I purchased the Bose Sound Bar as an alternative to a 5.1 Surround System. Candidly, I had gotten to the point where form became more important than function. Yes, the purest of audiophiles will tell you that a soundbar just can't emulate true surround sound and they might be right. But that wasn't important to me. I wanted a clean/professional look, without wires, that could deliver excellent quality sound.
After three days of use, I highlighted the following:
Pros:
Very easy to set-up and install.
Beautiful look, compact, and unassuming.
Powerful room filling sound (think Avatar).
Nice to have a Bose product sitting in front of the TV.
Cons:
Cost a little on the high side for some people.
All in, I felt really good about my purchase. That said, after more regular use, watching TV and Movies, I started to notice one important weakness in the unit that troubled me:
The unit does an incredible job of projecting background sounds that you never would have heard through normal TV speakers. Honestly, it takes your viewing experience to a whole new level. However, human voices DO NOT project out nearly enough to compete with other sounds coming from the soundbar. As a result, I found myself constantly turning the volume on the unit higher to hear what they were saying. Of course, this also increases the ambient sounds also. Without even realizing it, both my wife and I found ourselves commenting that we had to keep the volume up so much that it began to make our ears ring (for context, we are not old farts complaining we are in our 30s!). Doing so, also resulted in a constant game of volume up/down during certain scenes.
Secondly, and to the same point, the Bose focus on simplicity is actually a drawback, as there aren't any settings that let you adjust the mix of sounds to solve for this issue. The only option is to increase/decrease the volume and base.
One might think that you could use a combination of the TV speakers and the soundbar, but there is a split second difference between the two making an even worse echo sound.
After one week of use, we are already finding excuses not to use it. Disappointing, considering my love for Bose products and the investment I made in the unit. Bottom line: Know what you are getting in to. If I could to it all over, I would not have purchased this product.
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