The integrated tuner/cd/dvd box.

Boombox like sound quality. The integrated box looks and feels cheap. Just not worth it.

When i visited my uncle, i was surprised that he had bought the LS 28. More surprising was that he paid $2700 USD for it. Wow! Those salesmen must be really good at their job! Sure there's bass and there's treble. But the sound is more like a $200 boombox rather than a $2700 worth of audio equipment. No clarity, the highs doesn't sparkle, the midranges seems distorted along with the highs. What amazes me even more was that he used to be quite an audiophile back in the college days. Maybe he damaged his ears in college and can't tell the difference anymore. But whatever it is, the Bose LS 28 (and most other acoustimas series) just aren't worth it. Not worth it at $2000, not worth it at $1000. You can get a whole lot better sound at half the price of the LS 28.

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Sony boombox.

Clearness crisp sound size well worth every dime!!!!

NONE!!!

Excellent system blows away any system i ever heard the sound the crispness,so clear its insane, i used to think the bigger the speaker the better , it doesnt even come close, movies or music the sound is insane, it came with adapt IQ its absolutely amazing!!!!!!!!!!!

Style, Size, Sound per size.

Price

I am no audiophile, but, I would suggest that this system is not intended for that market anyway. Audiophiles should go about doing what they do best: Matching components and enjoying the results. I purchased this system for many of the same reasons others here did. 1. Style 2. Size 3. Strong Sound, I didn't proclaim it to be the reference standard to which all Audio should be measured. We Love It!

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I spent some time reading reviews, listening to other systems. Almost bought the Polk.

It's like a box uh chocolates... I like it alot and it never makes fun of me. No mail order electronics degree required for use. It looks REALLY cool! Oh yeah, it sounds awesome too.

dUm people like me buy 'em

I am offended to discover that this little sub-culture is calling me an idiot. If you haven't done so yet, check out the reviews for the Lifestyle 35. There are some real winners there too. OK. Deep breath. Here we go. Bow down to the all knowing audiophiles! Come on, get a life! PUT DOWN THE REMOTE AND STEP AWAY SLOWLY!! WE CAN GET THROUGH THIS TOGETHER!! If you like ten foot tall speakers, 5 black boxes that take up more square footage in your house than your bedroom furniture that you can't stack up from the floor without hitting the ceiling, 5,280 feet of wire crammed behind your homemade "entertainment center" built of concrete blocks and particle board and 15 remote controls that take up so much room on your water stained coffee table that you can't set your bottle of Yoo Hoo on a coaster, then by all means, you should not buy a Bose Lifestyle System. But you will be hearing, "HONEY!!! TELL ME AGAIN, HOW DO I GET SOUND TO COME OUT OF THE TV?????" So what if they want an arm and a leg for the thing? The price is worth my time in ease of set up and total lack of problems. I haven't even mentioned the jealousy it has earned for me of all my friends. I am sorry, but I don't have the time to waste worrying about whether my Plasma Coil Phase Receptor is calibrated and optimized with my PU238 Explosive Space Modulator and I could really care less. I bought it, I plugged it in, it sounds great and I love it. Oh yeah, and I bought another. Two weeks after I bought my Lifestyle, I went and bought a Wave Radio. Now that is a great way to wake up in the morning!! Now I get to listen to Paul Harvey in style! I have just one question before I leave this strange underworld that I unknowingly allowed Yahoo to lead me into. All of you who are griping and complaining about how expensive Bose is and who in the next sentence are comparing it to Japan's latest gizmo: How much money have you spent on audio shtuff to gain the superior knowledge you now possess to decide that, given the price of the Bose, it is not quite as good as the treat your pooch left on the lawn for you? HHMMMMMM??? That's kinda what I thought.

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RCA Crank phonograph Sanyo clock radio and telephone combo Pioneer record player (must have adapter to play 45's) My car radio (Stock Ford) Shower radio and shave mirror combo(bought it at Ross $5

Sound, Remote, Ease of use, Looks, etc.

