Bose CineMate® 1 SR home cinema speaker system

I have installed this under a wall mounted 50" Flat Panel TV mounted above a fireplace. Must have a Mantle to protect from rising heat. Unit fits very well under the TV and sits on the mantel with no overhang. Sound is fantastic! Set up was easy and calibrating to my room set up was equally as easy and intuitive.Sub woofer works wirelessly as advertised and was easy to set up and get connected to main speaker unit. Highly recommend - although more expensive than other brands - as is BOSE tradition - I think it worth the price - sound performance well out classes the other brands. Remote control was also easy to set up to all my other devices with only one exception - I have DirecTV system that their remote can not be set to turn the BOSE sound system on or off. It will control the volume of the Bose Sound System, but I have to use the Bose remote to control all the systems - was just trying to have a second remote to use in the room.

I chose this product after much review. My 52 inch Samsung was very hard to hear in my room which has a 25 foot ceiling with an L shaped loft, fireplace, hardwood floors and many glass doors and windows. My old Sony RXD5 helped, but it was very difficult to watch a movie without having the sound so loud the walls shook. I realize this is not true surround sound, but for my situation, without having speakers and wires all over the room and a major price tag, it is a very significant improvement. I can now watch TV and hear dialogue! The wireless feature of the acoustimass and it's smaller size is a big plus. I have it placed 25 feet from the TV, hidden in the loft. This is a very good option for people with similar situations or for those who hate the clutter and appearance issues with true surround systems. This unit may be high priced for what it is-but it is Bose, and excellent design and quality.

I've owned these speakers for 2 months now and have a better perspective. Let's get down to brass tacks because the other reviewers have said most of the key points well. If you are someone who goes "spec crazy" and counts Watts and diameter sizes, keep browsing. I personally listen to notes and not numbers and these speakers are awesome to me. The Good.. 1. Unexpected and superb surround sound in an medium to small room. Perfect for apartments, master bedrooms or dens. I can hear birds, airplanes and dogs barking and I instinctively look towards my window or door in the house, thinking I'd left a door or window open. Nope - it's the surround sound coming at me from all angles in my living room. It's actually the movie. Awesome! 2. Minimalism in wires and wireless Acoustimass (Sub-woofer) module. This makes it wife friendly, as she's sick of seeing wires running all over the house. Note: When wife approves the battle has been won! 3. Simple setup, great packaging - I would say over packaged. Reminds me of Apple product packaging. It's obvious Bose has hired a packaging engineer to ensure their products are packaged in a specific and intuitive way to keep their products in pristine condition. 4. Quality build and solid feeling product. Piano black surface makes this the sexiest looking piece in the living room. The remote feels like a tank, and like it can be dropped from a 10 story building and survive the fall. 5. Acoustimass (Sub-woofer) module is a new generation/model. provides surprisingly good sound for it's size. The engineers at Bose have figured out a way to do more with less. I find myself taking a shower and have to turn off the water because I hear noises like someone is breaking into the house. Nope, it's the bass from the sound system. The Bad and the Ugly... 1. No iPod dock, or an ability to purchase one. While it is possible to hook up an iPod, it is not convenient. 2. No Bluetooth integration. This is a shame, as other product lines (Bose SoundLink) do have Bluetooth integration. 3. Remote uses infrared technology. As seems to be the trend right now, this tech will be obsolete in 5 years. A Bluetooth remote would have been nice. 4. Remote buttons: The volume button and channel button on this remote are switched around when compared to the CineMate Series II digital home theater speaker system. This may not seem like a big deal, unless you own both products and switch from one remote to another, you'll constantly hit the wrong buttons when trying to change the volume/channel. I have no idea which genius minds at Bose decided this idea would be a good one, but hopefully he's been redeployed to work in the room with the red stapler. 5. The Acoustimass (Sub-woofer) module is a new generation/model. To that end, it is smaller than it's sister CineMate Series II or even the Companion 5 Multimedia Speaker System. Yes, the computer speakers that Bose makes has a larger 'sub woofer' than this Home Theater Speaker system. Visually, this surprised me. As you weigh the cost of the product consider the total cost of ownership over the 10 or more years that this product will last you. Consider the satisfaction you will have knowing you didn't settle for a product that cost a couple hundred dollars less. And that you'll never wonder "Gosh, how would the Bose sound bar have been instead?". Sleep sound at night knowing that you are backed by stellar, US based support. And should you need to send it back for a replacement, they will email you an UPS shipping label to send it back to them. Will Yamaha or Sony treat you this same way? Or will you have to foot the bill on shipping a large and heavy speaker system to their warranty department? Consider the brand name is a conversation piece in your living room and 99% of the people will comment on how surprisingly great this product sounds for it's size and the way that it looks. Consider all of these facts and at the end of the day, I guarantee you will find that this product is actually a bargain.

After waiting in vain for as long as possible for a potential Black Friday or Cyber Monday sale on this item I went ahead and took the plunge on the BOSE 1SR sound bar. It replaced a VIZIO VHT215 Home Theater Sound Bar with Wireless Subwoofer which was performing adequately (I thought) for an challenging installation in a large open great room with 30 foot ceilings and a Sony BRAVIA KDL55HX820 above the fireplace. This room has challenges due to the acoustic challenges it presents. Like many others have mentioned our problem with the thin LED LCD television are that sound due to the thinness of the television is mediocre. Our first attempt to remedy the sound was to purchase the Vizio 215 which had been adequate for 1 year however once the new BOSE Cinemate 1SR was installed it was apparent that their was a lot of research invested in the AdaptIQ system that clearly helped overcome the acoustical challenges we faced. Finally I can hear what clean sound without reverberation due to the room sounds like and what I like best is what I don't hear coming from the sound bar. The amount of echo and reverberation due to the space is no longer a problem and I am very pleased with my decision to purchase this sound bar. In addition there is no other sound bar available that has the stealth footprint that this system offers. Placing it on the mantle with it's low profile looks awesome. Bose® CineMate® 1 SR Digital Home Theater Speaker System

My title says it all. As usual I did my research reading on the web, consumer reports and reviews on Amazon and Best buy. Against by better judgment I bought this product. Few Pros-The product is sleek. Very limited wiring and the subwoofer is wireless. Cons- 1. First of all the optical wires that came with the unit are FLIMSY to say the least. They don't fit well. For the first half an hour I couldn't get it to work only to realize that the optical wire had slid out because I had moved the unit barely 3 inches. One of them was actually defective. 2. I am no audiophile but do have a pair of ears that work. The product does do a good job of projecting back ground sound. However, trying to understand what people are actually saying is a struggle. I was watching a basketball game and I was SURPRIZED that I could barely understand what they were saying. Finally, I muted the volume and watched the game without the sound. 3. I also like watching movies and TV shows. I had to constantly turn up the volume. However, when you turn up the volume the back ground noise goes up as well. So u have to turn up the volume to hear what the people are saying but then immediately turn the volume down to reduce the back ground noise. A 1500$ product with only one option-volume up or down. 4. There is no blue tooth capability. 5. There is NO surround sound effect. I have to be fair and say my living room is rather open but still I was dissappointed. I suppose if your living room is a perfect box this may work. 6. At one point I actually felt better with the TV off in my living room. That’s when I decided that this product wasn’t for me. I really enjoying watching TV after a day’s work but this took the fun out of it. Now I am back to using my 15 year old Optimus speakers that I bought from RadioShack and really appreciate what I have.