[Nocturnal310]

You are just changing your wordings & giving the same message.

Its a fact now.

 

[knights]

general mass seems to like BOSE... i myself has one setup in my bedroom, its quite good but not for the price they sell it... its true that you can certainly get better sounding set-up for half the price, they may sound worst compared to same priced set-ups; but saying that BOSE sounds crap is just pointless...

 

[LostOne.TR]

Quote:

Originally Posted by knights /img/forum/go_quote.gif general mass seems to like BOSE... i myself has one setup in my bedroom, its quite good but not for the price they sell it... its true that you can certainly get better sounding set-up for half the price, they may sound worst compared to same priced set-ups; but saying that BOSE sounds crap is just pointless...

very well put.

 

[scytheavatar]

Actually I wonder why Bose gets so much hate here while the ipods get so much love. When both of them are overpriced junk.

 

[troymadison]

I tried them once. (Triports and the On-Ear) Nothing really stood out on them.

 

[Johnnyboy]

I have set of Triports, and I'm not ashamed to say it either. When the headband snapped after @ 8 months I was a bit miffed, so decided to search out a new set, but from another company as a comparism. Being a headfi novice, I just wandered to the local electrical store and purchased what came to hand - if it's big, I've heard of the company then they must be good (JVC...purleease!!). Binned them after one day.
Hmmm... I thought (or hummed, really), there's got to be some good stuff out there, where is it? My local hi-fi store fellow just said "Grado, mate", pointed to the SR80's on the shelf and there you have it.
PS, I was well-pissed when I bought the Triports.
Ah me....

 

[ingwe]

^^^
JohnnyBoy, my first decent headphones were also Grado SR80's. A fine decision you have made.

-m

 

[lexnasa]

While we're bashing Bose, have I told you how good the B&O Beosound 6 sounds?

 

[nic08]

I have one, but that was long ago

 

[moogoob]

I tried some Bose 'phones at the Bose store in my local mall... underwhelmed. The sound signature on the AEs are OK for bass-light material, but I kept thinking about how much better my Grado SR80s would sound with the same material. Plus, for my ears they were very nearly supra-aural. And ugly! All for over 1.5 times the cost of a pair of new SR80s. At Bay-Bloor Radio.

 

[xnothingpoetic]

If my 76 year old grandfather who wears hearing aids and has absolutely no audio background and no prejudgments on the company thinks Blose sound bad after a simple blind test (talking speakers here)- then I think that is saying something at the least.

 

[skeptic]

While I wouldn't compare the bose hp's I've heard to premium cans, I also think the group-think, bandwagon inspired bose hatred spewed on these boards is entirely overblown - and largely based on hearsay.

My wife has a pair of triport IE's that I find much more pleasing to listen to (and to wear!) than my own bassless and uncomfortable etymotic er-6i's. I don't care how well they isolate and how detailed the trebles are in the ety's...the sound has no bottom end, even when using the triple flange tips.

The bose are comparatively muddy in the upper registers, but they have surprising bass for what is best described as a silicone tipped ear-bud. They don't isolate at all, and they fall out fairly easily, but they are quite comfortable, and for low-fi material while walking the dog, etc, they are really quite pleasant for a number of genres of music.

Would I spend $99 on them knowing what I know? I'm not sure. They certainly kick ibuds to the curb and I prefer them to the ety's that cost me $120 when they first came out. Then again, I haven't heard the YUIN options in that price range, but I have certainly seen divergent opinions on those buds as well.

Bose is most often criticized on head-fi as "overpriced consumer crap." Yet most of the gear discussed on these boards costs a lot more than it should - particularly in light of the inherent subjectivity of what is or is not good sound quality. Are the bose IE's really any different? I wouldn't be surprised if the profit margin is actually much higher on many of the popular premium cans on head-fi (despite the fact that each and every one is criticized by a sizable number of users for one sonic flaw or another), not to mention the boutique amps, and god forbid we get into controversial premium power cables....

So are the bose IE's neutral? Nope. Transparent? Not at all. Perfectly pleasant for many average quality recordings or mp3's when driven through a portable player - that they are. Those who call them anything more or anything less probably have never had occasion to give them a listen before pronouncing their elite judgment.

 

[Shahrose]

i respect bose for their ability to sell overpriced mediocre products in the numbers they do.

 

[MediumFi]

I worked a whole summer in high school to pay for my first stereo. While no audiophile, sound is important to me.

People sure love to hate Bose. Given their market share, many of us have Bose to thank for introducing us to better or premium sound. How many of us were not amazed the first time we encountered a Bose demo? How could so much sound come from such teeny speakers? I never knew a non-theater could get such great sound. They almost invented the "home theater" market. Maybe not the products, but the mass market.

One of the earlier posts mentioned everything Bose does to ensure they have stellar demos at all their stores all the time. I've given enough really bad demos in my day to know how hard it is to create a bullet-proof demo.

When I was looking at a 10 time zone airline trip (SF Bay Area to Israel), I knew I wanted noise cancellation headphones. A good friend of mine had Bose units and swore by them. I went to Best Buy (try to avoid Frys), but they don't carry the Quiet Comfort. The Bose Triple Port were underwhelming. The Bose store, however, had the QC's, and they sounded amazing! Although less expensive, I liked the feel & sound of the QC2 over the QC3.

Of course, their prices were a bit... excessive. I went to ebay, and got some used QC2's for $169. I was tickled when I put them on and noticed how well they blocked noise (having worked Blue Angels air shows I'm somewhat familiar with basic noise isolation). When I turned on the power, I was amazed at how well the noise cancellation worked! Listening with my Zen and later Zume players, I was trilled to hear things I always missed in the music.

Unfortunately, they're no good in the gym. Because I had a good experience with Bose, I went to them first for the In-Ear headphones, but remembered the sound in the store was less-than-stellar. Searching the reviews, I found out about Sure & Ultimate Ears, eventually leading me here.

Had I not heard the early Bose "home theater" systems, I never would have known what I was missing for sound systems. Had I not had a good experience with the QC2's, I would have accepted the mediocre sound from ear buds.

Every person on this board was introduced to good sound at some point in his or her life. For many people, Bose opened their ears to good sound... or opened the ears of their audio mentor.

 

[LnxPrgr3]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MediumFi /img/forum/go_quote.gif Because I had a good experience with Bose, I went to them first for the In-Ear headphones, but remembered the sound in the store was less-than-stellar. Searching the reviews, I found out about Sure & Ultimate Ears, eventually leading me here. Had I not heard the early Bose "home theater" systems, I never would have known what I was missing for sound systems. Had I not had a good experience with the QC2's, I would have accepted the mediocre sound from ear buds. Every person on this board was introduced to good sound at some point in his or her life. For many people, Bose opened their ears to good sound... or opened the ears of their audio mentor.

Have you bought anything else yet?

I will say this -- if my Bose hadn't fallen apart on me, I'd still be putting up with mediocre sound. About all I can say for the QC2, though, is that they sound passable, and they block jet engine noise pretty well. On the ground, I actually prefer my MDR-V600 (MSRP $99.99, Amazon $71.24 as of this posting) over the Bose, and they aren't exactly considered hi-fi around here.

For noise blocking, I'm using the TF10 now, and against the Bose, it's no contest -- both isolation and sound are miles ahead! New, the price isn't all that different either (the TF10 can be had for around $350). The Bose are definitely more comfortable though, and I don't think I'd use the TF10 in the gym though -- I'd be too afraid of destroying them...