My system arrived three weeks ago. First of all, if you order online, make sure to be home when the package is expected to arrive. It comes in a giant white box with a picture of the system on it. If you are concerned about packages being stolen from your doorstep, well this package screams, "guess whats in this box". Despite reading reviews indicating that set up was difficult, I quickly realized that although it does take about 2 hours to unpackage, run cords, place speakers, assemble stands (optional), this system is extremely simple and intuitive. The set up was very simple, assuming you understand the difference in cables and inputs.
My room is 15x12 with two door openings. The sound is amazing. I can not believe the sound that comes from those tiny omni jewel cubes. The low frequency capability of the sub woofer is astounding considering it's size. I read many negative reviews online from whom I would assume to be audiophiles planning on having multi amp systems, regarding the inability of the Bose system to reproduce music and concert material. I am not an audiophile but would say as an enthusiast, I was extremely surprised how great music content sounds. Truth be told, I was shopping for a reference floor standing system, my wife preferred the space savings of the Bose. I am glad I opted for the compact system, the audio is anything but compact.
For those of you who plan on incorporating 4K UHD Blurays and a UHD 4k Bluray player,here are a couple helpful hints. I paired my system with an Oppo UDP-203. The Lifestyle module does have 4K pass through, so it will not make any changes of the output video signal that the hd bluray player will send through. HOWEVER, after experiencing green lines on my LG OLED screen during playback of a 4K movie, actually filmed in 4K, it became apparent that there was a signal issue. After speaking to OPPO and Bose, it was determined that the hdmi cable supplied with the Bose system is a standard HDMI cable. Although many say cables are cables, in order to transfer all of the true 4K content, you need to use a high speed 2.0 HDMI cable since there is so much information being transferred.
The simplicity of the remote is nice, however, if you have a feature packed device like the OPPO, you will need to use the device remote, as all of the menu items do not carry over. I would also add, when you are using the Bose remote for other device functions, there is a delay from when you can select a command. For example, when scrolling through the menu of the TV with the Bose remote, you can move the cursor, but you cannot select if the Bose remote status screen is active, once it shuts off, it becomes live and you can activate the command. I am hoping this is something they work out in a future firmware update. One other complaint, which is probably an unrealistic expectation, is that since the OPPO has incredible 4k upscale ability, you can run your cable signal into it and use it to increase the resolution and output it through the Bose 4K pass through and into the television. The problem is, if you take advantage of this feature, you can not use the Bose remote for your cable box. The source selected is the blu ray player, so you are limited to functions for the bluray remote, if you were to select cable box hoping to gain control of the cable box features, it would change the device. Realistically, if you are taking advantage of all of these features, you probably need to keep all of the remotes accessible.
One other slight issue is with source switching when paired with the LG OLED. Bluray, chromecast,cable box, and tv source will switch over when you select. So in other words, if you are watching cable, cast something from your phone and chromcast and Bose will take control of the television, select cable box and it will go back. The only time it will not is if you are using the built in internet applications on the television. In order for the Bose module to switch both sound and picture, you must exit out of the application before you change the source, otherwise it must be done manually. It is as though there is is a power struggle between the Bose and the LG OLED. If you were to stream from your bluray player or chromecast, there is no issue. ( OPPO) does not have streaming capabilities so I use the TV.
The supplied IR extender works great for components inside of a cabinet. The Bose remote has great range.
Overall, I am very happy with the system. We plan to add sound touch speakers to other rooms. We are looking forward to taking advantage of the Bose app. It is very simple to use. Very cool to be able to stand in the kitchen and fire up the Bose system in another room, from your phone. Which by the way, when you do this from the app, it will only turn on your Bose and the television, despite the power macros being set to turn on tv,cable box and Bose. I found this feature neat, so that you are not firing up the cable box for no reason.