What is the problem with BOSE?

[Southerncentralrain]

I have the bose lifestyle 50 and I am very impressed with its ability especially for the size of the speakers. It sounds great. I understand that people may like other systems better but what I don't understand is why everybody goes FREAKING NUTS when somebody mentions Bose. The "No highs, no lows...Must be Bose" line and tons of responses like Bose sucks.

My feelings are not hurt at all that people don't like Bose. I am just fascinated at the response that the subject of Bose gets every time it is mentioned.

I know that there may be better systems out there for less but why the hate? Just curious. Any insight would be great.

 

[Phuz]

Because the Bose hating crowd is very big one around here.. even those Bose has been around longer than most of the people who bad mouth them...

 

[Mutilator]

It's a lot like people bitching over car models. They can go out and buy a "better system" for less money. Just like they could go out and buy a $10,000 car, add $5000 in mods and beat that $25,000 car you just bought. Woopty doo. It's your money, it's your system. If you like it then that's all that matters.

 

[mpitts]

I have never been a Bose fan. They make nice accent speakers, but I would never use them as home theater speakers.

The truth is that they are EXTREMELY overpriced for what you get. You could build a MUCH nice system for less money. I have always thought that they sound OK, but I would never spend my money on them. But at least I have sat down and listened to them and developed my own opinion. I think a lot of people bash them just because they have heard from others that they suck.

Come to think of it, it's kind of like why people bash Macs.

 

[mpitts]

Originally posted by: Phuz
Because the Bose hating crowd is very big one around here.. even those Bose has been around longer than most of the people who bad mouth them...

The amount of time that a company has been around is not necessarily indicative of the quality of their products.

 

[kherman]

I personally think Bose are over-priced. When it comes to bang for your buck, Bose probably is the worst. They earned their reputation, not by word of mouth, but by sinking millions of dollars into advertising. Truth is, they wouldn't be able to build a reputation based on sound quality. If advertising did not xist, Bose would have disappeared a long time ago.

That said:

What sucks is that people that buy Bose, think they bought "the best" for their money. in reality, they wasted their money. People are very proud of their Bose speakers, but people who are audiophiles know how crappy they are. Even for a $400 set-up, you could get the equivilent for ... welll ... much less. I guess the hate is this. Why would someone spend hundred of dollars (maybe thousands) on an inferior product?

 

[BD2003]

Its because noone here likes to see people get ripped off, or other people getting ripped off. Buying most bose speakers IS a ripoff, because like someone else said before, you can get MUCH better sound for MUCH less price.

To each their own of course, but would you rather we didnt warn people before they spent $1000 on a system that can be clearly beaten by a system costing $300?

Bose gives the impression that they are the best speakers money can buy, and they apparently have won over the public with this nonsense.

 

[Maverick]

its pure physics in most cases...smaller cones have a lower frequency range. Bose makes up some advertising and marketing jargon about how their stuff is so advanced it can beat physics. The average consumer buys into it. Its just sad.

The fact is its overpriced...you can get better sound for the same money or the same sound for less money in most cases.

 

[Mani]

The kind of hatred people show for Bose here is pretty amazing.

I think most people will agree that you can do better for the money, but good god, some of these Bose bashers need to get out more.

 

[BD2003]

Originally posted by: Mani
The kind of hatred people show for Bose here is pretty amazing. I think most people will agree that you can do better for the money, but good god, some of these Bose bashers need to get out more.

Dont make the mistake that because people are vocal about bashing bose, that thats all they do, running around on message boards hating bose.

 

[Mr.IncrediblyBored]

3) I dislike the sound of BOSE's products.
2) BOSE's marketing has people jaded. I made the mistake of expressing my dislike of BOSE systems to my boss, who happens to have a BOSE system in his Maxima. He was genuinely upset that I insulted the system he likely paid $1000 for as an option when he purchased his car.
1) I believe the most common complaint is that you can buy an equivalant sounding system for less money.

 

[kherman]

Speakers come down to several things:

Size
Asthetics
Sound Quality.

I suppose if you are not interested in sound quality, Bose is the way to go because they do make some attractive speakers that come in a wide variety of sizes.
I don't (perosnnally) view asthetics as important. Most companies make a wide variety of sized speakers, so Size is kind of a mute point. Most companies also make speakers which are visually attractive.

With so many options out there for speakers, I can't understand why people buy Bose. There is such a diverse world when it comes to size and styling of speaker capinets, that soemthing can easily be found equal to that of Bose. The thing is you can spend less and get better sound quality by looking around while retaining the size/styling quality of Bose.

Don't believe me? Go look at some entry level Infinity speakers sometime (www.infinitysystems.com) I think that's the URL

 

[Digobick]

Originally posted by: kherman
so Size is kind of a mute point

Grr, a pet peeve of mine: "Mute" does not equal "Moot."

 

[nord1899]

Originally posted by: KnightBreed
2) BOSE's marketing has people jaded. I made the mistake of expressing my dislike of BOSE systems to my boss, who happens to have a BOSE system in his Maxima. He was genuinely upset that I insulted the system he likely paid $1000 for as an option when he purchased his car.

I have Bose in my Acura. And I actually think it sounds damn good. I have B&W Bookshelfs, Definitive Tech sub and HK electronics at home, which sounds even better.

I think Bose can sound very good in a closed and predictable environment, i.e. a car interior. The speakers in my car are front separates (tweater in the dash near the windshield, mids in the door by my feet) and a 6x9 in the rear reflecting off the rear window. The sound is quite good, good separation, large sweet spot, good power, etc...

