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Bose speakers
This thread has 14 replies. Displaying all posts.
Post 1 made on Thursday December 2, 1999 at 11:36
George
Historic Forum Post
Why are there so many people that say Bose sucks? I don't know very much about speakers, but when I visit the local store and listen to all types of speakers, the Bose are just as good, if not better, than some of the other ones for approx. the same price. (and take up 1/10 the space of other speakers) I am thinking about getting the AM15 Bose. Anyone have this already? What are some of your thoughts on this... Thanks!
OP | Post 2 made on Thursday December 2, 1999 at 14:57
M
Historic Forum Post
Some people say Bose sucks because they are one of the highest selling speaker companies. High volume consumer business = SUCK. But there pricing can be a bit high for what you get.

They have such a broad range of speakers it is hard to say much definitive about them. Many of there small (cube) speakers are pretty poor at reproducing quality sound, but work fine for voice response of home automation. There is also the nagging problem that some speakers only work with their systems. However, they have some of the best small all weather outdoor speakers and their highest end speakers are not that bad either.

Still, my view is they are a bit high priced and do not compare to B&W and some other speaker manufacturers. The size and quality of the B&W Nautilius or 800 series is hard to beat.
OP | Post 3 made on Thursday December 2, 1999 at 16:39
Chester
Historic Forum Post
This has also always seemed to bug me. I've owned Bose speakers for 15 years. The little 301's I had in college still sound great - I would routinely have them outperform my neighbor's big floor towers! ...and I still use them to this day.

My home system is an acoustimass system with cubes in front, and the flat wide center channel box on top of the TV. I still use a separate powered subwoofer for LFE. My rear surrounds are some old JBL bookshelves.

I love the Bose because the sound is clean, rich, full, and the speakers are non-imposing.
I hate huge monoliths of speakers. I sure the big boxes sound great, but I'd rather have more room in my modest home theater.

My guess as to why Bose are so disliked is that they promote themselves as audiophile, when they are more "audiophile lite". They are certainly better quality than the usual boxes you see at BestBuy or Circuit City (IMHO), but the temptation is to also lump them in with the _really_ nice, "true" audiophile speakers. It's a whole new ballgame then.

It's kind of like the owner of a nice Buick being snobby about his car. He might be justified when comparing his ride to a Hyundai, but the guy with the Benz S-class is going to dismiss the Buick because it isn't a _real_ luxury car.

Will I stay with Bose forever? Probably not; but until I have enough money to be able to afford a system that really blows me away, my Acoustimass keeps me happy.

The bottom line: Listen to everything you can, and buy what you like best. You're the one who has to listen to them everyday.
OP | Post 4 made on Thursday December 2, 1999 at 17:42
Jose
Historic Forum Post
No more threads about Bose speakers! If you like them fine if you dont lie them great.

please visit: [Link: msu.edu]

then got to home theater speakers.


If you own Bose, then hold your nose and test your ears as well.
For when you get your hearing back
you ll know they re not too swell.
You ve got 12 bucks of paper cones
and a flismy cardboard box --
not enough to be bare bones,
much less to say It rocks!
No top, no bass, just muddy noise
and cabinet resonance too.
It s clear now that the K-Mart boys
gave you a royal screw.
Why buy Paradigm or Energy, B&W or NHT
when you can shell out twice as much
for Taiwan quality?
But be indignant; tell yourself
you don t really think it sucks.
(what else can you do after flushing 600 bucks?)
You know as much as all us snobs
who put your purchase down.
Cuz now you is an awdeohfyle
with direct reflecting sound!

