I tried the Bose Lifestyle 38 after listening to it in a Bose store. The store environment is one that is very difficult to really do any critical listening in, so I decided that I would try the system at home. The return period was generous, so I figured there was little to lose, apart from time.
First off, don't let the marketing and in-store presentation fool you. Bose systems have just as many wires, if not more wires, than any component system you might build. As much as they'd like you to think this thing is "wireless", or cable-free, it isn't.
Settinng the system up was easy, but I found the lack of video inputs on the back of the media center shameful. Any $300.00 HT receiver has at least three video inputs. For three thousand dollars, Bose only has one! When I called the store to inquire about this design decision and vent my frustration, I was told that there was an expansion device that would accomodate more inputs, and that it was available for a mere $200.00 more! So, now, for $3200, the Bose system would do what any $300.00 receiver would. I wasn't happy and had already made up my mind to return the system. But, since I had already begun the hook-up, I decided to at least play with it.
Once connected with their component video adapter and with the p-scan turned on through the on-screen menus, the system produced extremely average video quality. My pioneer dvd player through its s-video connection produced a more vibrant and sharper picture than the 38 did with its component video adapter. I suspect whatever circuitry they're using in order to get it to output video through that funky jack is the culprit. Either way, the video was strictly okay. Nothing special.
The dvd player itself is slow and not very responsive. It took longer than my pioneer to do just about everything from powering up, to accessing menus, etc. In the almost two weeks that I had the system, the player also gave me great difficulty in playing dvds. One day a disc would play, the next, the system would say "format unsupported". What? Or, it would just sat, "reading disc", yet produce no video. The person I spoke with at the store gave me some spiel about security coding on the discs as being the likely issue, but those same discs have played just fine in each of my other two far less pricey dvd players. Finally, they told me that unplugging the system for a few minutes and then re-connecting it would solve the problem. Dumbest thing I ever heard for $3000.00 system, but okay. I tried it and it worked...for a while. Then the same thing would happen all over again, but not with all dvds. It seemed pretty random to me.
Sound quality for movies was again, strictly okay. They tend to have greatly exaggerated ranges with tons of artificial bass. Not exactly critical listening material. The bass produced was quite muddy and boomy in the lower frequencies. Not at all tight. I suspect this is from the undersized drivers in the sub...5 1/4 inches. Those are mid drivers, not bass drivers. From the sound of it, really deep bass is a challenge for the system to produce.
I also heard mids coming from the sub, which you should never hear. I disconnected the satellites to hear what kind of bass was being prouced without the sound from the cubes cluttering up the mix. To my surprise, I could still clearly follow dialogue from the subwoofer! I've never heard any sub I've ever owned do that. But, I've also never had a sub with a 5 inch driver in it either. I guess it shouldn't be surprising that you'd get mids out of a sub when it is built with mid drivers instead of bass drivers. Weird.
For music, the system was pitifully lacking. To the untrained ear, I'm sure it would sound just dandy. But, for any serious music listener, not an audio snob, but a listener...the Bose system just doesn't deliver. There seems to be a lot of sound missing from the system. Stuff that it just won't produce, and from what I gathered in comparing it to my Def Techs...it's somewhere in the mids. I tried everything from The Eagles to Pink Floyd to Norah Jones. I heard that same void on all of them. I'm guessing there's a BIG gap between what the cubes can produce and where the sub kicks in. Lots is being left out, and for three grand....NOTHING should be left out.
I didn't really have the thing long enough to mess with the stored music feature, so I can't say much about that. But if it performs the way the rest of the system did...I don't guess I missed all that much. Interestingly, when the dvd was giving my problems, I was curious. So, I opened the dvd player up to see if it was in fact Bose disc player. No big deal. Pop a few screws out and presto! The dvd is a Toshiba drive, and the hard drive they had in there was a 40 GB Toshiba laptop drive tucked into the corner. I would have expected better from Toshiba, which is why I really think the funky video circuitry must have been muckingup the works.
Needless to say, I returned the system and got my money back. The folks at the store were a pleasure to deal with, but didn't seem really well informed about audio in general. They just sort of gave me marketing speak in response to questions that I raised.
For what the system cost, anyone, after a little research, could assemble a FAR superior sounding and performing system than this, and for less money. It's really a shame. The sound and performance for the dollar spent is just insane. I feel sorry for the folks who don't know better. But, then again...fools and their money.