What do you think of BOSE?

[Mday]

i thought the bose wave radio on those informercials were overpriced pos. Now prices have dropped, and I have actually listened to one at a bose store. and they sound better than anything i expected to come out of such a small piece of equipment. i also listened to other pieces of bose equipment.

i am no audiophile, but my ears are pretty good, and i do notice a difference. i can't say if bose is the best ever, but they make good units.

one comment though, location is key. i mean, we all know of sweet spots in acoustic theatres, as opposed to ones with speakers. and even with speakers, there are sweet spots. those big chains have speakers located next to each other, and they just sound awful that way. the bose store had speakers located in key positions, the room was not designed to be an acoustic environment. and even some poorly positioned speakers sounded good.

 

[Draco]

<< No highs, no lows, must be Bose.

Bose = Monster Cable = All Marketing, No Substance >>





You pretty much hit the nail on the head. Bose is a lot of marketing and banks on the general public's ignorance. Some asshole walks into Best Buy and see's them, their the most expensive thing on the shelf and they appear to sound great. But when put next to a good brand, you should certainly hear a difference.

I went from a Bose AM-7 system that was a good 6 or 7 years old, after I became educated, I bought a set of Energy Take 5's for $400. The difference is night and day and frankly so is the price.

Sadly enough my car's stock stereo is a Bose, but it sounds good right?! Or does it

 

[d1abolic]

<< People like Bose because they've never heard anything better(note that better does not automatically mean more expensive). And if there's one thing Americans are good at, it's wallowing in their own ignorance. >>

Well said.


<< Yea, Bose has completely snowed the entire world, and all critics... FWIW, there's a Bose system in my wife's Infiniti, and it sounds awesome. GREAT bass, GREAT treble >>

Heheh... hahahah. Compared to what? Your record player? Hahahahah.


<< Now prices have dropped, and I have actually listened to one at a bose store. and they sound better than anything i expected to come out of such a small piece of equipment. i also listened to other pieces of bose equipment. I am no audiophile, but my ears are pretty good, and i do notice a difference. i can't say if bose is the best ever, but they make good units. >>

Let me guess, all the BOSE equipment was in the same room and not a single product from any other manufacturer was there too? They set it up this way on purpose, so you listen to one BOSE product and then compare it to another BOSE product. That way you won't know just how hard they suck. Try it, find a single HT store that has BOSE in the same room as other speakers. You will never EVER find one no matter how hard you try. Oh and by the way, the BOSE store has fake display systems - no wonder they sound better. See my post on top of the thread.

 

[GasX]

Bose is to speakers as AOL is to internet.

They look nice and do everything you think you want out of the product until you realize what else is out there.

In defense of Bose, their compact systems are good purchases for people who just want to have music in the background as they go about their day and do not want a lot of equipment taking up space. Their remotes are simple and use radio signals instead of infrared.

Anyone desiring high quality sound and lots of features from the receiver should look elsewhere.

 

[spidey07]

Pretty much accepted fact - bose blows. When I say fact I speak of manufacturing (using very cheap parts), I speak of frequency response, I speak of very shady and deceptive marketing tactics.

Please for the love of god and your money, listen to some other systems. If you still believe Bose is the way to go then you should not be allowed to listen to a stereo. And to the poor saps who spent 1000 bucks on a 3-2-1 system, please send me some money. I'd love to build you some crap speakers with sonic gimmicks. Heck I'd only charge 800 dollars (cost of materials and labor=30 bucks)

 

[CocaCola5]

Bose is one level up from a computer case's speaker.

 

[FreshPrince]

I don't like their HT packages...

a friend of mine just recently purchased an Acoustimass 15 Home Theater Speaker System and I was not impressed by the weak sound. He bought it at Best Buys and we had a chance to sample other systems. IMO, the floor standing 701 Series II Direct/Reflecting Speaker System is a much better buy at about half the price.

 

[ander]

No Highs? No Lows? It's gotta be BOSE!

Bose could do a lot better...

 

[no0b]

for 1/2 the price and twice the performance go with paradigm

 

[Garet Jax]

My experience has been that as far as home stereo speakers go, BOSE are not very good. In other words, there are a lot of better "Bang for the Buck" speakers available.