Price

It appears to me most of the reviews up to this point have been by the "audophile", although none of them will admit it. Here is one, for those who have been outside the house in the last 5 years. I love my Lifestyle 28 Bose system. It sounds great, it looks great, and it works great. Sound-I have little experience with audio electronics, but the system sounds far better than any I have ever heard. It doesn't compare to the Sony system I tossed. I am not sure what the criticism is about the base is either. I can feel it in my chest. The surround sound is the most realistic I have heard. More than once I had to look around the living room to make sure a car didn't crash through my wall. (I have not got the update CD yet either). The remote- This thing is awesome, I can control my system from down the street. Not to mention the optional expansion to two zones. The system is capable of handling two remotes in two different zones listening to two different sources all at the same time. The on screen universal remote setup is terrific, with in minutes I had it controlling my TV, VCR, and SAT. Ease of use- There is no way I could have set up a component system as fast as I set my Bose. Everything is straight forward. Sources in, speakers out and you are done. Looks- Not only did I toss the old audio system but the DVD player went as well, I don’t need it. Now I have one clean box beneath the TV. Now throw in 100 to 200 of my favorite MP3's on a CD and let it play all day. If there is one poor thing, it is the price. Yes, it set me back. But I plan on buying one system and not messing with it again. The Lifestyle 28 is perfect for the novice who wants great sound, expandability, and ease of use.

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Sony Systems

Looks nice. Right size for my room layout.

Unjustifiable price.

I was (stiil am) looking for a good quality, minimum size/footprint(and minimalist design) system, that looks good but doesn't require huge speakers, pre-amps and spaghetti cabling to achieve. I was attracted to Bose as, aesthetically at least, it seemed to meet the requirements. After reading these reviews I think I'll dismiss the LifeStyle 28. You guys complain about the price. In England its £2500, or $3894!!! But then it is 240 volt electricity which must explain why. "Could I buy in the US and use it through a transformer?" "I wouldn't recommend that" said the sales guy.

easy setup; size

Sound quality

Let me start off by saying that I am not an audiphile but I do listen to music frequently and appreciate quality products. I had started off with the Boston Acoustics (BA) Micro 8000 then progressed to the Micro 9000 thanks to Tweeter''s speaker upgrade policy. I experienced the Bose 28 at a friend''s house a few days ago. While always intrigued by this system, the following day I went and purchased one. I set up the speakers literally on top of my BA''s for comparison- There was no comparison. The bose system sounded fabricated and manufcatured while the BA sounded genuine. I took both systems back to Tweeter the following day and upgraded to the BA micro 9500 with a Yamaha 620 receiver. The price was $500 less and the quality immeasurably greater.

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Boston Acoustics Micro 8000, 9000 & 9500

Easy to use. Decent sound from small speakers.

over-valued and way over-priced

I used to work for Bose when I was in college. Don't hate me. I needed the money. It wasn't because I liked their products. Going into it, I was neutral. Going out of it, I was ardently opposed to any and all things Bose. I still I am.

A friend of mine purchased the LS 28 from a Bose store, and enlisted me to aid in setting it up. First off, let me say that NOTHING is worth what you pay for it. In the case of Bose, however, this is true to the nth degree.

The system, if it cost half as much, would be a good purchase. But at $2500.00 is a sheer rip-off. I advised against the purchase, arguing that a bit of research, patience, and comparison shopping would produce a better set-up for less money. But, she is a bit intimidated by the world of consumer electronics, and was drawn to how easy this system is to use.

And it is. It proves what I used to say to customers when I worked in one of their "showcase" stores. Jokingly, of course, I'd tell them that Bose was home audio for idiots. Which it is. Only an idiot would pay the prices Bose charges for the quality that they offer. You wouldn't believe the mark-up. On a $2500.00 system, the mark-up is about ten times what it costs them. And they own all the manufacturing and such. Except for the cd players in their Lifestyle sytems, which are made by Sanyo! Yep. Sanyo

Anyway, the system is a breeze to set-up. It is all pretty basic stuff. The big draw back is the single disc player. Bose always cuts corners. With the single disc, they cut a big one. It is nice that it plays dvd, cd, cdr, cdrw, and mp3 on cd. But it should. They don't deserve extra points for this.

