Direct TV HD DVR to the bose v20 with component and see if that works, of course I will have to change sound hookup also.
I think there is a problem with Bose HDMI inputs, but I'm not technically proficient enough to know how to verify this.
Also, I wish that there were more HDMI inputs, 2 is not enough now days.
I did send a note to bose asking them questions and they responded quickly.
I have multiple bose products and I have to say this is the first time I'm not 120% satisfied.
I also find that the sound isn't as loud as I would like. I don't think there is enough power. Bose told me to disconnect everything and re-do the connections in a specific order. But, it is a lot of work to get to everything.
I think the system is great overall, but overpriced. I am still about 80% satisfied with this system, but am really thinking about returning it. I saw an amp that sells for $900 that has 6 HDMI inputs and it seems like it might work better than the bose. I'm going to give it another weekend after I make all the new connections and then if I'm still not satisfied I will return the system - which will make me sad because I really wanted Bose.
UPDATE: After about 3 weeks I got tired of trying to get this system to work the way I wanted. Bose support told me to hook my DVR directly to TV with component and just running sound through the Bose to get best picture and sound - I tried that but it still wasn't giving me sound I expected. The surround speakers just didn't have power to give me good sound. After much work and lots of frustration I returned the Bose and purchased a Denon AVR 890 and got back over a $1000. The Denon is a pain to set up, but the sound is so much better I can't believe it. Bose really let me down. I always trusted them and felt if I spent more I would get more, but in this case it wasn't true. Oh, by the way the Denon has 5 HDMI inputs. Come on Bose, you need more power and more HDMI inputs. The Bose is really for small rooms.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
This review is from: Bose Lifestyle V20 Home Theater System - Black (Electronics)
Having a 46" LCD with 1080P capability and a Sony BDP-300 Blu-ray player using a Panasonic dvd/cd surround system although sounded good we still wanted to up-grade to a better sound to go along with the excellent picture quality. We had heard a demo display at a sam's club of the V-10 which had gotten us thinking about it and after much research decided to go with the V-20. Purchased it from Stop-Deal through Amazon. Got it for a good price with no shipping besides. Shipped from California to New Hampshire inside a week. Because I had done my home-work I already knew what all was included. It's pretty impressive. You get EVERYTHING you need to set it up. Being familiar with connecting varius components I had no difficulties hooking this system up. The manual is thorough and there's an instruction set-up DVD that comes with it. The bottom line is that the V-20 took off from day one and there has not been any problems what so ever. The system sounds terrific with movies, music and tv. I have read where others are unhappy with the V-20, but we are very satisfied with it... It has been almost a year now and I have to mention an experience I had with Bose. On Friday (July 2, 2010) the TV auduo worked and Saturday it did not. Nothing I could think of would correct the problem. Because it was a holiday week-end I had to wait until 7/6/10 to call Bose. Simply put, their technician asked some questions, walked me through some tests and then directed me through a procedure and we're good. The man was patient, thorough and courteous and it only took a short while. I don't think you could ask for better. Thank you Bose...
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
This review is from: Bose Lifestyle V20 Home Theater System - Black (Electronics)
Great surround sound. It sounds awesome even in my open living room space. Why buy from the local bose store when you can save on Amazon with no tax and the brackets are about half the price. Go check them out at your local bose store and you can judge for yourself. You will be sold.Bose Lifestyle V20 Home Theater System - Black
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
This review is from: Bose Lifestyle V20 Home Theater System - Black (Electronics)
Every Bose product I've bought, while not cheap, is top of the line, and this one is no exception. Set up was easy, and sound quality is incredible. System is custom tuned with an included headset for 5 distinct listening locations in the room. After the tuning, the system became transparent; we constantly look around to see ambient noises in 5.1 movies! A nice touch is that Bose includes cables (HDMI, fiber, component) to get your hook up started.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
This review is from: Bose Lifestyle V20 Home Theater System - Black (Electronics)
I bought this system 6 months ago, replacing my older Bose acoustimass 10 Series II with a Yamaha htr-5460 what a disappointment. By no means I am a music expert but Im guessing the speakers are fine. The amp is what Im thinking is lacking. It does not fill the room with warmness like the AM10 had done in the past with music. And as for movies well lets just say I have not jump out of my seat in a long time. On the plus side the amp is very easy to tuck away and I planning on installing this system in my room.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
This review is from: Bose Lifestyle V20 Home Theater System - Black (Electronics)
I received my Bose sound system several weeks ago, took an afternoon to hook up everything, and could not be more pleased. I have a mid-sized house (~2400 square feet) and the system will deliver sufficient volume that music or soundtracks, including dialogue, can be heard throughout my home. I also use the system to play my music wirelessly from my home computer and get excellent results. The stereo sound quality is terrific and, after using the AdaptIQ to adjust the sound, is very well-balanced. The room where I watch television is about 30 x 20, so those with larger rooms might need to consider a different system, but this is one is more than adequate for that space. I am particularly pleased with the surround sound and am getting excellent results from DVD's that have good audiotracks; the resolution between the dialogue and the sound effects is particularly satisfying after having used my TV speakers for a few months.
In short, if you have an average-sized room, this system should deliver everything you want from a theater system, and is expandable with other components (either from Bose or other parties). Although it is not cheap, I found it to be the right price for the right results that I wanted. Others who are considering items in this price range should definitely consider the V20 system.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
(
Saving...
