Bose® CineMate® GS Series II Digital Home Theater Speaker System

EDIT: Got a response back from Bose yesterday. Their customer support sent me two codes, the latter worked for me. Here is the email text in case anybody else has this problem: "Try codes: "00858" under CBL-SAT brand "Motorola" or "01998" under V-ACC brand "Motorola"" I finally decided that I'd had it with the built-in TV speakers, and purchased this system. I shopped around for about a month before finally settling on the CineMate GS Series II. I opted for this because it didn't require me to run wires all around my living room. I also figured that if I'm going to go for a 2.1 system without true surround sound, I should get the maximum benefit from the smallest package possible and go Bose. Pros: This system is easy to setup and takes up very little space. The sound is great, and plenty loud enough for my smallish living room. So far I've played music, movies, and video games on my television and have been pleased with the results. Turning down the subwoofer at night is a must as it tends to noticeably vibrate the upper floors of my house. All wires, batteries, etc. come in the box so you don't need to buy any accessories to get it up and running. Cons: There are absolutely no options for tweaking the sound other than a knob on the back of the sub, which only changes the sub level. Personally I don't have a need for more than that, but audiophiles more demanding than I will miss that sorely. The universal remote doesn't have a code for my U-Verse cable box. I have a support email out to Bose, and am currently still waiting to hear back. Only has two inputs, one optical and the other is the usual RCA red/white. I have an optical out on my TV and I run all my HDMI cables through it, so again, not a con for me personally but could be for others. Overall: I'm extremely pleased with this system. The sound is as excellent as one would expect from a Bose system. While it's not as full featured as other systems at this price range, it more than meets my needs in sound quality. I would recommend this to anyone who doesn't want a complicated setup, or lots of wires coming out from behind their TV. It's a little pricey as all Bose products are, but in this case I firmly believe you get what you pay for. This system won't meet everyone's needs, and while it's a great set of speakers, it falls a little short of a true surround sound home theater system.

The sound from these is awesome. We've gone from watching "TV" to having a full-on movie experience. I ran into a few roadblocks doing the installation that are worth mentioning: 1) The speaker cable wasn't nearly long enough to go from the acoustimass unit to where I was installing the speakers on a shelf over the TV, so I had to buy the longer 40' cable separately; 2) The Bose system accepts audio inputs in only two formats: the optical "toslink" digital, or old-fashioned RCA stereo analog. My TV falls in the middle, and has neither of those audio outputs. Instead, it has a coaxial RCA digital output. To make the TV talk to the Bose unit, I got a digital audio converter to make the translation. The two digital systems use the same encoding, so the converter just has to change the signal from coaxial to optical. There are lots of units for sale that will do the job. I selected one that is very flexible in that it will convert coax-to-optical, optical-to-coax, or act as a relay (range extender) for either format. It is reasonably priced at $24, and works perfectly. (http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FWM0UNS/ref=cm_cr_ryp_prd_ttl_sol_8). 3) The cable connectors are quite large. I installed my system into a built-in book case, so I was able to make the necessary large holes at the back of the shelves where they won't be visible, but the hole in the floor to connect the acoustimass module will be quite visible if I ever move it. So, don't think that you can install this unit will the small holes that you'd use for running simple speaker wire. I have not yet tried to program the remote to control our Dish Network box and Philips TV, so I can't speak to how easily that is accomplished, or how well the remote works. For now, we are using the Dish remote to control the TV and the Dish box, and the Bose remote to control the volume. All-in-all, the sound is great, and the system setup is super simple if you have one of the right outputs from your TV, and still pretty simple if all you need is the converter mentioned above. Highly recommended.

I know a lot of people like to knock Bose. I've heard "no highs, no lows, must be Bose" and then I turn around and someone else is shouting how Bose only has lows and highs and no mids. I just went through several sound system attempting to find one I like. I wanted something simple and didn't care to have wires running everywhere so I canceled out surround sound. I went through many soundbar type systems and was disappointed to say the least. I started researching these speakers online and found that the people who bought them liked them but others said they were no good just due to the Bose name. A person on one of the forums mentioned a soundbar system which I had previously returned as being comparable to these speakers yet nearly $500 cheaper. Now having owned both system I can laugh at that statement as there is no comparison. None of the other systems came anywhere close to sounding as good as these. Crisp highs, loud vocals, rich mids, very deep bass. I have to turn the bass down on this system so things will stop shaking on the walls. You can feel the bass. On the system that these speakers were compared to, I could only hear bass if I had the volume maxed and I had my ear pressed against the subwoofer. Not even joking. People who haven't owned a Bose system ever, or in the past several years, really need to stop bashing something they know nothing about. I will admit that maybe they are priced a bit high. However, you get a great sounding system and I'm not sure you could do any better at this price. I have heard speaker systems (receiver/speaker/subs) that cost over $1000 not sounding as good as this system. My expectations were shattered by this system and I would recommend anyone who has the money to spend and wants a simple, elegant and great sounding system, to pick these up and the nice stands (~$800 at this time for both speakers and stands). (I do not work for Bose, am not some Bose "fanboy" (this is my first Bose system), have never posted anything about Bose before anywhere.)

