[Golden Monkey]

Bose has great marketing, I'll give them that much.

Did you know that Bose has a deal with the federal government? They offer substantial discounts for gvt employees for headphones, since they have to travel a lot. If I want noise cancelling though...Etymotic all the way.

 

[ClieOS]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncle Erik /img/forum/go_quote.gif No, Bose doesn't sound good, either. Have you actually heard it? There's nothing natural about the sound of any product they make. It's just heavy marketing. Nothing more.

I did (and actually thought about buying something from them, sorry to say). Those speaker sounded pretty good to my ears IIRC, but I was less impressed by triport. [confession: never know how to judge speaker ]

 

[robojack]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Libertad /img/forum/go_quote.gif More or less they have great bass and comfort but their disgustingly over prices for there sound quality you get. For the price you pay you could easily get a better sounding alternative

Not so sure on the bass part, even. From what I've heard in Bose products, the bass is usually really muddy, and mostly consists of mid-bass, rather than low-bass tones.

 

[Libertad]

Quote:

Originally Posted by robojack /img/forum/go_quote.gif Not so sure on the bass part, even. From what I've heard in Bose products, the bass is usually really muddy, and mostly consists of mid-bass, rather than low-bass tones.

Even more reason not to like them let alone there products

 

[Nocturnal310]

the Founder of Bose.. Mr. Amar Bose was fed up of his expensive speakers which didnt sound good.. so went on to form an audio company.

Dont know what was Bose in the early days but now its just an average sounding overly priced Audio brand which Artists have disapproved too.

I myself have tried most of their headphones...they are damn comfortable but they just dont sound even close to mid-range Sennheisers.

Bose cant compete with Sennheiser or AKG technically hence they dont even target audiophiles & just target the rich uninformed people.

When Mr. Bose formed the company he made a statement that "listener is the most important part of the experience" ..hence they use great marketing to make Listener feel good about what he is listening.

 

[Uncle Erik]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ClieOS /img/forum/go_quote.gif I did (and actually thought about buying something from them, sorry to say). Those speaker sounded pretty good to my ears IIRC, but I was less impressed by triport. [confession: never know how to judge speaker ]

Live music is the best way to judge speaker performance. Even better if you play music. Bose has one-note bass. It bumps along (like most expect) but you cannot differentiate the low notes. I've played tuba since high school and listen down to bass lines a lot. You have a tough time picking out the different notes on Bose gear. What's offensive is that the company knows it, is capable of doing better, but just markets the hell out of something they, themselves, know is garbage.

If you haven't had a chance to listen to good speakers, give it a try. If you're willing to do a little work yourself, you can make nice singledrivers under $100/pair.

 

[ClieOS]

Perhaps it is time someone informs Bose that their slogan is missing a word: "Better Sound Through (Marketing) Research"?

 

[AudioDwebe]

Why must every Bose thread turn into a "Bose-Bashing" thread!?!?!?!

Bose makes a lot of different products at various price points. Some of it sucks, but others do not.

I've very much enjoyed the sound of their 301 series II speakers. Then I enjoyed their 601 series II speakers. I've not got a pair of their 901 series VI speakers. They all sound rather nice.

Talk about price? Give me a break! Those speakers were/are very reasonably priced. You can get a pair of the 901's for less than 1500 bucks (including eq and stands), which is way, and I do mean WAY less than even entry level speakers from audiophile brands. And when SET UP PROPERLY, the 901's can sound really nice, on the verge of spectacular, even.

I've gone through a variety of hi-end speakers (B&W N805's, JM Reynaud Trentes, Reference 3A De Capo i's, Dunlavy SCIV's) and not a one of them did the sound of an acoustice piano better than 901's properly set up. They don't have the pinpoint imaging accuracy as the others, but their tone can be rather enticing.

Most people don't realize this, but when the founding father of Stereophile (J. Gordon Holt) reviewed the 901's back in the day (probably mid-70's), he gave them pretty rave reviews. And for whatever the reason, no other reviewer has done an extensive review of the product. Somewhere along the way the consensus became "Bose sucks" and when an un-truth is repeated over and over again by many misinformed people, it somehow becomes the truth.

I agree that some (if not a lot) of their current products leaves a lot to be desired, but to simply dismiss them with a broad stroke of the "Bose Sucks Brush" seems unfair. They do have, and have had, quality products.

My $.02.

 

[pcf]

I walked past the Bose showroom in Valley Fair, San Jose a few weeks ago and got talked into spending 20 minutes in their demo screening room. It actually sounded good-at least compare to what you hear from Fry's.
I never own any Bose product and am not going to do so anytime soon for the same reasons that everyone has stated- they are overpriced for what they offer. But most of my friends who own a plasma screen use Bose speakers. Now, I have a wide range of friends- some are relatively weathly and some not so rich (like myself

). They all seem to use the same Bose speakers. The millianairs don't use better ones. All their systems sound like crap with no exception. None of them sound anywhere near what I heard in that Bose showroom which used more or less the same equipments. Either they set it up there so well or their demo speakers and amps are different from what people are buying. I am not saying that Bose showroom demo sounds the same as the Meridians but it is a lot better than all my friends'. The funny thing is that I have never heard any non audiophile friends compaining about the Bose' sound. All of them are happy with their purchase.
I still remember years ago I was in a Hi Fi show in London. Bose was doing a demo not far away from Meridian an all the high end demos. Bose actually got a big crowd there. They were doing their hiding the small speaker inside the big empty box trick and reveal the size of the speaker at the end of the demo. People loved it. I guess that shows their marketing skills.
Another big thing for Bose now is their noise cancelling headphones. A lot of my workmates use them and love them.
My own feeling about Bose is the same as ever-they rip people off. But people are buying them.

 

[Nocturnal310]

Their Noise cancelling headphones are very popular among Business class travellers & they are not that expensive.

So ya they do have 'some' decent products which are better than many others.

 

[eeerie1]

The products I have auditioned from Bose sounded awful. We can't be expected to listen to everything they've ever made before dismissing them.

 

[tjumper78]

i respect bose's customer service. theyre quick, yet very polite and generous. they send fedex next day service (or 2 day. i forget) for pickup and return the new item by the same service, and the customer doesn't have to pay a dime.
the best customer service i've experienced in audio industry. but then it should be that way since they make so much money from overcharging not-so-great products.

 

[captian73]

No Bose doesn't get respect, they just get criticized by people who haven't actually heard any of their stuff.

Hands up, the sound is congested, but once again, when i put them against my HD25-1's some of the percussion was defined better with the OE's than the 25's.

I couldn't get on with the IE's though, and the noise cancelling stuff i don't touch, so i don't have any interest in the QC.

 

[Ranma13]

The problem is not that Bose products are necessarily bad, but at the price point they're selling them at, people can't help but feel ripped off. I own the Bose Companion 3's, they certainly are decent speakers...if they were around $75. But I bought them for $250. I also heard the in-store kiosk for the On-Ears and Over-Ears, the Over-Ears were pretty garbage but the On-Ears weren't too bad...except they were $150 for sound quality around $50.

 

[Captain Reverb]

Great marketing, but terrible sound in my opinion. usually boosted highs and lows