what does everyone think about Bose?

11tsteve

polkfarmboy wrote: »

Old thread but first time reading and cannot stop myself lol

Me and my wife went to target and we passed by the electronics section. I started messing with the head phone demo's and there was a bose system. My wife presses the button and a demo boots up blasting race cars and aeroplane's etc. She calls me over and she said it sounded great and she would have been happy with that instead of my system that I spent thousands on lol. There has to be something more to it that makes people want to listen

on another story I went to yellostone national park and every bar I went into had a bose music setup and it bugged me for some reason

i had the same experience... listening to their headphones, they tend to have boosted bass and accentuated highs to my ears. kinda what i call scooped, but on first listen clear and full... i think in the middle of the store it makes it sound appealing. i listened enough to buy a set of their Companion computer speakers, thinking they had great bass for the size and clear detailed sound.
funny enough, it was the combination of those speakers just wearing out my ears and a new motherboard which did not have an available slot for my HT Omega card which led to me exploring computer audio alternatives, DACS, and hauling my old RTA 11T's out of the basement, and, ultimately, here.

sooo... thanks Bose for leading my path back to Polk!

dudeinaroom

Buy
Other
Speakers
Elsewhere

Aqs612scag

They are decent but very low on value. I like the wave radio, it fills up the room nicely for casual listening.

polkfarmboy

dudeinaroom wrote: »

Buy
Other
Speakers
Elsewhere

I like that :cheesygrin:

argylesox

The Bose 201 and 301 sound quite ok sitting on a shelf at Best Buy next to the competition at that price point, however I experienced one of their Cine systems in a media room at a private home and started to get a headache from the sound after about 5 minutes. I didn?t get the impression it would serve very well for music listening.

11tsteve

argylesox wrote: »

The Bose 201 and 301 sound quite ok sitting on a shelf at Best Buy next to the competition at that price point, however I experienced one of their Cine systems in a media room at a private home and started to get a headache from the sound after about 5 minutes. I didn?t get the impression it would serve very well for music listening.

i bought 301's for my bedroom tv as they were cheap and available..... i don't do any serious movie watching but just can't stand tv speakers.... fine for that and never really noticed anything wrong.
after i refurbished my 11T's and got my current rig, i hooked them up out of curiosity, and was astounded at just how horrible they sound on a 2 channel system. i did not even last 5 minutes. my monitor 5jr's will be the new bedroom speakers when i am finished.

tophatjohnny

tonyb wrote: »

You guys felt the need to revive an 8 year old thread to give Bose another slap in the face ? C'mon man, must be other things to talk about dontcha think ?

It's all good Tony. Just saw the thread and remember a sales guy trying to tell my tribute band we needed a Bose system and our sound man at the time, said "no highs, no lows, .......must be a Bose..and it cracked me up. Keep it fun and try to be funny and hope you make lots of money!!!:razz:

mantis

I've said it many times and I'll say it again. Bose has a place in the market and people who own them love them. I never had a customer say "my Bose system sucks". Inever had one say it was so so , they all say "it's incredible" and many other things like that.

I for one don't own Bose other then in my Trucks. But I don't discredit them as they make millions of people happy. They are a perfect solution to many peoples needs and I honor that and will and always will Install Bose products. They are solid and don't fail. One thing I really love about them is I have had 0 failures with Bose over the last 13 years.
For most of us tweaky people , Bose has no place for us. But I wouldn't mind a Bose system for my Master Bedroom. I know my wife would love it and it's so easy to use.

Scottinwa

I thought it was absurd when a bassist for a local band was stunned by his am-5's. "They are sooo clear!" He was not a great bassist.

deronb1

Had a pair of 301s as a teenager and then a pair of 501s while in the Army. Did their job and quite frankly I didn't know any better. IMO now, they are grossly overpriced, but they spend a ton on advertising so you can't really blame them.

