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Thread: Bose speakers good or bad? |
    
Bronze Member Username: Hondafanatic17
Thompsontown,
PA
USA
Post Number: 11
Registered: Dec-07
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| Posted on Wednesday, February 20, 2008 - 09:59 pm: |
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I was just wondering, I've been reading alot of threads on here and a lot of people a saying that Bose has crappy speakers and is this true or is just some peoples opinions about them because a friend of mine has a set of Bose 401's and they sound amazing. Is it newer ones that sound bad or is just people opinions about them? |
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Gold Member Username: Frank_abela
Berkshire
UK
Post Number: 2743
Registered: Sep-04
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| Posted on Thursday, February 21, 2008 - 08:12 am: |
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Bose - the triumph of marketing over engineering. |
Silver Member Username: Nout
Post Number: 110
Registered: Mar-06
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| Posted on Thursday, February 21, 2008 - 03:22 pm: |
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I once heard the 901's which sounded pretty good, non-offensive and spacious.
If you like the 401's and can get a good deal on them I would'nt hesitate.
But i agree with Frank, for the money I think you can get something much better.
That said, I don't listen with your ears, so just go for the system you like, even if it may be overpriced.
(I recently bought an iMac and apart from the imho superiour operating system OSX Leopard and the gorgeous styling, the hardware itself doesn't justify the relative high price) |
Silver Member Username: Hawkbilly
Nova Scotia
Canada
Post Number: 150
Registered: Jul-07
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| Posted on Thursday, February 21, 2008 - 09:51 pm: |
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If Bose sounds good to you and makes you want to listen to more music, then they are wonderful speakers. I personally find them cloudy and boomy as all get out. But that's just me. Maybe I'm just one of those guys that finds everything cloudy. |
Bronze Member Username: Msgtpogi
NJ
Post Number: 29
Registered: Jan-08
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| Posted on Friday, February 22, 2008 - 01:29 pm: |
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Bose usually sounds great if nothing else of quality is playing. They play on psychoacoustics and present themselves as something better than they really are. I do know that Bose build quality is cheap (paper cones, stamp steel speaker baskets, thin cabinets...). Find a set of $200 Paradigm speakers and see if that doesn't persuade you that there are much better things for much less than Bose. |
Gold Member Username: Nickelbut10
Post Number: 1220
Registered: Jun-07
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| Posted on Friday, February 22, 2008 - 03:44 pm: |
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Bose speakers are horrible. I will give it to you the brute honest way. My Uncle owns the 901's, and they sound like horrific $#it. |
Gold Member Username: Nuck
Post Number: 9818
Registered: Dec-04
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| Posted on Friday, February 22, 2008 - 05:00 pm: |
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Don't hold back, Nick.LOL |
Gold Member Username: Nickelbut10
Post Number: 1222
Registered: Jun-07
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| Posted on Friday, February 22, 2008 - 06:37 pm: |
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LOL Tell em' how it is eh Nuck.lol. |
Gold Member Username: Artk
Albany,
Oregon
USA
Post Number: 6349
Registered: Feb-05
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| Posted on Friday, February 22, 2008 - 06:41 pm: |
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Do we feel strongly here or what! |
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Gold Member Username: Nickelbut10
Post Number: 1226
Registered: Jun-07
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| Posted on Friday, February 22, 2008 - 10:33 pm: |
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LOL Art you got me.
Frank hit it dead on though. Bose are no more an audio company anymore than Pyle Audio, or Sony. They are just a full fledge marketing company that know how to sucker the odd guy in a big box store to spend 2 grand plus on a pair of horrible, plastic, hollow sounding load of crap. Really...come on Bose owners..ask yourself..is this really how music is suppose to sound. Been to a concert lately? Go pick up a pair of Rega R1 little bookshelves or even a pair of Paradigm Atoms of those little Infinity's(whats the model). They will cost you like 1/10 the price, and sound 10 times better, and will be engineered by people who at least have an idea of what the reproduction of music is suppose to sound like. Unlike Bose. I want to one day buy one of those crap Bose Lifestyle systems and use those little plastic cube of speakers for spacers for my equipment to rest on. lol. |
Gold Member Username: Nickelbut10
Post Number: 1227
Registered: Jun-07
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| Posted on Friday, February 22, 2008 - 10:37 pm: |
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" I personally find them cloudy and boomy as all get out. But that's just me. Maybe I'm just one of those guys that finds everything cloudy."
