Bose wins again!!! (1 Viewer)

[GrahamJW]

Hmmmmmm...that sounds like a good idea Lev-S....I may even supply the beer and popcorn...Maybe if he gets the Denon receiver I will get him to bring it over and I can hook up my speakers to his Denon 2803...that should be a blast...see if the Bose cubes sound better than my Paradigm and Boston Acoustic setup.

 

[Rory Buszka]

Say this to your wife when she gets to suggesting Bose:
"Those little speakers are so tiny because they can't produce good sound on their own. Unlike most speakers, which get their power from an amplifier, the Bose are actually powered in part by an extensive and slightly deceptive marketing campaign. And since we can't always be reading a piece of Bose marketing literature while listening, it makes much better sense to buy speakers that are only a little bit bigger, but sound good all the time, not just when you're reading a Bose ad."
Then, while your wife is still thinking about the outright sexiness of your remarkably clever comeback, surf over to AperionAudio.com (a remarkably well-executed website) with your wife present at the computer and show her the tasteful Intimus line, and remark that they will only be a little bit bigger than the Bose and sound a lot better.

 

[kehi]

Marketing what is that

 

[Andrew*L]

With all the colorful metaphors and interesting comments about Bose mentioned in this thread, I went to my local electronics store today to audition the Bose line of speakers. They had them in their own dedicated room (I'm guessing to prevent direct comparison with other brands of speakers) Anyways, I played my reference disk for listening to speakers (Holly Cole, Dire Straits, Telarc Star Wars, etc...)

No wonder they have such a monstrous marketing budget...I don't think the poor things could sell themselves...
I've never experienced listener fatigue so quickly before...

 

[Ben_Caoile]

I HATE MY USER LIMIT!!! sorry, I had to vent,lost all my content that I finished typing because I couldn't post a link, and have been a member for over a year. :frowning: Anywayz,

Imagine the Bose president reading this thread...he must laugh so loud that the marble wall in is office are probably echoing with a surround sound...

...Lévesque bwuahahaha
Well, now to post some useful info pertaining to this thread, and (RETYPE EVERY FREAKIN THING AGAIN ). I too myself got suckered in to buying a Bose product, this was before I knew about HTF. I purchased a Bose VCS-10 center channel thinking this must be a great center, even after reading reviews in AudioReview. What a mistake! I considered buying Infinity, Polk, JBL, etc., but figured, "It's gotta be good, It's Bose. And I got that B0sE BliNg y0!" The price, $174 on sale at NavyExchange, was also an influence on my purchase, as well as, "If I don't like it, I'll sell it on E-Bay." Thing sounds like a clock radio speaker and makes my TV's speakers seem great. My review of this hunk of CRAP Bose calls a center channel is on AudioReview (wouldbe link) under rapidfire619. My only praise was, "It's a nice looking speaker who's slim profile entergrates nicely with black entertainment centers." My only regret was I neglected to mention it does sound like a clock radio speaker in my review. I now own a JBL S-Center II that I highly recommend. Never again Bose, Never again. I guess it's true what they say, " yoou get wha you pay for." In this case, marketing.

 

[Kris_to]

I got myself a pair of old Bose 901's - complete with original deteriorated rubber surrounds. Basically- bose released these speakers with a new you-beaut drivers...problem was that the rubber deteriorated very quickly for some strange reason (chemicals or something, i dont know full story).
I'm considering either getting the surrounds re-done. But I've been reading up about the Bose drivers inefficencies, and was wondering if anyone would reckon that I'd be better off just replacing the drivers altogether. Also slightly more costly- it could create a better sound...maybe.
After all- speakers are relient on the cabinet design, more than the drivers- which theoretically can be replaced without changing much of the sound.
Any thoughts/opinions would be much appreciated. Thanks

 

[ChrisWiggles]

After all- speakers are relient on the cabinet design, more than the drivers- which theoretically can be replaced without changing much of the sound.

Who told you this? That's not true in the least bit. You would be better off just getting better speakers.