Finally, they added more than one digital input. There are four. There are also composite, s-video, and component video via a component video adapter, ouputs. The adapter is clever. I'll give them that. It uses the s-video, and composite outputs, with some funky circuitry, to produce component out. The digital in and out is also WAY overdue from these slack-asses, but they finally joined the party on that one.

DTS and Dolby Digital. Again, joining the DTS party late, No extra points for that. Every entry level HT receiver does both.

Now, for those who had problems with the bass on this...there must have been something wrong with the unit you had, because, and remember....I hate Bose....the bass is just pretty whoop ass. Not as deep as a separate powered sub, but it more than did justice to every bass obstacle that I threw at it. I hate to say that the bass impressed me, but...for a Bose product, it did. Bose's bass modules (that's an oxymoron, isn't it?) are usually notoriously lacking in any real bass. So, I felt that she at least gor good bass from this thing.

The remote. Just to correct the previous poster, it IS RF. However, it uses an IR emitter in addition, to communicate with your other video components. They are all IR. So it takes the RF signal, and converts it IR so that it can control your other components through a single remote. To get it to do so, though, you need to go into an onscreen set-up menu and select your component manufacturer. It has all their codes programmed into it. If you don't select the proper code it will not work. It isn't universal out of the box. You have to program it. The guy who posted earlier may have neglected to do so. Her remote now controls her tv, her vcr, and her 28. You push the vcr button, and it kicks on her vcr, her tv, and her 28. Nice.

Overall, she got raped on the price, and I told her that. But this is their target customer. They target people who know nothing about audio, and prey on their technical insecurities. They do not target audiophlies because THEY know better. Then they sell them this almost idiot proof system at a disgusting price. It costs them next to nothing to manufacture this crap. They create the idea of value in these poor people's heads. But hey, there's one born every minute.

It is strictly a good system, but should be half the price. Even at that, they'd be making way more than five times their money back. The quality does not justify the price tag, and it is not future ready. Not expandable. Big negative there. I tried talking her into something else. You can lead a horse to water. She was technologically "nervous", and for that she paid through the nose. Nowhere near enough bang for the buck. But....this is a company that makes its' money off of the ignorant.

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Denon sytem

In concept, simple to use, small size, "advanced" technology

Can't compensate for sound deficiencies or personal preferences

Have put off the home theater scene for a long time cuz we're grownups, we don't don't need sound effects that can knock your wine glass over. After living with a modest setup -- a Sony A/V receiver, 2 x 2 speakers, including (gasp!) my 1983 vintage Bose 301s as the "mains" we decided to take it up a notch.

Our tastes in movies put the sound emphasis on dialog, ambience, and a wide range of musical styles. But once in a while we indulge in an action thriller.

We're not newbies to audio but don't obsess over specs either because, as I mentioned, we're grownups and we have a life (the 301s were a college thing and have also been convenient as we've moved all over the continent). We shopped and researched and tried to get the guys at the high-end store to even acknowledge our presence, but wound up at a chain store.

So we bit on the salesman's line about the Bose Lifestyle systems: one remote can control everything, the media center does all the sound corrections, the Acoustimass speakers are marvelous, and the bass will fill the room no matter where you put the subwoofer.

Got the thing home, and what a bust it was! The remote refuses to take control of the VCR and the TV. FM radio disappears for no reason. Sound is disappointing too -- what used to be the front channel is now the rear, and it totally screws up listening to music! And the subwoofer is terribly sensitive to location. Worst of all, we can't play DVDs because the feed to the TV is nonexistent, no matter which cable we tried.

After three days at home, we decided to pack it up and get the full refund.

I have respect for some Bose products, but not this one. Terribly overrated.

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First venture into home theatre

small size, easy to hide. good thing because that way you don't have to admit you own such an awful system.

There is not enough space to describe the weaknesses of this unit. Suffice it to say that except for the ease of hiding it, every other characteristic of this system is a weakness.

I am reviewing my father's Bose Lifestyle 28 DVD system by comparing it to my own system, which cost far less. Full disclosure: I am not affiliated with any of Bose's competitors. My hatred of Bose products flows entirely from a disdain for the Bose philosophy of sound, not from any personal interest in destroying the company.

