Bose 321BK Home Theater in a Box
Bose 321BK Home Theater in a Box
USER REVIEWS
[Dec 11, 2003]
Eric Smith
AudioPhile
Strength:
Everything such as the small size, a great fullness of sound, and ease of setup.
Weakness:
The price is overpriced by about $400. I think that this system is great. It has a great sub and great sattelites that simply cannot and won't distort no matter what the volume. It sounds astoundingly good for the size. I do think that it should be about $599 not 1 thousand. However, I would not recommend this as a "main" ht system. This would be great in your bedroom. Similar Products Used: None that is as unique as this |
[Nov 02, 2003]
mepeters13
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
Quality, compactness, easy to use for the whole family.
Weakness:
The DVD could be better for the price. New TV's hace color component inputs but the BOSE 321 does not hvae this. So I do not get the best performance that my TV can offer. We have a HT in our finished basement, full boat no holds barred. Recently I purchased a Sony 30" Wega for upstairs and was looking for a system that could blend in with the envionment. I found it, the Bose 321. This is what this was designed for. This is a wife friendly system with a big sound. It was sopose to be the second car, get it! I think the price is fair and the quality so far is great. When you crank this system up it really performs. If you are looking for a system that offers a graet sound for 2 speakers this is it. I do agree that Bose could have offered a component out for the vidio on the DVD. I can still add this if I want using one of the other inputs to a external DVD player. The picture is not bad as it is though. If you are an audio geek, this should not be your primary system, but if you are looking for something that blends in, with a big sound 321 is for you! Similar Products Used: This is a very nitche product. It has a specific market. No one to my knowledge has an equal |
[Jul 27, 2003]
Carter vincent
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
Small, easy to set up.
Weakness:
really isnt a robust home entertainment system or stereo, and the devil is in the details with little annoyances like no tone adjustments on unit, doesnt work wiht MP3s. I was quite disappointed to get this system and find out that it wouldnt play my MP3 CD's, and there are no controls on the front of the box so if you want to stack other components, you really have to exclusively use the remote. and the remote doesnt have an eject button, so you still have to jam your finger on top to get the CD out. I must say that i love my bose wave radio, and admire the smallness of bose speakers, but if someone is a real music fan and has a traditional stereo setup and is seeking to get into surround sound, this is not the way to go. Luckily, bose has great customer service and seems to have no problem that i will be sending it back, and they did make a great effort to explain how to play mp3's, but it shoudnt be a challenge to play them in the first place...especially if they advertize it works with them (which it really, for all intents and purposes, doesnt). |
[Mar 03, 2003]
Carine Williams
Casual Listener
I was disappointed in the DVD player, it won't play VCD or JPEGs, and it has difficulty with home burned MP3s, it took two tries to burn a disk that it would read. It also makes a whirring noise while changing settings and loading disks. My son's 70 dollar APEX DVD player has just as good picture quality and will play almost any disk you put in it! Just goes to show you, pricier isn't always better |
[Jan 14, 2003]
esmutko
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
3 wires. Compact DVD based system in one unit. Surround sound form only two speakers and a bass module. Great review in sound and vision mag last year.
Weakness:
Not a complete 5.1 system. Definitely not enough for me as a main HT, but great secondary room setup. The 321 System is a unique system. 3 Wires, 2 Speakers, 1 Remote control. There is absolutely nothing else out there that resembles it. The 321 never ceases to amaze me. I have the opportunity to listen to this system for both movies and music and I am impressed with the "system of the year". The 321 definitely deserves this accolade because it is the first of its kind; surround sound from only 2 speakers is an awesome solution for those that do not or cannot wire speaker sbehind them. When properly set up, this system works! It sounds to me that the above reviews did not take the time to set it up. For me, it is a great bedroom setup (where I do not want a lot of wires). Similar Products Used: Like I said nothing else out there closely resembles this system. |
[Dec 12, 2002]
jacquesfrosty
Casual Listener
Strength:
easy set up, very few wires, sounds ok for a small unit.
Weakness:
definately not like a real home theatre system, radio tuner is weak, display is terrible (have to use t.v. normally to see settings), remote needs a redo as it does not offer enough for what you pay, dvd player has it's quirks, lacks inputs, bose tech line is a long wait, when movie viewing, setting screen interupts playback when checking settings, never know what to expect next from unit!! and bose feels they are selling this to you at a reasonable price?? i've owned this unit for almost a year now-usually have to turn up the volume quite a ways to hear. it's not worth the $1,000 price tag. too many little quirky malfunctions-it's kind of like owning an old volkswagen-one day you love it, the next day you hate it!! bose needs to make these better, and should help the poor consumer, like myself, who bought one looking for better results. as far as being happy with it-flip a coin, cause it's a 50/50 type deal. you'll love it, you'll hate it. Similar Products Used: pioneer, toshiba |
[Nov 15, 2002]
hedged
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
Very compact, easy to set up, you won't see wires everywhere.
Weakness:
DVD player is not up to snuff, no component inputs, sound quality was fair at best. I had the opportunity to get the 3-2-1 system for FREE with my American Express points. However, before I took the plunge, I demo'd the unit extensively at various audio shops in my area. I decided not to order the system due to its weaknesses in dvd playback quality (I've seen very low end dvd players for $79 do a better job with picture) and very muddy sound quality. The three speakers cannot fully reproduce all sounds for a movie and barely do an adequate job for music. There was an absolute lack of depth to the sound, and when pushed to the limits, the speakers were not up to the task. For $999 you have many other choices that will work out much better. I am not a Bose basher, I have two acoustic wave radios (the big ones) that are good for their intended uses: in the kitchen and living room. Similar Products Used: Harman HTIB, various Klipsch and B&W speakers |