[j-dawg]

Can you help a newb out and explain why Bose Triports suck so badly? Target had a display with Triports plugged into a Shuffle and it sounded great to me. Real nice and crisp, tight bass, and soundstage seemed very lifelike especially on the acoustic jazz tracks they had on the player.

Now, I've been lurking and searching and reading here for quite some time and I can't find a good solid explanation. I'm guessing that peeps decided that they suck so long ago that the good threads have been purged.

There are a few things that I've found. Mainly that they're overpriced which I can believe especially considering how fragile they seem. Also I think somebody once joked that they convert all bass frequencies to 60hz; 100hz goes in - 60hz comes out; 45hz goes in - 60hz comes out. Now that's funny! Is it that bad? Can I get a good comprehensive explanation? Thanks guys.

edited to remove a confusing statement at the end of the post...

 

[juzmister]

search is your friend...http://www4.head-fi.org/forums/showt...t+alternatives

 

[Voltron]

AVOID BOSE!!!

Did that help?

 

[Audiofiler]

Quote:

Originally Posted by j-dawg Can you help a newb out and explain why Bose Triports suck so badly? Target had a display with Triports plugged into a Shuffle and it sounded great to me. Real nice and crisp, tight bass, and soundstage seemed very lifelike especially on the acoustic jazz tracks they had on the player. Now, I've been lurking and searching and reading here for quite some time and I can't find a good solid explanation. I'm guessing that peeps decided that they suck so long ago that the good threads have been purged. There are a few things that I've found. Mainly that they're overpriced which I can believe especially considering how fragile they seem. Also I think somebody once joked that they convert all bass frequencies to 60hz; 100hz goes in - 60hz comes out; 45hz goes in - 60hz comes out. Now that's funny! Is it that bad? Can I get a good comprehensive explanation. Help me spend my $150 more wisely! Thanks guys.

consider two cans with different sound sigs that are relatively easy to drive..a lot of people like Grado, Senn, AT, Beryer, and AKG...
perhaps consider these new:SR-60, MS-1, K-81DJ or used: HD-580, K501,AT-900, DT-770/880pro


Also there is something to be said in obtaining two totally different phones too, and then identifying strengths and preferences thereafter..so it is up to your ears really.

I would stay away from Bose unless they are a gift..

 

[DRSpeed85]

A substantial number of people upgrade to bose from apple earbuds or other <$30 earphones. If you really think about it, Bose is the only brand that actively market towards regular consumers. My friend's GF, a triport owner, tried my DT770s and was blown away. Her facial expression was like

. No joke. But I have to admit the DT770s aren't pretty or light enough for her use.

 

[j-dawg]

Sorry juzmister but "Search" let me down, as did the thread you linked me to. I am not looking for triport alternatives, because my lurking has already given me plenty. I'm already eyeing some Grado SR60 and Senn HD 595 based on recommendations from this excellent forum. I was hoping for a decent explanation as to why triports are bad, but if you're too tired of rehashing it a million times, I understand. I am no newbie to forums, and I know how tiring it gets answering the same old questions over and over again. That said, I still haven't found my explanation. Thanks.

Quote:

Originally Posted by juzmister search is your friend...http://www4.head-fi.org/forums/showt...t+alternatives

 

[powermung]

comment withdrawn after seeing the original poster's clarification

 

[j-dawg]

juzmister, sorry about the above reply. I see why everyone is giving me recommendations and alternatives. At the end of the post I had typed, " Help me spend my $150 more wisely! " which totally steered everyone away from my main question which is: "Why do Triports suck???" Sorry everyone... I edited the post and hopefully it makes more sense.

 

[j-dawg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Voltron AVOID BOSE!!! Did that help?

Haha, see now that's pretty funny. But that's totally typical of every single "Bose Sucks" thread I find. No one tells me why, they just make jokes.

 

[Hellacious D]

This should do a good job explaining why: http://www.headphonereviews.org/head...02&action=view I totally agree with you though. So many threads just make tons of jokes about them without explaining why they're bad.

 

[juzmister]

my major problem with bose is their QC, the triports don't sound THAT bad. I have seen more taped together triports than healthy triports..

 

[Cyrilix]

Their treble is tinny. Yuck.

 

[PhilS]

I listened to them at Target once also and was shocked at how bad they sounded. The music seemed compressed in terms of the frequency range, and had no life to it. It was almost like listening to music through a standard car radio, and that's what it reminded me of. It was like I had to strain to hear elements of the music that I knew were there and were not being brought forth.

But it is important to note that I was used to a pretty high end headphone system. So a good part of the explanation for "why they suck" is that anyone who has heard what music sounds like through good headpones knows that the Triports do not produce sound of that quality. An analogy might be made to wine. If you are not experienced with various types of wines, you might pick up a cheap bottle and taste it and say: "It tastes good to me." But an experienced wine drinker who has sampled many varieties could taste that same bottle and think it tastes like krap. Now, the wine expert could probably describe for the other person why the cheap wine lacked all sorts of various qualities found in the good wine. But his best advice might be "Spend some time drinking the good quality wines I recommend and your palate will become educated enough to know what I'm talking about." So . . . , the best thing to do I think is to select, based on recommendations from others in this forum, some cans for the same price as the Triports and train your ears to hear what decent phones sound like. Then when you go back and listen to them, you will understand what we are talking about.

 

[Voltron]

Quote:

Originally Posted by j-dawg Haha, see now that's pretty funny. But that's totally typical of every single "Bose Sucks" thread I find. No one tells me why, they just make jokes.

Not to jump on you, but I didn't say "Bose Sucks" or start a thread to that effect. I was merely kidding around when I happened upon your thread.

That said, and even with that joke, I am not a true knee-jerk Bose hater and get as tired of that response as you do. I own a Bose Lifestyle 35 system and used it for TV/movies and occasionally for music for a couple years pretty happily. But, by comparing it to other options, I chucked the Bose into the garage in favor of a real life audio system with great speakers and great electronics rather than just "lifestyle" speakers and "lifestyle" electronics.

As to the Triports, I don't have extended listening time but I have listened to them many times and in comparison to cheaper phones I think they sound terrible. They are not lifelike or accurate in any way. They do not have good extension high or low. And they have muddy, muddled bass response. I don't have charts, graphs, or empirical data, but my own comparisons are enough for me. Maybe you have to do the same thing to really get your answer as to whether and/or why they suck.

 

[j-dawg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Voltron Not to jump on you, but I didn't say "Bose Sucks" or start a thread to that effect. I was merely kidding around when I happened upon your thread.....

Fair enough. I did laugh though. I love the Bose slamming, but I feel I can't jump in until I get enough info to sound intelligent. hehe. There was some April Fool's thread dedicated to railing on Triports that had me in stitches. For now, I'm going to take everyone's advice and stick to less controversial brands. Thanks man.