I’ve heard quite a few audiophile speakers that used expensive drivers in ways that...well, didn’t suit my taste. Quite a few speakers using Focal tweeters made me feel like that guy in the movie Seven Beauties who went to “better @@%%@!. Say what you want about Bose but a Bose speaker never made me want to leave the room.
Thank You guys so much for these. It made my day. Thank You Thank You Thank You!
”I had a pair of 901vI hanging from the ceiling and a realistic receiver driving them and I was set, happy as I could be. My neighbor turned me on to real hifi and I was miserable for 30 years.”. —-> so funny and spot on!
“I put together a nice system for a friend and it got stolen. He replaced it with a Bose system; We are now no longer friends”. —-> If this is true, good for you! There’s plenty of people out there who would appreciate a friend like you. If your ex friend did that, there’s no telling what he could have done in the future!
I personally can appreciate any audio. Bose is cool because it brings music to a lot of people, period. Another cool thing about bose is that it probably introduces many people into actual high end systems.
I think bose can make some decent sounding products through design, Thier drivers for the most part are as cheap as they come but by using unique enclosures and designs, they are able to produce something decent. It would actually be cool to see what bose could make if they used high quality parts.
Lastly, I have fond memories driving my Moms 1993 Acura Legend listening to the Bose system. I was about 13 years old and Mom would let me drive while she was in the car. We’d listen to Yanni on cassette. I still have a soft spot for Acura Legends, Yanni and Bose.
@b_limo had a 1988 Acura legend with stick in the early 2000s. What a car. It felt like a souped up Accord. About a 1,000 times better than my current ride - a base model Nissan Juke that's highly praised for its "unique" styling in the auto industry.
I always loved the 901 design. In fact I lusted after Gale 401 speakers from UK, which were similar size and sat on pedestals of sorts. Thinking about 901s speaker layout. Using the same size drivers reminds me of modern line source speakers, where the drivers barely move (although they are stacked vertically), but provide a coherent sound. MAYBE turning the 901s to face the listener, and quite possibly a new XO could turn them into something special. Anybody tried this? It would be an interesting thread
just an owner of Bose who enjoys the sound. Lets get off the bandwagon of I am an audiophile and you are not because I do or dint own bose. On the cheap driver issue how do they achieve decent bass on the 301s I have in rotation? and a very simple Cab....
I enjoy the sound of my Alexa while cooking — doesn’t make it a good speaker. The answer to your question about bass is that you don’t actually know what decent bass sounds like. In addition, their cheap-ass drivers probably don’t produce much over 10kHz, which is why bad recordings sound acceptable or at least non-offensive with poorly-recorded music, just like my Alexa. Ignorance is bliss, so just keep burying your head in the sand and think you’re hearing good sound. And don’t EVER go to a high-end dealer because you’ll finally hear everything you’re missing and will feel like an idiot. Go Bose!!! BTW, the ATC midrange dome drivers cost about $750 each. If you think a 5 cent Bose driver has any business being in the same room with that you’re insane. The ATC mid driver alone probably weighs almost as much as your shite 301s. Reddit’s more the place for you dude — those are your peeps. Just sayin’.
They are 100% focused on achieving sales results by crafting the cheapest possible product consumers will spend a lot of money on
I would just add that they prey on largely ignorant consumers and what they will accept as “good” sound. Then you see their crap in cars and on the football field, and there ya go. Pure marketing and deception of the American public, and it works because the real high-end manufacturers, sadly, don’t have the marketing dollars because they sink their $$$ into R&D to produce a quality product instead of marketing to produce crap that the general public now thinks is “good” audio. I give them credit for maximizing marketing, but I hate them because through that marketing they pollute and degrade the general public’s idea of what is actually good sound reproduction. Again I say, Bose is better at cancelling sound rather than reproducing it.
Pure marketing and deception of the American public,
There is no deception. The Bose standard is what it is. Where is the deception?
From a value proposition, Bose carefully tests what consumers like to hear, and crafts products that match that. They make it look slick, like Apple does, and charges out the nose. That is pure product development science.
