Just felt like doing my civic duty and provide a friendly service reminder for those who don't know better; Bose audio equipment is terrible. Generally, people who buy Bose fall into one of three camps:
1) don't do proper research (auditioning multiple systems for example).
2) have fell for the marketing machine that is Bose - we use crazy tech to make our speakers sound good...really, we do!
3) have money to blow and don't mind buying inferior equipment for the sake of being 'small.'
Take for example the Bose SoundDock for the iPod. If you go to audition this lovely piece of equipment you'll notice the Bose marketeers have an iPod connected to it with *only* Bose created 'softball' music on them. What is 'softball' music you ask? Well, it's music that any speaker can 'hit out of the park' because it has no complex layering, no deep bass, no hi/low strings, minimal amounts of horns, only midrange sounds, etc. Rule #1 of auditioning speakers is play your own music on the speakers you're thinking about buying. The Bose people know that their stuff isn't worth anywhere close to the $300 bucks they want for it and sounds very average (that might be putting it nicely) with *real* music, so they simply don't let you easily listen to your music before buying.
Some poor soul says, 'hey, it's Bose, I know that brand and they are supposed to be good' takes a quick listen to the planted Bose songs and drops $300 bones walking out the door not knowing the difference. However, if they could play *their* music on it they would find the SoundDock falls down getting muddy, constrained, having very poor separation & spatiality and is very unmusical. Try picturing an actual cymbal when listening to the treble the SoundDock produces, it doesn't really sound like a real instrument.
Instead, if the poor soul would do some research they would find you can get a self-powered monitor speaker set for example, designed to be small and very accurate (unlike Bose), for their iPod instead of getting a mediocre system like the SoundDock. One could use the iPod Dock and connect it to something like the Wharfedale Diamond powered studio monitors and for around $250 bucks and have a pair of speakers that are in a different league than Bose. And if you missed it, they are less than the SoundDock!
Anyway, I could go on and on, but you get the gist. Do your research and for the love, listen, listen, listen before you buy. :-)
cheers, will
comments posted at 11:32 PM
Comments:
Reply by : 8:32 PM
You're an idiot. Bose technology has revolutionized speaker design. Everyone has been copying their technology for years and trying to keep up. Their live sound gear(for those of us who actually make and record music unlike yourself) is nothing short of miraculous for musicians and dj's. I agree with your point on the sound dock, I wasn't impressed, but I use a lot of their other gear to reproduce music when I DJ and you would think that the trumpet and Frank Sinatra were in the room. Amazing, and the amount of bass they produce from 6" subwoofers, enough to fill large dance halls, is unparalelled by ANYONE. I have sold live sound equipment and studio monitors for years and actually used the gear rather than just listening to it in a large loud store as you have. Nice job repeating the same crap you read somewhere else though, very original and enlightening as to your potential iq. Try living with the equipment. It is a life saver both in sound quality and portability.
Reply by Will : 6:18 PM
Reply by Will : 6:37 PM
I have *lived* with the Bose 901 speakers and I can safely say they are junk. They are crazily over-priced for starters and don't hold up to any high end audio speakers. As for their DJ stuff, I have no idea how that is, in my post I don't even mention stage speaker systems. I only mention their consumer level gear which, I can easily say, I've heard all of. As for other companies *copying* Bose stuff; I know I'd want to copy an over-priced mono clock radio. Bose hasn't been a leader in the consumer space for decades.
As for where I have listened to Bose stuff, I gave no background on where I have heard it. To state it was noisy is simply false. In fact, I have heard their stuff at hi end audio shops where the staging, positioning, etc was as good as you'd expect in your house and they are still unimpressive. As for "repeating stuff I read somewhere else," I didn't repeat anything in this post from anyone else. Have you read else where Bose stuff is sub par? Perhaps, instead of calling people idiots, you could respect their opinion as it may be based on a twinkle of fact and you've just been sold up a river.
Reply by : 7:48 PM
Hi ars,
Just because you don't agree with Will's critique, there's no need to be calling people names. :)
I too think Bose products are unwhelming, especially considering their very high price. I will admit that a speaker's tonal qualities are very subjective, but be aware of what you're buying (not just the Bose name).
Bose don't even publish their products' frequency response. This is the defacto baseline for judging a speakers potential performance. The reason they don't do this is because their frequency response is rather poor. They don't cover the low end at all and aren't even close to performing in the +/- 3 db that is common for high end speakers.
The only reason a 6" woofer can produce enough bass fill dance halls is because it's using a ported enclosure. This causes the woofer to produce louder bass while sacficing acuracy. Not to mention quality of the Bose sub enclosures. I don't think 1/4" particle board and plastic is going to hold up too long.
Now don't get me wrong, I'm not totally anti-Bose. They do produce "nice sounding" speakers. But they do so at very high cost... accuracy. Bose focuses on room filling sound which is pleasant to listen to. However, if you've actually heard a pair of $1000 speakers (the price of a typical Bose home system) the difference is astounding. A quality pair of stereo speakers produces a much richer sound with much more detail and clarity.
The only thing Bose has revolutionized about the speaker industry is how to get bigger sound out of a smaller box. And somehow they manage to charge a premium for doing so. I imagine this is because they technology is so much more "advanced". Bose spends a great deal to keep up the illusion that it's brand is prestigious and it's technology is state of the art.
If you're going to buy a Bose product, do yourself a favor and compare it to a high quality speaker brand at the same price. (Btw, high quality does not mean another brand Best Buy sells. Go to a local stereo shop. :) ) You will usually find that the comparable brand will be a better performing speaker.
For the record, I did audition the Bose TriPort headphones. They do produce a "full" sound but the vocal sounds like it's coming from inside of a wooden box. The sound is shallow and far away. For the same $150 you can get a very good pair of headphones from Grado, Sennheiser or Audio Technia.
In case you were wondering I ended up getting the Audio Technica 900's. They are amazing, but a little on the large size. :) They are surprisingly comfortable, so don't let the size fool you. If you're looking for a good pair of headphones (for non portable use) I highly recommend them. Oh, and they work great with an iPod.
I hope at least someone gets some use out of this post... or maybe I can be called an idiot in public too! Please!
Reply by just add water : 3:36 AM
Wow, almost half a year later, I find these amazing statements:
I belonged to the group of people worshipping bose ... well, to be more honest: their marketing. Until a friend of mine, who works for one of the best hifi stores around the Rhine/Main area opened my eyes: the technological content of my accustic master system was lousy, compared with "real" speakers (e.g. canton, etc.) the difference was overwhelming.
I still think, BOSE does wonderful marketing, great product design, however, I do not agree with their prices and the poor quality of their products - for a marketing minded person, that truly is frustrating!
Reply by mac_davis : 9:36 PM
I bought some 901s and subwoofers by Bose ~25-30 years ago, and I fell in love. I think Bose makes awesome acoustics that are well worth the money. Apple and Bose are two companies that I worship.
Reply by mac_davis : 11:21 PM
By "I," I meant my dad.
Reply by : 4:24 PM
Without my Bose 901's I would be lost when it comes to making my music. All the other "studio monitors" out there only play notes down to the 35Hz rang and that would not play the bass I put in my beats. These 901's I am currently using easily play down to the 20Hz rang and sound incredible doing it, so who ever thinks Bose is over rated has bad taste when it comes to performance and sound quality.
Mike David Beats
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