Bose Lifestyle® 48 Theater System

I'm going to try and write as best I can about my Lifestyle system, the reason I paid the money I did for it.. and why overall it isn't a bad system. I'll also explain what I dislike about the system.

First of all, I'm not a newbie to speakers. I've tried/used various Speakers from Maundaunt Short, Pioneer, Wharfdale, Alesis, Klipsch, JBL, Polk, Boston Acoustics, Definitive... and I use cables from the likes of Van Damme, QED... those sort of companies... I know exactly what music sounds like, live.. so therefore I think I can honestly explain what Bose is trying to do here.

The Bose lifestyle systems are for a set market: People who want great sound from a small system that is hidden and placed completly out of sight. Honestly, people dont notice the system is installed - they just hear it.

I'll explain one thing at a time:

Media Centre:

This is a clever peice of kit. I would have liked HDMI outputs, but Bose didnt include these.

There is component and Progressive Scan and I was fairly impressed with Picture quality on a Loewe LCD TV.

The unit it's self offers a DVD player, which is great.. until you find a Copy protected DVD which some dont work without firmware upgrades. However Bose tech support, was nice with this and sent a new firmware CDROM.

The Umusic works, it's a great feature but you can hear slight compression on recorded tracks, but it's a nice addition. I'd personally get the 35 series III system, without it next time... save extra money.

Videostage is excellent, take a stereo or mono recording and vocals come though the centre, the rest through the speakers.

Bose Link, well.. it does work. Nothing much else to say other than it does work as Bose advertises.

AdaptIQ is probably the best thing Bose has ever made, it works wonders.... and customizes the system exactly to the room. It corrected some problems I had with an echo on a rear speaker.

They now do a SL2 wireless link for the rear speakers, again this works.. very well.. and no quality seems to be lost. Bose claims it's as good as a wired system.

The cubes: Most probably the best speakers at this size... but personally at times they 'can' sound shrill.

They do however have a clear, powerful sound. They are pretty loud too.

Direct/Reflecting, yep it works.. but I find not too much reflection is better.. I think Bose over emphisises, but by twisting the cubes a little you get a wider sound, and a much more even sound field.

The acoustimass: I have no issues with this, other than occasionally it will do quite high notes, such as 200Hz... but because of it's dual speaker design, it can also offer up notes down to around 24-25Hz without any apparant distortion at volume 90 on the Media Unit.

It does however play very tuneful... and I'm sure Movies extend lower into the Bass freq. thanks to Bose Movie EQ. I'm absolutly sure, 20Hz solid comes from the Acoustimass, I'm not sure why.... but it does say: "The Movie EQ automatically changes the bass response to suit Movie sound tracks and explosions.." You cant however enable this on Music.

The system overall: It's a decent system, it's expensive... it has placement issues with the subwoofer (I'd personally say put it as near to your centre speaker as possible, but keeping it facing the corner of the room).

How does it sound?

Music: Music is ok, some music sounds better than others.. although I still perfer some music produced in Only Stereo and therefore the Lifestyle system doesn't really suit me, because it doesn't offer as rich performance as some stereo systems. However, for music like Jazz, Ambient, Vocal Peformance, Movie music, Some Classical, Pop and some Rock.. it really does sound good.. really live atmosphere.. but there again.. it's not pure sound... as in the sense.. it's not plain and flat like audio buffs want.. yet I listen to flat speakers and they sometimes make music Boring...

Bose are a fun speaker, when you just want to sit down and listen to music.... and not be too critical.

Movies: The system shines.. I have to say, it sounds better than my Local Cinema, who is all THX certified and runs JBLs high end kit....

I'm positive my Bose LS48 produces lower bass, louder bass and equivilent highs.

The system does get loud enough at Volume 85 to be louder than a decent cinema.

Personally, this system would suit a family who wants excellent sound from a small unit... without the mess and bulk.

If you want larger speakers, maybe the Bose 301s are a better choice.

If your a purist - then look at some of the aforementioned brands. Bose isn't your system.

The Bose, does NOT have a frequency gap.. I spoke to Bose about this, and have carried out tests with sweeps and sines and an SPL meter. I feel for music it produces a pretty flat(not totally) +-3db response from 30Hz to 18Khz... and for movies 20Hz to 18Khz.. I'm sure of it.

But, you have to ask yourself.. do you want to pay $4000?

Look out for the LS35III which is a cheaper, but just as good system.

I love my system, and theres no reason why you shouldnt enjoy yours.. I'd say give it a try, and see what you think. If you dont like it, take it back..

Remember with all speakers, placement is critical. USE only CDs you love and enjoy a lot, to test the system for you.

Don't analyse the system too much based on the size of the speaker, listen with your eyes closed and think: " Does this sound good?"

If yes, try it at home and compare.