OP | Post 5 made on Friday December 3, 1999 at 21:43
billy c
Historic Forum Post
,,,well, guys , i read all this stuff day in and day out...........i sell home theatre and hi-end daily, including amps , subs , dbs, dss , c/k band satellite etc , etc.....and let me say this , i just dont sell it , i own the company....i have access to most all major lines, cause the 'hi-end boys' just dont move the volume they once did,and those mfg's will basically sell to any dealer/home thtre company/installer...... and i have learned over the years not to knock another vendor's brands or products...in any event, Bose IS A GOOD product....i sell very few of them because
they wont sell me the entire product line, they're after the mass-marketers......i think they sound fine.....and their higher end stuff
in the AM series, and the LIFESTYLE series is better than adequate , and in many cases better than most out there.....it's all a matter of personal taste.......member'....Bose is the #1
speaker company in the world....and Jamo, i believe , is ranked #2.....and i do sell lots more jamo , than bose.....oh well........in any event, let me know any responses .....anybody need any product??????.....thanx all
billy c
northeast satcomm
performance a/v
everett ma
617 394-9192
OP | Post 6 made on Saturday December 4, 1999 at 20:58
Timothy J.
Historic Forum Post
Last month i purchased a new Acura RL with the Bose premium speakers package, i didnt particularly dislike bose speakers before i bought the car. But by the end of the week i had the car back at the dealership asking for them to take out the speakers and give me the less expensive package. For the amount of money i paid to put them in. The midrange was veryyy one notey. And i could barley hear any bass. Bottom line, i will never buy bose again. Even if they are supposively #1 by billy c's standards. maybe number 1 in sales. not in sound.

ps
very funny poem jose!
OP | Post 7 made on Sunday December 5, 1999 at 20:00
John Chao
Historic Forum Post
To all:
I also am a high end retailer, carrying the full lines of B&W, NHT, Krell, B&K, Lexicon, Martin Logan etc.. Granted that there's no possible way that a Bose Lifestyle system can match up against a Nautilus 801, Full Power Balance 600C, and Sony SACD player combo, I dare have any of you find a system that sounds pretty damn good and that you can fit everything in a nice TINY package!! Yes, we here love the big things that kick ass.. but there are many people out there that would luv friendly, easy to maintain equipment that doesn't take up the entire family room and costs $1000's in electricity bills!!!! For the person that would like ease of use and has space limitations, you can't find another company out there that has speakers of that size and it's performance.
I personally have a lifestyle 30 system in my bedroom mounted on the walls to integrate with my 50" Pioneer PD505HD plasma set. A nice theater that weighs less than 150lbs (including the TV!!)

John
OP | Post 8 made on Tuesday December 7, 1999 at 11:06
Gary
Historic Forum Post
Hmmmmmm.... Small speakers that sound great ?????

Try either the Energy take five or the Energy encore system both that have real subwoofers. Unlike Bose. By the way John Chao they sell them at Brandsmart USA in miami for a lot less than you would find a matching Bose System At Sound Advice. !!!
OP | Post 9 made on Wednesday December 8, 1999 at 11:02
Harlon
Historic Forum Post
When I was researching speakers I looked at the specifications (frequency ranges) for each speaker. I discovered at the time (last April) that Bose does not publish their specifications. At first I thought that I might be wrong but a dealer on audioreview.com confirmed this. This still did not stop me from considering their speakers but when I compared them to others in a live environment there were some distinct differences.

There are a LOT of fine speaker systems out there. I settled for Polks 7300 because I wanted quality speakers but didn't have the room for the large ones. There are others that are just as good depending on your wants and needs. But any manufacture not willing to publish their specifications so you can compare them to other manufacturers in my opinion should be suspect.
OP | Post 10 made on Wednesday December 8, 1999 at 14:55
John Chao
Historic Forum Post
Gary,
1st of all, Bose speakers have a unilateral pricing policy. You can go to any authorized retailer and find them at the same price. 2nd of all, the Energy system is a good system, Energy makes some fine speakers. As a matter of fact, I have the Veritas. What the Energy's can't do is what the Bose excels at. The speakers are more than 3x's smaller, comes in white which makes them virtually transparent, and has a main unit that has a CD, tuner, and Dolby Digital processor built right in. Plus, the remote has only 15 buttons on it! Try doing that with any of your receivers. The Bose system is not for people who read Home Theater mags or write in forums about what speakers and stuff to get. They are usually people who have money and want something quick, EASY, and out of the way. They don't want anything complicated and huge! I have a very huge system in my main theater, but i have a Bose Lifestyle 30 Series II in my bedroom. A perfect solution without going to a separate receiver and cd player.
Harlon, the reason why they don't post specs is because someone who is really interested in a Bose system is not worried about specs. There are a lot of different things out there that don't post specs. When you look at a Bang and Olufsen piece, is the 1st thing on your mind is the specs??? How bout a work of art?? Or the new Beetle when it 1st came out???

