Bose bashing.

People seem to think they use clever marketing to sell otherwise ordinary products at the inflated price of a high end product.

Ditto, plus the inexpensive paper cone drivers they use just don't cut it for me. The only pair of Bose speakers that I thought that were remotely good where a pair of 901's being played loud at a party with everyone too drunk to notice they sounded bad.
Now there small units like there wave radio and some of there headphones are ok.

If you enjoy the rich sound of Bose speaker systems, by all means invest in the sound. For the money you can do so much better.

They're just not very good speakers? I've heard a few varying Bose products including the Quiet Comfort headphones, 3-2-1 "Surround", and my mother's Wave Radio/CD player that she absolutely loves. They all have the same characteristics: Over accentuated bass, drowned out mid-range, and lack of any detail in the high-end. They are clear and they are warm, I'll give you that.

I think most people love Bose because they're not accustomed to hearing good sound anywhere. They're used to their PoS stock car stereo system, their TV's built-in speakers, and their iPod earbuds. Most people think that sounds good enough and know nothing about the wide world of hi-fi audio and the phenomenal aural experiences to be found therein. Then all of a sudden someone hears a speaker or headphone that's relatively clear and has some good sounding bass and they think it's the greatest thing ever (bass being what it would appear the majority of people notice first and above any other area of the audio spectrum).

Bose has done a pretty fantastic job marketing themselves to that group. They're the only company your average person knows of that produces "high-end" audio equipment and, as such, over the years have built a name for themselves in the public consciousness as a producer of high quality gear.

However at the end of the day the signal is still all bass, it still has almost no midrange, and it still has a muddy high-end. They're just not good products for the price you pay. What they are is a step above the terrible speakers most people are accustomed to.

That being said if you like your Bose equipment why do you care what other people think? Enjoy what you have if you like it. Though I'd wager if you spend some time listening to real hi-fi equipment you'd quickly find yourself agreeing with the masses around here.

O and for the record all of my complaints against Bose can be leveraged against Beats by Dr. Dre as well. The exception being those have NO mid-range or high-end and are all muddy bass.

basically what everyone else said

My first experience of what "good sound" was when I broke a pair of Bose Triport headphones (total POS by the way) and I went to a mom & pop shop and listened to and bought a pair of Grado SR-80 headphones. From then on, the rest was history and now I've got some crazy headphones and much better home theater setup.

Funny thing was the Bose headphones were $150 and the Grado headphones were $95...cheaper and 1000x better in sound quality.

Meh, it really depends what you're looking for, as Bose was smart enough to go after overlooked markets, 3 great examples being the Wave Radio, Acoustic Wave radio and their cube speakers. We own a lake house and it would be too cumbersome to setup some outdoor speakers and run in and out to change music, letalone 'move the party' down the sand come night time, and I know of no other portable system that can produce sound at those volumes regardless of price (We have an outlet that sells them for almost 45% off, not to mention eBay/Craigslist). The Wave Radio was another great example of providing "good enough" sound that can be moved to any room in the house, and throws out good volume for such a small unit. Lastly, I may be wrong but wasn't Bose one of the first to launch cube-style speakers i.e. "big sound from a small package"? Yes, they are drastically overpriced now that the market has caught up, but for awhile they were the only game in town for that category, not to mention are unobtrusive in any room layout.

Cheap materials, high prices = horrible value.

If you read the posts, you know why there is "hate". So, why start another thread to let the Bose hating lemmings loose? IMHO, it's a waste of time and bandwidth to rehash what has been posted ad nauseum.

Oh... and welcome to the forum!

They charge $999-$1600 for sets of speakers that shouldn't cost more than $300-$500, if that.

The really bad thing is their marketing tricks people into thinking they are buying some premium, high end product. In reality the entry level stuff from most audio companies can give you similar or better performance for 1/4-1/3 the price.

I am not sure how something with 1 inch paper midrange drivers and 2 paper 5.25" subwoofer drivers can sound good and be considered good value to anyone that is an audio fan.

Bose has their demographic and they do well. However, their stuff is a joke to anyone that has any experience with audio.

They're fine if you just want to show off what you can buy and just want a HTIB. For the money you pay for them, you can get a much nicer system that can be put together. The generic NDSS speakers in my old car sounded much better than the Bose in my current car.

These two ads are great examples of why I hate Bose.
http://www.intellexual.net/bose.html
http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/s...-budget-towers

The top of the line Bose lifestyle system is ~$3500, and worse in terms of sound quality than the $300 Energy Take 5.1.

The $500-$1000 Bose systems get bested by some $50-$100 2.1 computer setups.

So as far as I'm concerned they charge 10x the cost for an inferior product.

What more do you need to know?

I used to have Bose 901's with a Bose power amp. I thought they really sounded good. Then I bought some Axiom Audio speakers, and they sound much better and more clearer, IMO. They also have more dynamic range than the upper end Bose speakers have.

I wouldn't compare anything with this B&W blimp. It looks much more like some sort of toy. There's also little that's hifi with the MP3 format.