But the home speakers, namely the cubes, are crap. Because they forget that there are 3 basic types of speakers, lows, mids and highs. Not so sure about the non-cube Bose, but most people tend to ignore those.

So when it comes to Bose, the cubes definitely blows, the rest are well bleh.

EDIT: My biggest complaint about Bose in the car, and this is true of not just Bose, is that its very hard or impossible to add aftermarket parts to the sound system. Bose uses powered speakers (amps in the speakers rather than in the headunit). This means I can't just swap out the headunit or the speakers and put in my own stuff, say like a CD/MP3 player or a dedicated subwoofer. The only way for me to do this is to completely remove all the Bose components, all of them. I'd rather not do that. Of course, if one of the speakers was to go, I would probably end up doing it. At least the headunit is a standard size, some cars out there use really funky headunit setups.

 

[Doggiedog]

When I was an audio newbie way back when, I was set on buying the Accoustimass 7 (spelling?) because they looked cool and the sound was supposedly good.

I went to an audio store and they played a bunch of music for me and asked me how I liked it. I said great! Then they did it again with another set and asked how it was. I said ehh. Then they said, you just listened to the Bose. Get the first pair which were Celestions. I was so torn because the Bose looked so cool but instead I went with sound quality and paid less than half for my speakers.

I let my ears do the deciding now. I couldn't care less about the name as long as the sound quality is the best I can get for the price.

But for car audio I was forced to buy Bose because that was the only option blah!

 

[ElFenix]

its because bose advertises itself like its acura when in reality its kia and you pay like its mercedes.

 

[amnesiac]

Originally posted by: Digobick

Originally posted by: kherman
so Size is kind of a mute point

Grr, a pet peeve of mine: "Mute" does not equal "Moot."

Interestingly enough, common vernacular has changed the meaning of the expression, to boot. "Moot point" originally meant "point open for debate" -- something that can be contested. Instead, it is used now in reference to an obsolete argument.
Useless facts.

Oh yeah, Bose is lame.
If they charged maybe 40% of what they normally do, I'd have no problems with that company. But the fact that they sucker consumers into spending hundreds or even thousands of dollars into what they think is "high end" demolishes any respect I have for them.

 

[Southerncentralrain]

I thought this might make for a good discussion.

I got my bose LS50 basically for free because of a shipping screw up a few times over (long story). They charge $3,700 for it. I have a relatively small living room and they work great in there. When I move into a new house in a few years if I find something else better and doesn't take up so much space, I will go with it. I always hear that there is better systems for much cheaper but I can never get anybody to give me a system that has everything the lifestyle 50 has that isn't huge. Any suggestions?

 

[kherman]

Originally posted by: Digobick

Originally posted by: kherman
so Size is kind of a mute point

Grr, a pet peeve of mine: "Mute" does not equal "Moot."

Hrmm, always that it was mute. A mute point seems like one not worth mentioning. silence = mute. Never realized it

 

[RaySun2Be]

The main thing that bugs me about Bose is all the freakin advertising and mail I get pushing their Bose Clock Radio. I went to one of their dog and pony shows when it first came out to see what it was like, and for a clock radio, it does have a very good sound. But I am NOT going to spend $500 on a clock radio. And they're still pushing it and I get tons of advos for it. Bah!

I don't know if they've changed, but the PA speakers used to take a LOT of power to drive them. And very pricy.

 

[BillGates]

Originally posted by: mpitts
I have never been a Bose fan. They make nice accent speakers, but I would never use them as home theater speakers.

The truth is that they are EXTREMELY overpriced for what you get. You could build a MUCH nice system for less money. I have always thought that they sound OK, but I would never spend my money on them. But at least I have sat down and listened to them and developed my own opinion. I think a lot of people bash them just because they have heard from others that they suck.

Come to think of it, it's kind of like why people bash Macs.

Macs, heh - good point. Harleys too. Overpriced crap that can be beat by much less expensive yet higher performing, higher reliability competitor products.

 

[MaxDSP]

Originally posted by: Southerncentralrain
I thought this might make for a good discussion.

I got my bose LS50 basically for free because of a shipping screw up a few times over (long story). They charge $3,700 for it. I have a relatively small living room and they work great in there. When I move into a new house in a few years if I find something else better and doesn't take up so much space, I will go with it. I always hear that there is better systems for much cheaper but I can never get anybody to give me a system that has everything the lifestyle 50 has that isn't huge. Any suggestions?

jeez man, thats a nasty ass link in your sig...bleh

 

[Demon-Xanth]

Basically it sounds like Bose is the Compaq of speakers. They're not bad per se, but they have a false sense of quality.

 

[MaxDSP]

Doesnt Bose also control the prices no matter who sells them? When I worked at Sears, my manager told me that if they were a $1000 at sears, theyd be $1000 at BB, CC, etc. If they went on sale at sears for $999.99, theyd be on sale everywhere else at $999.99

true or not?

 

[nord1899]

Depends on what you consider huge.

My system is 2 pairs of bookshelf speakers (12" H x 8" W x 10" D) on speaker stands so they are at the right level, a center speaker that rests on my 32" TV, and a subwoofer (14" H x 11" W x 17" D). I have a receiver and dvd player which are standard HT sizes. Fit very easily below the TV in a stand.

Is that too big? BTW, this all cost me significantly less than the Lifestyle 50 system. For that price, I can include the 32" Sony Wega (non-HDTV though) TV.

EDIT: Here are links to what I have.
B&W DM303 - Bookshelfs used for front and rear.
B&W LCR3 - Center channel speaker
Definitive Tech ProSub100TL - Scroll down the page for the model.