Scottinwa

Until hyper overpriced speakers came along in the 80's (like Wilson for example) I thought Bose produced more expensive speakers based on the least amount of (inexpensive) parts. The flagship 901's are likely punched out for $80 a pair tops. (That includes paying for lights, salary etc). And a 301 is basically two paper whizzer cones and a cheap woofer. When you break it down like that, Bose really is a far cry from fidelity. But they can be fun.

dudeinaroom

polkfarmboy wrote: »

I like that :cheesygrin:

I have a graphic I made of that somewhere on this forum as well as my myspace page(which I have no Idea if it is even still around.

CCNJ

I was in the Apple store the other day and they had a pretty good array of noise canceling headsets to try. I currently own a pair of pretty pricey sennheiser headsets for when I travel on overseas flights. I think the bose quiet confort 15 are far superior. They are expensive at 299 but I was so impressed at the comfort and sound quality that I am close to pulling the trigger. They may be overrted at some things but headsets is not one IMHO.

dudeinaroom

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?53494-We-are-all-going-to-die.&highlight=bose

specd_out

Sadly I work at one of those big (blue) box stores. I can tell you that those ridiculously loud bose demos that sound so good to people are heavily edited. Bose will not allow us to connect or play anything other then their software. All ports on the demos are locked out and only they have the access to change it. I have had numerous customers complain "It never sounds like this at home". Its a process to try to explain why this seemingly awesome sounding speaker set is not worth the $$$

straightshooter

WOW! I love this guy. So Bose has found a way to "Trick" people into thinking the sound their stuff creates is High End huh? You know, you can quote figures from an oscilloscope 'till the cows come home. The bottom line is that the way the human ear and brain interpret sound and therefore what sound/s are pleasing to it is something that is for the most part strictly subjective. In other words, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder". So, when you set up your system do you paste a label of the system's specifications where everyone listening can SEE them?

If Bose found a way to "Trick" folks into thinking their sound is "high end" then they have in fact manufactured items that are very pleasing sonically to the general public. How do you make a lot of money? By pleasing a lot of people. Quite simple isn't it? "Room Filling sound"? Why yes, it is room filling sound. I have 901s and a wave radio and have yet to hear a system that allows the listener to actually hear the "stereo effect" from virtually every part of the room. Isn't that what most people want from their stereos? Stereo sound? What a concept. Try to find a system that will allow you to enjoy stereo imaging from anywhere in the room for what a Bose system costs you. Is it the massive Bose advertising budget that pisses you guys off? Believe me I'm no fan of big business. In fact, I believe that contemporary greed may actually put an end to life as we know it in America and abroad. That's however another subject.

How do we know that by putting a giant price on a product isn't just another form of advertising? It's been proven many times that you can be much more successful at selling particular items when you actually raise the price by quite a bit. When you have a low price, folks often think, "Well, it's a cheaply made item, that's how they can sell it so cheap." So, you do absolutely nothing but raise the price and voila, you've just created a better made "High End" item.

Another way to "Trick" the public as you have put it, is to only allow your items to be sold in "High End" establishments". Just like the kind of stereo gear I'm willing to bet has you hooked. I bet you can only buy your stuff in specialty stores. Why? Because if you put your stuff next to more reasonably priced equipment for a direct apples to oranges comparison people often will simply not notice enough of a difference to warrant the gigantic price disparity.

My advice to anyone thinking of spending hard earned money on stereo equipment is the following. Don't, absolutely DO NOT give too much creedance to people writing in blogs like this. Use your own ears. If you think a system sounds fantastic, then it sounds fantastic to you and that my friend is all that matters. It doesn't sound fantastic because some Wall Street Advertising Company has "TRICKED" you into "Thinking" that it sounds fantastic. It sounds fantastic because a team of people have studied to great extremes what most people find to be very pleasing. It's really pretty simple. If you "Think" it sounds fantastic, it sounds fantastic. End of story. You certainly don't need me or anyone else to tell you what you should or should not like. Talk about the absolute height of arrogance and snobbery. Why to even consider that someone can "Trick" you into "Believing" you like something. I don't even know where to start with the arrogance it takes to make someone believe he knows better than you what you should like.

