Hi all. You might recall a while back I asked if anyone had any experience of the Bose Cinemate 1SR speakerbar as I was at that time contemplating purchasing one. Well I have purchased it and have just got it set up and running this afternoon. It is too early to say if I'm completely happy with it but so far, so good. A couple of points I will make for those who find themselves in a similar situation to myself and are thinking of going down this road. The Cinemate 1SR has a big brother called The Lifestyle 135. This is nearly double the price but in truth it isn't worth the extra expense from my point of view. It really depends on what one wants to do. The Cinemate 1SR is limited to 2 inputs, analogue or digital. The digital has two options, coaxial or optical. The Lifestyle has more inputs around 4 HDMI inputs and I think two analogue inputs of the RCA phono variety plus the optical and or coaxial options. It also has a back lit remote control which is RF rather than infrared as it is with the Cinemate 1SR. Both controls have learning capabilities and can be used as a universal remote. The Cinemate 1SR remote is not back lit. The Lifestyle 135 can run speaker systems in 14 different locations around the home plus can run a speaker system outside the home but these extra speakers are not part of the package and have to be purchased separately. Personally the extra inputs weren't worth the extra money, nearly double the price because I can't use a backlit remote regardless of how clear the display is. I don't want to have speaker systems in 14 rooms, I don't have 14 rooms and I don't want a speaker system in the garden, it would get pinched. So all I would be paying extra money for would be the few extra inputs. Added to this, I would use inputs for mainly listening to music, I understand that HDMI audio isn't very good as it is subject to jitter and that many manufacturers are investing a lot to solve this problem. So all in all I went for the Cinemate 1SR.
As things stand my TV has a coaxial out socket and that is wired to the digital input on the soundbar. I have my Laptop and my CD player connected to the Analogue in on the soundbar but as there is only one analogue input (left and right phonos) I am using a QED switching box so I can move between laptop and CD player. The Cinemate 1SR senses which input is receiving a signal and defaults to that input. So if I am watching TV and then turn off the TV and start playing the CD then the Sinemate 1SR switches to the Analogue input. If I then stop the CD player and turn on the TV again then it will switch back to the coaxial input. I don't have to select the inputs under my present configuration. Setting the Cinemate up is simplicity itself. When you turn on the speaker array and the subwoofer they are paired in a nano second via Bluetooth. The way the system is set up is you plug in the supplied head set and it speaks to you with a greeting of hello. It then explains what is going to happen and talks you through it. So, it tells you that it is going to play a series of tones both from the subwoofer and the speaker array and once each sequence is complete you are to press the up volume button. You are asked to sit in position 1 and remain still and press the up volume. The tones are sounded from the speaker array and the subwoofer. Once done you are asked to sit in position 2 and the sequence is repeated. You do this in 5 different positions and once done the Cinemate 1SR tells you it is analysing the results and configuring the system taking into account the acoustics of the room and after a couple of seconds it announces that the task has been completed and you can then remove the head set. This head set is very sensitive because when I was trying it in the store I asked a question while it was emitting the test signals and it picked that up and asked me to repeat the previous step. Also I turned my head slightly to speak to the guy demonstrating the kit and the system picked this up and asked to please keep my head still while it is working. This sensitivity means when sitting in the 5 positions you need not wander all over the room, just move left or right a few inches. By the way, don't try moving back to a previous position, the system knows you have done that and tells you that position has already been used. The sound quality is very good but in my case is going to be an acquired taste and will take a little bit of time to get used to it. The sound is different from the normal hi-fi sound I'm used to. The Cinemate 1SR has a particular cinematic sound quality but is spacious. I have for the past 20 years been used to a sound stage of around 15 to 17 feet wide and that has given me a great stereo sound stage. However circumstances change and I've decided to move away from two large obelisks sitting at either end of the room to something a little narrower but none the less spacious. I'm now going to take a little bit of time running it through it's paces but I think I will quickly get used to it and come to enjoy it more and more as time goes by. The Bose Cinemate 1SR and the Lifestyle 135 are very very popular here. The guy from the dealership help me set it up and said they have sold loads of the 1SR and the Lifestyle 135 whereas despite an expensive TV campaign for the Sonus alternative, they have only sold 2. When you feel the speaker array you wonder how it can produce so much sound in such high quality in such a small package? The fascinating thing is, the speaker array can either be placed on a wall or can sit flat on a table and you get exactly the same high quality sound reproduction. The Speaker array knows it's orientation and if I were to lift it and put it on the wall, it senses this and compensates and you get the same sound as before, very clever. I hope this information has helped anyone who might be considering going down this route. Walter. To unsubscribe from this list, send a blank email to: pc-audio-unsubscr...@pc-audio.org
