Crossing the Bar

Cinemate 1SR

This home theatre system comes with a soundbar,a universal remote and a wireless Acoustimass sub-woofer. Both the sub-woofer and the soundbar need a plug point for power,and connecting it to a TV will not be a hassle. The soundbar has the required ports minus HDMI. The ports are positioned vertically so that they face the TV,as opposed to wall-facing,so the wires neatly slot into the system,which is a nice touch.

Since the Cinemate 1SR lacks a console,unlike the Lifestyle 135,buyers will need a DVD/Blu-Ray player to enjoy movies. With immersive sound,I had to struggle to remember that I was doing a review of the speaker and not the movie. However,the surround effect is not complete as it lacks rear effects. For example,in the movie How To Train Your Dragon,a dragon approaches from behind the protagonist and swoops ahead. When you have five speakers,you hear a swooshing sound from the rear speakers,which moves to the front as the dragon moves. This effect was missing. But the system does a magnificent job of producing left-to-right sound when the dragon went from the left of the screen to the right the effect was breathtaking.

The sub-woofer is much smaller than other Bose offerings,and has a knob for adjusting the bass. It handled low pitch quite well. The speaker can be placed vertically under the TV or horizontally,with little impact on the sound quality. The company calls this Fleximount technology. The Cinemate 1SRs remote control is a little bulky,but it can be programmed to control the TV,Blu-ray/DVD player,satellite TV boxes,etc. Cinemate 1SR costs Rs 1,12,888.

Lifestyle 135

This unit comes with a console,an iPod dock and a more advanced remote. Those who want HDMI ports can go for this system. When you plug in multiple sources like an iPod,a DVD,etc,a simple menu allows you to choose the source you would like to play from. The company has dubbed this unify. Listening to music on the soundbar is a pleasant experience,although it is not as mind-blowing as the movie watching experience. The remote has an LCD screen,which can be used to select tracks without looking at the TV. This system has an inbuilt AM/FM tuner for radio lovers. The sub-woofer is slightly bigger than that of the Cinemate 1SR and performs just as well. The soundbar is the same as the Cinemate,so the home theatre experience is expected to be more or less similar. Movie junkies who have hard drives full of movies will probably need a media player as the Lifestyle 135 consoles USB port is meant only for firmware updates,not for media playback. It costs Rs Rs 1,79,888.

The price as with all Bose systems is on the higher side,but it is probably worth it for its aesthetic advantages. Bose has pulled off an impressive feat by squeezing five speakers into one bar,making it worth a listen.

techexpressindia.com