What's so bad about Bose?

You did answer your own question I think. I do not think people are bashing Bose, but there seem to be an agreement that you can get better sound quality for the money from other brands.

You can find many threads on this here.

But I'll take another whack. Primarily, Bose gear performs badly. I've been a musician over 25 years and Bose gear simply does not sound like the real thing. Measurements and a lot of others tend to agree.

Second, Bose uses cheap parts and materials. That radio might have $15-$20 of parts inside. Maybe another $20 for assembly and the box. The rest is all profit.

Third, Bose heavily markets itself as the best. Clearly, it is not. You can buy natural-sounding equipment made with better materials for less money.

Fourth, Bose has the ability to make quality products and chooses not to. Bose has plenty of capital, engineers, test facilities, manufacturing, everything. If management wanted, Bose could make excellent, high-quality gear. Instead, they make garbage and sell it at the highest possible margin.

Search is your friend! And...

Stop!

That's a good summary of what I'd say too.

Their marketing slogan is "better sound through research". The problem is: their research goal is not to make stuff that sounds like the real thing. They make stuff that has a WOW factor to the sound. Unfortunately, that is a different goal than making stuff that sounds accurate (sounds like the original live performance of what the sound engineer heard when he/she recorded it). The sound of a Bose system is bigger than life, exaggerated. If you took an original painting, and started painting over it with the same colours, but used brighter neon colors. It's going to really stand out, but it's not the real thing. And combined with the goal of making stuff that is designed to look good and fit into people's lifestyle as the number one priority, you have a piece of audio gear that really isn't hi fidelity at all. They put their ads in top magazines of all types, and tout their scientific prowess, and as well, put their systems in specially designed kiosks that don't allow direct comparisons to other gear in a fair manner, you have gotten the general public to buy into their "superiority".

Before I got experience with accurate, hi fi systems, I also used to think that Bose stuff sounded impressive, but now I've gone back to hear some Bose stuff out of curiosity, and it sounds all wrong. Unfortunately, I have years of experience listening to hi quality audio systems, but the general public doesn't. So it's really easy to pull the wool over their eyes because they really don't know any better.

Buying Bose would be punishment for not doing research on the net.

Very good summary Uncle E.

Wish you searched the main headphone forum before you posted....

The posts above this have pretty much summed up what's been said in every Bose thread though.

Bose is like Justin Timberlake of the audio world.

Or the McDonald's of the audio world.

i dont like bose for these reasons:

1. wayyy over priced for the quality they produce.
2. only people who buy them are the people that think there really cool because their buying more expensive things and they think bose is top of the line audio equipment. anyone that knows about audio can tell u that bose is CLEARLY not the top of the line.
3. idk about other people, but to me, they sound very covered up. it seems that whenever u listen to something out of them. they all have this similar sound to them. like it has its own tune of some sort. i know this because i tried them on at bestbuy.

now..WHY do ppl think bose is so good?

1. its the most expensive stuff they can find regarding audio at bestbuy/circuitcity
2. looks appealing to public. not so oversized cans unlike the hd series and many other headphones so ppl think there "just the right size"
3. bose markets and advertises there products very well. ppl see them in ads and on tv and such with the nice aesthetic looks i was talking about and the price of how much it is so they think it has to be good.
4. this ones kinda related to #1. its all there limited to. when they walk into an audio store, they dont see any grados, akg, senns, beyers, AT's etc etc. so basically thats all they know.

I think Bose makes good products but not refined. IMO, the headphones are good but yes over priced.

Their stuff sounds good but some of their stuff is tinny sounding like the acousticimass CD system for example. It's around $900 but from an A/B comparison, my mom's $150 RCA boom box had much better tone and bass. I was amazed how bad the Bose acousticimass was. Horrible horrible value.

In all fairness, their portable speakers are excellent. It's around $100. Not too expensive and great sound for portables. Construction quality is great too. Good job Bose!

I notice that some upscale restaurants use Bose speakers installed in the walls and they play music on a low volume with the surrounding noise. What a stupid waste of money if those speakers were expensive. They could have used a cheaper brand with identical or better sound.

My defining moment with Bose was in the early '80s when I blew an entire summer job's worth of money on a pair of Bose 301 speakers. My father had a blow-hard friend who was constantly boasting about his "connections" and who promised me a "deep discount" based on his "connections." I paid "only' $400.

These were, without a doubt, the worst speakers I have ever owned. They sounded muddy and muted, and completely lacked anything like a soundstage. Absolute garbage. I'm reminded of how bad they sounded every time I walk into some grimy neighborhood bar and see the commercial equivalents (which they still make and sell) farting and squealing into the room.

Why do people hate BOSE? Because they shamelessly sell bad products to people who don't know better.

I would rather hum to myself than spend one cent on any of the crap they sell.

lol bose is not the justin timberlake of the audio world

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSEEEE

Bose stuff sounds good at first. For uncritical listening Bose is fine. If you really listen to the music through Bose speakers, you begin to discover that they are really average (and overpriced) at best. Bose does make osme good products; however, you pay too much for what you get.

I think that the Wave radio is terrific.

Cheers,

Dr. H