I guess I don’t understand something. (Actually,I don’t understand a lot of things, but that’s another topic) I don’t recall the OP coming out and announcing that Bose is better than Wilson,or any other brand. He likes the sound. Okay. Fair enough. While they not be some folks cup of tea,is there any product out there that is universally liked,with not one criticism? I guess I’ve learned in life to pick my battles wisely. The kind of gear someone likes or dislikes is not going to be something I’m going to battle over.
Bose did it's research and created exactly what the consumer market wanted, a little loudspeaker that sounded like a big one. They sold like hot cakes in spite of being pretty bad from an audiophile perspective. Such is the power of the Female, the type that our soon to be supreme justice can't explain.
@grislybutter, You are correct. She was asked to define a women. In this day and century a woman does not have to be a female although most of the women who are not females wish they were. I'm sure the soon to be supreme justice was not either a biology or psyc major.
Bose did it’s research and created exactly what the consumer market wanted, a little loudspeaker that sounded like a big one.
@mijostynI completely agree, but it doesn’t sound like a good speaker and people are being led to believe, through pure marketing, that it’s actually good hifi. That’s the problem, along with charging relatively high prices while using absurdly cheap components. It’s purely a marketing/lifestyle product company that falsely portrays itself as high-end audio that deceives general public into believing they’re buying audiophile-level products
And, just to educate the OP, ATC’s mid drivers cost about $750 each and probably weigh about 100x what the typical crap Bose driver weighs. Bose is a 4-letter word in high-end audio for a reason.
Bose speakers are great for the true quality speaker companies who now offer inexpensive excellent sounding products & make them look & sound like what they are - mass marketed junk. Elac, PSB, Paradigm, Polk & many others all make great sounding speakers for under $1000 that put to shame any Bose speaker.
No cheap single driver can possibly cover the full frequency range of music & Play at realistic volume levels no matter how much its artificially equalized. There are some very expensive that sort of do at moderate levels.
The 901's in their heydays of the 1970's were fun because they could play loud, had a large if very indistinct sound stage & didn't dominate a room's decor but did nothing to keep me involved & wanting to listen more. That to me is the ultimate test for any piece of audio equipment.
My wife and I get an AirBNB in Carmel every year...same place.
It has a humble Bose stereo with a collection of CDs to choose from. Very charming. Obviously no consideration for acoustics in the octagonal living room the stereo resides in.
But the system sounds good enough that occasionally I take notice.
I think the lack of crossovers and the band pass subwoofer (also no crossover) create a very phase coherent presentation.
They don’t create issues they need to overcome. It’s smart. And good enough for most average folks.
We live in a different world where the potential to get better sound is always a priority.
I had a 1999 Corvette that had Bose power speakers. The head unit was a standard GM/Delco with CD. For that small of a space, the system sounded great and would crank up quite a bit. However, it sounded nothing compared to the Harmon kardon system that was in my Saab 9-5.
Says he cant take it.....he cant play a Classic Rock song for beans... Stand up and the speakers are horrible.....people over to listen off axis just doesnt get it....
Then the Bose guy who plays all genres and loves them including his or her company.
Overpriced? Really? At the end of the day I believe not.
So you defend Bose by saying people don’t place them optimally and the room hasn’t been set up right. Then your buddy’s 20k system sounded like crap but you didn’t "help him extract" everything that could be gotten? Didn’t you claim to have this talent? Under optimal for either system the Bose will fall flat against buddy’s Martin Logan’s.
b_limo,
I'm still trying to understand what your mother was thinking when she allowed you to drive at 13 years old.
@roxy54Funny! My first concern was that she was having him listen to Yanni!
I agree with the poster who stated that what Bose does is introduce them to better sound which may be their springboard for actual hi-fi. It is what happened to me. Think about it. We make mass market out to be a bad thing when what it actually does is allow more people to be introduced to something better, not only in audio. If we were only able to have one or two versions of a product, we would never know any better. For many of us our journey might have started with a transistor radio. When I heard my uncles 901s for the first time I was over the moon. I had no other reference to judge them by. As long as someone is unable to hear better in person there will not be much need to improve on "the best". This is one of the downfalls of brick and mortars decline; it becomes harder and harder to hear anything different.