Excellent

Bose products sound terrific. No questioning that. When you use products as they were designed, they're spot-on. So my only criticism of this system probably isn't exactly fair, but the system has no headroom at mid-to-high volume in such a way as to double as a stereo system per-se. Besides the learning remote, the other reason I upgraded to the GS is that it had RCA inputs in the back to jump in my iPhone. It works fine, but at mid-to-high volumes, like for a party or something, it sort of peters out. You can tell the headroom is missing and that there isn't much in the middle-range with respect to fidelity. It offers very crisp highs and warm lows, but no midrange to speak of and no truly thunderous bass. If you want a system that performs well in both arenas, you might be well advised to build a component system. For the record, I'm not unhappy, just a little underwhelmed. The other criticism is really only a suggestion for Bose... If I have the optical connection hooked to my cable box and I want to watch a DVD, I have to move the optical connection from my cable box to my DVD player and back every time. It's sort of maddening. There must be a work-around for this that I haven't stumbled upon. In the future though, I would suggest that Bose add two (perhaps even three to account for ROKU type streaming device) optical inputs since most people run multiple sources. Despite the negativity, I will say that this system is a HUGE improvement over the sound emanating from your TV speakers. And I love using just one remote now... the learning remote supplied with the system is quite intuitive and easy to set up. Lastly, the system is up and running within minutes of being unboxed. They've made it idiot proof. Nice job all around. Just make sure you're buying it for the right purpose and don't have unreasonable expectations. If you follow this advice and buy anyway, you'll be very satisfied.

Cons: 1. The dialog from TV or Movies gets lost to the point that you need to increase the volume over and over again, until the volume is overwhelming, at which point, you still can not clearly hear the dialog (the voices), just the background sound effects. 2. Proprietary cables limit distance and use of provided cables. 3. The optical cable does not fit into the control module. It constantly slides out of the back of the unit and you lose all sound until you place it back into the unit and try to balance it so it does not fall out again. I tried several optical cables from cheap to expensive, and the fact is, it doesn't fit. Pathetic for an expensive piece of equipment like this. 4. Any type of universal remote control does not work with this bose, this means you have to use the bose remote to turn on your sound, and adjust the volume separately every single time you watch tv. This is obsurd. And a complete waste of time in today's day and age. Who the heck wants to use a separate remote just for sound. 5. The sub woofer is big in size, yet weak in sound. Where is the base with this unit. I couldn't tell you, because I have been unable to find it yet. 6. Price. 600 dollars. Really. Pros: You have been warned before your purchase, read above Cons.

Great sound, especially powerful bass resonant. I used to have Sony's 5.1 surround system but I've never felt in the theater while watching movies. But this product makes real home theatre and I feel live sounds. It might have changed my movie life --- so I think I need to re-watch many stock of my old Blu-rays and DVDs. I regret why I didn't invest this product sooner. (Now I am very happy, though) I also like to listen to the Internet radio over Apple TV. Even 128kbps streaming Internet radio, the bass is boosted as powerful sound. The treble sound also comes through transparently by small speakers. Only my concern is power consumption. This product doesn't seem to go green although it turns itself off automatically after there's no audio for a while (300W power consumption by the catalog spec). The Bose's service and support are excellent that I've ever experienced --- I purchased this product at Black Friday sale. The subwoofer was delivered with some scratches when I opened (I was very disappointed and had a sad feeling). I went to Amazon (yes, here) but it said "Replacement is not accepted, only accept for refund". --- Only refund is the option??? Then I had a problem; the price had come back to normal at that time after Black Friday; therefore if I receive the refund, I would never purchase this product again with that refund amount. I went to Bose website and had an online chat. The support is very excellent, even there is no support on Amazon --- The operator of Bose quickly understand my problem (I felt almost no-brainer) and told me to return the only part of subwoofer. He sent me a UPS label for free shipping over an email. After their receiving my subwoofer by UPS, they sent the replacement immediately.

GREAT PRODUCT.