My Visit to the Bose Store

Serendipity

First and foremost, please keep this civil. I always listen to gear with an open mind and try to demo as many speakers as possible, regardless of what people say about them.

Started with the 2 channel section and brought in my own CD's. Sarah Brightman's Timeless and some Jazz pieces by The Stimulators. Also Enya's Amarantine and A Day Without Rain.

I first heard the 201 bookshelf speakers and then the 301s. Wow, these sounded really bad. The bass was WAY too boomy like something out of a car audio setup, actually the 301's were WORSE than the 201's because of the heavy bass note that I don't like. (For those who know me, I absolutely hate a boomy bass note - clear and defined is what I like, not hip-hop bass)

Next was the 901s. What a night and day difference from the 301s. These speakers (the 901s) were extremely pleasant to listen to for long periods without any listener fatigure. On "Only Time" and "It's in the Rain" there was a huge soundstage and her voice seemed to wrap around the room. If there were any speakers here that I could listen to compared with my DefTechs, the 901's would be it - close to what I am used to, not as detailed as what I am used to listening at home, but GREAT with classical music and piano. As far as my listening goes, most of it is classical, opera, and piano. I liked the sound, although I would agree they don't sound good with other types of music such as rock and hip-hop. Only music with lots of midrange would these speakers sound good.

Then moved onto the computer speakers. Wow, these were horrible! When turned up they rattled and boomed, not much here. My $40 Dell speakers were better.

Next was the VideoWave TV / built-in sound system. The only demo I had was of "Apollo 13", so no music listening here. The TV did a good job of reproducing explosions and had lots of boom, so it's a decent HT set if anything. Not sure how it would do with music.

Last was the Lifestyle 48. I played the same CD's in VideoStage 5 mode, which decodes the CD into 5 channels. It was good for an HTiB, very bright, and detailed but the bass had quite a bit of boom. The midrange gap made the sound exactly opposite of what the 901's were, but not as bad as the 201's or 301's.

Serendipity

Oh yeah. One last product that impressed me - the Free Space 51 outdoor landscape speakers. These are speakers you plant into the ground like a flower, yet only the top is visible. I found that they used a 4.5" driver like the 901's, not sure if it's the same driver, but these had a lot of midrange and again were good with classical piano, instrumental music, and new-age music. Very good if you are into "spa" type music or ambient music for a patio. These sounded MUCH better than the 251 outdoor speakers and the horrible 151's. An outdoor speaker I could listen to for long periods of time.

My only other experience with Bose is in a 1989 Nissan Maxima - horrible, for a car audio system, and not much better than the stock system. But the Bose in a Porsche 911 Turbo I heard at Riverhead Porsche while looking at a VW Jetta (they also own the Porsche dealership next door) sounded very good.

mrbigbluelight

Ain't knocking nobody's gear, but give me a heads up if you get your hands on some LSiM's.

Just saying.
:rolleyes:

Serendipity

The only speakers I really enjoyed listening to were the 901's (same design as from the 80's) and the Free Space 51 with the 4.5" driver. Maybe the 4.5" driver is the only driver Bose makes that is worth listening to?

Everything else - too boomy, bass heavy, and not to my liking.

Serendipity

So I am not entitled to my opinion on a product?

They may not be to everyone's liking, but there were qualities in the two products mentioned above (901 and Free Space 51) that I would recommend everyone to give a try/demo, or at least take the time to listen to. Instead of just repeating what everyone else says that they are no good. Take the time to listen to them, and you may like them.

quadzilla

DSkip wrote: »

Us car folks might take offense to your stereotypical rubbish. Then again, you did just give us a review for Bose products...



:rolleyes:

I think he's referring more to the typical SPL setup. Your car sounds quite good, but it's only the 3rd or 4th time I've heard a mobile system that didn't make me want to hurl.