No, pretty sure your hearing things right Chris. Only to me its more like standing in the middle of a full fledge thunderstorm more so than just cloudy. *Bang, Pong, Boom, Ping, Crash* |
Bronze Member Username: Jazzman71
Phoenix,
AZ
USA
Post Number: 26
Registered: Dec-07
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| Posted on Friday, February 22, 2008 - 10:58 pm: |
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OK, I admit I own 901s and have for quite a few years. Do I think they are the answer to a maiden's prayers? No. Do I think now that I have detailed source and amp gear that I will get their replacements expedited (hey, I'm listening to headphones for cryin' out loud). But this continual Bose bashing has got to stop. LOL!!! Motown sold millions and millions of marginal recordings because they figured out that by using tambourines the music could be heard on tinny AM radios. Were they good marketers or sound pioneers? I think Bose is a lot like Motown. They realize that 95% of the listening public is in CC or BB buying $200 amps and they are making products that sound good on those machines. They are also playing the WAF and making those lifestyle systems that look like cute little answering machines and that you can't open up or do anything with--I mean crap I hate it when someone other than me figures out how to make money. LOL. |
Gold Member Username: Nickelbut10
Post Number: 1230
Registered: Jun-07
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| Posted on Saturday, February 23, 2008 - 08:01 am: |
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lol alright I will give you that one Neil. |
Bronze Member Username: Ziggyping
PA
U.S.A
Post Number: 20
Registered: Nov-07
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| Posted on Sunday, February 24, 2008 - 01:25 pm: |
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I got a pair of Bose 401's and it was a great deal to me, they sound good. |
Bronze Member Username: Ziggyping
PA
U.S.A
Post Number: 21
Registered: Nov-07
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| Posted on Sunday, February 24, 2008 - 01:26 pm: |
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I got a pair of Bose 401's for $20.00. It was a good deal to me, they sound great. |
Bronze Member Username: Hondafanatic17
Thompsontown,
PA
USA
Post Number: 15
Registered: Dec-07
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| Posted on Sunday, February 24, 2008 - 02:32 pm: |
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Yeah Adam I know your 401's sound great cause those were the one's I was talking about. But half the people on here are right. Bose is expensive as hell. |
Gold Member Username: Frank_abela
Berkshire
UK
Post Number: 2746
Registered: Sep-04
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| Posted on Wednesday, February 27, 2008 - 07:41 am: |
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The limited dynamic range, poor contrast, low resolution, truly dreadful timing and useless treble of most (if not all) Bose speakers allied to their undoubted success in Marketing is one reason for the slow death of the HiFi industry. People buy Bose because they're told it's a quality product without the B&O price (another design over function exercise) so when they hear what they've got, they're happy with the arguably better sound of their MP3-cobbled iPods.
It's a dreadful situation and makes me despair for true fidelity from HiFi systems of the future.
(Blimey, I'm maudlin today...)
Regards,
Frank. |
Gold Member Username: Nickelbut10
Post Number: 1241
Registered: Jun-07
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| Posted on Wednesday, February 27, 2008 - 07:44 am: |
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U hit that one right on the head Frank.lol Couldn't have said it better myself. They truly are a disgrace to HiFi. |
Silver Member Username: James_the_god
Doncaster,
South Yorkshire
England
Post Number: 637
Registered: Jan-05
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| Posted on Friday, April 04, 2008 - 12:08 pm: |
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They're not hifi Nick!
I'd say Bose are in summary, quite very rubbish. So we can all agree here.
However I once heard some bose speakers placed on shelfs real high in a shop. They could have been the 201s or something that looked similiar. This was years back however (I thought they sounded alright because they grabbed my attention).
