Bose is good for 2 things: Pretty decent portable speakers and probably the coolest car suspension system prototype ever.
Any Bose speaker system I've heard can be absolutely blown out of the water by a mild custom setup for less $, and I'm personally a fan of browsing Craigslist/open box specials. I managed an excellent Studio grade speaker pair for $80 and a decent amp for $50 on my latest setup.
But, as with anything, it's all purely subjective and everyone has their own levels/preferences. If the Bose system sounds good to you, go for it and ignore the Bose bashers!