A Thank You Note to Bose Bashers

[lokerola]

The biggest contributor to my anti-Bose sentiment was their marketing strategy. The audio retailer I was with the longest, 17 years, carried Bose on and off mayby six times during that period.

For retailers, the deal was, manditory segregation of Bose speakers from other brands and display area had to comply to their stipulated size and be visibly prominent. Under no circumstances were Bose speakers to be displayed with or nearby non-Bose speakers.

The reason for this was plainly obvious.

It was my experience that the OP is correct about Asians being most accepting of the brand. My locale has a large Chinese population and those of that origin were the only purchasers of Bose that I was aware of. My one and only Bose sale during my tenure with that company was a pair of 901's to a Chinese (coincidental I think) fellow who just bought an "open concept" condo. No real spot for conventional speakers so they had to be hung from the ceiling.

One of my co-workers, himself Chinese, won a pair of 901's via a sales contest. He never bothered opening the boxes, just gave them to his brother.

Devoting display area to Bose speakers was a waste of space considering how poorly they sold. One location actually had a "Bose Room" which was turned into an office for me when I transferred there to handle insurance claims.

The fact that Bose opened their own store(s) was proof positive that they realized the only way to not invite comparison was for there to be nothing nearby to compare them to.

I don't think Bose Stores lasted long because they were in "high rent" districts and profit from sales could not justify their presence.

I strongly suspect that The Shopping Channel then internet sales of The Wave Radio saved their bacon.

Funny enough, I have a Bose Wave in my bedroom. Love the sound out of that little thing. Perfect for some mellow tunes before bed.

 

[Roadrash]

Funny enough, I have a Bose Wave in my bedroom. Love the sound out of that little thing. Perfect for some mellow tunes before bed.

If you accept the wave radio for what it really is, it's a pretty impressive piece. We have one that has seen deck duty, and been used in the bedroom for mood music for 13 years. The only issue has been the occasional CD player malfunction, which has always been easy enough to remedy. I think we've gotten our money's worth out of it.

 

[Justgotohm]

Wow, just read all ten pages. What struck me the most was how posters misunderstood the OP’s comment on rusty Porsche’s. He said that in relation to the thank you for bashing Bose to drive the prices down so he could have one. As in, he likes them, so call them rust buckets, haha. So funny how a few wanted to defend their cars, totally unnecessary. If Bose blew speakers as often as doctors loose control of rear engine Porsche’s they would have been out of business along time ago.
I was literally just having a conversation with a few friends that also happen to like to listen to music
and appreciate the equipment to do so about,
Bose
RCA’s
Speaker cable
Burning in capacitors
Burning in wire
Expensive crossover components
Klipsch Heresy’s
Tube gear
Solid State gear
Electrostatic speakers
Power cords
Fullrange drivers
Isolation
Active crossovers
Using an EQ
Horns
Receivers
Separates
Room treatment
Magic wooden blocks
As we were slapping each other around we all stopped and laughed and laughed at ourselves for acting like elitist boobs. So ironic, I actually sent this link to them.

 

[Ramseybella]

Bose Speakers?
Even a broken clock is right twice a day.
IF i had no speakers to listen with, i wouldn't kick them out of bed for eating crackers..
But what could one say about Bang and Olufsen equipment?
Some of the worst resale value systems were B&O, the TT's as cool and decent as they are resale value is the dog, still is today.
Most i found had some sort of issue that would cost more to fix than it was worth.

It's all Hipster aesthetics in the end..

 

[BilboBaggins]

I think Bose is no different from anyone else, except they have been more successful than all the others at what they do. They created a signature sound using reflections and have run with it. My first Bose speakers were 8.2s. I bought them new in 1987. Always regretted not going for the 10.2s, but didn’t have the extra funds. They were great in a few houses and so so in others. Placement is crucial!

Since then, I’ve had 901 series 2, 901 series 3 (very good), and two different versions of 301s, acoustimas, and I have a Bluetooth. The Bluetooth is for the deck, and traveling, and works very well for both. I liked my brothers when we went camping. It had good volume and loudness compared to others I’ve tried.

I also have two 1801s and one 4401. The Kef’s and the Tangents have better highs than the Bose, so they stayed.

 

[bruhl001]

I think Bose is no different from anyone else, except they have been more successful than all the others at what they do. They created a signature sound using reflections and have run with it. My first Bose speakers were 8.2s. I bought them new in 1987. Always regretted not going for the 10.2s, but didn’t have the extra funds. They were great in a few houses and so so in others. Placement is crucial!

Since then, I’ve had 901 series 2, 901 series 3 (very good), and two different versions of 301s, acoustimas, and I have a Bluetooth. The Bluetooth is for the deck, and traveling, and works very well for both. I liked my brothers when we went camping. It had good volume and loudness compared to others I’ve tried.

I also have two 1801s and one 4401. The Kef’s and the Tangents have better highs than the Bose, so they stayed.

View attachment 1333770

Looking everywhere for the 1801 @ reasonable price....keep me in mind if you ever want to move on.....Love your setup.

 

[Ramseybella]

I use a Bose Companion 3 Series II multimedia speaker system for my media player in the bedroom.
It does a decent job IMO, better than the Sound Dock but i can put a BlueTooth receiver adapter on the sound dock.

 

[BilboBaggins]

Looking everywhere for the 1801 @ reasonable price....keep me in mind if you ever want to move on.....Love your setup.

