Home > Consumer Reviews > Bose Lifestyle 50 Home Theater System (White)

Bose products are usually expensive and some people argue that they can get a better system at maybe half the price. Now it depends on various parameters on what their evaluation is based on. For me, any music system is good which gives you the utmost pleasure in listening.
This Bose product comes with 5 pairs of Jewel cube speakers which are a little different then the regular speakers taht Bose offers with their speaker systems. They give you more clarity of sound - you can almost hear the fingers strumming on the guitar strings, the breathing of a singer and complete surround sound where it is available. You can easily find the difference when you play the Bose and another music system side by side and listen to the same music piece.
The set up is extremely simple. So if you hate tangling with wires and pushing in knobs and buttons for that perfect sound, then this system is for you. But if you are into graphic equalizers, and are addicted to lots of ports and want a receiver which will be the control center of your Home Theatre then this is not the system for you. The Bose system does allow you to connect your TV, DVD player and VCR through the system but that is about it. You will not find any additional ports in the system.
So for that price, I think you will not regret anything about this system - the most impressive of all is the size of the speakers and the range of sound that emits from them.
I am sure you are gonna love them.

What does the average consumer expect when they pay [this much money] for audio equipment? To be impressed, no less. Most people will be in awe when they listen to the Bose Lifestyle 50. They expect no less from a company like Bose. I, however, expected more.

My first disappointment is with the speakers. I didn't expect THX certification (a symbol of excellent audio quality), but the Lifestyle50 packs the same speakers from the cheapest Lifestyle setup. 2.5" paper drivers. Where does all the extra money go? The subwoofer is still passive instead of powered.

Then there's surround sound. It has Dolby Digital 5.1 (DD5.1) and Bose's proprietary Videostage5. DD5.1 is standard surround sound. It separates audio from front right, left, rear right, left, center, and subwoofer. The separation of channels provides a better movie-like experience and better sound quality. DD5.1 audio is the standard on DVDs. Videostage5 is odd in the sense that it divides the stereo signal into even more channels. The results are mixed, and often I wondered why it was there.

What it doesn't include is DTS5.1, or Digital Theater System. It is a step up from DD5.1. It provides much higher quality, but isn't available on all DVDs. When you find one that does you will enjoy it for every BOOM in the movie. It also doesn't include 6.1DTS, 7.1THX or any other features you would expect from a [$$] setup.

I lay in disappointment. I could get a receiver, speakers that at least had tweeters, and a subwoofer for one-fifth the price. Don't take my word for it. Go find a professional Bose Lifestyle 50 review with something positive to say about it. I'll go return mine.

Ok first of let me say this. If you are looking for a system that has THX go else where. But let me also add this, I work in the movie bizz, so I have a good bit of know how and what when it comes to things like this. THX, and you can ask a dealer for your self, is only trully heard when its set up by a pro, hense a home system that bosts THX, will not sound as good as it does in the theaters, this has more to do with room layout etc then the system.

Bose are masters when it comes to audio, short of having a theater built in your house, this is one of the best systems you can get for the money, it has all you need. Granted it could offer more but so could any system that you look at.

I have heard THX on this system and belive it or not it does work. Again not as well as in a theater but still its damn nice.

I recomend that if you are looking at this system that you go to your local high end audio store, and bring the following. a dvd that has DTS or the like encoded on it, 3 cds of differnt types of music, i recomend rock, classical, and techno. But the key is the difference.

Now sit down and listen to all of the things one at a time. Try this with other systems that you are looking at and I am sure you will find that the bose is one of the best out there.

Also look at onkyo and nad but you will have to by more compents and speakers to get what you get in this package. Adding to the overall cost.

Optical cables are a must, that or the best cables you can get. Also keep in mind that the rear speakers should be higher them the listners.

BEEN A BOSE FANATIC AND WILL BE ONE FOR LIFE TIME!!
WANT TO LISTEN TO DEPTH OF UNADULTERED SOUND? LOOK NO FUTHER ITS BOSE NOTHING ELSE MATTERS WANT A ROOM FULL OF SOUND NOT A ROOM FULL OF SPEAKERS WHERE THE MOST MINUTE SOUND FROM A CRACK OF A GLASS CAN NOT ONLY BE HEARD BUT FELT WITH DEPT

To be honest, I haven't yet owned a Bose Lifestyle 50 Home Theatre System but I had heard it in a demonstration in a Bose Store and I couldn't believe my ears then. What impresses me most about Bose technologies is that I haven't seen a speaker as tiny as the cube jewels featured in this system and similar Bose Lifestyle systems that can handle 100w (RMS) of amplification power. Speakers this size by other manufacturers can handle power as high as 45w (RMS) which is still below half the power-handling capabilities of Bose cube jewels. This difference alone demonstrates how superior Bose technologies are to the other speaker manufacturers'.

I know that the LS50 is discontinued right now by Bose but the new LS48 is now available and I will save for it. I'd rather spend all my fortune on one piece of Bose products than spending $150 on an inferior audio product.

Hail Bose!