You can get the drivers for the 901s very very cheaply, I've seen them in various surplus type catalogs for a few dollars each. Either just replace the drivers, redo the surrounds (you can do this yourself, or have it done cheaply).

 

[Rory Buszka]

Redo the surrounds and sell the speakers. Or keep them and put them in another room or something.

Partsexpress has refoam kits for 901s.

 

[Jake S]

I guess when you dump a couple of grand (at least) you brainwash yourself on how good something is.

True, but this happens with many other brands as well.
This forum also promotes a "groupthink" mentality, fortunately there are many differant groups. People who come here are often trying to discover what's best without demoing much, very sad. Repeating "harsh", "bright", "warm" , "nuetral" comments over and over to reinforce our level of comfort with a particular brand is common to many brands.
As for Bose, I directly worked for them @14 years ago and , yes, it was a (financially) pleasant job, but difficult to stomach in some respects. The thing was though, at the time, few others were addressing the "my wife needs a small speaker" market.
Since then , in retail, I worked for companies that carried Bose and most salespeople (when ASKED for their opinion on other options) would ,cautiously, suggest and demo other set-ups. I found that I would have to insist on doing a "blind" demo to get customers to realize the remarkable advantages of OTHER brands.

If you doubt the need for BLIND comparisons then I can tell you that the Bose Bias that people bring to the demo is SOOOO strong that without the demo being "blind" Bose wins hands down (this is why Bose does not want their speakers in rooms with other brands), when the demo is blind, Bose is trounced. I would , regrettably and respectfully, submit to you that YOU TOO will fall victim to marketing hype and bias (grown here and elsewhere) unless you do blind comparative comparisons.

 

[Kenneth Harden]

I know most of you probably hate me because I work at Best Buy - I have told many people, and got them to believe, that on a small budget, a simple stereo receiver and pair of good speakers is WAY better than a $300 Sony HTiB. I also let peoples ears decide what speakers sound better (Klipsch, Athena, JBL, now Def Tech, Boston, Vienna, etc. too)

Most people are willing to listen to what I have to say and they are VERY happy and leave with something much better than what they were planning to buy.

 

[Dave Moritz]

It just blows my mind that a company like Bose that uses really cheap components. Tries to compair there product with other brands that make a much better product. And on top of it all they charge an arm and a leg for cheap small drivers and something that trys to pass as a subwoofer,
Heck Bose does not even show up for the CES show in Las Vegas. Hell I guess they think they are above everyone from JBL to McIntosh!
No highs no lows the must be BOSE

 

[Robert_Jimenez]

Let me tell you first hand, I've seen the Bose marketing B.S. And it's effect on an already big headed account/sales rep.& now /"Bose audio engineering expert". My company(Muzak) has one of the biggest partnerships with them, that Bose has. They send thier "experts" to motivate our sales reps to push thier product for any type of business enviroment, with sales incentives & contests w/ all Muzak sales reps.nationwide,etc. Top prizes such as cruises and vacation packages, Bose products of course... all the typical yuppie crap. So now there are Burger Kings,AM/PM's, Gap, Baja Fresh locations & tons of coffee houses w/ not only spkrs, but bass modules,which MUST be secured above the ceiling and the "Business Style" expandable amp, multiple "opti-voice" page modules, so that "Bose Sound" is heard when Felipe, in broken english calls out... Number 23 your order is ready! I've seen countless mom & pop businesses that failed, so when I'm dispatched to pick up our leased equip, I find the clients were stuck(still paying for) with thier Accustimass or Freespace systems, up high in thier ceilings.
Bose's constant lack of supply over the last year,has allowed our newest partnerships JBL & Klipsch,to steal the scene, as far as sales focus goes. But at least the client has a quality product being pitched to them, with that 5 yr contract.
And finally, here's a note for those who aren't aware, BOSE is actually an abbvreviation. Over the last few yrs of servicing many locations such as Gap,where Bose products repeatedly fail, the guys in the field realized B. O .S .E. is an abbreviation for Bring Other Sound Equipment!!!(or Buy Other...)

