BOSE speakers

ElectronicaDub · Post by **ElectronicaDub** » Tue Apr 12, 2005 2:04 pm

Hello all.

What do people think about BOSE gear? I will be working for them for a short while. Is their wave guide technology something really special or just a gimmick?

Chris

Immanuel · Post by **Immanuel** » Tue Apr 12, 2005 2:12 pm

Bose has a really bad reputation among people who are better at using their ears than at reading commercials. They have some very "inspiring" concepts, but if you dig a bit into it, it is bassically about getting the most (and that is not a lot) out of crappy components. You could even argue, wether they actually do get the most out of the components. They seam to emphasize on aspect of sound - neglecting all others. Frequency qurves with peaks higher than mount everest (to say it in a more populistic way). Good luck.

Gordon Gekko · Post by **Gordon Gekko** » Tue Apr 12, 2005 3:08 pm

just heard about a headphone set that eliminates outside low frequencies like the sound of transport when travelling with a walkman... anyone?

CroNiX · Post by **CroNiX** » Tue Apr 12, 2005 6:23 pm

Sounds like a similar product that the air force uses to eliminate jet noise for the ground crew. It basically is a noise inverter that takes the outside noise, inverts it and plays the inverted sound back which effectively cancels the noise. Some car companies used the technology for a bit playing the inverted sound through the interior speakers for a "quiet" ride.

darkrezin · Post by **darkrezin** » Tue Apr 12, 2005 6:34 pm

IMHO they are just hyped gimmicks for the higher end consumer market. You have to be sceptical about hi-fi sold with ads from the back of the magazines you get with the sunday paper

Seriously tho I've never heard them, although a friend of mine who does PA and high-end hi-fi installations reckons they're a joke.

astroman · Post by **astroman** » Wed Apr 13, 2005 5:58 am

I've recently listened to one of their dsp based home theatre systems (1500 Euro) with the premission that I want sourround AND at least 'usable' hifi in one system.
Considering the size of the speakers it didn't perform that bad, but a sideroom in a supermarket isn't the best place for audio checks.
Anyway the main point was an auto adjustment ability to room characteristic (there's measurement CD and a mic in the pack) and optimum drive of the individual speakers.

Since I have horrible listening conditions (roof angles on both sides) I seriously have this among my candidates of choices - whatever the experts may say

What does all linearity help, if my ear isn't linear and the room response isn't linear as well.
I know there are fantastic handmade Danish speaker chassis, but generally ALL chassis in 'quality' hifi gear are way overpriced.
...just checked the frequency response of a 2k Euro box 'Odeon Fidelio' which has a -20db gap between 1-2 khz. Reviewer's comment: it's anticipated and doesn't matter due to it's narrow bandwidth...

cheers, Tom

krizrox · Post by **krizrox** » Wed Apr 13, 2005 8:19 am

Bose's modus operendi has always been "small speakers creating big sound".

I had a pair of 901's back in the late 70's and they sounded ok at first but I quickly tired of that "reflected" sound.

I think people are always more fascinated by the fact that so much sound can come from such a small package. But, to my ears anyway, it ends up sounding artificial.

If that ain't enough - it's fairly expensive stuff for such a small package. I think you're paying more for the brand name than the actual gear.

astroman · Post by **astroman** » Wed Apr 13, 2005 10:41 am

On 2005-04-13 09:19, krizrox wrote:
... so much sound can come from such a small package. But, to my ears anyway, it ends up sounding artificial...

that was my concern as well, but the system sounded (amazingly) less 'bright' than expected.

I anticipate quite some muddyness at home:
the room is 2.8m high, the first 1.5m of the walls are vertical, the rest at a 60 degree angle, on both sides.
The material is that white pressed stuff in big plates, the tapestry has a foam base for improved thermal isolation and the floor is pure wood (from 1909, nice bass resonances).
A very, very thick floor carpet provides for levelling it's irregularities as well as acoustic highs absorbtion...

In that room 5 regular speakers would simply look horrible, 5 cheapo cinema-stuff-likes are out of question for music.

And finally it's totally annoying (much more than I had expected) to switch between TV, digital cable receiver, CD and DVD if the components aren't supposed to work together

The Bose is stylish (ok, personal taste), small, and has all under one hood plus it (appearantly) can store setups for different listening locations (just a couch and a table position required, tho).
I haven't found any better alternative yet, but of course I wouldn't buy the system without a test drive at home

cheers, Tom

Post by **hubird** » Wed Apr 13, 2005 6:33 pm

little standing waves at least

(or what again was the name for it in english).

ahrensj · Post by **ahrensj** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 2:47 am

http://www.fiendation.com/300zx/bosefaq.htm

krizrox · Post by **krizrox** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 2:03 pm

Going back to my 901's - I was living in a house with 5-6 other stereo buffs (this was Germany in the late 70's with the Air Force and we all had really nice stereo systems) - and so I had plenty of gear to AB against. The 901's had more of a mid-range sound but lacked lows and highs. When coupled with a full-range JBL speaker system, it seemed to produce a nice overall tone. So my 901's seemed lacking in the low-lows and high-highs. It just seemed to me that they were not designed well for rock music. More for jazz or classical.

The smaller "cube" systems that they sell nowadays for surround sound are probably ok for general purpose home use. Bose seems to be popular with middle-aged yuppies who hate anything that doesn't blend in with the wallpaper and sofa and coffee table. If you're the kind of person who likes to "show off" your stereo system, Bose ain't for you.

I know NO ONE who uses anything BOSE for studio work, mixing or anything like that. I would never mix on a Bose speaker system. But that's just me