Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I know everyone so far has rated this system really high because Bose is the best selling audio brand in the country but please read on and I urge you to do your own research and judge for yourself. I purchased this system, against my better judgement, a few months back due to a friend of mine raving about it. I went to my local Bose store and heard it and it sounded great in their little room. I fell for this trick once before several years ago when I purchased the original Bose 321 system and hated it. So anyway, i ended up getting the V35 system for $3k. I took it home and set it up and it did not sound anything like it did in the store. I took it back and got a new one and BAM, same thing so I called the store and they had a guy come out and "professionally install it." The guy did a great job and was very honest about the product. After it was fully configured it sounded better but not like a $3k system should sound. The sound it put out was either very boomy or too rich so in other words it lacked midrange and true punch for movies. For example when at mid to high volume, the surround sound comming from the center channel overpowered the dialogue such as hearing to much street noize in a city sceen and not being able to hear the voice crystal clearly. We fooled with it for several hours to no avail. It either got much quiter in which the base response overpowered the audio or it got two loud where all the sound seemed to mix so where it lacked clarity. Honestly my old Onkyo 7.1 THX system I purchased for $799 sounded WAY better than the V35 Bose system that was replacing it (replacing the onkyo system because the receiver died and I wanted to go all out). After talking to the installer he told me that Bose systems always sound good in the store because the rooms they are set up in are perfectly rectangular with nothing in the way to block sound waves meaning these rooms are configured so that the sound waves will bounce of the walls perfectly. Basically, its a nice trick for a perfectly square, small room but not practical for most lived in living rooms. So I kept the system an extra week and moved it to a 14x14 bedroom and bam he was right. The system sounded much better however still lacked true midrange but overall the sound was much better but still not worth 3k in my opinion. The room which I needed a system in is a 20x22 room so it is more of a challenge for the small sounding V35. So needless to say I took it back. So once again in my opinion the sound was not good enough for that price tag however in its environment you can get a decent sound. There are however some plus's for the V35 system... first, it is VERY easy to set up and its an all in one system which helps many people who dont care to buy seperate parts and build their own system. The speaker size made the system virtually invisible but that is also why it sounds so small. Anyway, I took the system back and had no problem getting my money back... I then did about a months worth of research/searching and for the same price built an amazing system. I can't stress how much better it is when you put a little time and effort into doing this. I am not an audiophile but when I watch an action movie i want to be able to clearly hear the dialogue while hearing the surround effects while getting punched in the face by the subwoofer. The Bose simply didn't do it for me. I ended up getting a mixed system which consists of a Definitive Technology CLR 2500 center, (2) BP7002's towers, (2)Klipsch RF-42 surrounds, an Epik Empire subwoofer, 12 guage wire and banana plugs from monoprice and a Pioneer Elite SC-35 receiver. Total cost for parts... $3100. A mere $100 more than I paid for the Bose but if you factor in tax from the Bose store, my system costs less. Once again you have to shop around and look for the best price so there is the trade for a boxed home system such as bose. If you don't shop around that same configuration I quoted will cost you around 5k but it can be had in non holiday/non football seasons for half the price. After setting up my new system I watched Pirates of the Carribean and then Blackhawk Down... when I walked out after the movies had finished I had two black eyes and was sore everywhere because the sub punched so hard but never for a minute did the Definitive technology and Klipsch speakers feel as if they were overpowered. I cant stress enough how good the Klipsch, and definitive technology speakers are. If your on the fence, jump... you wont be sorry. These speakers have great lows, mids and highs and create a room full of quality sound. The Empire sub is by far the best sub I had ever heard... it kicks so hard that it could probably power a real theaters low end. If you don't believe me, get on AVS Forums and do some research. Anyway... if this price is too much for you I also recommend the KEF3005 speaker system (which was my second choice if I hadn't configured my own system). I heard that system at a friends place and it sounds amazing when paired to his Denon AVR1911 receiver. Anyway, my point is that you really need to do your research and not buy into mass marketed, overpriced junk. Once again just my opinion... good luck and turn the volume up!