Serendipity

1. I am referring to the "boom boom" SPL car sound setup.

2. And for those naysayers - how do you know the speakers are no good if you haven't spent extensive time demoing them? I was told Bose speakers didn't sound good, and I believed it. Until I gave them a listen. Focal JMLab speakers are supposedly good sounding, I can't STAND listening to the Grand Utopia because they are so bright and overly detailed.

Serendipity

quadzilla wrote: »

I think he's referring more to the typical SPL setup. Your car sounds quite good, but it's only the 3rd or 4th time I've heard a mobile system that didn't make me want to hurl.

Sorry, I meant the SPL sound. It's not just the bass that I don't like.

Why do some speakers have treble that is so detailed it "zings" and sounds bright? It's like going into Photoshop and turning up the sharpness on an image so much that it "pops" off the page. And then doing the same for color so the image has more "punch". Is this a true representation of the original image?

The Bose 901's didn't have that ridiculous treble runaway that was common in some other speakers. I play the piano, instruments such as the piano should not sound sharp and bright, ever.

Airplay355

I think most people are frustrated with the price:performance ratio of Bose as opposed to their overall sound. Most of us are Polk fans because Polk offers a great product at a great price. Are Polks the absolute best sounding speaker out there? Absolutely not, no one would argue that. But how much do you need to spend before you get something significantly better and is that amount of money worth it? The speakers may have sounded acceptable but did they sound as good as they should have?

My SDA2Bs were $50, not the best speaker in the world but definitely the best price:performance around!

Serendipity

As far as listener fatigue goes, I found the 901's to be very easy to listen to for long periods. Take this example:

Car A costs half the price of Car B.
They both run the same 1/4 mile times.
Car B has a nicer interior, smoother ride, etc.

Yes, Car A has the better price to performance ratio. But Car B is easier to live with for longer periods of time. Is the extra cost worth it? Some times it's not always about price:performance, as I have found out in this hobby. It's what you are happy with and can stand listening to, what good is a crazy detailed sounding speaker with super well-defined bass if it makes you fatigued in a short period of time?

That is why I felt the Bose 901 sounded good, especially in the midrange.

sucks2beme

Bose has to be set up just right. I've never heard any outside the showroom
do that.

gdb

Serendipity wrote: »

So I am not entitled to my opinion on a product?

They may not be to everyone's liking, but there were qualities in the two products mentioned above (901 and Free Space 51) that I would recommend everyone to give a try/demo, or at least take the time to listen to. Instead of just repeating what everyone else says that they are no good. Take the time to listen to them, and you may like them.

Nah....that would be fair and balanced......oh.....wait, this IS the fair and balanced demographic......Oh eff it, I guess it's easier and more fun to lemming-condemn something. I owned and enjoyed 901s for several years and I have heard many Polks and other speakers that could not ever sound as good as properly driven 901s. I wish some "audiophiles" would exert more effort into getting la!d and somewhat less on fruitless witch hunts.

gudnoyez

I have some 301's hooked up to an old marantz reciever in the garage sounds good to me I would not put my Polks in the garage nor my AR's or my Vega's but the 301's sound pretty good powered by that old marantz receiver which is so old it has wood grain sides on it 50wpc and purchased in 78 when I was 16, days gone by oh the memories.

GoBigBlue

I have several Bose products ranging from headphones to HT systems and I enjoy all of them. I also have a lot of Polk products - I enjoy them, too. It just depends on the day and how I use them.

