Bose Lifestyle 535 Series III Home Entertainment System (Black)

best quality, good sound

Sounds great and easy to setup and use. Now supports HDMI input and has an IR repeater that limits the clutter. No longer has a built in DVD player - not necessarily a bad thing given the rapid evolution and relatively low price of adding a Blue Ray etc. One major gripe? I had the previous Lifestyle system and had taken advantage of the Bose Link to cover 3 separate zones, each with a specific remote - this was quite an investment. this new system WILL NOT allow you to use the SA-2 or 3 amplifiers, period. The SA-4 amplifier system costs a whopping $500 and WILL NOT allow you to play the Bose sources over the different zones. This includes local radio stations and TV cable stations. I had a television mounted outside and used this feature previously for sound - no mas. So, buying 3 SA-4 amplifiers, each with a different Sound Touch unit (included) will add an enormous amount of unnecessary clutter and complexity to my system - and I lose the ability to listen to my favorite local radio station and stream cable TV sound. Not a deal breaker as the new system is quite nice but wish the lack of backwards compatibility was made clear from the outset. Bose, please include that the SA-4 amplifiers are NOT compatible with the new system - it currently states 'compatible with other Bose Link systems'. Customer support was excellent though and, again, the system is top notch.

Very high quality. Easy seller to work with.

This would be a decent system for about $800-$1500 max. But don't be fooled. The parts in this thing are all just wayyyy too cheap for this price.In a side-by-side with a basic high-end setup that costs half this, the Bose 535 is a dishonorable, morally-reprehensible embarrassment.For less money, there are simple systems with parts that are dramatically higher-quality in every way.The speakers (given that their R&D was done 30+ years ago and has not changed much since) cost Bose AT MOST $20 to make.NOTICE THAT NUMBER: $20. max. -- Manufacturing this particular subwoofer will cost AT MOST about $100.That maxes out at the upper limits of physical and economic possibilities for manufacturing the sound units at about $200.The most costly part of this system is the console. At most its specs and features are similar to an $800 home theater receiver.So at a healthy profit, this would be a decent system for about $1500, but that's pushing it.For $3500, at that budget a chimpanzee could put together a system that will absolutely OBLITERATE the Lifestyle in EVERY POSSIBLE WAY:-WiFi? Stronger signal-Bluetooth? Faster and higher-fidelity-Bass? Deeper, clearer, and louder-Mids? Wider and louder-Highs? More crystal and louder-Convenience & ease of set-up? Faster-Multi-device control? More efficient-Video picture quality? Literally 4x Higher-Resolution$3500 is a con. A deliberate attempt to trick you out of your money.If you buy these, then hear anything else in that price range, you will feel burned.

I first heard this system at a friends house and made him return it. This is an inaccurate system designed to trick people who don't know better into pissing away their money. Don't fall for the marketing hype, their speakers weren't good 30 years ago when they were designed, and they're not good now. I don't even know if their paper cones are actually treated! The Sonos soundbar for $600 sounds better, and even that is overpriced for the sound (and not true surround). If you're considering this system, please do yourself a favor and look at the cambridge audio aero 5.1 system (piece it together yourself from seperates available on amazon, I used the aero 6 for fronts but aero 2 is fine as well; the speakers are on sale since they switched to their aeromax model) with either their receiver, or a mid-range/high end NAD receiver. For under $2,500 you can have a system that will embarass the bose, and stand toe to toe with systems twice the price.

WARNING: Bose systems are great while they are working but if they fail after the one-year warranty you will be charged $165 flat rate for repairs. Since the system is proprietary, you cannot replace one component with another manufacturer of even another Bose component. All pieces (remote, speakers, head unit, amp, base) work together and cannot be replaced individually and all components must be sent back to Bose for repairs. I have other rooms in the house with surround sound that are not Bose and have never had an issue and if I did, the individual piece would be replaced.Consider this BEFORE locking yourself into a proprietary Bose system. I can spend $165 for the fix or $2000 for a non proprietary system to replace the Bose - a bit like throwing money at a bad car but replacing the bad car is cost too much.

I purchased this system for my work to go into a very high profile athletic retail store for their yoga studio. They seemed pleased with the system but we had to also purchase a blue tooth adapter so they could use it with their cell phones. We also had to purchase separate mounting brackets.

Great great great