Check out this Bose review

[Kain]

Click here!

[zandern]

Sounds like one of our guys.

[prodj101]

lol,my SF-2's go as low orlower than that intire system. lol, 10.5 db give or take. that means some bands would be twice as loud as other frequencys.

[justin_tx_16]

yeah, i have been mass mailing that page for years now

[Soundthought]

I absolutely love that page.

As many times as i've read that page, it never ceases to bring a tear to my eye.

Ohhh. the truth hertz so good!

[iDunno]

Has anyone tried emailing bose for the frequency responce of their speakers?

[dougdrake]

Lifted from another thread from 10/31, I believe...

HAHAAHAAAHAAAHAA,

This is what i got back from Bo$e:

"Dear Mr. Brown,

Thank you for your inquiry. Bose does not publish these specifications. The

reason for this is that we believe that such statistics do not add very much

to an understanding of an audio product's acoustic characteristics and, even

worse, can be misleading. Audio manufacturers make these measurements

independent of industry standards, and in varying conditions. Additionally,

a single statistic is not a reliable measurement of a product's performance.

One could, for instance, find a very expensive system with exactly the same

specifications as a much less expensive system. On paper, the two would

appear identical. The difference in performance, however, would be

significant. A better approach, we feel, is to listen to the product. We

strongly urge you to make your own comparisons. Bose systems will surpass

your expectations.

Thank you for choosing Bose Corporation."

[skonopa]

Quoted from the Bose letter in DD's post:

The reason for this is that we believe that such statistics do not add very much

to an understanding of an audio product's acoustic characteristics and, even

worse, can be misleading. Audio manufacturers make these measurements

independent of industry standards, and in varying conditions. Additionally,

a single statistic is not a reliable measurement of a product's performance.

One could, for instance, find a very expensive system with exactly the same

specifications as a much less expensive system. On paper, the two would

appear identical. The difference in performance, however, would be

significant. A better approach, we feel, is to listen to the product. We

strongly urge you to make your own comparisons.

(Please note - this is not directed at DD, just my opinion of what was said by Bose in an e-mail letter sent to him)

Blah, blah, blah! Yeah, it is true that the ultimate thing to do when deciding on what speaker/sound system to buy is to actually listen to the thing. However, I still would like to see the specs to give me an idea of what to expect if and when I finally do get around to listening to the systems. Also it is not always possible for me to listen to everything that is out there (and there alot of choices out there, especially in the same price group as Bose is trying to be in), thus it is nice to see some specs to help narrow down the the systems in my price range that I can find with the best specs. Once I narrow down a few final choices, then I'll go and find a dealer that I can listen to the final choices and pick the one that I find I like the sound the most. Even then, I'll still like to take it home and try it out and perhaps one other and see how they sound within my own home.

For example, when I went to get some decent computer speakers in the $300 and below range to replace the shelf system I was using, I read about and listened to several models, such as from Altec-Lansing, Cambridge Soundworks, and Boston Acoustics. None of them really "did it" for me. When I heard about the Klipsch ProMedias (and I knew of the Klipsch name, but never really heard any of thier stuff, at least not knowingly), I just had to check them out. At the time, the only way I could get a set was order them online directly through Klipsch, which took a couple months. When I finally got them, I was blown away by how good they sounded, especially for $250 speakers - I knew these were it. Of course, there are now several more good options today in addtion to the ProMedias in that price range. If I had not got a chance to see some specs and read about them, I may have just passed on them.

When deciding to upgrade my Yamaha/Infinity based HT setup, I wanted to check out some of the Klipsch offerings to go with the Denon AVR3802 I ordered over the net (I listened to several recievers and was going to get the Yamaha 5460 (I remember - it was equivalent to the RX-V800), since I already had a Yamaha (RV-702), and liked the sound of it with my Infinity RS2000.5 towers. However, I figured I could probably find something better on the internet, or at least that same Yamaha reciever for cheaper. I then heard about the Denon - got the Denon AVR3802 for the same price I would have paid for that Yamaha reciever at Best Buy, but the Denon was a much better reciever in my opinion.

A higher-end audio/video dealer finally opened up locally and I got the chance to not only to get to listen to Klipsch, but a few others such as Sonus Faber, Vienna, Mirage, and so forth - yes even Bose (although I have heard Bose in numerous places already). I kepted coming back to Klipsch because I just loved how they sounded. No doubt the Sonus Faber and Vienna sounded great, but to me, the Klipsch sounded more dynamic and detailed. In other, words, the music just seems so much more "alive" with the Klipsch. The Vienna had a smoother, more laid back sound to me - sounded great with Jazz pieces - if you are really into Jazz, I think the Vienna speakers would certainly be worth checking out. However, I am into rock, as in "play it fast, play it hard, and play it loud!" The Klipsch certainly delivered for that!

