Bose audition at Fry's (1 Viewer)

[Brett DiMichele]

Jim,
We can agree to disagree that's cool with me.
Steve,
I am ROTFLOL!
Shankar,
Sorry, IMHO Bose does make a highly inferior product. I have
seen the innards of Bose systems and I have heard quite a
few. They just don't stack up if ya ask me.

 

[EricHaas]

"I did miss that last part of your post. Sorry. But no, the "confession" would not "carry considerable weght" in court. Completely unsubstantiated. There is simply no proof that it ever occured."

Is that right? Hmm. Well, a confession is admissible in court as a party admission, a recognized exception to the hearsay rule under both federal law and the law of any state. Your idea of what constitutes proof is very strange. Even to someone with zero knowledge of the law, it is intuitively obvious that confessions and eye witness accounts *are* considered strong evidence.

The only way you can really question the evidence is to quesiton my credibility, i.e. assume I am not truthful. Of course, you are entitled to do that. So I encourage you and others to visit any store that features a Bose sound room and attend one of these demonstrations. Don't take my word for it. Go check it out yourself. The store I went to was Frys Electronics on Portage Lane in Palo Alto, California. But I believe this can be verified at any of a number of different stores.

I think that someone else needs to verify this or further discussion is not really meaningful.

 

[Wes C]

Eric, I believe you! There is a BOSE stoer in my town, and I have been to that same demo. I found it very odd that BOSE showed a slideshow instead of using the lifestyle DVD capabilty. Since the video was not run though the system. It only makes sense that the audio was not as well. Epsecially since the whole presentation is started "behind the curtain"

 

[EricHaas]

"Let's just talk speakers. How does it matter what amp they used to drive the speakers to sound good? If the speaker sounds good it does."

Most people believe that what amp you use makes a difference in the quality of sound that the speakers produce. This is a somewhat controversial issue, so I'll leave it at that. Anyway, the point is that if Bose demos their Lifestyle system which incldues a certain receiver, and if they are going to use $15,000 worth of electronics to drive the speakers instead of the receiver, they should at least inform the attendees that they are doing this. Is that a fair statement?

"Bose speakers are overpiced and overhyped but they are not "crap". One thing I fail to understand is here in USA, where consumer protection laws and product liability lawsuits are rampant, how Bose can survive in the market if they are telling "True Lies"? How come nobody has sued Bose over their products and "inaccurate" claims?"

Over-hyping products is the American way. No one (OK, almost no one) ever said their conduct was actionable. Heck, even the misleading in-store demo probably is within the law. It is just misleading. Incidentally, overhyping a product is permitted by law. It is sometimes referred to as "puffery." Companies can be fairly criticized for all kinds of things which are, nevertheless, legal. The legality of it doesn't mean they are beyond reproach.

 

[Kevin Webb]

Well, I had my opportunity to have the "BOSE Experience" at my local Fry's. It was a 2-part demo. The first part was in their theater to listen to the "Art of Bose". The demo showed off the $3500 Lifestyle system. The speakers do a nice job of moving the sound around the room, but other than that, I was not impressed. The highs sounded harsh and the speakers had that fatiguing sound; that sound where if you pushed them just a little more they would distort and blow. The demo was also loud. At the sound level they were playing, I wouldn't have lasted more than 20 or 30 minutes. After the slide show, they took us into the showroom and demoed the Lifestyle 24 system. They used a squence from Pearl Harbor. They sounded OK, but the bass was boomy and the sound did not blend well. I found it interesting that the chapter they played contained two lines of dialogue that you could barely hear.
The best part came after the demo. I asked the salesman what ran the theater demo. He told me that it was the Lifestyle unit. It must have been a hidden one because the one in the theater had no wires running to it! I also asked about the construction of the speakers. He told me it's fiber based material, that is as light as paper but stronger. And its better than titanium or other materials because it massages the highs and mids to create a better balance. After the demo, I listened to a Polk/Sony combo that sounded about the same, almost as small, and about $1700 less.
Just as a comparison, I rented Pearl Harbor to compare my system. I've been looking to upgrade my system, but I had to see how close my was to the Bose. I cranked it up to approximate the volume levels they had. My system had the same movement characteristics, but had a tighter bass and had a cleaner, more focused sound. Oh yeah, my system is about a $1000 less than the Bose.
Yes, we do bash Bose a lot. The reason we do is that while there systems sound like $500 HTIB's, they price them like they are audiophile quality. I'm not against making a profit, but I am against taking advantage of people through slick ad campaigns and slight-of-hand demos.
At least now I truly know that I can find better systems than Bose at that price

 

[Travis G]

Haven't any of you heard the expression, "You get what you pay for?" If Bose was so bad their products wouldn't cost so much. I watched a television program about their acoustic wave guide system and a blues musician said that it was a good product. I also heard a guy on the radio say that Bose speakers were great. Why would these people say that Bose speakers were good if they were so bad?

Name me one speaker that can reflect more sound around your room than the 901.

Travis

 

[Neil N]

"Haven't any of you heard the expression, "You get what you pay for?" If Bose was so bad their products wouldn't cost so much."
:rolleyes

 

[Jason_Hil]

Amps definetly make a difference in sound performance. I just compared many amps the past weeks so i could find the perfect pair for my b&w cdm9nt and most amps will sound quite different. They all can add brightness, warmth,a more laid back neutral sound to your speakers. Go and compare marantz, denon, and b&k on the same speakers. You will hear differences. The quality tends to have to do with wattage, current, and processing methods.

 

[Brett DiMichele]

I'm not a speaker expert ( But I did stay at Holiday Inn! )

 

[NickSo]

I second what Neil N said... *sigh* :rolleyes

 

[shankar]

Jason_hil said:

Amps definetly make a difference in sound performance. I just compared many amps the past weeks so i could find the perfect pair for my b&w cdm9nt and most amps will sound quite different. They all can add brightness, warmth,a more laid back neutral sound to your speakers. Go and compare marantz, denon, and b&k on the same speakers. You will hear differences. The quality tends to have to do with wattage, current, and processing methods.

OK. Then if a pair of speakers sound crappy,it is the amp's fault! right!.

Just going with this logic, what's the problem in Bose using the best amp to drive their speakers so that the speaker's "good" qualitits will be highlit? After all they were selling speakers and even the original post mentioned that the apeakers sounded great (albeit due to the expensive amp they used). Why would one not buy the speakers then??

Shankar

 

[KeithH]

But those 5 damn small cubes didn't sound bad.

:rolleyes

 

[Keith Mickunas]

Shankar, in the case of the demo, they told people they were demoing the system, when in fact they weren't. That's the problem. Would you go into a store and audition one piece of gear but buy another because they told you it sounded the same?

As for trusting adds, well that's just stupid. Bose pays people to say good things about their speakers. That's why people say "Bose, better sound through marketing". Its all hype. The speakers are crap. Spend a lot of time listening to some good speakers, then go to a Bose demo. You'll find the sound quite harsh and the bass is pathetic.

 

[Dave Schofield]

Travis,
You wouldn't be talking about Paul Henry during his paid radio spots, would you?