Those who suggest Bose speakers?

Question

Have you actually listened to these speakers and compared them to others?

Or do you just go by what they tell you on the commercials?

Answer 1

I've been in the audio business for 20 years. Here's the truth about Bose :

Their professional stuff (stadiums, etc.) and their hi-end car systems are well-engineered. Both those types of gear from Bose are pretty good vaues and legitimate performers.

ALL of their small home speakers are garbage. Well-marketed garbage, but worthless refuse all the same. They sell well for three reasons :

1. Advertising. There is no substitute. Especially since none of the smaller speaker manufacturers do any advertising outside specialty magazines.

2. They're designed to "demo" well. Lots of high frequencies and lots of mid-bass are catchy. You notice those frequency ranges real easily. They're 'sexy'. The problem? Most of real music happens in the midrange. And speakers are supposed to reproduce the entire frequency range 'flatly'. (Bose doesn't even attempt this.) But in the store....they're sexy. Not accurate, but sexy.

3. Reputation : People haven't heard of any other brands. Plus their Bose car system is pretty good. Plus their buddy has the Wave Radio and swears by it. (The Wave is decent, btw.)

Here's how to buy speakers:
1. Don't buy it if you've ever heard of it.
2. Don't buy ANY speaker from Best Buy. (They set up the store so you'll get frustrated and buy some garbage Home Theater InA Box)
3. Take a CD you know well. Something with acoustic instruments and a female voice. (No exploding 747 action DVDs allowed, ok?)
4. Have the salesperson play your music at reasonable volume levels. (No cranking it up, ok?) Your ears protect themselves from damage by closing the canal. So at real loud volume leves, you can't tell the difference between speakers.

There are literally thousands of speaker manufacturers who make great, low cost stuff. It can be difficult to find, but you'll save money and have a blast if you do a little research.

Answer 2

If you can afford to do this, give this a try...

Purchase a pair of Bose speakers that you can afford. Then purchase another pair of speakers from a quality brand that are priced in the same range. Now play your favorite CDs through the Bose speakers (spend about a half an hour to get a feel for their sound quality). Then finally, play these same songs through the other pair of speakers for about the same period of time. Your answer will be found in what sound pleases you the most. And of course, take the other speakers back for a refund or an exchange, or sell them.

I've been to a Bose store (about 5 years ago) and listened to different models there as well as consumer electronics stores and high-end boutique stores, and the only Bose speakers that I've ever heard that were decent in sound were the 901's (professionally setup and demonstrated for their marketing to customers at Circuit City) and the 501's about 15 and 20 years ago (respectively).

Bose does what they do extremely well - market and sell speaker systems - but I think that's pretty much all that they are about. As for me, the Bose sound is not what I prefer. I prefer speakers that can recreate as close to live music performance of the master tapes as possible because to me live music is the pinnacle of sound.

Happy listening!

Answer 3

i am not a huge fan of bose. i think there very over priced. but at the same time, they are very clear as well. i just think, much like alpine on the car audio end of things, they lack lows.

here is a bit of a story for you. my girlfriends sisters (twins) were graduating form high school last summer. they asked me if i would bring over some speakers, and provide them with music. there grandparents came up who live about 5 hours away. her grandma who is about the most stubburn uptight person i have ever met, asked me if i had any bose. knowing she had a pair i said, no i only buy speakers that sound really good. she couldnt believe i said that. then i asked her if she had a cd she listened to at home through the bose. she went to her car and got a polka cd. when i put it in, my klipsch rb35's sounded awesome, as they always do. i could tell she was impressed, but she didnt say that. all she said was, "those are very nice speakers" good enough for me. stupid bose, and stupid best buy.

Answer 4

I have had bose 301 and bose 201 for the past 13 years. And the thin bose center speaker for the past 6. The key to getting the power out of them is to have a good reciever/pre amp. They have remained great over the time that I have had them, and for that reason, they have remained the same price forever. They are that clear though.

Answer 5

Very good point. Bose spends big $$$ on advertising, so some people think they must be good. Speakers are a matter of personal preference, but most Bose speakers have very unnatural sound becuase they over-emphasize the mid-bass. Thsi sounds great to people who are not critical listeners, since they think speakers with "good bass" are great. I like their outdoor speakers, some of their car speakers, and the 301's. Other than that, in my opinion, they are not worth the money.

Answer 6

Bose makes great speakers. I have everything from computer speakers, to acoustimass 3, bookshelf, center channel, and 901's. All have served me well.

Plus, Bose is an American Brand. Americans make the best products.

Answer 7

Bose are generally very overpriced for their quality. Sometimes they sound okay, but I've never heard a great Bose system and you can always get something better in the same price range.

Answer 8

Had Bose speakers. Had near-unmatchable sound quality. Only drawback is that they lack the volume. Can handle the power, just not as loud. And I like my music loud at times so I switched to Cerwin Vega.

Answer 9

i saw bose speakers acoustimas 5 10 years ago at a showroom and it sounded very well, the small speakers were covered giving you the illusion that they were big floorstanding speakers but i didn't buy it. i opted to buy a boston acoustics floorstanding speakers. although the bose speakers sounded good i still think that size matters specially when it comes to bass (subs).

Answer 10

yes, I have listened to atleast 4-5 other speakers before selecting my bose .It's the best.

@ trueplay... learn english before touching the computer again !