That said, why would anyone spend this kind of obscene money on such a crappy system as this Bose?

My own system consists of (quite inexpensive and beautiful-sounding) KEF Q-series speakers all around, with a Marantz SR-8000 delivering the sounds. All together, including a very nice Sony DVD carousel, I spent under $2000 by shopping carefully. Add a nice 12" sub from any of your favorite manufacturers and you can still come in at less than the Bose system. The KEF speakers have a nice wood finish and are quite handsome and compact. I have the fronts on stands and can fiddle with their placement to get the perfect stereo image--something you can't do with little tinny 3" speakers mounted to a wall.

A word on KEF speakers vs. Bose:

KEF tries to do one thing: make accurate speakers that faithfully reproduce sound in a pleasing way. The Q series speakers I own are inexpensive--the Q35 fronts can be had for as little as $200 a pair. The surrounds cost only a few dollars more, and the center will set you back a good $300 or so. If you are considering Bose, please, PLEASE find a dealer who will let you audition these little wonders. You can hook them up to any amplification and they will accurately reproduce the signal that is fed to them. Bose cannot even claim this.

Bose has a reputation for "working magic" with speakers. They have earned this rep by taking poor-quality drivers manufactured by third parties like Clarion, a third-tier car audio company, and applying electronic EQ to them to get them to approximate the frequency characteristics of a good speaker. They then apply some cosmetic styling to them and price them in the stratosphere. Magic? What Bose has essentially done is permanently crank up the bass and treble controls to compensate for the innate deficiencies of cheap outsourced drivers and poor cabinet designs. Is it just me, or would Bose be better off designing accurate speakers in the first place? Can a pair of 3" drivers in a "jewel cube" accurately reproduce sound, even with the aid of a "bass module?" No. That is why Bose's efforts at EQing in the missing frequencies seem like magic. But then, it is also why there is no other company in the world like Bose.

The miracle of Bose is twofold. Miracle #1: They can take drivers from the parts bins of companies like Clarion, whose products are available principally at K-Mart and Sears, and through strenuous engineering they design electronics capable of making this crap sound almost decent. Miracle #2: They take this load of junk and sell it at high-end stores with unbelievable profit margins. With aggressive marketing and a pricing strategy that defines new levels of chutzpah, they have managed to convince a large majority of the public that they have a good product.

The Marantz receiver and Sony DVD player are attractive even if they take up a bit more room than the Bose "mother ship." The Marantz remote doesn't just control the receiver and every conceivable function of the Sony DVD player. It also controls every function of my Sony DSS receiver, Panasonic television and Rega CD player. This is something the Bose remote cannot do. If you want to watch digital cable or satellite, you'll need separate remotes for those. If you want to control your tv, you'll need a remote for that. This Bose cannot solve the "remote controller proliferation" problem. The Marantz remote can learn any remote signal thrown at it--after which you simply put all your other remotes in a drawer and forget about them.

My system, with a small M&K 12" sub, absolutely blows the doors off dad's Bose system. It's like going from cassette tapes to CDs--it's that much of a quality improvement. And it looks far more sophisticated and elegant to boot. It doesn't take up gobs of space, and if the DVD player breaks I can replace it with a new one for less money than dad will pay just to fix his Bose. If the receiver fails, I can replace that part, etc. Bose is an all-or-nothing proposition.

You don't need Marantz and KEF gear to get better sound than the Bose Lifestyle 28 DVD. All you need is a Philips home theater in a box ($300 from Costco), a $79 DVD player, and a decent subwoofer upgrade such as the very competent subs that can be had from Polk for under $500 if you shop carefully. You'll never have a THX-certified system this way--but then, you will never see a THX logo anywhere near anything manufactured by Bose either.

If after reading this review you still decide to go out and buy the Bose, you will spend the rest of your life making yourself believe the Bose hype, if only to justify such a phenomenal waste of your hard-earned money.

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This is my dad's tv room system. I personally use Marantz electronics with KEF speakers.