It's really hard to read isn't it? Geez I forgot to mention that only yuppies can be "Tricked" into thinking that Bose products sound good. I suppose the very best way to judge the nonsense from "Ladies and gentleman" is to look at his last line. It's always a good idea when attempting to make a logical case for your debate to compare the antagonist of said debate with the remnants of a bodily function. Is this how one would "Trick" us into thinking that Bose products "Stink". Phew, "ladies and gentleman" has provided quite the powerful argument. Don't go out and listen to several products side by side, just take his advice because anyone that can use powerful audio jargon like "really suck" and "drop a deuce" must really know his equipment.

By the way ladies and gentleman, my 901s actually do create "room filling sound". No matter where I am in the room, I hear stereo. Try that with other speakers in the same dollar range and you're more likely to have speakers that have the typical "sweet spot". I love spending hard earned money on a sound system that requires me to sit exactly in the middle of my speakers in order to get the intended sound.

You know, there's nothing quite like buying a product that turns out to bring you and all your friends many, many years of enjoyment and yes, even awe, just to find out that all these years you simply didn't understand that weren't enjoying the music after all. You were simply "tricked" into believing that you loved it. Wow this is rough. All these years believing that my Bose speakers were fantastic just to find that I haven't really enjoyed them after all. I feel so.........used.

gmorris wrote: »

I really don't have an opinion, good or bad, about Bose as a company. I have, however, heard the WaveRadio, various Acoustimass systems at HH Gregg, and some other Bose all-in-one speaker radio thing (looked like a wave raidio, only 5 times taller) and can say that those products really suck.

I've come to the conclusion that Bose uses a form of trickery to convince unknowing consumers into thinking the Bose sound is high end. In fact, the Bose sound is everything that is wrong with many home-theater-in-a-box systems. No bass, and an over emphasized mid & high frequency. Bose has tricked people into thinking that over emphasized mid & high frequencies are a good thing. That is why they say silly things like, "Room filling sound, pristine, clear, detailed...." and on & on.

As a company, I guess they are successful at selling crappy audio products to yuppies who think they are buying the best. Is that a devious way to do business? Perhaps. Are they making money? Sure are. Will I ever buy a Bose product? If my toilet ever ceases functioning and I need a place to drop a deuce.

halo71

A facepalm just wasn't enough....sorry.

BlueFox

straightshooter wrote: »

My advice to anyone thinking of spending hard earned money on stereo equipment is the following. Don't, absolutely DO NOT give too much creedance to people writing in blogs like this. Use your own ears.

Wow, somebody has a chip on their shoulder. Aside from this line, the rest is just trying to rationalize and justify his gear. No need to spend 30 minutes typing to justify your gear. Of course, just because you like something does not make others wrong.

11tsteve

i have had Bose home speakers, computer speakers, and headphones. none of them lasted in my line up for all that long. as good as any of it sounded in the store, once I listened for any length of time I had horrible problems with ear fatigue, regardles of what gear was running anything.
I guess my ears just don't have synergy with the Bose house sound.

gdb

I think that Bose speakers connected by Monster cables to Emotiva electronics is as good as you can possibly get in the reproduction of sound! Anything more, or less, is wrong. :razz:

seabeerob213

gdb wrote: »

I think that Bose speakers connected by Monster cables to Emotiva electronics is as good as you can possibly get in the reproduction of sound! Anything more, or less, is wrong. :razz:

only if you listen to the mp4's bought on itunes and set the ipod's eq to bass booster or loudness

halo71

gdb wrote: »

I think that Bose speakers connected by Monster cables to Emotiva electronics is as good as you can possibly get in the reproduction of sound! Anything more, or less, is wrong. :razz:

Let's not forget the coat hanger IC's now!

BlueFox

gdb wrote: »

I think that Bose speakers connected by Monster cables to Emotiva electronics is as good as you can possibly get in the reproduction of sound! Anything more, or less, is wrong. :razz:

Add any Coconut Audio power cable costing between $15k and $50k, and you have a system to rival the world's best.

gdb

Mikey081057

Hellen Keller rates them 2 thumbs up...