Would I buy some?
No!!
I also had to laugh at my friends cheapo speakers at university. He only bought them because hes from France, but the slogan on them is just the best..
"Great sound through research". Me: "ahahahaha". |
New member Username: Amitg
Post Number: 9
Registered: Apr-07
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| Posted on Wednesday, April 30, 2008 - 08:05 am: |
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Adam,
id agree with you - Bose are probably the best speakers in the $20 range! .....unfortunately most of their speakers are prices a bit higher than that!
Haven't yet heard a Bose speaker that i liked............... |
Bronze Member Username: Pcstockton
Post Number: 26
Registered: Apr-08
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| Posted on Wednesday, April 30, 2008 - 05:55 pm: |
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Good for casual music situations? Sure. Good for critical listening, not the best choice.
I had four 901s hooked to some Denon Monoblocks in a very large showroom. This system was only required to play FM radio. It did that. And the Four speakers filled the room with sound, as they should.
Sound quality? Not to be listened to with this in mind.... think good old car speakers.... Ability to play loud, and as well as 90% of the public wants.
Once again, they worked fine when nothing is asked of them but to play music. So if you want music, but dont really need or want to "hear" it, Bose will proabably fit the bill.
And 90% of the people who see them will say "ooooooo Bose... nice."
The remaining 10% will think "Didn't expect to see an audiophile speaker there anyway"
In the final analysis though... Would I buy anything made by Bose? Maybe the noise cancelling headphones or a clock radio. |
Platinum Member Username: Nuck
Post Number: 10146
Registered: Dec-04
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| Posted on Wednesday, April 30, 2008 - 05:59 pm: |
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A guy I know had a pair of 901's on a late model HK tube amp, 1968 or so.
They worked pretty ok, and the placement was no hard to get right. |
Bronze Member Username: Pcstockton
Post Number: 28
Registered: Apr-08
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| Posted on Wednesday, April 30, 2008 - 07:33 pm: |
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the original 901 stands were pretty sweet too. Probably the best Bose product ever. Come to think of it, they most likely didn't make them.... |
New member Username: Zorin
Post Number: 4
Registered: Apr-08
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| Posted on Thursday, May 01, 2008 - 06:36 am: |
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Yeah, I agree use to sell a lot of hi fi and everybody was asking for bose after they had adds on the radio for $100 trade allowance !!! The trade ins use to go in the dumster and some of them sounded better than the bose 501's they were buying !! what a laugh. Anyway if you want a set of sats that sound like decent boohshelf speakers check out Audio Pro from sweden, Allroom sats these make most satelite speakers sound like they got a blanket over them. |
Silver Member Username: Magfan
USA
Post Number: 194
Registered: Oct-07
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| Posted on Thursday, May 01, 2008 - 12:11 pm: |
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First time I heard Bose 901's was at a 'Pacific Stereo' in Whittier. The Amp?
A Carver designed Phase Linear 400.
The Sound? REALLY loud. |
New member Username: Lil_snotnosed_tommy
Ramsey,
IL
USA
Post Number: 1
Registered: May-08
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| Posted on Wednesday, May 14, 2008 - 10:42 am: |
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Bose Speakers...My "Take"
OK in a Cadillac Escalade or Mazda Millenia...I GUESS}
In a HOME?...Give me a BREAK.
My Fiancee was going on and on...ad nauseum...about her Bose Lifestyle (biggest waste of 1400.00 I've ever seen) music system with the "bigger" speakers and 6 CD changer...LOL
I had heard enough...My system's too big (see profile) to move so got on fleabay and bot a nice 1985 Kenwood KA-1100SD Integrated, a refurbed Denon CD (with Burr-Brown) and some lovely 1985 CanTON CT-1000 rockers...sweet. TOTAL COST: $650.00 FOR ALL OF IT!
