[amrogers3]

I bought a Bose system a couple years ago. What do you guys think about the Bose systems? I hear a lot of people say that they are not worth the money and you can buy better audio equipment with the money you would spend on Bose.


Aside from the lack of HDMI inputs, what are issues with the Bose systems? The speakers are low profile and the sound quality seems to be very good. My biggest gripe is the lack of HDMI inputs. Anyway, just trying to see what you audiophiles have to say.

 

[crazyrob425]

You will struggle to find any favorable opinions of Bose products here

 

[Brad Horstkotte]

Which particular system? Some are considered poor due to quality of materials, low speaker sensitivity, and gaping holes in frequency response. Others are decent, but overpriced compared to other alternatives.

 

[Manamb]

You're in for a ride, enjoy!

 

[Archaea]

Bose is kinda like Monster Cable


Both companies make good products at absurd prices that rely more on marketing prowness than technical merit.


Their wave radio for $500 is a good example. Yeah it sounds good for it's form factor, in fact you'll probably not find anything better in that form factor ---- but for $500 --- no way. They don't even put on common sense extras like a subwoofer LFE output on the WAV radio. For $100 perhaps the wave radio would be a good deal, but for $500 it's laughable. For $500 assuming you don't want that small form factor you could put together a modest 5.1 soundsystem and receiver that will clearly sound and preform better in every regard.

 

[porsche951]

Bose systems have no issues. They are the finest speakers ever made at any price. You can't get better than Bose... All audiophiles agree on this.

 

[Elihawk]

If we are talking about Bose Satellite systems, like the Acoustimas, 3,2,1 and or Lifestyle....if you enjoy gaps in the low, mid and high ranges of the freq response, then Bose are great! When Bose comes out with a real subwoofer and puts tweeters in their satellites, we can talk about quality.

 

[Joeworkstoohard]

Bose systems are decent starter setups, and are generally reliable. That said, they are easy to outgrow and lean to the expensive side.


The good news is, the calibration software seems to adapt well to other speakers, so, it is do-able.


Also, as an installer, I do like their slimline centre speaker for certain installs

 

[jonnythan]

Bose speaker systems are horribly, horribly designed. The little cube speakers each have a single 2.5" driver, and the "bass module" has a few 5" drivers. There's a reason virtually all good loudspeaker systems in the world use main speakers with at least a tweeter and a woofer plus a subwoofer with at least a 10" driver.


They point them all over the place to "fill the room with sound" or whatever, but you end up with a complete mess in terms of accuracy and clarity. It sounds good at first listen in a small room with the speakers close to your head and some echoey new age music playing, but if you put them in your living room and try to watch a movie you will be struggling to understand dialog, wondering why there's so much boomy midbass and no real bass thump, and why the system seems like it's struggling so much with big sounds like explosions.


For the price of any Bose system, you can construct a system that will absolutely blow it out of the water in every respect.

 

[lespurgeon]

They look nice - there I said something nice about Bose. Seriously, I have computer speakers with more natural response curves.

 

[tecnogadget]

The thing with Bose is the following :


I think they are really nice systems if you like a nice sounding experience with a great degree of spatial sound .


Bose system speakers are suited for people that want good sound without compromises with difficult setup and care about styling. You just buy your Bose 5.1ch system , put it in the living room and thats it , you are going to hear something pleasant.


But they have a LIMIT. Like said before , they are great sounding speakers inside the CONSUMER AUDIO niche.


They can't stack up with audiophiles brands and speakers.

An audiophile would not get ( speaking just in general) an all in one Bose system. An audiophile would make his own system with custom speakers , an audiophile CD transport or player , a good amplifier , pre-amplifier , etc.


And the thing concerning the EXPENSIVE price is true when you compare some Bose solutions with Audiophile Gear.


There are still some products like the Bose SoundDock Series , which i thing is terrific. I don't thing i've heard any other speaker that much small and at that price for an iPod that provides that exceptional sound experience (but not audiophile).


If you like Bose , keep buying Bose. If you are aiming to higher Audiophile sound , stick with other brands , solutions.

 

[jonnythan]

They're only "pleasant" with certain types of music that don't require accuracy.


They struggle horribly for HT. Much worse clarity than even typical TV speakers.

 

[amrogers3]



Quote:
Originally Posted by tecnogadget /forum/post/21003714


The thing with Bose is the following :


I think they are really nice systems if you like a nice sounding experience with a great degree of spatial sound .