The last good Bose speaker...

601 series III

It was ahead of its time, problem was, Amar decided it was time to rest on his laurels.

If a "new" 601 came out with a titanium/silk/ribbon tweeter...even if it kept the paper woofer material...

Bose would have my respect.

But when, even this...has a better tweeter...
http://www.amazon.com/Sony-SS-B1000-...9282227&sr=1-1

Please don't ask why Blose gets bashed.

"Blose" is on purpose.

The posts referencing this link is now up to 206 since 2003.

Bose doesn't even have volume control on their base. My friend washed his remote and couldn't control anything anymore.

You think for just under a grand, a remote would not be your only means of control

Back in 2002, I was selling a Polk HTIB system on ebay and stated in the ad that I was selling because I was getting a Bose system. (truth was that I got it at work and had zero need for it).

I got more then a few concerned messages from people telling me to keep the Polks....lol

If nothing else...Bose bashing is fun and breaks up an otherwise boring day

Based on Bose profitability and customer base, (3rd in the US) the OP is obviously not alone .. they are what they are and many of the same arguments that attack Bose can be used against other manufacturers as well .. overpriced, etc ..

When Bose initially came out with the 901 series, way back in 1968, Amar Bose did not, and still does not to my knowledge, publish specs .. prefering instead to rely on the customer listening experience as judgement .. and that philosophy has worked ..

Bose has been on the cutting edge of many developments in the audio field over the years .. and I personally believe the company has contributed a great deal to our hobby ..

Although I do not currently own any Bose home products, I do have a Bose system in my Avalanche and find it quite satisfying .. as well, I use a Bose L1 Model II for small venue sound reinforcement and it is an exceptional product of it's kind ..

This post is not intended to be a fanboy rant .. at 65 I'm far from a fanboy of anything .. just an observation ..

Until you sell it, then it becomes a great value. Plenty of ill informed ready to dole out their hard earned cash for Bose equipment.

I would agree that the bose sound dock does sound better then the B&W... but that is not saying much

There's more than AM and Lifestyle systems...
Professional/commercial speakers (EG 801 and 802) have been used for decades for large venues.

Be that as it may. The majority of bashers have never seen or auditioned any x01 model speakers. IMO, just humping the "I'm cool train".

Its just marketing and lack of awareness. Take my Dad for example. He isn't "in" to gadgets like I am, therefore he usually just buys what he kind of knows or percieves is probably good.

Bose has been fairly prevelant in big box stores for a while and marketed as a premium brand compared to whatever else they are selling. Someone like my Dad sees the Acoustimass system for $2k or whatever it sells for, and assume it is a top of the line speakers system. He might know there are audiophiles out there buying expensive gear, but he figures this is probably just as good, since its a "known" brand like Bose and expensive. Out of big boxes, he might look at Crutchfield, but even they push Bose too.

I mean its the same thing with TVs. My Dad's old TV broke, so he went out and bought another Sony from Best Buy. Could he have done better for the money? Maybe, I didn't ask what he spent. Did he really break down the specs and compare some models? Probably not, he just saw a Sony LCD in the size he wanted and bought it. FWIW, he is happy with what he bought, so maybe it doesn't matter.

Me on the other hand researches the hell out of just about everything I buy, so when I considered buying speakers I found this world filled with brands I've never heard of.

That's the truth.

I had a friend that actually felt guilty about lying on craigslist about what he truly felt about the Bose system he was unloading.

I told him to write the following so he could keep a clear conscience:

"Can millions of happy customers be wrong?"

"What can one say when one hears such sounds....BOSE!!!!!"

***The second line I stole with adjustments from the movie "Amadeus".**

He used them and got a good price.

Many that bash don't really consider the history of Bose as well .. the company has provided sound for more than one Olympics as well as the Sistine Chapel .. sure, the pro line is separate from the home line, however, to dismiss Bose as a company without considering all aspects really does a disservice ..

If nothing else, Bose should be recognised as a long time leader and innovator in our hobby .. that should get them at least a degree of respect .. whether you like the product or not ..

Exactly, just like almost all high end stuff

But the real reason for the hate lies between that and the fact that Bose has simply been more successful in capturing huge market share in a market (multiple levels) that this usually isn't possible to do. And yes, on the highest price points, many other values would trump BOS in a heartbeat.

Let the neanderthals here continue to act like Don Quixote. I have better things to do .

I wouldn't necessarily word it that way. Bose is priced right at the level where normal people could barely afford it. THAT's the major problem. All the high-end stuff maybe just as gimmicky, ie. $10k speaker cables, but the people who buy those have more money than sense so who cares how they throw away their money? The problem with Bose is that they are stealing from people who can't afford to just throw their money around willy nilly.

Note: That's just my theory on the Bose bashing. I don't do much of that anymore. The most I'll do is advise against purchasing it. I know my system is better and that's all that matters. Then again, my subwoofer alone costs more than twice the Acoustimass 10 system. *shrug*