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acruxksa · Rated XXX

Just for reference here's a pretty respectable setup:
HSU HB-1mk2 bookshelf speakers $150/ea or 4 for $600
HSU HC-1 mk2 center channel $240
HSU STF-1 Subwoofer $300

This system totals $1200 shipped, but is miles ahead of the Bose system.

You could also go with the Klipsch Quintet III 5.0 setup for $500 and then spend about $300 on a BIC or HSU subwoofer and have a really nice system for $800.

Heck even the Best Buy brand Insignia NS-B2111's get decent reviews and are popular with the speaker modding community because of their price. They are $88 a pair. Get 6 of those for $270 (use one as a center channel, and keep one as a spare) and a $300 subwoofer and you've still got a system that will rival the Bose for half the price. You can often find these speakers on sale for $60 or $70 a pair. That's not to say the other Insignia speakers and products are decent, just that with the NS-B2111's the stars were aligned and everything about them seems to work well together.

Many people also seem to like the Definitive Technologies ProMonitor 1000's and 800's. You could go with 3 of the 1000's for fronts and center and 2 800's for the rear. Again getting a BIC, HSU or Velodyne subwoofer.

The Polk Monitor 30's 40's and 50's are also pretty good bargains paired with a Polk CS1 center and one of the subwoofers mentioned you could probably step into this system for $700 or $800.

Bose at one time used to make very good speakers, but that was before they chose to enter the Home Theater market. Most of the stuff they sell now isn't that great and if you take the time to look around you will find that Bose speakers are frequently setup in their own displays which makes it impossible to compare them alongside their competition.

The best thing you could do is actually go spend some time listening to speakers and find some that you like. I say this because people have different preferences in how they want their speakers to sound. What sounds good to you won't necessarily sound good to someone else.
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