IMHO, your room is too large for the itty-bitty Bose speakers (assuming you're getting the mini-system type). It will be very difficult to obtain decent imaging given the tall ceilings and large sq footage you have. I think you may have to go with a larger speaker system to move that much air.

IMHO, a bigger amp will not solve the speaker size issue.

Only way to tell is to demo them in your home; any GOOD audio shop will let you do this...and there are just sooooooooooo many better systems out there than Bose.

 

serotta, I know how you feel.

I am not sure how any of this stuff would sound on hardwood floors. I think my system would sound even better with 14 foot ceilings. My room is about 20X22. Maybe an area rug would be good for your room? My room is carpeted.

There was one very important thing to me when I was shopping. I was looking for a way to make music sound as good as possible for my tastes. Movies sound good on everything if it's Dobly Digital. It's just a matter of fine tuning on most systems. Once I learned about Pro Logic II Music mode and All Channel Stereo, that is what I based my decision on. Onkyo was the only receiver I could find that I could demo all channel stereo and PLII on for CDs. Once I demoed it I made my speaker decision. ON all channel stereo, the Polk Audio 6700 speakers sounded the best to me for the receiver I was buying. The problem I had with Bose is that they always seem to have to much "highs" on music. As if the only bass was from the sub and all of the highs were from the small speakers. The PA seemed to distribute it. I also liked the build quality better and the way they hook up. I did not want to find a place to hide the Bose sub which is required to hook up the small speakers.

Take your time and demo as much as possible. I spent about a month looking for my stuff. I am very pleased with what I bought.

 

Seacrow, I do have an Oriental rug in the room. It's about 12x14 and has a pad under it that adds to the echo deadening quality. I haven't heard the system yet, but I mentioned to the salesman about the highs and lack of base with the Bose. He said Bose has addressed this with the latest subs. But it is big. You are right, it will be hard to hide. You are also correct about the hook up. The Bose speakers all come back to the sub, then the sub goes to the receiver, the PA's all make homerun hits back to the receiver. This does confuse the issue, because that seems like it negates the 5-1 channel capabilities of the receiver. Salesman did say that Bose and Onkyo worked together on that particular system so they could be sold together in a package, around 2 grand out the door with an Onkyo 5 DVD progressive scan player also.
Jaymz, you also bring up a point that has worried me, yes the mini-speakers seem like they may not be able to "push" that large a room even with more amp. You are correct, I just need to go to Tweeters or one of the other local shops to get them to demo in my room. I just think I may have trouble getting a home demo trying to keep the system small and relatively inexpensive. I'm looking at 2 grand or under, that doesn't leave much room for sending stuff to my home on a chance I may buy from them, or turn around and go to a big chain.
Again, thanks for the advise and personal experience. This site is worth so much more than just the trucks.

If you're ever in the Charlotte,NC area, stop and have a once I get this audio system up and running.

 

Sounds like I'm in for a nightmare. Our great room is something like 32 x 15. To top this off it has a vaulted ceiling, going from 8 ft on the outside wall, to 18 or so on the other side of the room.

As it is now, we run 4 speakers firing the same direction splitting the length of the room for music. I'm just now starting to do some digging on a good surround system, great timing guys! Though I don't have a desire to spend the big $$$ I quickly ruled out most of the lower priced recievers, they just sound like crap IMO.

As for the Polk Audio, I discovered them in Okinawa when I was there. I wanted to pick up some decent speakers and the Air Force base had a HUGE audio room. They had about 25 or so speakers in the main section. Knowing that everything within the room was in my price range (deep discounts and a seperate high end room) I simple selected speakers without looking at brands.

I narrowed the search to two sets, switched amps and did the same. Keep in mind I still had no idea which speakers they were. I finally chose what ended up being the Polk 10Bs. They seemed to have better sound quality at lower levels, while the other set took some power before the quality started to show.

When I finally looked, the other set was some BIG Infinity speakers (forget the model), over twice the size of the Polks, and rated at 400 watts RMS.

The Polks I have are also 6 ohm speakers, and they can put some heat in the amp in a hurry. I can run my wifes old Pioneers at more power with almost no heat detected. Switch to the Polks, and the heat comes up fairly quick.

 

I've been into Home Theater for several years now and I do still remember the learning curve incurred when I first started. There are several good sites to visit where you can read and learn quite a bit and get all your questions answered. My fav is hometheaterforum.com
That particular forum is full of answers and you will not see any favorable opinions of any Bose equipment. I personally have evolved into an 8.1 system using a Yamaha Flagship receiver with some older JBL speakers and a SVS sub. I demo my sytem often and set up systems for friends etc. Yes there is quite a bit to getting the right system in the right room but the payoff can be a WOW experience.
Audio formats: Most current dvds do have a dolby digital format and most receivers do default to that audio option. Personally I ALWAYS check the menu of the dvd just to see what is available and select my fav. I ALWAYS select DTS if available. Your dvd player will have to be hooked up to the receiver (audio) side with a pcm cable or a Toslink Optical in order to process these signals.
Room and speaker setup is a big part of it and can be quite daunting sometimes with difficult rooms. Video Essentials and Avia both have a calibration dvd that makes it much simplier. Play around with placement and angles of your speakers. If you have a good sub, then you'll want to select the "small" setting on the receiver for ALL your speakers and let the sub do all the low-end work. The 0-180 switch on the sub is just there to help you avoid room cancellation issues if you have another sub or run your speakers on "large".
For your perusal I am listing my existing system and encourage any of you to contact me if I can be of assistance.

Video side:
Toshiba HD 55" RP TV
Toshiba 4700 DVD
Audio:
Yamaha RX-V1 receiver (8.1)
Acurus A250 amp (pre-out to power the mains)
Mains: JBL L100
Front Center: Norh Prism
Front effects: JBL Sat 2
Rear Surrounds: JBL N-26
Rear Center: JBL S-Center
Sub: SVS 20-39 PCi
Other: 4 pro series Bass Shakers driven by a 150 wpc amp.
All calibrated with Video Essentials.
And yes, I watch my movies very loud!!!
email address.. drdavis1@charter.net

 

Okay, I'm back in the hunt, I'm going to check out the website DonnyD offered up, and take Seacrow's advice and spend some time looking around and listening. Thanks for the use of the thread, thanks everyone for the advice.