So whats the deal with Bose?

[Skiguy411]

Stopped in to a bose store the other day and listened to their little home theatre presentation and I thought they sounded pretty good.

Why do alot of people hate them?

 

[Platypus]

No highs, no lows, must be bose.

 

[Vegito]

i think it's the price.. they're fairly expensive..

 

[spidey07]

Mainly because they are WAY overpriced, use very cheap materials/components, have no highs and no lows (meaning no bass and no treble)

the 2000 dollar bose system doesn't really sound bad, it just has the fideltity of a 200 dollar boombox.

-edit- the home theater system you can get for 2000-3000 is pretty nice and really many leagues above a bose system.

 

[James3shin]

for the money you spend on bose you could get alot more somewhere else i.e. Sennheiser, Boston Acoustics...

 

[Skiguy411]

Yeah, I did notice that the system they were showing off was $3,500.....

 

[cronos]

because they're mighty expensive.

 

[Safeway]

Too expensive for the common man. To horrid for the rich. Custom picked for the same price is infinity better.

 

[Pliablemoose]

Any corporation that prices their crap that high, offers financing, and markets so heavily has no freaking soul.

 

[Trente]

Originally posted by: spidey07
Mainly because they are WAY overpriced

End of thread!

Their marketing is fantastic though - most people out there think BOSE makes the best speakers in the world... :roll:

 

[thraashman]

Alot of people say the "No highs no lows ....." thing, but that isn't true. I've actually noticed that Bose has almost only Highs. It's lows and mid ranges that Bose is without. It's not like Bose is the worst systems out there. I like to refer to Bose as the best of the worst. But as far as price goes you're not getting your money's worth usually. If you wanna find some good systems to go with you can usually find a thread here with alot of opinions. Personally I'm a big fan of Boston Acoustics and Paradigm.

 

[Platypus]

Originally posted by: thraashman
Alot of people say the "No highs no lows ....." thing, but that isn't true. I've actually noticed that Bose has almost only Highs. It's lows and mid ranges that Bose is without. It's not like Bose is the worst systems out there. I like to refer to Bose as the best of the worst. But as far as price goes you're not getting your money's worth usually. If you wanna find some good systems to go with you can usually find a thread here with alot of opinions. Personally I'm a big fan of Boston Acoustics and Paradigm.

Compare the highs and lows of an equally priced competitor back to back and say that again. I'm talking cymbal clarity, drum snap, that kind of high end clarity that bose lacks the ability to produce.

 

[spunkz]

my dad's bose system is great for classical music, but i've heard much better when it comes to everything else, especially for movies.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: forcesho
i think it's the price.. they're fairly expensive..

And the frequency response. Bose doesn't publish their numbers because they are so poor compared to all others in the same price range.

 

[Skiguy411]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: forcesho
i think it's the price.. they're fairly expensive..

And the frequency response. Bose doesn't publish their numbers because they are so poor compared to all others in the same price range.

Oh yes, I asked him how many watts the system was and he said they didnt rate them like that, so he had no numbers to give me.

 

[Skiguy411]

What is your opinion on JBL?

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: Skiguy411

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: forcesho
i think it's the price.. they're fairly expensive..

And the frequency response. Bose doesn't publish their numbers because they are so poor compared to all others in the same price range.

Oh yes, I asked him how many watts the system was and he said they didnt rate them like that, so he had no numbers to give me.

Ask the Bose Droid for frequency response and distortion levels and he will probably tell you the same thing.

 

[0roo0roo]

well u see, its hate when you say that a 2000 dollar bose system sounds like a 200 dollar boombox. ive never seen such a sweet deal for a boom box ever.

 

[bozack]

Originally posted by: Trente

Their marketing is fantastic though - most people out there think BOSE makes the best speakers in the world... :roll:

Their wave radio is pretty nice however gets slightly bested by the Cambridge soundworks offering for slightly less money (now alot of money though as CS is discounting them like $100)....

Some of their headphones are also nice (the blue ones?)....expensive though.

And the Sounddock for the Ipod, while very very expensive...sounds far better than any offering from any other manufacturer (Altec Lansing sounds like crap as well as the JBL).

If you visit AVS or any other HT forum most if not all will say that in order to accurately reproduce sound you need a speaker that has at least a 5 1/4" woofer...virtually all of them will take no speaker smaller than a bookshelf as a "serious" speaker and dismiss all sub/sat combos (pretty much what Bose has become known for with their acoustimass and lifestyle systems).

Many HT enthusiasts say that Tower speakers are the best sounding, personally I think large towers look like crap and since aesthetics come into everyone's decision no matter how much they like to deny it, I personally wouldn't consider towers...

Some say that there are lower priced offerings which offer better sound however I haven't really found any that were that much lower unless you are specifically comparing against the lifestyle systems which include the DVD head unit....the Klipsch, Mirage, Canton, Energy, Orbs, Keff Eggs and the like are all about as expensive as the respective Bose counterparts, virtually all have the same drawbacks in terms of sound frequency gaps since they are all sub/sat combos, the only difference is that they come from more audiophile names, supposedly the components are slightly better in terms of build, and they are much harder to find and demo wheras Bose is everywhere. The only "deal" compared to Bose I have found is the HSU ventriloquists sold at Comp USA however they are by no means "cheap" and are very picky with positional placement....I have yet to find anything that is the same size as bose which costs half as much and sounds three times as good which is often the claim of audiophiles...I think they are misleading with this one as what they are referring to are systems with bookshelf or larger speakers.

The only less expensive options generally come about in the forms of bookshelf of larger systems, but if you are like me and don't like large speakerboxes overpowering your room sitting on either floorstands or what not then this is not a consideration.

So to break it down...

