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A BS letter I got from Bose about product statistics.


Mighty Favog

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A co-worker of mine is pretty hell-bent of getting a Bose speaker set-up for his livingroom. Please, no flames, I've tried exaustively. Anyway he wanted to know if his old Nak Receiver3 would be enough to push them. I told him I would need some specs to to figure this out. Now he is no audiophile by any means (can you tell?) so that's why he asked me to do some leg-work on this.

I called Bose' tech support line and the only stat I could get out of him was the sensitivity rating of 83db/2.83v/1 meter for the AM5 Series III (Yechhhh!!!). The folowing was an e-mail and reply I sent to Bose to get the rest of the information. Have a good laugh!

-----Original Message-----

This inquiry is to a few of the specifications of a set of AM5 Series

III speakers. I need the following readings: Maximum SPL, Frequency

Response and Sensitivity Rating.

I call the tech support line and the gentleman there only had the

sensitivity listed as 83db/2.83v/1 meter.

I find it a little disheartening that such information is withheld from

public knowledge as to make an informed decision of a purchase. Why is

this information not available to the public?? Are they THAT dismal?

For a company that touts itself as being the best at what it does would

it be to much for anyone to get a usable answer to these simple

questions.

I don't work for any magazine nor am I involved in any consumer

advocacy group or any other whistle blowing involvement. I would just

like to know these figures as well as one more question. Why are Bose

products NOT in a store display as to be able to make an A/B comparison

with another manufacturer?

Your "non-form letter" reply with all specifications and truthful

answers directly answering these questions is required in 24 hours

(September 4, 2003, 16:17hrs.)

And here's the reply:

Thomas,

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.

Regarding your question about Bose products in store displays, we do

not have any control over what resellers set up to A/B compare with

other manufacturers speakers. Perhaps that would be a good question for

the store manager where you shop.

Thank you for choosing Bose Corporation.

Fran Fenton

Customer Support Team

-------------------------------------------------

Bose Corporation

US Telephone: (800)367-4008

Customer Support Team

International Tel: (508)766-1900

Email: http://www.bose.com/contact_us/

Fax: (508)766-1919

Telephone Hours: Mon-Fri 8:30AM-8:00PM, Sat 9:00AM-3:00PM (EST)

Walk-In Hours: Mon-Fri 9:00AM-5:00PM

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Face it Tom some people just don't get it. Let him buy the Bose, then bring over any pair of Klipsch speakers for him to compare. Heresy's would open his eyes for sure. 83db sensitivity that is pretty pathetic, what is in the bass module a 6.5" woofer? Ooohh and the highs from those 2 1/2" paper cone tweeters.

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I think what makes me the most mad is his explanation that store managers have control of the kiosks! This is not true at all...you KNOW that Bose forces these kiosks on the stores. If the stores do not, they simply do not get product.

Man, I can see this thread getting huge. How's about all of us email this guy? All of us overwhelm their support line until they break down and cry? LOL.

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In his defense, a lot of respectable manufacturers are complaining about lack of industry standards when measuring things like speaker efficiency, amp output, etc. The fact that they won't give the specs to you, and that they sell so much without ever providing specs, just shows me that people who buy bose are a different type of consumer.

(Note: I am not defending Bose though)

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There is either 1, 2, or 3 cheap paper cone 5.25" woofers, depending on the size and cost of the system in question. They are of the lowest quality (imagine that!), far worse than Parts Express's cheapest woofers (and they have some real, ummm, value stuff.) It is in a very aggressive bandpass box and is basically one of those 'one-note wonders' we all 'love' so much.

Pure garbage...

BTW, that was Bose's canned responce, I have heard it all before. Just let it go, if you can sway ONE person in your life to not buy bose and get Klipsch, JBL, Polk, Paradigm, etc., you should feel accomplished.

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----------------

On 9/5/2003 2:25:32 PM damonrpayne wrote:

Those are awesome links, I haven't seen that before.

I convinced my boss not to buy bose and he eventually went with cambridge soundworks: not klipsch but I still think I deserve a medal or something...
----------------

Good, ANYTHING is better than Blose.

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----------------

On 9/5/2003 11:26:04 AM lancestorm wrote:

I think what makes me the most mad is his explanation that store managers have control of the kiosks! This is not true at all...you KNOW that Bose forces these kiosks on the stores. If the stores do not, they simply do not get product.

----------------

Actually, the local Tweeter has the Bose setup where you can do a direct A/B comparison with other manufacturers. They also took the Bose Kiosk off the main show room floor, because they wanted the room to sell more product. One of the salesmen told me that it "just took up to much space". Now, they have the Acousticmass system setup along side some of the other speakers in one of the listening rooms.

Also, the local Best Buy has the Klipsch Synergy display right next to the Bose display, makine direct comparisons very easy. Yes, I am preaching to the choir here, but from personal listening tests, all of the klipsch, from the lowely Quintets right up to the SF-2s completely blew away everything in the Bose display.

Yeah, 83db/1w/1m is pretty pathetic (and I am actually surprised they even mentioned that. It would take just about 128 watts to get those as loud as the RF-7s at just 1 watt (102db), not to mention I bet that Bose would distort like hell at that volume.

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One word to describe B0$e...PATHETIC

The poor excuse response is worth a load of intestinal filler.If a peon wants B0$e let him/her have it their way.If someone wants to jump from a bridge let them(one less lunatic to sustain).

And to end on a positive note Highlander is your real name Robin L. and do you drive the gold plated RR Phantom? I see you eat caviar like the poor folks eat chips.I think you had a show the Filthy Rich and Famous

LOL

Can you at least post one close up of the woofer of your B4-Plus you have?At least I posted a few pics...and I do not like posting pics.Just one pic and I could picture you in a gold plated RR,now we picture you in front of a modded Lindows PC posting about ubber gear. 2.gif

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