Mix not translating to Bose 5.1 Lifestyle system - how much do I worry?

I've been working on mixing a few tracks for a couple of weeks now, and learning lots and lots. The sound is progressively getting better and more refined, and I'm enjoying the process a lot. I have a small basic home project studio with some acoustic treatment, and going back and forth between my monitors (no sub) and an excellent set of headphones I'm getting mixes that generally translate well. I have an issue with the current track I'm working on though, and its driving me crazy.
 
This track has a constant synth drone bass with some resonance. I'm side-chain compressing it against the kick drum so the bass doesn't get too clogged up, and it sounds great on my monitors, good headphones, crappy headphones and on the mediocre car stereo. Bass is very punchy and distinct on these systems, most frequencies under 50hz rolled off, transients tamed and behaving themselves, sounding warm and analog like I want it.
 
In the living room though I have a bose lifestyle 5.1 system, and it sounds like a different song. It doesn't even sound musical. The bass is very muddy and indistinct, and the sub seems to be emphasising different frequencies to the point that the dominant bass note is changing.
 
I have noticed this before on occasion with commercially produced music through this system, most notably 'Staring at the Sun' by TV on the Radio is pretty much unlistenable on this system. Other music is fair to middling, its really only a decent system for 5.1 movies. The room is quite large, irregularly shaped with polished timber floors and sparse furnishing. Not an ideal listening environment.
 
So, here's the question: Do I throw up my arms and say I don't trust that system and ignore these issues, or do I say hey, other music sounds OK on it, my mixes should too? And if so, what would be a good strategy to identify the issue with this mix?
 
Sorry for the long post!

Thanks for the reply bitflipper, really needed a sanity check here!
 

bitflipper
The Bose system has one of those little subwoofers, right? They are crap. Not anywhere near flat, they'll have a big peak in the frequency response, typically around 100-120 Hz. Fine for explosions on TV, but horribly inaccurate for critical listening. It's probably sitting on a hollow floor, perhaps near a corner. Resonance City! And of course your living room and studio space are going to have radically different sonic signatures. 

 
It's pretty big, but it definitely is crap. Hollow floor - check, in the corner - check.
 

bitflipper 
If you can make it sound good in the studio AND in the car, you're well on your way - it took me decades to reach that point. 

 
This is a recent breakthrough, but yes I can crank this track up in the car and the bass is still tight and no mid-range frequencies suddenly rattle the speakers. I haven't managed to get it to sound good on the bose system, but the effort of trying to has been very productive, lots of reading and experimentation.

robotecho
 
I have noticed this before on occasion with commercially produced music through this system, most notably 'Staring at the Sun' by TV on the Radio is pretty much unlistenable on this system. Other music is fair to middling, its really only a decent system for 5.1 movies.

Kinda seems you answered your own question.

Guitarhacker
Kinda seems you answered your own question.

It would be fair to say that in writing it out I did gain a certain level of clarity . Still, I am interested to hear from others if they persevere in this kind of situation, after all, most music sounds bearable on this system.

On my system (Denon surround sound receiver, Definitive Pro 100 speakers) when listening to music in Pro Logic, it doesn't sound very good.  Switching the receiver to 5 channel stereo, it sounds great.
Can you change the surround mode on the Bose?
 

rumleymusic
Bose speakers are too small to provide a wide frequency response.  As a result the sub tends to do the majority of the heavy lifting in the lows and lower mids.  It is a media system, not a very good music system.  
 
Are you able to adjust the amount of bass coming from your sub? I have noticed that most people tend to leave them up way too high.  

 
You know, with all the ADAPTIQ equalisation hype, I've always just run through the setup like an idiot with the stupid microphone headset, and assumed it was the best possible sound, and never really dug into the options.
 
Turns out, of course you can turn down the bass! There's basic bass treble adjustment, I cut the bass by 50% and nudged the treble up a notch, and the sound is... fair. Not great, but about how I would expect it to sound on this sytem.
 
I'd just never thought about tweaking this system. What a completely obvious idea. Thanks so much.
 

bitflipper
There's a book called "Mastering Audio" by Bob Katz. Get a copy.