Bose gets heat first and foremost because they are popular with the masses and many people who don't know anything about anything want to have them simply because they are bose and nothing more......

Because of the point above Bose is able to charge alot for their product and there are no discounts, enthusiasts HATE paying full price for that which is a mass market commodity instead they feel that since it is a volume seller there should be discounts a-plenty and the price should be less wheras the higher prices should be reserved for the specialty items that they prefer.

Also their design (the acoustimass models) in the opinion of audiophiles automatically makes them inferior because their woofers are too small to accurately reproduce sound and leave large frequency gaps which are made up for with the bass module, audiophiles don't approve of this solution and feel a speaker should be full range in and of itself without assistance from any seconday component..instead they feel the only addition should be a "subwoofer" for lower tonal response.

Supposedly they use inferior compoenents compared to other brands but personally I don't know how much weight I put in this, no one that I have seen has put together a picture breakdown of the construction...now I can see how some who like really large oak cabinet floor standing speakers which cost as much as the Bose cube setup would complain as with the oak cabinets the contruction is substantial vs the small plastic cubes for the same price...but these same people cannot fathom that someone might not like a large ass oak speaker cabinet bookending their television...these people are of the bigger is better mentality and nothing changes that thus small sattelite speakers to them are a novelty and a toy and nothing more.

reportedly there is a loss of dialogue quality from the acoustimass systems however I have demoed more than a few and have yet to notice especially when compared to similar systems.

and finally beacuse they use a proprietary design where all of the cubes have to be wired through the bass module...people would rather run their speakers through the reciever....

Bose does not post specs for their products and this pisses audiophiles off to no end....it is just one more slap in the face to the audiophile community as everyone knows they love specs and since Bose doesn't play ball it annoys them.

Word had it Bose engineered sound rooms in stores to make their speakers sound better than they ever possibly could in someone's house..they used specific songs only in their demos not allowing people to play their choice of music, had the systems configured through certain recievers and amps which made them sound better and the soundproofing was of a certain way that it enhanced the performance, also it is said that Bose didn't allow resellers to do blind tests with their equipment and or head to head compairsons...the Bose systems had to be set up away from other speakers....every store I have visited that has had a bose display has always allowed for head to head comparisons and had the speakers alongside other systems.

Personally I like the Bose look and wish they didn't come under fire as much as they do because since they are made in my home state of Massachusetts I would love to buy some for myself and support the local economy, but I cannot in good conscious buy something which is that ridiculed and comes under that much scrutiny...they have gotten a little better especially since you can now add a sub to their systems in addition to the bass module but still true audiophiles will never accept a sub/sat combo and most certainly won't like a mass market product...just look at Polk which went out of favor with the audio community once they started showing up in Circuit City and Best Buy...as soon as it goes mainstream and charges a decent amount it gets the bad rap...

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Originally posted by: Skiguy411
What is your opinion on JBL?

1000% better than Bose.

 

[JulesMaximus]

This is the kind of information you should be able to get on any speaker you are considering:

FREQUENCY RESPONSE:
37Hz-20kHz±3dB

SENSITIVITY:
98dB @ 1watt/1meter

POWER HANDLING:
150 watts maximum continuous (600 watts peak)

NOMINAL IMPEDANCE:
8 ohms

ENCLOSURE TYPE:
Bass reflex via rear-mounted port

DRIVE COMPONENTS:
Two-way sytem using one 1" (2.54cm) magnetically shielded, titanium dome compression driver tweeter with a 6" (15.24cm) square 90° x 60° Tractrix® Horn and two 8" (20.32cm) magnetically shielded, aluminum cone woofers

TWEETER:
K-105-K 1" (2.54cm) Titanium dome compression driver

HIGH FREQUENCY HORN:
6" square 90°x60° Tractrix® Horn

HF CROSSOVER:
1975Hz

WOOFER:
Two K-1083-SB 8" (20.32cm) Cerametallic® cone / cast polymer frame

DIMENSIONS:
38.5" (97.8cm) x 9" (22.9cm) x 16.2" (41cm)

WEIGHT:
56 lbs. (25.5kg)

ENCLOSURE MATERIAL:
Medium density fiberboard construction (MDF)

FINISHES:
Black ash vinyl veneer

 

[aircooled]

Originally posted by: Skiguy411
What is your opinion on JBL?

JBL is great

 

[bozack]

Originally posted by: Skiguy411
What is your opinion on JBL?

some of their stuff is OK but most of their consumer grade stuff as found at BB or CC sucks...

can't really compare to Bose as on the whole they don't offer anything as small and the offering they do have sucks about as badly as all small speakers do to audiophiles...the only good about JBL is a low price.

 

[SuRgEoN]

I love Bose. I have an awesome Bose sound system in my car. I do agree though, prices are a little high, but I've received nothing but great quality, so no complaints here.

 

[bozack]

Originally posted by: thraashman
Alot of people say the "No highs no lows ....." thing, but that isn't true. I've actually noticed that Bose has almost only Highs. It's lows and mid ranges that Bose is without. It's not like Bose is the worst systems out there. I like to refer to Bose as the best of the worst. But as far as price goes you're not getting your money's worth usually. If you wanna find some good systems to go with you can usually find a thread here with alot of opinions. Personally I'm a big fan of Boston Acoustics and Paradigm.

My buddy who used to do prof ht installs (systems oftentimes upwards of a few million) would always say "Bose, all highs no lows" which IMHO is more accurate than the net version of no highs no lows....I think it is a case of "rumors" where someone heard it, mixed it up and then passed it on....problem with the net is that too many sheep can hear something and then pass the info on as their own without any first hand experience.

BA is good, I am not a fan of Paradigm but the problem with both is good luck getting a demo, especially now that Tweeter stopped showcasing BA.