Bose 321 or Sony DAV-X1

I'm looking for a home cinema package with only two front speakers. I have seen the Bose 321 and the Sony DAV-X1. Does anybody have either ?

The sony has HDMI so I think it will upscale DVDs on a HD TV. The sony cannot be remote hacked to play any rergion DVDs. The sony is also cheaper.

Recomendations please !

I have noted previously on this board that I have the Bose 321 kit. It is, in my opinion, the best on the market at a cost which is within reason.

If you contact Bose they have a 30 day free trial system which you should take advantage of - assuming it operates in Ireland.
If you have the opportunity to come over to England you should go to Bicester Village in Oxfordshire where Bose have an outlet shop where they sell the kit which has been tried and returned. It is checked and reboxed then sold at a discount in the order of £400, so it could be worth your while checking it out.

BillK

BillK said:

I have noted previously on this board that I have the Bose 321 kit. It is, in my opinion, the best on the market at a cost which is within reason.

If you contact Bose they have a 30 day free trial system which you should take advantage of - assuming it operates in Ireland.
If you have the opportunity to come over to England you should go to Bicester Village in Oxfordshire where Bose have an outlet shop where they sell the kit which has been tried and returned. It is checked and reboxed then sold at a discount in the order of £400, so it could be worth your while checking it out.

BillK

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Bose systems are generally considered Lifestyle systems rather than Hi-Fi sytems (i.e. the appearance is the first priority and sound quality the second); having said that, they are good at what they do.

To be honest, if you are buying an all-in-one system, you are prioritising convenience, price, Wife Acceptance Factor (no messy cables and big speakers all over the living room!) over sound quality. That's not to say that they sound bad, just that compromises are made.

The Sony system has very poor speakers. It got completely slated by Home Cinema Choice mainly for this reason - only got 5 out of 10. Full review [broken link removed]. For a comparison on the same terms, the [broken link removed] got 7 out of 10, although to be fair to Bose, the main criticism (lack of decent surround) applies to all virtual surround systems. Although I note that the Bose review is from 2003 - it is possible (though unlikely) that Bose have updated it since.

As Billk says, you should really audition both systems and see which you prefer. Bear in mind that the reviews on the above site also take into account the price, so if you can get the Sony for substantially cheaper than the £900 (€1300) list price quoted there then it might be reasonable alternative to the dearer Bose (£1000 / €1400 on the review).

Hi All

I am currently looking for a home cinema system and although the Bose LifestyLe systems look fab, I just couldn't justify the cost - entry level Lifestyle 18 = €2500 !!. I know Bose do have an factory outlet shop in Northern Ireland tel. 048 94427960 - I cant remember where ! 10% discount on reconditioned units as described by BillK. Otherwise I am sure you have checked out www.peats.com
I came across a great uk forum website for info on audio video - www.avforums.com but beware there are lots of anoraks who seem to have big problem with Bose - overpriced and over rated ! If you put this post on that site you should get a good reaction !

The Bose units from the outlet shop in Bicester Village are not reconditioned; they have been out on trial for a maximum of 30 days and are checked out to make sure they are OK.
The discount I got was £400 off a shop price of £1300 which equals about 30%.

BillK

Apologies if I gave wrong impression re "reconditioned". Basically my understanding is these are units that have been returned (presumably after free trial ?). When returned they cannot be re-sold, so all components are returned to factory and re-checked and then re-sold with a discount. Anything that reduces the price in my opinion is a help and I understand the guarantee is the same.

The informed opinion is to visit a dealer with a demo room and have a listen before you invest. However, these such facilities are scarce in Ireland. Best of luck !

ROSS said:

The informed opinion is to visit a dealer with a demo room and have a listen before you invest. However, these such facilities are scarce in Ireland. Best of luck !

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I went to the Peats demo room and it was crap. The salesman was foreign and I couldn't understand a word he was saying. He had the 321 demo running and when I asked if I could see/hear a real DVD or CD in it he said no. Great demo