Bose Lifestyle T20 home theater system--Black (Discontinued by Manufacturer)

I recently upgraded from a ~$300 Sony HTIB (home theatre in a box) system to this and I have been very satisfied. I was looking for a system that was a step up from the $200-300 HTIBs but below the super-expensive system that you build yourself using those big tall receivers used by hardcore AV enthusiasts. This Bose system fit the bill exactly. Since I mainly use the system to watch blu-ray movies and don't listen to any music and don't own an iPod, the T20 was perfect for me.I've heard that Bose is criticised for being overpriced and gimmicky by hardcore AV enthusiasts, but I'm not a sound expert and I can only judge a system by how it sounds to me. I must say this system sounds pretty sweet to me. One of my biggest fears prior to purchasing this system was that, not being an audiophile, I won't be able to tell the difference between a $200 system and a $2000 one. Thankfully, the difference between this Bose system and my previous $300 Sony system is obvious and clear. The sound on the Bose is signficantly crisper and just..."better" than my old system. When I'm watching a blu-ray, the surround sound is awesome, and the bass is rich and deep. When I'm playing an Xbox 360 game now, the surround sound makes it feel like an entirely new experience. I'm currently playing Fallout New Vegas and I love that I can hear footsteps behind me, etc. Although my old Sony system was technically 5.1 surround, the rear speakers were always too soft and the quality wasn't that good, and I just didn't get the same level of immersion. I feel that I know what I'm getting for that extra money.Many have commented at how user-friendly and easy this system is to set up with the Unify system. I must concur. Even with Unify, it was physically a chore to set up a 5.1 theatre system, but Bose's exceedingly well-designed and user-friendly interface made it as painless as possible. I did have one brief scare when I couldn't get sound out of my TV when watching network TV using an optical cable, but then I discovered I had plugged it into the wrong hole on the Bose system (the Bose system has two optical ins, one for the TV, an extra one for something else, make sure you plug it into the correct one). After setting up your system, the use of the device is again very intuitive for the most part. I can tell that a lot of care went into the design of the user interface, and I appreciate it.My one gripe is that I wish the system had a display screen on the main receiver so that when I'm watching antenna TV I can more quickly switch the Bose T20 to the "TV mode". As it works now, I have to first switch my TV to HDMI mode so that I can "talk" to the Bose and set the Bose to "TV mode", then switch the TV back to antenna/TV mode. It would be great in future systems if there was a display screen on the receiver stating which mode I'm in, allowing me to switch the Bose to the TV mode without having to ever put the TV to HDMI mode. My old Sony system had that capability.Aesthetically, the system also deserves praise for being sleek, beautiful, and well-designed. The speakers were all suprisingly heavy and solid, and feels like they were made with quality materials. Someone complained about the remote being too "heavy", but I think the remote just feels like a quality remote. The Acoustamass module likewise has very good build quality. The bottem line is that nothing in the entire system feels cheap, and when guests come over, you will be proud to display your Bose system.Other than that small gripe, I am exceedingly satisfied with my purchase. I am even happier that Bose is an American brand, and I am delighted own a sound system designed by Americans (even if the products are assembled in Mexico lol). If I can't buy American-made, at least I can buy American-designed. Hopefully my money supported some homegrown engineers. Now if only an American company would release a decent HDTV.

Wish that the receiver worked ordered one from eBay things are looking up

I purchased the Bose Lifestyle T20 System from Amazon for $880.00 and I love the heck out of it! I agree with Bose haters that Bose is slightly over-priced, but when considering there are Surround sound systems that literally cost tens of thousands more for a performance that is not much better, Bose is not bad at all. Especially for the price I got it at. If People want the system but back away from the price, they should do what I did and buy it used. I watch Movies, play Video Games, and listen to Music all the time. The sound is so realistic, friends of mine would often would turn around because they thought they heard something in the Room that was coming out of the speakers, and they can be loud! Very loud for the size of the Speakers. I feel like my windows are going to shatter when the volume is 60. 60!!! Out of 100! I had a Sony T.V that was Five grand with built-in surround sound, and I thought that was good until I hooked up my Bose system. Mind you I am a fan of companies like Sennheiser, Klipsch, Etc. So I am not married to the Bose brand. Bose is among the best in my opinion though, for its ease of set-up, ease of use, and performance. No other brands can compare in all these areas at once.Anyway, hooking up the system was very easy. I made the mistake of trying to hook up this system with an old T.V. It was not an HDTV and nothing seemed to work. I grabbed an HDTV that was laying around in my House and hooked everything up flawlessly. Visuals and Audio looked and sounded amazing! I have A VHS player, Playstation 3, and Nintendo Gamecube all hooked up to the control console, and Switching sources is not a problem at all. I will never go to the Movie Theater again.

Seller download photos of brand new product from Bose website I get the device nothing like in the photos very old looking like Bose system return the system because is not what I needed and not what was in the photos nowSeller trying to return just personal amount of the money and telling me if I wanted a good device I needed to go to beaux and buy it even though the photos are amazing exactly like those will sell you something

自分的には、音質も良く臨場感もあり、気軽にdvdなど視聴するには、大変良い商品だと思います。四つ星の理由は並行輸入品なので、仕方ないですが、言語に日本語がないので、セットアップが解りずらかったところです。