Bose system speakers are suited for people that want good sound without compromises with difficult setup and care about styling. You just buy your Bose 5.1ch system , put it in the living room and thats it , you are going to hear something pleasant.


But they have a LIMIT. Like said before , they are great sounding speakers inside the CONSUMER AUDIO niche.


They can't stack up with audiophiles brands and speakers.

An audiophile would not get ( speaking just in general) an all in one Bose system. An audiophile would make his own system with custom speakers , an audiophile CD transport or player , a good amplifier , pre-amplifier , etc.


And the thing concerning the EXPENSIVE price is true when you compare some Bose solutions with Audiophile Gear.


There are still some products like the Bose SoundDock Series , which i thing is terrific. I don't thing i've heard any other speaker that much small and at that price for an iPod that provides that exceptional sound experience (but not audiophile).


If you like Bose , keep buying Bose. If you are aiming to higher Audiophile sound , stick with other brands , solutions.

I was attracted to the Bose because of the small footprint of the speakers. I didn't know much about audio at the time (still don't but trying to learn) and the Bose sounded good to me. However, if I were to do it over I would have purchased differently. Another problem is that there there are no audiophile shops in my city. Bestbuy was it for audio/video and still is here locally. I've been researching options but I'm not set on anything at the moment. You recommend any audiophile gear (fronts, center, and sub that has a small footprint for around $2000-$2500?


Preferences and usage would be movies, games, and music in that order.

 

[jonnythan]

At that price you have lots and lots of quality options. Ascend, Axiom, Infinity, Polk, Paradigm, Emotiva, Klipsch, B&W, and several others will have competitive systems in that price category. You really need to listen to things and see what you like. You could start with a couple of ID companies like Ascend and Axiom that offer good return/audition policies.

 

[pokekevin]



Quote:
Originally Posted by amrogers3 /forum/post/21003917


I was attracted to the Bose because of the small footprint of the speakers. I didn't know much about audio at the time (still don't but trying to learn) and the Bose sounded good to me. However, if I were to do it over I would have purchased differently. Another problem is that there there are no audiophile shops in my city. Bestbuy was it for audio/video and still is here locally. I've been researching options but I'm not set on anything at the moment. You recommend any audiophile gear (fronts, center, and sub that has a small footprint for around $2000-$2500?


Preferences and usage would be movies, games, and music in that order.

Hmmm if your gonna spend that much on audio might as well go for some nice bookshelf speakers or even floor standers. No point in spending that much for satellite speakers (my opinion not a fact!). Check the speaker section to see what they can recommend. Id say try Axiom out, they are an online only retailer and you get good value from them.

 

[gamingchairs]

I have a bose indoor sound system and it works really well

 

[tecnogadget]

For audiophile sound on the budget Boston Acoustics are really sweet speakers , Especially all they "reference" series , try to give them a nice listening test.

They are very lively , the shine on definition , great spatiality. A little aggressive (which i like) Especially all they "reference" series.


It depends on which kind of "sound" you find pleasant


If you can expend more money one way to go would be B&W.

 

[Elihawk]

The Bose systems sound as good as a lot of other small, satellite systems...cost more, but sound just as good. But physics is physics and drivers that are 3 inch or smaller CANNOT move much air, ie make sound and small drivers cannot produce sound across the freq spectrum. Again, that is just physics and not debatable...

 

[mtnbiker socal]

If the Bose system price point was $300-450 USD then I would say it is not bad. What they sell them for is crazy. My best friend loves and hates coming to my place for movies. He has a Bose system and he hates that i spent about the same amount on speakers as he did on the Bose system and the experience is completely different. If it is a slow paced drama his speakers work great but if there is a hint of action we to my place. Funny thing even my girlfriend says his speakers hurts her ears after a 2 hour movie.

 

[Brian Wells]

I've had a number of really nice audiophile systems over the years and currently use the less than loved on this forum, Bose V35 5.1. The reason is simple.


I got sick of only being able to enjoy a hand full of recordings.


For me the problem is that while high end systems make amazing recordings sound amazing, they make less than amazing recordings sound irritating.


On the other hand, I can play virtually anything through the Bose and enjoy it.


As for movies and bass output. As long as you know where the bass holes are in your room and don't try to use the Bose correction system to fill them ( they can take 25db or more to fill ), the output is pretty healthy. As for clarity of speech etc. Same thing. If you measure and correct the room for bass holes, the end result will be the system working so hard to fill them the clarity goes to poop.