I think judging car audio is a little more difficult. You need to take things like the car's acoustics and road noise into consideration. My Audi's Bose system is one of my favorites in comparison to my friend's sound systems, my old Lexus Polk aftermarket system, my dad's new BMW system, and my mom's Harman Kardon in her Mercedes. I could listen to that Bose system all day.

miner

I enjoyed my 301 Series I , handed down to my son who still is using them.

mhardy6647

Interesting to see the OP's comment about heavy, boomy, one-note bass from the 201. I have a pair of 201s in the basement (dump finds) and I was surprised by how respectable they sounded (tried 'em with a single-ended 2A3 amp - believe it or not). Rolled off top and bottom, but very decent midrange; better than I expected. I had them sitting on their sides, on top of my (admittedly rather large) 604 Duplex cabinets... didn't find the bass objectionable at all (FWIW). I don't know which series 201s they are; I can check, though...

jjwm27

i have had several pairs of bose, 201s, 301s, 701s, and 901s. they all sounded pretty good to me. the 901s were by far the best of them all but the 701s were pretty good too. i ended up giving away the 2s and 7s but kept the 3s and 9s. im using the 901s with my computer and an older pioneer elite vsx39tx and they sound great. they will certainly rock the entire house if i crank it up. they wont be replacing anything in my Lsi HT but they do sound damn good. now the cube and bass boxes bose makes you couldnt pay me to take, well maybe if you paid me enough.

IRLRaceFan

My gf has a set of 901's from the late 80's or early 90's. In my opinion they sound great with any type of music, as long as they have some good power going to them - they sounded like $h!t every time I used just a receiver (2 different Onkyo's, Denon, & Kenwood).

BUT...that EQ that comes with them is a pain in the ****. Other than that, I really like them (almost as much as my LSi9's).

mantis

When Bose bashing comes up , I see a bunch of closed minded people. I listen to anything no matter what the label says on the front and judge it from what I hear .
Bose has a huge place in our audio world as they make many many people very happy. They do things simply and easy to use. This is where they shine. There RF remotes are probably the best in the business.
Bose figured out many things and earned their place. Nothing is for everyone.

arun1963

Try cutting the 301 at 80hz with a sub.

The 901 needs a sub. I have a pair of 901 and a pair of totems. Bose+sub> Totem+sub. Without the sub Totem>901.

IRLRaceFan

arun1963 wrote: »

Try cutting the 301 at 80hz with a sub.

The 901 needs a sub. I have a pair of 901 and a pair of totems. Bose+sub> Totem+sub. Without the sub Totem>901.

Yeah, you're right about needing a sub

cnh

I remember auditioning some 901s against a pair of JBL 100lts and 80lts from the mid to late 80s. The JBLs were 'refurbished' models from Northridge, Ca that carried the full 5 year warranty from the company at less than half the price?

The 901s were MSRP (Bose's main problem). The listening room was half-decent and all of the above speakers were fairly good in there. I really could not hear any significant improvement with the 901s over the JBLs so I bought a set of the JBLs and I realized when I got them home that the highs were a bit more detailed and less smeared over the entire room (something that the Bose did very well--and is good for some forms of music). The JBLs, which I own to this day, were also 'flatter' in response. The Lt series featured their pure titanium tweeters along with the common drivers found in their studio monitor twins.

In any case. The 901s were a decent speaker for that time period for many forms of music and could play very LOUD(ly)!

cnh

mhardy6647

Youse guyses do all know the importance of the Bose 901 in the genesis of Polk Audio as we (well, some of us old guys) know and love it, yes?

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19965

Systems

Their pro audio speakers are pretty damn good (but $ pricey:redface:).
I helped install some in a church about 10 yrs. ago (we flew em), and they are pretty impressive with the subs.
First church to ever have an Alice in Chains cd played in it (to test) I am sure.:biggrin:

gdb

mhardy6647 wrote: »

Youse guyses do all know the importance of the Bose 901 in the genesis of Polk Audio as we (well, some of us old guys) know and love it, yes?

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19965

Hey, since you were around in that period, do you happen to remember a fellow named Bill Porter? He was on/around campus back then and also worked the sound for John Water's film: Pink Flamingos in Baltimore. Anyway he is my neighbor and also, a damned nice guy.

mhardy6647

Doesn't ring a bell - but it was the Seventies... and Recreational Pharmacology was a more-or-less required course in those heady times...

gdb

Heady, yeah, that's a good way of puttin it!:biggrin: