Series ones an all that I knew of used a smile on a GEQ. They had no bass, they had no highs. They could sound real good if you measured and did exactly what Bose said to do. The room sizes were recommended and the placement. IF you thought you knew better you didn't. LOL
THEN point source speakers became all the rage. EASY to place in comparison and had lows and highs in a floor standing speaker without the silly stand.. Infinity, Polk, VMPS.
Horn guys? well, they are horn guys. What can I say. I like um. :-) Horn guys are weird, so am I. So what.
Bose is still selling the crap out of STUFF..
They use to plug those thing into a 110-120 AC socket a leave them there as a demo. Unplug and plug them in.. Never hurt a Series I. Tough is not the word for it..