The Bose just sounded so flat and lifeless to me. It is like they just took all the life and emotion out of the music. It was like they were just straining to keep up with the hard rock music I was playing through them (Tweeter had a set hooked up normally, not some canned Bose demo).

The letter ends with the following:

Bose systems will surpass your expectations.

HAHAHAHAHA. Yeah, if my expectations are pretty low. For example, I'll admit that the AM-15 cubes/bass module sounds better than my $100 set of Cambridge Soundworks FPS1800s I have on one of my PCs, but in no way in hell will it sound better than say the Klipsch Synergy 6 package, which is cheaper than the AM-15s. Likewise, yes the Bose 701 towers do indeed sound better than say some KLH towers and even some of the lower end Yamaha towers, but in my own listening, I found the JBL Studio series S312s to sound much better and as for the Klipsch RF-3 IIs - Bose cannot even touch them and the JBL comes mightly close. The Bose 701, JBL S312s and the Klipsch RF-3 IIs are all about the same price (+/- $50 or so). I think a few others on here, such as TheEARs would agree with me.

Well, I guess enough with my ramblings.

BOSE - Buy Other Sound Equipment

[TheEAR]

The review posted is the ONLY credible review of a B0$e AcousticMe$$ system I ever saw.Stereo Review and a few low credibility mags always have positive things to say about B0$e.

And we all know why? MONEY B0$e would be nothing without adds,we know adds make or break a mag,so the more adds you have the better.And B0$e invests more on pubicity then the US on the military! LOL

Think about this

[skonopa]

I agree with you, 'EARs'. I have searched the internet using Google for "Bose Review" and that one posted was the only one I could find that was indeed credible. Also, it is sometimes fun to go into audioreview.com and to read some the "reviews" posted there under any of the Bose speaker sections. There are some that think that Bose is the greatest thing out there and those of us that don't think so must not know anything about audio. There are others that just simply post the same link as Kain posted at the beginning here.

My favorite are the bose lovers that think that those that trash them don't know anything because they don't own any Bose - have they heard of "auditioning" and "30-day money back gurentees", and so forth? Any reputable dealer will let you take a set home and play with them for a few weeks and return if you don't like them.

Another favorite one I saw was somebody that posted saying that he thinks Bose is better than one of his friends speakers just because the Bose-lover never heard of his friend's speaker brand. If I remember correctly, it went something like "My Bose sounds better than my friends speakers. I never heard of his brand before, so they must not be any good." Funny, I have never heard of Sonus Faber until I listened to them, and they certainly crush anything that Bose has ever put out. I have never heard of Dynaudio until TheEARS mentioned about them. I sure as hell am not going to get on these boards and say that Klipsch sounds better than Dynaudio just because I never heard of Dynaudio before. I'll take TheEARs word that Dynaudio may certainly sound better than the Klipsch RF-7s for listening to music, especially more "delicate" classical music. However, I sure would love to hear them myself and form my own opinion.

BOSE - Built Of Shoddy Equipment

BOSE - Buying/Bribing Off Sound Evaluators

BOSE - Bribing Or Sueing Evaluators

BOSE - Butchering Over Sound Emissions

BOSE - Blasting Out Shoddy/$#!+ty Emissions

(Can you guys think of anymore? )

[prodj101]

they recently had a pair of the Confidence ones at the local high end shop, but I couldn't listen to them cause they weren't set up. it sucked. I don't really like their look though.

[Kain]

Hey,

Did you guys click on the link that the review posted and said was from a "Bose-o-phile"?

Check this out...

I love Bose!

[prodj101]

what a blankedy blank blank! I was hopin he'd have his email addy on there so I could send him some hate mail. I'd like to see his little cubes dish out 110 db cleanly! my god damn SF-2's have more woofer surface area than his whole stupid subwoofer. stupid acoustibass. probably doesn't sound much better than a crocking bass either.

[TBrennan]

Don't be so cocky boys, look at the attachment for a Bose that will smoke your Klipsches.

[erikjohn]

TB,

What model was that? Is that one of their new micro mini satelites highly magnified?LOL

I believe that model has 25 4" woofers inside the bass cab with a piezo horn on top.