They sound phenomenal with the Kef and Tangents. I did an experiment a couple of years ago, and lugged my McIntosh MC2205 down into the music room to see how the Kef’s sounded with it compared to the 1801s. The 1801s are much better with the Kef! One 1801 has had all the safety mods done, as well as the main caps, a new power cord, and output rca’s replaced the 1/4 inch jacks. As well, fuses were put on the channel 1 outputs. The other was fully modded and restored with a speaker protection unit installed inside. The 4401 was also fully restored. The threads for both are on here.

I may let them go when it’s time to go into a seniors home.

 

[BilboBaggins]

I also wanted to mention that I don’t find that AK has many Bose bashes. We’re a pretty good group overall with minimal exceptions. There are some very respected members who are quick to defend Bose. I just show a picture of my 88 lbs amps with the 2 KW transformers and all is good. Funny thing is I loved the look of them, and once I got them repaired, I’ve been really impressed with the sound they produce. They were my second choice below the greenish blue eyed beauty of McIntosh, and I never expected I would ever have a Mc. Now I have both!

 

[Route 66]

...If you could start a new campaign to convince people that the Porsche 911 is an over priced German trash can I would be even more grateful.

Love that line!

 

[Justgotohm]

I think Bose is no different from anyone else, except they have been more successful than all the others at what they do. They created a signature sound using reflections and have run with it. My first Bose speakers were 8.2s. I bought them new in 1987. Always regretted not going for the 10.2s, but didn’t have the extra funds. They were great in a few houses and so so in others. Placement is crucial!

Since then, I’ve had 901 series 2, 901 series 3 (very good), and two different versions of 301s, acoustimas, and I have a Bluetooth. The Bluetooth is for the deck, and traveling, and works very well for both. I liked my brothers when we went camping. It had good volume and loudness compared to others I’ve tried.

I also have two 1801s and one 4401. The Kef’s and the Tangents have better highs than the Bose, so they stayed.

View attachment 1333770

Wow that’s a sturdy stand, I know there’s 182lbs of just amps on that thing.
As of today I have some 601 2’s, original 501’s, 901 5’s, all needing the full meal deal to be passed on to end users. I use an Accoustimas 10-5 for movies only, it does exactly what it is supposed to, be invisible, work well enough to be exciting.

 

[BilboBaggins]

Wow that’s a sturdy stand, I know there’s 182lbs of just amps on that thing.
As of today I have some 601 2’s, original 501’s, 901 5’s, all needing the full meal deal to be passed on to end users. I use an Accoustimas 10-5 for movies only, it does exactly what it is supposed to, be invisible, work well enough to be exciting.

I just noticed there seems to be some sag in the middle. I may need to replace the stand soon. Once I find another one with wheels.

 

[quiet]

A set of wheels in the middle would do it good.

 

[Ramseybella]

I think Bose is no different from anyone else, except they have been more successful than all the others at what they do. They created a signature sound using reflections and have run with it. My first Bose speakers were 8.2s. I bought them new in 1987. Always regretted not going for the 10.2s, but didn’t have the extra funds. They were great in a few houses and so so in others. Placement is crucial!

Since then, I’ve had 901 series 2, 901 series 3 (very good), and two different versions of 301s, acoustimas, and I have a Bluetooth. The Bluetooth is for the deck, and traveling, and works very well for both. I liked my brothers when we went camping. It had good volume and loudness compared to others I’ve tried.

I also have two 1801s and one 4401. The Kef’s and the Tangents have better highs than the Bose, so they stayed.

View attachment 1333770

Are you planning on doing some Cuban or Panini sandwiches between those TT's and the amps?
Got to be awfully hot under those turn tables..

 

[BilboBaggins]

Not at all. The amp has two huge heat sinks completely down the sides and partway across the back. It never gets more than warm if I’m not driving it hard. There are no vents in the case. Helps keep the dust out.

 

[Sam08861]

When I used to fly light aircraft in the early 90s, all the prop pilots wanted the Bose Noise cancelling pilot headsets, and on occasion, I'd spy a commercial pilot at an airport the with carrying case. (huge white Bose logo)

The were like 5x the cost of a set of regular David Clark headsets as I recall.

 

[CarlQB]

My airline now provides Bose ANR headsets to all its 1700+ pilots.
I've been using them for over 20 years now (initially Bose X, now A20).
Having tried most ANR headsets models (Lightspeed, David Clark, Telex, Sennheiser, you name it) the Bose A20 is the best in comfort and ANR performance, closely followed by LightSpeed.
Costs more than a DC, but how much is your hearing worth?
If it wasn't for ANR I'd deaf by now. 23K hours of turboprop.

 

[Tom Brennan]

I never heard a Bose that made me want to leave the room as some proper audiophile speakers have. The sins of a Bose are those of omission rather than of commission; venial sins rather than mortal as Sister Mary Rosary would've said.

 

[FluxT]

I wish car people talked about air-cooled Porsches the way audiophiles talk about Bose. Then I’d be able to afford one…

 

[MaxP]

It has always been my impression that those who squawk the loudest against 901s (not to mention other Bose offerings) often have no real experience with them and have taken all of the negativity they’ve read on the internet as gospel. I have a few sets of Bose speakers that perform pretty well to include 301 IIs, 401s, and a recently acquired pair of 901 IIIs. I don’t have the proper space for the 901s - yet - so I will not pass judgment until I can set them up properly. That’s the only credible way of passing judgment IMHO.