I got my first Triports, renamed AE in 2004 for my first ipod. I loved them. I didn't compare them to anything other than the earbuds that came with the ipod so there were probably better phones out there. But these were good enough for me. The only problem is that they are a bit too big for my female head. When the first pair broke, ie, one side shorted out, I called Bose and they gave me a new replacement pair for $50 which was cool because I bought them on Ebay and they were way past their warranty. So when the second pair went out, I got the same deal from Bose. A couple of years ago, I added the Bose ear buds and have used them 90% of the time. i think I may have had to replace the earbuds after the warranty went out a little over a year ago. A few months ago a piece broke off of the third pair of AE's but it was fixable with some glue.
When my second pair of ear buds shorted out, I decided to call Bose to replace both of them. I must say, they do have excellent customer service. They replaced the earbuds with a new pair for $25, because I was only 2 months past warranty. As for the Triports, I was informed that they were no longer made. The guy offered me the AE 2's to replace my broken Triports for $60. Normally that would be a great deal. And an upgraded earphone is probably better than the original, right? WRONG!
I received both earphones today and I've been switching back and forth. I had to send the old ones to Bose and wish I had them to compare. I think I like the earbuds better than the AE 2. The latter felt a bit unbalanced at first, like the left side was getting more power. Which incidentally is where the cord plugs into now. No cord out of the right side. But that may not be the case. What seems to be going on is that the different voices, ie instruments, seem too separated. They don't "mix" as well and sound noisier. There is a richness to the sounds missing. And at the higher frequencies it is too brassy, too noisy. As someone else said, they don't put out as much sound and I have to turn up the volume to get the level of low and mid ranges i like which, unfortunately, also turns up the sound on the higher frequencies. I confess I do prefer more bass to treble.
Come to think of it, everytime I received a new pair of phones, I always thought they didn't sound as good as the last pair, yet over time I believed the newest pair were the best ever. Hopefully, I'll be able to love the AE 2 that way, too.
