What's the deal with Bose?

[ST-Rider]

I have a friend who swears by his Bose speakers (501 I think?).

I've never heard it...just curious what everyone's beef with Bose is (i.e., what's bad about it)?

[thuffman03]

IMO, they do not sound good at all.  I had a set of 901's and they really were not a good sounding speaker.

[Reverend]

You are paying for the name.  Whether it be a vintage speaker like the 501 or the new wave radio/home theater setup thing, it's both overpriced and over-hyped.  A quality speaker has quality parts from the drivers to the crossovers to the cabinets they sit in.  Bose has non of these things.  They use cheap paper drivers, generic Chinese crossovers and low quality cabinets.  They have done a tremendous job of marketing so that the name itself is the most recognizable in audio.  Same thing that has been going on lately with Beat's headphones and Monster has done over the past decade.

Most people don't know what good speakers sound like.  They have never been exposed to it.  They have only ever listened to their mini bookshelf system or an old boombox.  Don't forget that the small size is the big attraction as well.  Commercials promising life like sound coming from two 4" and a 6" bass speaker that probably cost a total of $20?  Not likely.  I will say that the 501's don't sound that bad in my opinion but for the same amount of money they are going for these days, you can get another vintage speaker that will sound much better.

[Sir Thrift-a-Lot]

IMHO they use electronic correction to work around poor mechanical design.   Plus, as I alluded to in the shout box, their marketing is such as to allow them to ask 20x what stuff is worth.

[OldiesButGoodies]

This is subjective. IMO, there were a couple of good designs though all were made using cheap components (not bad by itself, just an observation that relative to retail price they were manufactured w cheap ass parts).  The designs I liked included the 301s (owned three pairs, different generations) and the 501s (these were used in my high school senior year English music room with Pioneer HPM100s as comparison speakers in the same room, the Pioneers sounded better but not by much...).

So to wholesale declare them crap is unfair IMO.

Pepe

[Kingman]

So to wholesale declare them crap is unfair IMO.

I agree... Though I don't have them in a system now, I believe the original 901's with a sub reinforcement sound pretty good. A plus is that they will take plenty of power and present a huge soundstage.

[wkhanna]

Check out this article by Michael Fremer regarding the passing of the founder, Dr. Amar Bose.

http://www.analogplanet.com/content/dr-amar-bose-dead-83?page=1

[SunnyDaze]

About 10 minutes after that jackass died, I posted on facebook:

"Rest in Peace Dr. Amar Bose. It's now finally safe to properly criticize the substandard sound that is created by BOSE equipment without fear of a law suit."

[wkhanna]

My opinion is Bose was & is capable of producing products with respectable audio performance when they want to.

One would certainly be required to attest to the better than average performance of their headphones. Their noise cancelling aviation headsets are well respected. Nearly the same can be said of their OEM car stereo product. I currently own two automobiles factory equipped with OEM Bose audio systems, & have had a few previous to these. While I do not use them for listing to music (a practice reserved nearly exclusively for my main system & having nothing to do with the car stereo performance) I do not feel an upgrade would be required if I were to spend many hours a week utilizing the car audio systems for music.

But when it comes to speakers, home theater in a box (HTIB), radios & SeeDee players……..

….this apparently is a totally different market with its own V special philosophies for Bose.


The 901 was a golden egg for Bose. Back when I was in school (sometime around the Mesozoic Age) this speaker became so ubiquitous if you did not own a set, someone you knew did. Much of its high regard was derived from its ability to produce high SPL awash with tons of distortion from overstressed amplifiers while not continuously demolishing drivers & tweeters. Their inability to resolve any detail in the music - you could not tell the difference between an $80 CDp and an $8k CDp - did not seem to matter to most people. I wanted a pair. Everyone wanted a pair. Then I heard them & was never happier with my Large Advents.


What ever rep the early marketers were able to capitalize on, they managed to nurture & grow it beyond decades & now generations into the ‘giant bean stalk’ it is today. Some say it is the way of free market economics. Some say 'Caveat Emptor’, it is the consumer’s responsibility. Some say it is value related. Some say “a charlatan for the ages”.


I simply find it curious that a company who is capable of offering good quality & good value in one sector of the market can not, or will not, in another sector of the V same market.

 

[Finleyville]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCBe7-6rw4M

Very funny stuff.