@roxy54don't live in a bubble! There are plenty of places where it would be perfectly safe to let a 13 y/o or younger drive. I grew up on dairies and rural areas and learned to drive much earlier. Was earning a paycheck driving farm trucks and tractors at 13.
The recent incident in Texas is awful, I am so sad for those families effected but that was a case of poor judgement and faulty equipment.
Like everything in a category bows serves a niche audience. Do they sound great no. Can they sound good yes. I have owned two pair of 301’s, a pair of 691’s, and 901’s. Currently using 301’s in surround fronts. 901’s should go down as the best party speaker ever. Hung from the ceiling and powered by a Sansui 9090 receiver you could fill a large room with music. With the alcohol flowing the audience was rocking. I still own my 901’s they hang in my garage. One day for kicks I put them in my reference system (Vandersteen sig II) and did they sound bad. I was kinda shocked at how bad they were. I even changed them out with the 301’s and they even sounded better. I still enjoyed the 901’s back in the day and if people can get them set up right snd enjoy them so be it. Enjoy the music any way you can!
Bose makes (I should say made) nice speakers.....in their Wave clock radio which I have. Too bad they don't make them any more.
IMHO when an audio manufacturer licenses their name to car companies for their audio systems, that is their announcement to the world that they couldn't care less about their reputation in high end audio any more. Then they demonstrate that with future products.
Why are we talking about Bose anyway? Does any self respecting high end audio store sell them? I seriously doubt it. None in my area do.
a sort-of "backing into it" user of bose equipment- one is a lifestyle 30, fine for movies but for music, the best that could be said about it is that it makes bad recordings sound generally listenable, just don’t try to listen to any vocal music in surround sound, the surrounds drown out the vocals. an Acoustic Wave Music System, the best that could be said about that is it gets plenty loud, but the bass is underwhelming. a wave radio, it has better bass [!] than the Acoustic wave but doesn’t play half as loudly. it is easier on the ears, however, mellower. a cinemate SR 1 soundbar that manages the neat trick of wall-to-wall sound [but no depth] and of locking instrumental positions in place no matter where one sits or stands in the room, very rare feat. mellow/neutral tone quality even with crappy recordings, never harsh. it is the closest to a "wall of sound" even if it is virtual. a bose tv speaker, does its job of improving upon the crap speakers in typical panel tv sets, surprisingly neutral tonal balance and usably full bass down to about 50 cycles, drops off like a stone below that point. amazing for its tiny size. won’t get too loud, though, best used in bedroom-sized spaces. a set of bose NC headphones, use ’em for mowing the lawn. their sound quality is mediocre at best, veiled and non-musical in general. prolly the best of them all was the cinemate SR1, overall.
I am well aware that underage driving exists in rural farm areas, but it is totally inappropriate in urban and suburban areas, and there is no excuse for it, period. The example that you gave of the recent tragedy is a perfect illustration of that,
@roxy54, Times were a bit different 32 years ago! Im sure kids drive trucks, tractors and 4 wheelers all the time on farms still today. My nephew flew a plane his first time at 13 and will have his pilots license when he graduates college at age 21.
I've been a big fan of Bose for damn near 40 years! 601 Series II, loved them and wish I still had them. 301 Series II was the first pair of speakers I bought after joining the Air Force. I still remember how nervous I felt spending that kind of money on speakers! I think it was $350 or so back about '84. Loved them, as well.
My First Seargeant had a pair of 501s at his house. Really enjoyed the sound of those, too.
I've owned the 901 Series VI on three occasions. Gave the first pair (along with my 301s) to my brother before one of my moves, sold the second pair when I was downsizing my gear and ended up purchasing my third pair about three years back.
The 901s driven by an Aleph 3 and Rogue 66 preamp offered THE best sounding acoustic piano sound I've ever heard in my room when I had that system in that apartment! I like having the Bose around and used them whenever the anal audiophile in me would rear its ugly head!
You know, the one who moves the speakers by increments of 1/4" many times a day over many days and is never satisfied? I get fed up and would throw the Bose in and they sounded really good no matter where I placed them.
I think every audiophile should get off their high horse and own a pair for such occasions or for when they just want to relax and enjoy some tunes without thinking and analyzing so much.
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