Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Pros: Remarkable sound from Dolby 5.1 sources. Easy to install if you have an optical digital output from your HDTV Cons: Won't decode any DTS-ES or DTS-HD signal, the latter being the most common for Blueray discs. You must step down DTS sources to PCM, losing most of the 5.1 mix and ALL of the magic this system offers with Dolby-encoded content. I experienced the Cinemate system at both Best Buy and at the Bose store in our local mall. Best Buy used the Bose propriety demo disk. The Bose store used the Blueray disk of Toy Story 3. What the Bose employees didn't tell me was that they had changed the settings on their BlueRay player output to PCM to allow it to be played by the Cinemate system. Most BlueRay discs are coded in DTS-HD. This system will not play any DTS content. It took me a while to figure out what the issue was and a call to Bose's tech support confirmed that Cinemate systems do not support any DTS content. They said I would have to step down the output to PCM. I did this and then compared the Balin's Tomb scene from The Fellowship of the Ring using Dolby 5.1 and the DTS-ES choices in the film's menus. The difference was devastating. The Dolby 5.1 sounded rich, with all the proper echo and sound effects. The DTS output sounded flat, had no separation of the sound effects and might as well have been coming out of my TV speakers. If simply want to get great sound from Cable or Satellite HD content (all broadcast in Dolby 5.1 or less) this is great system. If you want to use the system with a Blueray player, don't buy it.