Omar Bose...

I hear a wave radio every day. best way to make a decent recording sound flat. I watch the non audio folks rave about how good it is but I note that they dont until they see bose on the front. Best marketing folks in the business.

Audio pioneer who brought better sound to many. Innovative products that have been copied my many and a target to slam by some.

Many, many years ago the 901's took me to another level and wetted by appetite for different and better for the decades to come.

RIP Mr. Bose...Thanks for contributing to the joy of listening to music.

Paulsax, Too bad high end audio manufacturers don't know how to market their products. They continue to advertise in the same old magazines with declining subscriptions. Not only are the subscriptions declining, but they have also disappeared from the magazine racks as well. You forgot to mention price. Bose has managed to keep their products affordable, unlike high end audio manufacturers. The Bose 901 is their most expensive product with a retail price of $1400 including speakers, stands and dedicated equalizer. I recall my brother stopping by to hear my Dunlavy speakers with Audio Research electronics. He liked the sound, but he was not willing to take out a second mortgage to buy a high end stereo system.

But what this really boils down to is taste or is it? There are many high end companies and either you like their products or you don't. Nobody likes all high end products. Some are warmer sounding and others are cooler sounding. Some have better bass and others are more open. So, what is it about Bose? It's more than just the sound. It's like some entity has created a hatred for Bose by starting rumors. An entity that feels threatened by a company that can actually produce their product at a reasonable price and sell it for a profit. Maybe it is even deeper than that. Maybe it is national/ethnic or maybe it is religious. This is something we may never know, but from what I have seen this is much deeper than just a matter of taste in an audio product. Why else would Michael Fremer take it upon himself to bash a successful man at the time of his death and make an all out effort to degrade a successful company. Does Michael represent a specific group of people? Who knows?

Rrog,

I've often wondered about the Bose "haters". Why so polarized? It was enough of a phenomena that my curiosity got the better of me so I worked up a few profiles of the haters.

You have the ones that have to get a deal on everything. They hate Bose because they can't get a deal on their products. Bose is very firm on their prices. Evidently the haters are not smart enough to figure out that Bose could "list" the price higher then "let" someone grind them down to to what Bose would have sold it for in the first place...all so the customer can feel like he got a deal which then makes him feel more like a man (instead of the idiot he is).

Then you have the snobs. Their equipment is so much better than Bose and it just kills them when someone is just as happy with their Bose Wave Radio (and probably more so) than they would be with the "snobs" TOTL Best Buy components or whatever brand of audiophile components the snob has decided is best. They don't get it that some people just don't want a mess of equipment and wires cluttering up the house and/or don't care about if they can tell if the guitarist is using nylon, gut or steel strings. They just enjoy the song he's playing.

Another group is what I would call the "Tommy's" (as in the Rock Opera by The Who). It's these peoples way or no way. They have seen the light and it is ________ (fill in the blank). At least in The Who's story, after the revolt, it showed that the "deaf, dumb and blind" way doesn't work for everybody. I have hope for the Tommys of the world.

Well, that's a couple profiles and I'm sure there are more, with, maybe, roots tracing back to insecurity and inferiority.

It's fine to have opinions, I just wonder why someone would waste their life opining about all the things they hate. Seem like a waste to me.

Here's a couple of my opinions:

Rrog, you have a very nice system...Audio Research and Dunlavys. Mine is a little different... Conrad Johnson ART preamp, Pass XA100.5 monos and some customized Magnepan 3.6's but I'm sure I would enjoy listening to yours a lot.

To Bose Wave Radio owners....Excellent choice. My wife and I bought one for her Mother. She loves it and we liked it so much we bought another one for us.

Back in the day, I owned a pair of 901s, properly suspended from the ceiling, against a long concrete wall, driven by an AR preamp(the best preamp I had on hand), Ampzilla amp(the best amp I had on hand), an early Linn LP12 rig, Mcintosh tuner, Revox open reel. I was the envy of the neighborhood. This system did some wonderful things, and, those were wonderful times,lol. Yes, I had lots of other speakers, and equipment, but the 901s were enjoyable back then, and that was, and is, what it is all about. I am certain the majority of you have not heard a proper 901 set up, then, or now. MrD.