its hard to steer new a/v shoppers away from the marketing gimmics!

keeneyrm01

So my old college roommate just moved into a new apartment with his fiance and asked me my advise buying a new stereo and tv. He asked me for some info a while back about some different speaker brands he should take a look at and then didn't take any action for buying anything. Then the other day he tells me he bought a bose cinimate 2 for $400 and what a great deal he got on it.

When I told him I didn't agree with his view of how it was the best way he could of spent his $400, he was not happy. When questioning me on how he could of done better, I showed him where to get some good used stuff (audiogon), some discounted old models on clearence, and even offered to hand down some of my old stuff for practically nothing, and he was not buying into it.

I suggested if he was looking at a 2.1 system like the bose cinimate 2 system is, he would be better off buying my old sony 5.1 receiver for like 40 bucks, a decent pair of used bookselfs from a site like audiogon (I showed him a pair of paradigms for like 250), and an entery level sub like a polk psw10 that's on clearence for 90 new at a local a/v shop). That way he could have something better than the bose system to start with and the ability to upgrade components and build a full system over time.

Does anyone agree with going the route I suggested or a better suggestion for spending about 400 bucks or how I can convince him to change his mind? (He could still return the bose thing if I can change his mind)

B Run

My grandpa had the Bose 321 system and he was not happy with it, but didn't want to buy a receiver or speakers due to lack of space. I just recommended the Polk soundbar off amazon and he absolutely loves it! He was so happy he gave me his bose (instantly sold on craigslist). I agree with you and once your friend hears the difference I think he will too!

decal

See my response to your other thread with the same title.

joeparaski

Drop it.....it's not worth your time and energy. And don't bother giving advice to newbies particularly when they're not "picking" your brains for info....they usually end up buying a "packaged" system.

Joe

Libertyc

Show him the Polk instant home theater from Polk direct on eBay shipped for $215.00.

http://cgi.ebay.com/SurroundBar-SDA-Instant-Home-Theater-/360326069961?pt=Speakers_Subwoofers&hash=item53e51b7ec9#ht_3657wt_838

TECHNOKID

joeparaski wrote: »

Drop it.....it's not worth your time and energy. And don't bother giving advice to newbies particularly when they're not "picking" your brains for info....they usually end up buying a "packaged" system.

Joe

Agreed, you can only help people that want to be helped. You better let go of the better quality speaker package for him and keep the friendship strong instead. The best way for you to get him to see and hear the difference is NO argument but simply an invitation to listen to some music/movies at your place. He might then ask you some questions but if not, just let it go (friendship is much more important than audio).

aboroth00

TECHNOKID wrote: »

Agreed, you can only help people that want to be helped. You better let go of the better quality speaker package for him and keep the friendship strong instead. The best way for you to get him to see and hear the difference is NO argument but simply an invitation to listen to some music/movies at your place. He might then ask you some questions but if not, just let it go (friendship is much more important than audio).

Education seems to be the best advice. Recommend some reading on the "evils" of Bose and let the information talk for itself.

aboroth00

If he refuses to believe evidence and facts then he is really lost to the dark side.

tonyb

Best thing to do is invite him over, pop in Transformers, and ask him if his Bose sounds like that. After he wipes the tears away, then maybe have that discussion.

Tony M

They can't miss what they've never heard.

My neighbor just bought an 1100.00 Bose wave changer. I told her once I could do better soundwise and cost wise.
But these people have more money than sense.Plain and simple.

Her reason was SPACE limitations in her spacious house.

aboroth00

tony millard wrote: »

They can't miss what they've never heard.

My neighbor just bought an 1100.00 Bose wave changer. I told her once I could do better soundwise and cost wise.
But these people have more money than sense.Plain and simple.

Her reason was SPACE limitations in her spacious house.

Well everyone wants to justify their purchase. They're just ignorant to the options that are out there and not at walmart.

aboroth00

The most ridiculous invention as of late was the Bose TV, overpriced inferior panel.

keeneyrm01

What makes it worse is he showed me how much the bose system weighs and then compared that to the weight of a sony home theater in a box and tried to justify the quality that way...

I think a lot of this thinking is common though for my generation. With so much new low priced technology, people just are used to cheap sound gear and haven't had much exposure to some quality products. When I first moved into the dorms with this guy freshman year, he was amazed by the sat/sub computer speakers I had... It was like he never heard of the concept of a sub. He was content using the speakers built into his computer monitor for years.

And he has heard my current system before but he's convinced he will only get that sound if he spends big bucks. I've tried to explain you can get a decent setup w/o spending a lot at first and then slowly upgrading but hes not buying into that idea.

Knucklehead

BOSE is a genius at marketing their product. Im not sure what the big deal is about people buying the product really, if THEY think it sounds good who are we to tell them it dosent? The first time someone comes into my home and tells me my system sucks or sounds like garbage for the money i spent, it would be the last time they were invited over, you can bet on that.

keeneyrm01

Oh I forgot to mention how the conversation about his purchase first started. He sent me a text message after not talking to him for a few weeks that just said "What do you think about a Bose Cinimate 2?"... When I strongly voiced my opinion of not to buy, thats when he told me he already bought and its being shipped...

...So I wasn't the jerk friend that went over to his place and started bashing his gear, I was kind of set up into saying some bad stuff to begin with. After he told me he already bought it I said I don't want to bash his purchase. He then egged me on to get me to keep going with what I initially said.

