Bose loudspeakers and double blind tests

[David_NC]

Separately, when I was in grade school spending $200 of very hard earned lawn-mowing money on speakers, after very extended listening back and forth in the store, I chose Bose 301's over Advents (which were "the' speaker back then). After I brought them home, I brought by brother's Advents into my bedroom, and ended up preferring the Advents all around in my home environment -- but it was close. Although I preferred the 301's for jazz, I ended up exchanging them for Advents. I still think fondly of the 301's, though I haven't heard 301's in 45+ years. Most of Bose's "traditional design" speakers are pretty good. I think the 601's in particular are quite highly regarded, though I've never heard a pair.

My first 'real' speakers were 301 Series 1's used with an SX-780. I was in highschool at the time, and we spent many hours listening to that system. I lost them in a divorce; it was them or the bigger Morels, so they were easy to let go of.

 

[Eagle_1]

My first experience with Bose 901’s was when I was in the Army and stationed in Germany. One of the guys in the barracks had a pair and at the time I remember them being the loudest clearest speakers I had ever heard. As I recall there wasn’t a lot of base in them, but at the time the 80’s rock music we were listening to didn’t have a lot of bass either. I have to say honestly I was impressed by them.

 

[HB3]

My experience too. I was stationed at Kadena AB, Okinawa. In the barracks you could listen to all kinds of equipment. I was going to get a pair of AR 3A's but the guy down the hall had 901's and that changed my mind. They aren't for everyone, but they were for me.

 

[clang444]

I was stationed in Bamburg, W Germany in the 80s. A buddy bought 901s and I got to listen to them quite a bit. I thought they made his system sound like a really good AM radio and did not care for them, but he loved them. When the time came for me to buy a pair of speakers, I wound up with JBL 4312a monitors. It just comes down to different preferences for different people..

 

[bob412]

How could there be a double blind test for picking the best sounding speaker?

And what are "golden eared audiophiles"? Would that just be people with different preferences than your own as regards sound quality?

No the golden eared audiophiles are simply people with deeeeeeeeeeeeep pockets to splurge on cost no object high end audio . Like my former employer , owner of a 14k rig trucking establishment . I used to hear how other employees would carry on about how expensive and great the system was . I finally got a chance to see it , turns out it was actually the Infinity IRS V column system . Never got a chance to hear it . That was years ago . Trust me , there's no such thing as a golden eared audiophile in my book . Your ears are no better than Bose fans . With Bose fans it's convenience and preference .

 

[bob412]

I am completely unaware of any critical listening tests with Bose speakers. The closest I am aware of are the Consumer Reports tests where nobody even listened to any speakers by some point, relying on measurements instead. This was after Bose sued them for not being impressed.

Bose was never marketed to the audiopile community. Their distribution network was mostly big box and appliance stores. Radio Shack used to have a chain of mall electronic stores called Video Concepts. At one point, Bose actually paid them to put up a separate display to prevent any comparisons from happening. At one store, the department manager ran a pair of wires over to allow direct comparisons. The Bose rep would disconnect it, and the cycle continued.

Most of these stories are urban legend. They are what they are. You aren't going to get "magic" out of a rudimentary design with cut rate components. You will find people refer to them as "pleasant for background music or the garage".

When Bose came to my home town promoting their acoustic wave and acoustimass speaker systems during the 1990's they would have on hand user & pro reviews of the promoted systems . I never read about the reviews in a stereo equipment magazine but I do remember that the Bose 901 and acoustiwave music system were reviewed in the UK via double blind testing . That was way back during the mid 90's .

 

[Nat]

I think that there actually are more careful and aware listeners, who are sensitive to nuances that others might hear but not pay attention to - actually knowing what instruments and orchestras sound like is part of it. Golden eared has a pejorative taint - accusations of elitism hover around it, but probably shouldn't.
There are better drivers out than I am, and they tend to enjoy driving and good automotive equipment more than I do, and think it is worth paying for. For me, cars are transportation, but I don't condemn people for whom driving is a passion, and I don't ridicule people who buy Porsches or whatever - I save my bile for careless, reckless, bad drivers, and there are plenty of them to take up my energy.
But I do wonder why is it okay to spend over a hundred thousand dollars on a car but not a stereo system, and why dumping on people who choose to spend their money in the way they want is so common - be they golden ears or Bose lovers.
To return to Bose - I can understand someone who wants the large spacious sound you get in a symphony hall or a concert hall thinking that Bose gets more of that than standard stereos. But I also understand people who hear the 'spaciousness' afforded by the reflected sound and can't get past both the small scale of the reflected sound - tens of feet rather than hundreds - and its interaction with whatever room acoustics were in the recording, and the blurring of transients and the mush of the high end that is the result of many not quite full range drivers being equallized into flattish response.
I have friends who absolutely love the Bose sound - and more power to them - but it doesn't excite me.