As far as car stereos go though, BOSE are pretty good. My friend just got an Audi with an upgraded car stereo (BOSE speakers) and it sounds pretty awesome. They pack quite a bit into a small area.

 

[Bachelor]

<< Bose = Monster Cable = All Marketing, No Substance >>



So now we're bashing Monster Cable? I guess the 20 gauge red/white cables for $3.00 cut it for ya? Or do you have to spend $2000 on Black Pearls to get your money's worth?

 

[Viperoni]

The reason why you never really hear any big time magazine's or reviewers talk bad about Bose is because Bose has lawyers. And good ones.

 

[CocaCola5]

BOSE FAQ

 

[jaeger66]

I'm not a big fan of Monster Cable either. I prefer Straight Wire or AudioQuest.

 

[mAdD INDIAN]

The thing about BOSE is that their consumer stuff is garbage. And their speakers are 'ok', however only if they are in their right envinroment, and that's pretty rare since no one living room is the same. BOSE's systems are reflective, and they need the right kind of envirnoment to sound good.

That said, BOSE's commerical level stuff kicks ass! Have you ever heard their system in Madison Square Garden or Air Canada Center?? Their professional systems sound good, that's because they were designed for their environment. Also, their car audio system is pretty good for STOCK system! It beats the Mach and Monsoon system in other premium cars.

Look at BOSE in the whole, their consumer level doesn't give them big bucks, their commercial stuff does. That's where the money is!

 

[Viperoni]

At school (I do most of the Audio/Video stuff like run video projectors/sound for assemblies/pep rallies etc etc), we have a pair of bose "monitors".
they have 4x 4inch woofers in a vented cabinet.
They can't take much power (and aren't very efficient), and the sound in general, because it's tweeterless, is definetely lacking highs. Even a pair of crappy little Traynor "suitcase" monitors (that look like suitcases really!) sound better and go a lot louder.

 

[Bachelor]

<< I'm not a big fan of Monster Cable either. I prefer Straight Wire or AudioQuest. >>



Ditto - but Monster Cable is a big step up from cheap patch cords. The gold plated turbine cut connectors alone makes it worth the upgrade. I believe that nearly any upgrade product has at least some value. The guy buying a $300 RCA surround system is getting better sound than he was getting from the tiny TV speakers. The guy buying a Bose system is getting better sound than the $300 RCA system. And hopefully the guy that wants a serious sound system has enough wit to stay away from minisystems altogether.

 

[d1abolic]

<< As far as car stereos go though, BOSE are pretty good. My friend just got an Audi with an upgraded car stereo (BOSE speakers) and it sounds pretty awesome. They pack quite a bit into a small area. >>



Trust me, it's all garbage. BOSE doesn't have a single good product. I'm sure BOSE speakers sound better than stock speakers, but fact is, that so does any other system. Some good car speaker manufacturers are Boston Acoustics, Polk, Pioneer, Rockford, Diamond and others.

 

[d1abolic]

Why's everyone bashing minisystems? There are some that sound absolutely stunning, like the models from DefTech, BA and Energy that i listed above. Lay off!

 

[virtuamike]

Bose sucks. The Canandians own. Energy. Paradigm. Even Kef (they're not Canadian but hey).

 

[Hossenfeffer]

Sheesh, and here I thought this thread was about the Boobs Of Supreme Evil...

Came to share my nightmares about them.

 

[d1abolic]

I haven't bashed BOSE for over a week. I'm bored. Let's start all over again!

 

[Viperoni]

<< I haven't bashed BOSE for over a week. I'm bored. Let's start all over again! >>



If they actually uses decent components....which they do not.....they might even be liked.
But since they dont, and overcharge out the anus, well, obviously they're going to be made fun of.

 

[tigerbait]

<< Bose is to speakers as AOL is to internet. >>



excellent analogy

 

[MrCodeDude]

My mom got a six speaker BOSE set for Christmas.. As far as I can see, they're the best if you don't mind shelling out the money.
-- mrcodedude