Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Before I begin, let me mention the gripe I had with my flat-screen television's speakers. In order to hear dialog clearly, I would have to turn it up to around 60 (18-23 is what is supposed to be "normal"). The problem with that was that as soon as sound effects began (explosions, crashes, any noise louder than people talking basically) I would have to scramble to turn the volume back down. The sound lacked any depth and I would find myself clutching the remote the whole time due to my having to constantly adjust volume. The Bose CineMate 15 was bought to end these problems. The acoustimass module is great. It has great bass and creates a surround sound-like environment. The sound bar itself is not that impressive; it is only a foot long people! That's right, the sound bar itself is the size of a Subway sandwich, a $600 sandwich in this case. As soon as I saw how ridiculously tiny it looked in front of my 55" tv, I knew I had to cut my expectations ( if your tv is bigger than 55", I would strongly reconsider this purchase). Though not as bad (I'd say 35% improvement) as the tv speakers, I still had problems hearing dialog without having to turn the volume up too high. Now here's the sinker: there is no accessible menu or physical buttons to change the settings of the speaker system! That's right. Other than a knob on the back of the acoustimass module to control bass level, you have no way to change treble, sound mode, speech settings, see the volume level on your screen, or even turn on the system if you lost or broke the remote. To top it all off, my remote died three days after I bought this system which means that until I get it repaired or buy a new one, I can't even use the system! If you're reading all the way, it means you're still on the fence, as I once was. I recommend you either go big (buy the upgraded systems) or just settle for a cheaper $100-$250 Vizio, Sony, Samsung, etc. sound bar system instead. The $600 was not worth the modicum improvement and the inconveniences of the system (so basically the $600 is only paying for the bass, which as I said, is really good). I have a 2 bedroom apartment with a medium-sized living room. I imagine those who live in a dorm or studio apartment might have a more positive experience with this system.