EJ

[skonopa]

That is a Bose Panaray LT 9702-II speaker. Specs on it, along with many other Pro-Bose products can be found here.

Yes, it may be able to smoke my Klipsches in terms of output, but than again, that is a commercial speaker meant for large venues and my Klipsches are meant for home use. However, I would be willing to bet the equivalent Pro-Grade Klipsch would be able to smoke it!

Lets compare apples to apples and oranges to oranges here! Your typical homeowner is not going to have that kind of Bose in thier house! I'll remain cocky about the performance of my Klipsch to the equivalant grade Bose.

[rjb294]

Nice review! I have been trying to convince my dad (who has no idea what he is talking about with speakers) that bose sucks and they are cheap, and when I showed him this I think it smashed the idea in his head. After reading he asked me what system he should get! I thought"FINALLY"! Thanks for posting that!

[prodj101]

comparing commercial to home is never fair. I'm also curious why bose loves the multiple tiny driver design so much, I mean, 25 4 inch drivers is just stupid. that would have 314 inches of surface area, where as a single 18 inch would have 254. so, throw on another 18 and it would be devestating it. I know it's just a joke but I wouldn't put it past bose to do something like that.

[kenratboy]

1.) Compare the price of Bose professional to JBL, Klipsch, EAW, etc. pro stuff. Bose tends to be >2X as expensive for the same spec and sound quality.

2.) Find me a few pro sound companies that use Bose. I am not talking about novelty stuff, I mean REAL pro audio companies.

WHen I talk pro audio with audio pros, Bose is a joke to them like it is to us. Bose pro exsists because when the bids are seen by the accounting guy who has a Wave Radio (as in, "Who the hell is EAW and Klipsch?"), he will choose Bose. Basically, the consumer and pro divisions are the same.

In all my worldy travels (Australia, England, France, USA, Mexico, Canada) the only places I have seen Bose pro audio used are:

1.) some Mexican musicians in Old Town San Diego

2.) the arcade at the movie theater in Hobart, Tasmania

I pay attention, and thats all I have seen. Do you think they use Bose at the "Phantom of the Opera" in London? They are in a 150 year old theater, and they need real sound. Nope, Tannoy all the way.

Oh, trust me, Bose pro doesn't have "100 hour pink noise torture tests"

[skonopa]

Kain asked:

Hey,

Did you guys click on the link that the review posted and said was from a "Bose-o-phile"?

Yeah, I have seen that before from when I found that review before. I had to go look at it again.

In most of that page, this dude takes excerpts of postings from who-knows-where and makes comments about them. Most of the comments are stuff like criticizing spelling and grammer and such, no real rebuttals to the postings.

That very last paragraph on there really cracks me up! Of course the Bose AM-10s are going to sound better than some cheap *** KLH or Pioneer speakers that he said he had before. To him the Bose will sound the best because what he had before was all crap (and he still does). Yeah, everybody else there are probably going to think the Bose are good also, since I would be willing to bet that before hearing the Bose, the closest to anything remotely high-end where cheap boom boxes and shelf systems.

He also goes on and brags about how loud they are and how they had been shaking things in the room, even waking one of his neighbors. Big f'ing deal! My $250 ProMedias V2.400s had rattled plenty of things also. Even managed to get the cops called on my with them. Just because they are loud does not mean they are good (just like because a car has loud exhaust does not mean it is fast).

I love the line where that dude says, and I quote, "Enya sounds even MORE incredible on the Bose than any other system I've heard her on to date." I just wonder what Enya he was playing on his Bose and just what kind of other systems has he heard. I played some Enya on both my ProMedias and my RF-7s and I can tell you that on both systems, especially the RF-7s, it was freaking incredible. I highly doubt his Bose could come anywhere close, even to the ProMedias.

Also, this line: "Why then, you may ask, does everybody seem to want to bash Bose and say they're **** when they are quite the opposite? Simple : people can't stand the fact that something can be that much better than everything else and flaunt it, so they have to tear it down by any means possible." I was laughing so hard when I read that, I nearly fell out of my chair and hit my head! Bose that much better than everything else??!!?? Oh puleeeeazze, Give me a freaking break! It is obvious this dude has never listened to true high-end audio! Those KLH towers he said he had must have been the best he has listened to before the Bose!

This is definitly one of those types that must think that just because we say Bose sucks royally, we must not know anything about audio and/or have no life. It sounds like this guy does not know jack about audio himself.