She also answered the iron!!:cheesygrin:

theshawn

First "audiophile" speakers I ever heard were 301's at a best friends house but this was 1982. At the time they sounded awesome, especially Dark Side of the Moon when "enhanced" by artificial means. lol

First speakers I ever purchased were Bose 4.2's in 1990. I liked them at the time and just sold them last year for $75 on CL.

My guess is if you compared older Bose to other speakers of the same era they wouldn't be shamed.

They may market a lot now days and be a bit over rated as a result, but some of their research and products have influenced the audio technologies we have today imo so....

Plus, Bose was the catalyst for my first venture into "audiophile" at all, so for that alone they deserve my respect.

specd_out

Not gonna quote that long **** post but your right trickery isnt the best word to be used. Trickery implies a slight of hand or flash in the pan. Manipulation is a better word.
I dont have to guess or need any technical instruments to prove what I know. I have heard Bose HTIB, and soundbars on and off the demos. I can tell you they absolutely do not sound like they do on the demo when connected to to ordinary equipment, playing ordinary media. The adjustments they make on the demos make them sound amazing.

Does the bose sound better then just about every other HTIB, yes it does. But the prices are way to high. Placing them in the price bracket entry to mid range component setups is too high. All I had to do was demo a Pioneer or Polk component setup that would price out around 1100-1400 for everything needed (at BB prices) and they never looked back at the bose.

Now the Bose component speakers that Best Buy sells is another story. Those things are pieces of crap. Everybody that came in for the 201 or 301 that was open to hearing other speakers that cost less, never left with the Bose. I dont know what they changed over the years but man it is one muddy sounding speaker.

ROHfan

straightshooter wrote: »

You know, there's nothing quite like buying a product that turns out to bring you and all your friends many, many years of enjoyment and yes, even awe, just to find out that all these years you simply didn't understand that weren't enjoying the music after all. You were simply "tricked" into believing that you loved it. Wow this is rough. All these years believing that my Bose speakers were fantastic just to find that I haven't really enjoyed them after all. I feel so.........used.

So, what speakers have you tried out to come to your conclusions on why Bose is top-rate? Your arguments would hold so much more water considering that the people on this forum HAVE listened to Bose speakers as well as MANY other myriad of brands and, as such, are JUSTIFIED in their lack of love for Bose if that is, in fact, their stance. I currently own vintage Polks but if vintage Bose were better I would own them, instead, and would post on the Bose forum. However, I HAVE auditioned many speakers and are quite comfortable stating that, for me, Bose is crap. There was a time when I thought it was high end, but that was a long time ago and I've learned much since then.\

[Deleted User]

Some of my best memories involved Bose products during the late 80s to early 90s. In a matter of fact, they are still working as it did from day one, decades ago.

If I were to open my company that produce mediocre products, Bose's marketing department would be ideal. It has proven itself over time. I also stand behind their noise canceling headphones as the best. Sound quality is a different story. But in a noisy environment, what kind of sound quality could you get if you can't hear the music?

Full disclosure: I had my whirl with Bose Speakers long ago. Today, I would not spend a penny on any of their speakers.

Halen

WLDock

Two Bose products caught my attention.


Acoustic Wave Cannon

One of these was installed in a very small dance club with low ceilings at Sandals Resort Mo' Bay, Jamaica back in '96. I mean there was no room on the floor or ceiling for large sub cabinets. This thing was tight in the upper bass and THUMPED the lows just right for this sized club. I thought it was a clever bass solution for this particular system. I have heard worst bass in some other small dance clubs than what this delivered in that room.



L1 Portable System

A band was using one of these on stage at the MGM Grand Casino in Detroit on a very busy weekend back in early 2000. I was a long way from the stage and the projection of this system was much better than the "house" system. This line array was cutting right though the noise of the casino. As I got closer the clarity of the voice and guitar out of this was much better and more natural sounding than the "house" system. The most impressive sound I heard on that stage during the two years I work there.