John
OP | Post 11 made on Wednesday December 8, 1999 at 15:34
Harlon
Historic Forum Post
Gary

I agree that most people buy the Bose for the name and not for the specifications. But anyone who is SERIOUSLY looking, reading, and studying what product to buy must be able to compare apples to apples to make an informed choice. Else why do they spend their time in forums like these?

Crutchfield catalogue publishes all their different speaker specifications side by side and let you choose. The only speakers that they sell and NOT listed are Bose. How can you tell if Bose measures up to the others when you can't even compare them to the rest. I'm not saying the Bose sound bad or don't buy the Bose. Just be informed and set the criteria you feel are important to you.

By the way, an out of tune Stradivarius still sounds bad no matter how nice it may look. :>)
OP | Post 12 made on Friday December 17, 1999 at 09:57
Rovert
Historic Forum Post
Evaluating a speaker setup is one of the most difficult tasks in purchasing audio. Firstly, speakers are typically the weakest link in the audio chain. Room acoustics, positioning, furnishings, and other such factors can significantly affect the experience. Also, much of what we hear is subjective - one person's "bright and clean" is another person's "harsh and cold". Couple that with the added variable of commenting on a product's performance vs. it's price, and you're bound to get opinions all over the map.

If you're asking for my opinion, with all due respect to the BOSE afficianodos in the forum here, in my opinion, they're mediocre at best. Their product line creates lots of VOLUME because they're highly efficient, and that's what most people mistake for quality, when listening in a store. But the 'outside' of the range is weak. Even their construction materials are woefully inadequate - PAPER cones on the satellites? You gotta be KIDDING!!! In terms of dynamic range, and finesse, you can do MUCH better elsewhere. What most people hear when they're evaluating BOSE speakers is the echo in their head of the advertisements they've read.

That said, as you become more discerning while listening to various products, you need to listen for finesse. It's a difficult quality to describe, but go to a reseller that vends different brands, and audition them under the SAME conditions, in circumstances similar to your home, without any distractions from pedestrians milling about, turning the volume knobs all the way up on the other receivers and remark "WOW! Look how LOUD it plays!". Listen to a "high-end" set or two, then listen to the BOSE. I think you'll hear what I'm talking about. Dollar for dollar, you can do MUCH better.

The real challenge in finding the 'sweet spot' in audio value is this:

You can always get better by spending more; but can you get the same, or better by spending less?

Cheers!
OP | Post 13 made on Thursday December 23, 1999 at 16:08
GarryW
Historic Forum Post
George:

I have the AM15 system teamed up with a Denon 2700 DD reciever and after calibrating with AVIA and a Radio Shack SPL meter, the system is very impressive. For HT DVD's it is great, for music it's good.
OP | Post 14 made on Tuesday December 28, 1999 at 16:32
jay
Historic Forum Post
I have to say that I have the AM6 and it sounds excellent in my condo. The only major issue I had with the system is it didn't produce enough bass. I remeded that by adding the Polk PSW120 and I would put my system up against any other in its price range. If you have limited space and don't want to blow your life savings on a speaker/stereo system I recommend the Bose AM systems highly. I have compared these to Infinity and Polk Audio and with your eyes closed there is absolutly no difference execpt for lack of bass. However, people are naturally going to favor the system that is in their own house. My advice, don't listen to anyone (especially Circuit City sales reps)! Go and listen to the systems for yourself and decide.

Sincerly,
Bose listener
OP | Post 15 made on Tuesday December 28, 1999 at 16:57
Benjamin
Historic Forum Post
I have just bought the Jamo Home Theater Package (Omega3 and sub.) and let me tell you these speakers rock. I wanted to buy the Bose because I love the sound quality and how compact the speakers are but the only thing that prevented me from buying them was the bass output. NONE. Then I listened to the Jamo's and loved them to death. The quality is the same if not better and the sub really kicks. I listen to all types of music so I had to have a system that could handle the diverse sound quality. Well the Jamos did it (DVD movies are awesome to.) They may be a little bit more that the Bose but it is worth it. (to me at least.)


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