Quiet_Hollow Posted December 12, 2013 Share Posted December 12, 2013 Since our move to Arizona, I'm now living in a completely foreign acoustic landscape. My father-in-law is a BOSE acolyte, through and through. He goes to bed and wakes in the morning to the sound of his Wave radio. His home office sports an AM3 2-ch system....the living room, an AM16 home theater setup Both cars came from the factory with Framingham's finest. His ears know no other sound. To my ears (having listened to all of his BOSE product for some time now) I'm quite certain that a large part of the "BOSE sound" is due in part from a form of harmonic synthesis.....where as there's never actually a whole lot of actual bass (or sub-bass) output, but instead a complement of higher harmonic content that encourages the ear to "suggest" a fundamental thats not really there, or is present, but at significantly reduced output. He likes the sound, but it drives me and the GF nuts. There's no definition.. no life. Vanilla. His AM16 setup sounds down-right awful, and I've taken it upon myself to at least attempt to dial it in for him. The bloated bass is really starting to grind my gears, and the lack of any vocal clarity is often the source of heated discord between him and the mother-in-law on movie night. The volume knob on his receiver should have a shoulder harness and a lap belt considering the ride it takes every night they drop in a flick. The "Twiddler" cube speakers simply beg to be set up as poorly as possibly. They scream, "Just toss us anywhere, we'll make some noise regardless." I'm going to take a crack at setting it up better, but the hardware doesn't lend itself to easily to tweaking. I've been spending what free time I've had reverse engineering the Acoustimass module in order to develop my approach. From what I have gathered so far, the module (a down firing, vented enclosure employing three 5.25" dia. high excursion drivers) is a powered woofer as opposed to a discrete subwoofer. The cubes have to be run off the module so as to receive the proper high pass filter and EQ treatment. This essentially doubles the amount of wiring over a normal setup (cleverly executed as a huge ribbon cable) and renders any AVR bass management useless. The AM16 manual reads exactly the opposite of a typical HT, and provides very little guidance along with no specifications. It's amazing that anyone could get decent sound out of this equipment considering all of the above. Troubleshooting by the lay person would be an exercise in absolute futility. I'll report back after it has some one-on-one time with the doctor. Should be interesting. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CECAA850 Posted December 12, 2013 Share Posted December 12, 2013 To my ears (having listened to all of his BOSE product for some time now) I'm quite certain that a large part of the "BOSE sound" is due in part from a form of harmonic synthesis.....where as there's never actually a whole lot of actual bass (or sub-bass) output, but instead a complement of higher harmonic content that encourages the ear to "suggest" a fundamental thats not really there, or is present, but at significantly reduced output. My exact thoughts as well. You however, stated it more clearly than I ever could have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iRONic Posted December 12, 2013 Share Posted December 12, 2013 Since our move to Arizona, I'm now living in a completely foreign acoustic landscape. My father-in-law is a BOSE acolyte, through and through. Are you living in his home? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiet_Hollow Posted December 12, 2013 Author Share Posted December 12, 2013 Are you living in his home? Yes, for the interim. Until we get situated in the locale. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iRONic Posted December 12, 2013 Share Posted December 12, 2013 Are you living in his home? Yes, for the interim. Until we get situated in the locale. He likes the sound. Taking it upon yourself to 'dial it in for him' seems kind of disrespectful. *shrug* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thaddeus Smith Posted December 12, 2013 Share Posted December 12, 2013 Was just in Tucson for Thanksgiving. Went up and down to the top of Mt. Lemmon twice in the same day because my wife thought she lost her phone at the general store. She actually lost it later at Mama's Pizza. Shorts weather at the end of November. Dry air. Beautiful landscapes. Good, good stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CECAA850 Posted December 12, 2013 Share Posted December 12, 2013 Are you living in his home? Yes, for the interim. Until we get situated in the locale. He likes the sound. Taking it upon yourself to 'dial it in for him' seems kind of disrespectful. *shrug* I don't know. People liked candles before they found out about electricity. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iRONic Posted December 12, 2013 Share Posted December 12, 2013 Are you living in his home? Yes, for the interim. Until we get situated in the locale. He likes the sound. Taking it upon yourself to 'dial it in for him' seems kind of disrespectful. *shrug* I don't know. People liked candles before they found out about electricity. Tru dat. My step daughter and her son are staying with us while she's between apartments. She's bought groceries, helped her mom cook some meals, and helped with housework. We've all watched movies together. Thankfully she hasn't tried to 'dial in' my system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldenough Posted December 12, 2013 Share Posted December 12, 2013 Methinks you have picked a fight you can't possibly win, but kudos for the attempt.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CECAA850 Posted December 12, 2013 Share Posted December 12, 2013 Thankfully she hasn't tried to 'dial in' my system. I'll bet your sounds better than anything they've ever heard before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sancho Panza Posted December 12, 2013 Share Posted December 12, 2013 Watch out with that candles story.......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiet_Hollow Posted December 12, 2013 Author Share Posted December 12, 2013 He likes the sound. Taking it upon yourself to 'dial it in for him' seems kind of disrespectful. *shrug* There's no hard feelings. He and I have discussed the matter formally. My approach would be simply a matter of optimizing what he's got.He went from "liking" to "loving" his new LCD and his older plasma TVs when I graced over the settings on them, for example. He's actually quite enthusiastic to listen to what I can do with the Acoustimass system. To a degree, so am I, as it's been over 15 years since I've had any significant seat time with a BOSE product. How often do you hear of anyone trying to ring out an Acoustimass system? Total disrespect would be suggesting that he unload the AM16 in favor of something else entirely. Regardless of the equipment under scrutiny, he and I both enjoy listening to music and have had some good times discussing all things audio, so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sancho Panza Posted December 12, 2013 Share Posted December 12, 2013 Maybe he'll hear your system &... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iRONic Posted December 12, 2013 Share Posted December 12, 2013 He likes the sound. Taking it upon yourself to 'dial it in for him' seems kind of disrespectful. *shrug*There's no hard feelings. He and I have discussed the matter formally. My approach would be simply a matter of optimizing what he's got.He went from "liking" to "loving" his new LCD and his older plasma TVs when I graced over the settings on them, for example. He's actually quite enthusiastic to listen to what I can do with the Acoustimass system. To a degree, so am I, as it's been over 15 years since I've had any significant seat time with a BOSE product. How often do you hear of anyone trying to ring out an Acoustimass system? Total disrespect would be suggesting that he unload the AM16 in favor of something else entirely. Regardless of the equipment under scrutiny, he and I both enjoy listening to music and have had some good times discussing all things audio, so far. That's awesome that you guys get along well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtimer Posted December 12, 2013 Share Posted December 12, 2013 I guess I totally disrepected my brother about his Bose set-up. When he replaced it with something else (not even near to klipsch league or competitors) he agreed that I was right because the new stuff sounded so much better. I believe it was cheaper too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldenough Posted December 12, 2013 Share Posted December 12, 2013 A little while back I purchased another HK3600 and a HK BDP1 for a second system, the guy selling it had gone the BOSE route, the amazing thing is he threw in an Athena Micra 6 speaker system....all for $450...That system is now what my wife uses in her "girl cave" no Bose system can compare. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbox Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 I'd like to see a 402 stacked on top of that little cube. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JL Sargent Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 I've got a nice set of Bose 901s with eq. and tulip stands reconed in the last few years. They are totally awesome. I could be presuaded to trade this lot for a pocket noise maker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boxx Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 You guy's are tough on Boze... No wire management... Can it get any better? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Morbius Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 Bose…………………………….. I feel for you, man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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