Knucklehead

It sounds as if your friend is on the outside looking in, and thats fine for a lot of people. I have Family members that are the same way. About the only thing you can do is offer suggestions...hell, if he already spent the money on BOSE equipment its a done deal anyways, no use arguing.

nguyendot

It's not his friend, I bet secretly he bought a Bose system and just doesn't want us to know

Knucklehead

nguyendot wrote: »

It's not his friend, I bet secretly he bought a Bose system and just doesn't want us to know

Who knows? Its possible. :biggrin:

aboroth00

nguyendot wrote: »

It's not his friend, I bet secretly he bought a Bose system and just doesn't want us to know

Ouch

aboroth00

I have to say, sometimes i want a simpler setup that would just work instead of having to play with everything to get it working!

TECHNOKID

nguyendot wrote: »

It's not his friend, I bet secretly he bought a Bose system and just doesn't want us to know

Hum, the cat is now out of the box! :eek:

Knucklehead

TECHNOKID wrote: »

Hum, the cat is now out of the box! :eek:

Box? I thought it was a bag?

Tony M

Bose has that financing program that allows so many to aquire them with payments stretched to three years or more probably. It's hard to offer that unless your company is really solid.

nooshinjohn

The one thing I tend to forget is that to most people, just having tunes that sound ok and a movie soundtrack that sounds better than a tv speaker is as good as it needs to be. For them, there is no need to go beyond that for enjoyment. For most here, we tend to persue quality to a far higher degree than is even considered normal. We are not as bad as that greek reality show about audiophiles, but there are a few rigs here that are damn close.

dorourke07

nooshinjohn wrote: »

The one thing I tend to forget is that to most people, just having tunes that sound ok and a movie soundtrack that sounds better than a tv speaker is as good as it needs to be. For them, there is no need to go beyond that for enjoyment. For most here, we tend to persue quality to a far higher degree than is even considered normal. We are not as bad as that greek reality show about audiophiles, but there are a few rigs here that are damn close.

+1

You can say the same about cars. Some people love getting the standard, generic transportation that consumer reports says is great. Looks like every other shoppers car in the Best Buy or Bed Bath & Beyond lot. While others tweak every little bit of their unique ride and can't believe people are happy in a beige camry(but they are). If there wasn't a mainstream, you couldn't be different.

ysss

I completely agree that you can get better sonic reprodction systems for less than what Bose runs for, BUT, don't forget that human senses are interlinked in curious ways. I've read about this research where they correlate the senses of our vision and smell to what we taste and the result was very surprising. Basically what we see and smell sets our taste expectation, and when the expectations are met, that's where Deliciousness comes from.

Not saying that looks/hype/prices are More important than true substance, but it does explain the 'weird phenomenons' we're seeing out there and to explain that our 'normal' friends/colleagues/neoghbours are not complete morons.

jayman_1975

I'm sure glad i found this site because i used to think bose was the cream of crop. Mind you that was when i thought that H/K was as good as you could get too.

tonyb

jayman_1975 wrote: »

I'm sure glad i found this site because i used to think bose was the cream of crop. Mind you that was when i thought that H/K was as good as you could get too.

:biggrin:
....and look at you now, with your audio game on. Congrats.

dhart86

B Run wrote: »

My grandpa had the Bose 321 system and he was not happy with it, but didn't want to buy a receiver or speakers due to lack of space. I just recommended the Polk soundbar off amazon and he absolutely loves it! He was so happy he gave me his bose (instantly sold on craigslist). I agree with you and once your friend hears the difference I think he will too!

+1. I bought into the Bose 321 system and was horrified at the sound quality. I also sold them suckers on craigslist. Fortunately, thereafter I started learning more about audio on this Polk forum and have become a real hobbyist.

I hope your friend learns from your experience....but don't push it if the friendship is important

keeneyrm01

The one thing I tend to forget is that to most people, just having tunes that sound ok and a movie soundtrack that sounds better than a tv speaker is as good as it needs to be. For them, there is no need to go beyond that for enjoyment. For most here, we tend to persue quality to a far higher degree than is even considered normal. We are not as bad as that greek reality show about audiophiles, but there are a few rigs here that are damn close./QUOTE]

dorourke07 wrote: »

+1

You can say the same about cars. Some people love getting the standard, generic transportation that consumer reports says is great. Looks like every other shoppers car in the Best Buy or Bed Bath & Beyond lot. While others tweak every little bit of their unique ride and can't believe people are happy in a beige camry(but they are). If there wasn't a mainstream, you couldn't be different.

Yeah both of these ideas pretty much sums up the kind of person my friend is. He justified his purchase by saying he can't tell the difference with stereo stuff and it doesn't really matter to him. But it bothered me because he asked me for my advise before hand, cause he doesn't know anything about audio stuff, but then ended up just going with bose cause its what he saw commercials for. I just fell like I could of helped him out with spending his money more wisely.

ysss

@keeney: well, he did think about you and looked you up for advice didn't he? but maybe he didn't think the answer would be so complicated (getting parts from multiple sources, dealing with buying secondhand items which doesn't come with warranty and its own type of risks)... or maybe your advice didn't address all of his requirements (aesthetics, etc)?

Imagine if you want to buy an oven (or something that you need but don't really care to fully research about) and you ask a knowledgeable friend of yours only to be surprised by the answer.

At any rate, if he's your friend, you guys shouldn't let audio stuffs break your friendship/communication down..