Bose!

[daveymark]

I picked these up on clearance at Best Buy for $139

Text

My current setup:
Polk R50's (front)
Polk R15's (rears)
Polk CSR (center)
Dayton sub 12" (the old downfiring one)

I know that Bose is overpriced, but now that price has been negated, how would it compare to my current setup?

I'll probably end up just selling them, I was just curious how they compare

 

[Nohr]

I'd expect them to sound quite a bit worse than your current setup. I think I'd be curious enough to hook them up just to see how they sound though. $139 actually makes them worthwhile.

 

[biggestmuff]

Sell them for $ and pocket the cash.

 

[Rio Rebel]

If you like gaping holes in the audio spectrum, you got a great deal.

It's not just that Bose is overpriced, it's that they simply don't deliver. Check out this link (you can find it in Yoyo's thread):

Why Bose falls short

A floor of 46hz means you are losing quite a bit of low end (they don't even call it a subwoofer, they call it a "bass module"). And losing a big hole between 200 and 280hz means there is some serious midrange you won't be experiencing because the low end of those 2" cubes and the high end of the "bass module" doesn't overlap.

"Better sound through research" is supposed to convince you that they've defied the laws of physics, I guess.

 

[manimal]

Dude sell those to a old guy pronto! They have terrible hearing anyways...

You could also rent a white van, drive around town and try to sell it unsuspecting people for 900 with a printout from amazon.com showing original sale price...

 

[olds]

I have some old 401s that I am surprised I never blew up. I've had more problems with my Def Tech BP2006s.
I ran the Bose with a Sony 900ES and an MTX 10", 100 watt sub.

 

[daveymark]

thanks guys, didn't realize they were that inferior. off to ebay they go to some poor sap

 

[WaTaGuMp]

Originally posted by: daveymark
thanks guys, didn't realize they were that inferior. off to ebay they go to some poor sap

Here lies the problem, the people buying them also have zero clue how bad they are. I know someone who bought a lifestyle system that sells for 4k, even after giving him info on what I could get him for half the cost and sound better he wouldnt buy it.

 

[kalrith]

To add to what Rio Rebel said, your R50 should be quite capable down to 70 Hz. I have mine set to 80 Hz at my receiver with my sub set to 90 Hz. With the R50 going down to 80 and the sub going up to 90, there is some decent overlap there. That will allow the bass of the sub to blend in with that of the speakers which provides a much better audio experience.

 

[sdifox]

Originally posted by: oldsmoboat
I have some old 401s that I am surprised I never blew up. I've had more problems with my Def Tech BP2006s.
I ran the Bose with a Sony 900ES and an MTX 10", 100 watt sub.

Def Techs have gone down quite a bit since they moved production to China.

 

[Pacfanweb]

Originally posted by: sdifox

Originally posted by: oldsmoboat
I have some old 401s that I am surprised I never blew up. I've had more problems with my Def Tech BP2006s.
I ran the Bose with a Sony 900ES and an MTX 10", 100 watt sub.

Def Techs have gone down quite a bit since they moved production to China.

Hmmm...hadn't heard that. I'm disappointed. Love my BP2002's. Never given a minute's trouble. I've had them since about 1998.

 

[Googer]

Originally posted by: Rio Rebel
If you like gaping holes in the audio spectrum, you got a great deal.

It's not just that Bose is overpriced, it's that they simply don't deliver. Check out this link (you can find it in Yoyo's thread):

Why Bose falls short

A floor of 46hz means you are losing quite a bit of low end (they don't even call it a subwoofer, they call it a "bass module"). And losing a big hole between 200 and 280hz means there is some serious midrange you won't be experiencing because the low end of those 2" cubes and the high end of the "bass module" doesn't overlap.

"Better sound through research" is supposed to convince you that they've defied the laws of physics, I guess.

For that price, those BOSE certainly make better computer speakers than any high end logitech setup. Logitech=Gaping holes in audio spectrum.

 

[russki]

You could have had a logitech z5500 for a little more than that... bose is shit

 

[ultimatebob]

Honestly, $139 isn't bad for that system. You should be able to resell it for more on eBay!

 

[Dman877]

You'd be better off with this.

 

[Captante]

$139 is about what that system is worth, however I bet you can gat a lot more then that on E-Bay.

 

[Troll4Hire]

Originally posted by: russki
You could have had a logitech z5500 for a little more than that... bose is shit

I had a set of those Logitechs and they were shit. Large holes in the audio spectrum left out large portions of a symphony orchestra that I knew were there but could not hear. However, though not perfect my BOSE wave radio did a much better job than the over priced logtech's with the fake subwoofer. Yes, I know Bose isn't the best and the $3,000+ they ask for a set of their speakers, one could do much better by getting an AXIOM speaker setup instead. For what he paid <$200 that's right on target and way better than most Home Theater in a BOX setups that cost 3x that. Z5500's are a crappier version of BOSE but with out the big marketing campaigns.

 

[Troll4Hire]

Originally posted by: Dman877
You'd be better off with this.

Excessively bright speakers that leave things out do not mean better speakers. Though some would argue yes..

 

[alcoholbob]

Interesting, they only put tweeters for the front channels. Looks like they were at least designing for utility in mind (squeeze some performance in for stereo music).

Of course, since its a Creative product its a useless waste since their soundcards all do resampling all of their output to 48KHz (instead of oversampling, or having multiple sample rates). Nothing like adding aliasing jaggies to your source waveform.

 

[BassBomb]

How would one check their own audio performance? Like c hecking for holes in spectrum

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Room Eq Wizard is a free tool you can use provided you have some equipment to actually do the measurements.

http://www.hometheatershack.com/roomeq/

I used it to optimize my subwoofer placement and the limited control I have over equalization of my subs. Eventually when I have more control over my room I'll invest in some better equipment and optimize it further.

 

[ultimatebob]

Originally posted by: BassBomb
How would one check their own audio performance? Like c hecking for holes in spectrum

My new Yamaha amplifier does that as part of it's auto calibration. I found that the older AR speakers that I'm using as rear channels have some small holes in the spectrum, but my new Epos speakers are practically flat in comparison.