 

[E-Stat]

No the golden eared audiophiles are simply people with deeeeeeeeeeeeep pockets to splurge on cost no object high end audio .

Please return to posts #51 and #58 as you've yet to provide any evidence of your initial claim.

 

[hopeless]

When Bose came to my home town promoting their acoustic wave and acoustimass speaker systems during the 1990's they would have on hand user & pro reviews of the promoted systems . I never read about the reviews in a stereo equipment magazine but I do remember that the Bose 901 and acoustiwave music system were reviewed in the UK via double blind testing . That was way back during the mid 90's .

I was pretty well versed in Bose's universe back then. I knew the product inside and out, I knew their demo tricks, and their little presentations. They would not have had any interest in a double blind test, but some magazine certainly could have done it. I'm only familiar with the British hifi mags, and I'm pretty certain they wouldn't be interested.
Bose has never been taken seriously by the hifi industry. They never intended to be. They wanted everyone else. It doesn't take "golden ears" to figure out that the product isn't going to perform. It's not designed to. The marketing thing is targeting the "unwashed". Non-audio people who expect others to be impressed by their choice. Pretty much the "Grey Poupon" scheme.

 

[JoeESP9]

No the golden eared audiophiles are simply people with deeeeeeeeeeeeep pockets to splurge on cost no object high end audio . Like my former employer , owner of a 14k rig trucking establishment . I used to hear how other employees would carry on about how expensive and great the system was . I finally got a chance to see it , turns out it was actually the Infinity IRS V column system . Never got a chance to hear it . That was years ago . Trust me , there's no such thing as a golden eared audiophile in my book . Your ears are no better than Bose fans . With Bose fans it's convenience and preference .

Even back then IRS V's cost way more than $14K. They were roughly $60K when new.

 

[peterp1]

I remember reading about golden eared audiophiles ....

In many decades in audio, since grade school, I've never met anyone who thought they had golden ears or claimed to have golden ears. When you spend an entire lifetime experimenting constantly, as many lifelong audio enthusiasts have, you figure out what works and what doesn't -- and, even after decades, you're constantly learning as long as you keep experimenting yourself and keep an open mind about considering the experiences of others who have led parallel lives trying to find the best sound. Golden ears have nothing to do with it, hard work combined with an open mind and a genuine passion to find the best sound is what gets you closer to the goal line.

 

[kirk57]

Trust me

It would help if you actually provided any evidence that Bose speakers fare well in double blind tests.

 

[E-Stat]

Even back then IRS V's cost way more than $14K. They were roughly $60K when new.

When I first heard the original model at Sea Cliff in 1980 wedged into what became Room #2, they were merely $20k.

 

[Eagle_1]

I wouldn’t suggest that ALL Bose speakers don’t perform well.

 

[JoeESP9]

When I first heard the original model at Sea Cliff in 1980 wedged into what became Room #2, they were merely $20k.

I remember when Stereophile reviewed the first Wilson WAMM's.

They were $32K in 1981.
That's Dave Wilson's wife in the picture.

I heard the IRS-V's and the Apogee Grands the same day. I accompanied a buddy to Baltimore who was buying a used pair of MG-3.6's. The seller had the Infinities and a friend of his had the Apogee's.

That quick trip to pick up the Maggie's turned into an unexpected pleasure. We ended up spending the entire day and part of the night listening to those two systems. What "audiophile" in their right mind would pass up a chance to hear both?

AFAIK: The last price for new IRS-V's was just north of $65K.

 

[hopeless]

I wouldn’t suggest that ALL Bose speakers don’t perform well.

Depends on your expectations. They were never designed to be hifi speakers. They were meant to placate the masses. Nothing wrong with that.

 

[doctorolds]

Damn, Bose speakers are what they are!
There are worse speakers and there better speakers. I tell people who own them that I'm glad that they enjoy them, but if they ever compared them side by side to a pair of regular decent speakers they would likely change there mind?

It's all about enjoying the music, no matter what you use to do it!

 

[Eagle_1]

I recently picked up a pair of 501’s that I’m refinishing the cabinets. The more I learn about them the better I like them.
People hate what they don’t understand.

Quote Mark C.
“The 501 had a special place with Dr. Bose. I had an interesting afternoon with him in the mid-80s over that one.”

But if Bose wasn’t designed to be Hifi-speakers, why did they market them as such?
I’m not trying to argue, I’m just trying to understand?

 

[doctorolds]

Nothing to really understand or argue about other then the statements in my post above, it's just my opinion.

I had a pair of 501's that I restored, long gone.

Would you market a product that you developed as mediocre?

 

[Eagle_1]

No I wouldn’t.
And I suppose Bose didn’t either.

From the internet;
According to the company annual report for the 2021 financial year, Bose Corporation's annual sales were $3.2 billion, and the company employed approximately 7,000 people.