 

[Travis_R]

B. O .S .E. is an abbreviation for Bring Other Sound Equipment

LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL

 

[Dave Moritz]

B. O .S .E. is an abbreviation for Bring Other Sound Equipment

Very nice Robert
Nice to see someone else in Whittier with a sence of humor

 

[Matt_Smi]

I have a somewhat funny Bose story that I thought I mine as well share in this thread. I was at a party a few weeks ago, not so much at a friend’s house but more of an acquaintance. So I am there and there is music playing at a pretty loud volume but it is not overpowering the conversations or anything, I am saying to myself “where the hell is this boom box”, as I thought they had some type of stereo shelf system. Then I notice that they have a projection screen so I go over to check it out and guess what is playing the music, a Bose 3-2-1 system! I honestly almost just laughed out loud for the fact that I blindly mistook this $1,000 system for a $300 shelf system. The sound was, well you probably don’t need a description, but thin, tinny and one note bass pretty much sums it up.

 

[Dave Moritz]

I just love how there salespeople act like there micro speakers can reproduce the same sound as a much larger speaker. Its funny that Bose salesmen want people to think that there product can also cheat physics! Not only is the small cheap paper driver a poor size choice for reproducing sound. But there so called subwoofer physically can not move the amount of air to properly do the job. Bose is in denyl as they seem to forget that subs are basicall air pumps that actually move air in the room to help reproduce low frequency's. Now all at once lets all laugh at BOSE, 1, 2, 3

 

[greg baker]

I am not sure why Bose brings out so much anger. My friends are the same way. They think Bose is the greatest. They are great at marketing and alot of people love them. Do I think it is pure crap? No(aside from the center channel ehich blows) I just think they are a poor choice for the money. My father in law recently purchased A BOSE WAVE RADIO. I am not impressed by it at all. He bought the big one with the pedestal that cost over $1000. For what he spent. I purchased a closeout HK AVR 520. 2 sets of JBL S26II's and an S-Center. Which is the better value? It is clearly no contest, but he loves the wave radio so good for him. It just surprises me how offended people get when someone likes Bose. Is the IPOD the best on the Market? Clearly not. It has a short battery life and there are others with Color screens and equal storage for much less. Does the IPOD suck? Not at all, it is a very good unit. but I think it sits atop the perch because of good marketing, not because it is the best.

Greg

 

[Dean Arizona]

Bose products were well represented at the Phoenix auto show that I visited over Thanksgiving weekend. I took a good look at the Nissan Murano which is a gorgeous SUV and actually considered buying. Guess what sound system system the Murano has? I really thought that Nissan was much more savy. Anyway, the Nissan reps just gushed over the quality of the Bose system in the vehicle. I gave up debating the fine points of the generally stated facts that we frequently air concerning Bose. We should really make a commitment to getting the word out on Bose that has significant penetration beyond our forum. To make things worst, Chevy's new SSR (that interesting new halftruck/half sport car design) also has Bose installed as its "premium" sound system. Things are really starting to get out of hand.

 

[ThomasC]

I just went to the Bose site for the first time in a long time, and clicked on "Specifications" for a set of speakers, and all I got was dimensions for the speakers! HAHA!

 

[MikeLi]

I was just going to say that I had a pair of 901's back in early 70's and they were great speakers ahead of their time then. The problem is they never kept up. Those old 901's if in good shape are still worth some good money I believe. I can remember Foghat, Journey, Pink Floyd coming from those things many moons ago.... wow that brings back some memories. But times change and so do peoples tastes and other companies take the lead. Bose strength right now is their advertising, their smallness and also from some of that old name recognition from those early days when they used to be a good speaker company. Today you could not get me to listen to any but to tell the truth... I did pick up their new super quiet II's headphones for flying and after trying several others (you know you hate to go into those bose stores) I got a pair and really love them... comfy, sound good and keep the noise out. Not saying you would want them for a reference headphone, only for noise cancelling but again I do like them for my DVD player or MP3 player. They do a great job.