 
It keeps popping up in discussion, I'll definitely have a read.

wst3
Bose takes a lot of heat, especially in the professional audio space, for some of their designs.
 
What you need to keep in mind, as has already been pointed out, is that these systems are not designed for critical listening or any other professional application. They do make stuff that is, but most of their stuff is made to sound "cool". And if you like a hyped playback system then they hit the mark.

 
I bought the system 10 years ago with my eyes wide open to its limitations, but I was living in an inner city terrace house with very little space, and wanted an easy multi-zone solution. At the time Bose had the only real offering. I'm in a bigger place now and I'm considering my options, one thing is for sure, these systems hold their value very well.

57Gregy
On my system (Denon surround sound receiver, Definitive Pro 100 speakers) when listening to music in Pro Logic, it doesn't sound very good.  Switching the receiver to 5 channel stereo, it sounds great.
Can you change the surround mode on the Bose?
 

 
I'm going into it from my HTPC via optical, I had noticed previously that if I just ran analog stereo into it seemed to sound better. Both systems are probably trying to turn my music into a fully immersive 5.1 surround experience, and sucking at it.

dcumpian
 
Ah, yes. Then you'll have to negotiate for a dedicated media room! Lol! Good luck!

 
I would have to sell at least one of the children...

batsbrew
i would worry.
 

 
I'm going to worry a bit... I've changed the eq on the Bose system so it no longer murders a significant amount of music, but I do suspect the complete lack of stereo sound staging and blurry mid-bottom end is revealing something important about the mix. 

That's actually not a bad suggestion, Jay. It might just dampen that artificial boost. It won't compensate for the total lack of content below the port frequency, but it could at least soften the unnatural bump at 120 Hz. I'd use a pair of heavy wool socks rather than foam, though.

I have a set of Bose computer speakers that sound like absolute crap most of the time, always with the low frequencies. They are unbelievably boomy. The biggest problem it have with them is watching movies - they add so much bass to the dialog that I often end up just turning them off and reaching for my ATH-M50's. Most music sounds crap on them - the boomy low end is especially annoying on acoustic guitar & vocal tracks.

I would recommend getting a VRM box as an additional reference. You can check your mix in cans through loads of speaker and room simulations. They're especially good at warning you about potential bass translation issues.

bitflipper
That's actually not a bad suggestion, Jay. It might just dampen that artificial boost. It won't compensate for the total lack of content below the port frequency, but it could at least soften the unnatural bump at 120 Hz. I'd use a pair of heavy wool socks rather than foam, though.

Wish I could take credit Bit,  but that Mixing Secret originated with Mike Senior. He suggests it exactly as you describe, not a fix, but to see better how the port unnaturally pumps the lows. And yep, sox gotta be better than foam. Course I'm already usin most of em for dust covers on my mics. Oh well...I'll just go barefoot, get some moonshine jugs with candles stuck in em, and see if I can draw some Nashville business. If all else fails, most of my clans from three counties well north o Raleigh, back to my roots, yeehaa!

Jay Tee 4303
Stuff foam in the bass port.

bitflipper
That's actually not a bad suggestion, Jay. It might just dampen that artificial boost. It won't compensate for the total lack of content below the port frequency, but it could at least soften the unnatural bump at 120 Hz. I'd use a pair of heavy wool socks rather than foam, though.

 
This has greatly improved the sound, in fact I'm surprised how little I'm missing any of the bass its taken out, its just a bit clearer. The socks are now permanently integrated into the system, and a pair should probably ship in the box when you buy it.

sharke
I would recommend getting a VRM box as an additional reference. You can check your mix in cans through loads of speaker and room simulations. They're especially good at warning you about potential bass translation issues.

I've never heard of this before, will definitely look into it.

Guitarhacker
you should now be able to post links..... upload the song to soundcloud and post the link to it.
 
I got a warning when I tried to open that link you posted. Kinda rather not try it.... IUKWIM

Its a wav file... your anti-virus is paranoid! OK, I'll work something out. I have a soundcloud account, but that's public and attached to this project so I don't want to upload anything to it. I'll try and set up a new account or something.
 
Edit: Done