Bottom line was her jaw dropped when I fired that system up, haven't heard too much about Bose lately (she still uses it, but now knows there is SO much better out there...Bose...yes, indeed the best marketing gimmick EVER...anyone wanna but a slightly used lifestyle system?...LOL} |
New member Username: Gt80rider
USA
Post Number: 1
Registered: May-08
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| Posted on Friday, May 30, 2008 - 04:56 pm: |
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and my take.....
some people Love them.... if they sound good to your ear, then buy them, love them, end of story...
but, i think the majority of critical listeners (those that actually go listen to live performances, and no, not My Chemical Romance, but the Boston Pops) try to get equipment that sounds Exactly like the real thing...
i've never heard a set of Bose that sounded like a live performance... the best i've ever heard was a 1970's set of 901's..... and they sounded "ok"..... but not as good as even extremely modest speakers from most true hi-fi companies.... i've heard perhaps a dozen sets of speakers under $300 that more accurately produce recorded music then the most uber set of Bose of any year.. |
Gold Member Username: Stu_pitt
Irvington,
New York
USA
Post Number: 2810
Registered: May-05
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| Posted on Friday, May 30, 2008 - 05:35 pm: |
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There's a Bose store in a mall that I shop at. While my wife is busy trying on clothes, shoes, and pocketbooks for what seem like hours on end, I like to go into the Bose store.
Its absloutely amazing how outright wrong the salesmen are. Whats even more amazing is how the public eats it all up in amazement before they even hear the speakers.
My favorite experience there was when I tried out their noise cancelling headphones. I was genuinely looking to give them a fair audition since I travel extensively with work. Think charter buses with 30 college athletes and movies going on.
They didn't sound that bad, music wise. I was pretty surprised. But they didn't cancel out any more sound than any other sealed headphones do IMO. They have a this rediculous demo video that you hear the audio through the headphones.
The salesman asked me what I thought and I told him I could hear everything going on in the store. He said "well then why didn't you respond when I was asking you qustions." I told him "I heard everything that cashier said to the other one." They were all the way across the store. He laughed sarcastically until I repeated their conversation verbatum. Keep in mind the headphones were about $300.
Then he told me that any quieter is dangerous and illegal. Dangerous if you're walking down the street, yes. Not if you're on a bus.
I asked how many db of sound cancellation was the legal cutoff point, and which law stated this. He walked away in embarassment.
If you want noise reduction, buy isolating headphones. I got a pair of Etymotic ER6i. I can't hear a single thing except music. |
Gold Member Username: Stu_pitt
Irvington,
New York
USA
Post Number: 2811
Registered: May-05
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| Posted on Friday, May 30, 2008 - 05:37 pm: |
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BTW, I know when its time to take off my headphones on the airplane when I see all the Bose heaphone people taking their's off. They can hear the beep and announcement just fine.
So many people on airplanes have those things. Its pretty sad. |
New member Username: Deltaforce
Post Number: 1
Registered: Jun-08
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| Posted on Thursday, June 12, 2008 - 07:03 am: |
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hello, my opinion about bose is: bose is good!!!
my best friend have a bose lifestyle system 30 or 20, and the sound is good, it´s powerfull, realistic, and loud. that´s my opinion, and my question is: Bose is good or not?? |
Gold Member Username: Petergalbraith
Canada
Post Number: 2178
Registered: Feb-04
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| Posted on Thursday, June 12, 2008 - 08:08 pm: |
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Why are you asking? You have already told us that they are good. Don't make us change your mind. |
Platinum Member Username: Nuck
Post Number: 10362
Registered: Dec-04
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| Posted on Thursday, June 12, 2008 - 09:16 pm: |
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That is a whole system, and Bose have their own way with electronics. Their speakers are bad. |
Gold Member Username: Gavdawg
Albany,
New York
Post Number: 1169
Registered: Nov-06
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| Posted on Thursday, June 12, 2008 - 11:38 pm: |
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I myself have the quietcomforts, and for the intended purpose they work well to combat the low drone of the jet turbine. And I do have to agree with stu that the sound is pretty good quality as well.
They do have the Bose rolled off highs, and I tend to prefer this in a headset for some reason. |
