Should I sell my Bose Speakers?! Advice Please

[Silentscope]

Ok, so I've had some Bose Acoustimass 3 speakers for about 4 years. They were bought at a time where i needed small speakers for a box room and before I realised Bose suck ass!

I have a Yamaha AX-392 60WPC Stereo amp, about 5 years old which at the time was a budget amp what hi-fi magazine award winner and a half decent yamaha CD player CDX-593.

I mainly use my PC as source now with my Auzen X-Meridian soundcard and mp3's 192 to 392 bit rate to the Yamaha Amp.

I now have a bit more space and wondered if I should buy some budget bookshelf speakers and stands such as Monitor Audio BR2's or KEF Q1's approx £200.

To be fair I've never thought the Bose speakers were that bad but will I notice a difference upgrading to good budget bookshelf speakers and decent stands? I could probably get £125 for the Bose speakers on ebay.

thanks

 

[Pibborando]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Silentscope /img/forum/go_quote.gif will I notice a difference upgrading to good budget bookshelf speakers and decent stands?

Yes.

 

[Nuwidol]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pibborando /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yes.

x2

More than you could ever imagine.
A friend of mine has a Bose system & thought it was the DB's. Until he heard my B & W set up.
I have the most budget B & W speakers available too (3 Series)

 

[Jon118]

Yeah, I would say my DX4s are at least as good as the Bose speaker setups I've heard, probably better. Definitely will be when they have a sub with them. Bookshelf speakers are great.

 

[SilverTrumpet999]

There is a reason dealers who carry Bose are contractually bound to display the Bose goods in a separate room/area from their other brands... this is because in a direct A/B comparison Bose gets destroyed. By anything.

You will notice. You may be able to sell your Bose for decent $$ to a sucker somewhere, or you could keep them to help dispel the Bose myth - if somebody you know starts hinting at buying Bose, have them over for a listen to change their mind...

Friends don't let friends buy Bose.

 

[gritzcolin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SilverTrumpet999 /img/forum/go_quote.gif There is a reason dealers who carry Bose are contractually bound to display the Bose goods in a separate room/area from their other brands... this is because in a direct A/B comparison Bose gets destroyed. By anything. You will notice. You may be able to sell your Bose for decent $$ to a sucker somewhere, or you could keep them to help dispel the Bose myth - if somebody you know starts hinting at buying Bose, have them over for a listen to change their mind... Friends don't let friends buy Bose.

I do not believe this to be true cause when I worked for Sears they never kept the Bose gear separate from everything else. Also Bose doesn't get destroyed by anything. Just stuff that is comparable in price. I'd take some Bose speakers over Insignia or Optimus mainly cause you can resell them for much closer to what you paid for them and they don't sound terrible, just not as good as other things you can get for the same price Paradigm/Polk ect....

 

[mrarroyo]

For some reason many people hate Bose. Personally I think they sound fine and although not the last word there is no reason to trash them as much. I currently have 4 Bose 301 Series IV which I got by exchanging points from my AX and MC. A pair is being used as the rear monitors on my 5.1 surround. The second pair are still in the box (5 years after I got them) waiting to be set up by my computer.

 

[colonelkernel8]

BOSE = Buy Other Sound Equipment

 

[SilverTrumpet999]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gritzcolin /img/forum/go_quote.gif I do not believe this to be true cause when I worked for Sears they never kept the Bose gear separate from everything else. Also Bose doesn't get destroyed by anything. Just stuff that is comparable in price. I'd take some Bose speakers over Insignia or Optimus mainly cause you can resell them for much closer to what you paid for them and they don't sound terrible, just not as good as other things you can get for the same price Paradigm/Polk ect....

Then the Sears you worked at is risking their Bose license - or, doesn't have anything actually good enough to call the Bose equipment out. Also possibly, Sears is just a terrible listening environment so Bose doesn't care - because nobody could tell the difference in there anyway. This contractual obligation is real, not speculation, and if your Sears didn't there is a reason why somewhere.

I'd agree with you on some counts, but even Insignia makes some dang nice speakers (NS-B2111) and Radio Shack used to (Minimus 7 and derivatives), both which thrash anything Bose produces. The NS-B2111 was on sale at one point for ~$35 (now about double that) and the Minimus 7 ran for $50 back in the 90's.

The entire Insignia/RatShack lines are not superior quality, but there are definitely gems there that are more than capable of calling Bose on the carpet.

 

[jinp6301]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Silentscope /img/forum/go_quote.gif Ok, so I've had some Bose Acoustimass 3 speakers for about 4 years. They were bought at a time where i needed small speakers for a box room and before I realised Bose suck ass! I have a Yamaha AX-392 60WPC Stereo amp, about 5 years old which at the time was a budget amp what hi-fi magazine award winner and a half decent yamaha CD player CDX-593. I mainly use my PC as source now with my Auzen X-Meridian soundcard and mp3's 192 to 392 bit rate to the Yamaha Amp. I now have a bit more space and wondered if I should buy some budget bookshelf speakers and stands such as Monitor Audio BR2's or KEF Q1's approx £200. To be fair I've never thought the Bose speakers were that bad but will I notice a difference upgrading to good budget bookshelf speakers and decent stands? I could probably get £125 for the Bose speakers on ebay. thanks

imo bose arent THAT bad. I have a pair of bose bookshelves and they sound pretty nice. obviously a pair of B&Ws are much better but for a decent budget solution, a pair of old bose bookshelves are fine

 

[ronnielee54]

Sell them. I have owned many Bose speakers in the past. Was fortunate that my wife was able to purchase them at the associates price (around 40% to 50% off retail). In the days before 5.1, when pro logic was king, Acoustimass were pretty good sounding speakers. Their problem imho is that they have always been extremely overpriced. At the associates price they were a pretty good deal, but terrible deal at full retail. In the early 70's, 901's were awsome for certain genres of music (classical, jazz, acoustic), but unfortunately were never a good all around speaker and man were they expensive.

 

[acp6s]

Quote:

Originally Posted by colonelkernel8 /img/forum/go_quote.gif BOSE = Buy Other Sound Equipment

ahahahahahah

 

[tjohnusa]

I also have a set of AM3 and think they are OK. I have since sold the subwoofer and am using the sattelites as my home theater rears (they sound great for that)
Before you sell them set them up and give them a listen, they still may suit you.

 

[MD1032]

I don't see any reason to keep them. If they're in good condition, you can resell them to some idiot for a good price and then take that money and buy some real speakers, or some more headphones!

 

[gritzcolin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SilverTrumpet999 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Then the Sears you worked at is risking their Bose license - or, doesn't have anything actually good enough to call the Bose equipment out. Also possibly, Sears is just a terrible listening environment so Bose doesn't care - because nobody could tell the difference in there anyway. This contractual obligation is real, not speculation, and if your Sears didn't there is a reason why somewhere. I'd agree with you on some counts, but even Insignia makes some dang nice speakers (NS-B2111) and Radio Shack used to (Minimus 7 and derivatives), both which thrash anything Bose produces. The NS-B2111 was on sale at one point for ~$35 (now about double that) and the Minimus 7 ran for $50 back in the 90's. The entire Insignia/RatShack lines are not superior quality, but there are definitely gems there that are more than capable of calling Bose on the carpet.

So you are saying Bose stands up to other crappy speakers in not so designed environments? Do you have proof of the contractual agreement? Or perhaps do stores get perks with Bose by doing that? Cause I doubt a major retailer is going to do such a thing to compromise a contract with a good selling company.

I understand fully peoples distaste for Bose but seriously let people buy junk they aren't spending your money are they now?