Jump to content

more bose bashing


jdm56

Recommended Posts

Hey ATB,

Your dad's not the only one that bose has "brainwashed". Many people (years ago myself included) who know nothing of mid-to-high end audio think that bose is the end-all be-all of speaker technology. I'm not sure if the class curricullum has changed, but there was a marketing class here at LSU in which about half the class was devoted to modeling the BOSE (TRADEMARK/REGISTERED/ALLRIGHTSRESERVED/DIDWEMENTIONTRADEMARKED?&PATENTEDETC..) marketing scheme. All those millions going to Rush Limbaugh & Paul Harvey, getting the "old geezers" (peole who listen to am radio)cwm12.gifto come off their money for the "best" audio system in the world. I think though that one distinction should be made here, The BOSE (TM/PATENT/REGISTERED/ETC..) Wave Radio is a pretty decent piece as far as table top radio/cd players go (but then again what self-respecting KLIPSCH FAN would listen to a tabletop system?), no its EVERYTHING else BLOWS, er I mean BOSE makes that sounds like crap.

Dat's Da Hog's Coupl'a Pennies

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

LSU PAINTBALL- We'll cover you with our balls!

Paintball players do it 'till their balls break!

1 Pair KLF-30's

Sonic Frontiers SFL-1 Pre-amp

Carver TFM-45 Amp

Teac AD-4 CD Player

Link to comment
Share on other sites

me and the wife went out and bought a sony 61hstv the next day she came home with some bose 301s to put in the enterainment center. I hooked them up and played them for about a half hour adjusting this adjusting that then I unplugged them and she said what are you doing I said this sounds like crap its going back she couldnt understand it she thought they sounded good. Well to make along story short I took her to the hifi place today and she listened to some rf3II's well lets just say I had to pick her jaw off the floor and hand it to her.Now im just waiting for my speakers to arrive got the akoy easy from the boss after she demoed them.cwm30.gifcwm31.gifcwm31.gif

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

turn it up hmmph i said turn it up

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Do not make me do it do not make me defend that other horn company, the one so righteously despised by tweaking audiophiles everywhere.

Of course, I am talking about Bose. Some of my friends have the little white Bose systems; they love the small size and think the sound is great. They like the tiny cubes with their curved little horns inside. They like to buy a stereo where amplification, control and speakers unify into one sharp looking system. (One decision, not many. Classic retailing strategy.) Creating the most tangible holographic sonic illusion of the singer and her band, and removing any hint of the sound system that created the illusion, is certainly not their goal.

They think that my big old speakers are loud and that I am crazy to keep fiddling around with this massive system. They do not care about the lowest octaves on the piano scale or the metallic ring of the cymbals. They usually say things like it is too loud and it still doesnt sound real. (Ouch!)

I once convinced a friend to switch back to his older and larger Advents instead of his smaller and newer Bose 301s. While he does like the sound better, he still has them stuffed away in his home entertainment center at the back of the room and they do not point towards a focal point.

The Bose systems are easy to hide and fit into any décor, they cover most of the musical scale, but they offend the tweaking audiophiles sensibilities and thin out the pocketbook. The B&O equipment has always looked futuristic and minimalist very 50s retro and sharp. The B&O sound, while not great, has always been good. (Put those slender polished aluminum speakers teetering on metal cones in the second guest bedroom, Jeeves; they will love the looks and I never spend much time in there anyway) Like Bose, they too deliver the favor of plain vanilla ice cream in the bucket for the price of premium Haagen-Dazs.

And such will always be the case. Consider a sleek little Porsche Boxer versus a mint cherry condition, tricked out Honda CRX. Both give quick and thrilling ride only one looks better and costs almost eight times as much.

Klipsch on the other hand, has never won any beauty contests. My big old horns are $500 Morgan workhorses; not $2500 Arabian show horses. As much as I love the curvaceous cherry finish of the solid-as-marble B&W 802s, for example, the sound quality should come first. With Klipsch speakers, the sound does come first and the looks well, the looks come second. It is like the famous nature photographer who only worked in black and white, Ansel Adams. He said he would work with color when he got the pictures right. He shot black and white for decades and never did any famous color work. I suppose that someday Klipsch will make great looking speakers when they get the sound right. After all, it has only been four decades.

My point is that there is a market for the Bose type of systems. A very good market indeed. Witness the recent purchase of a good amplifier company by the old speaker manufacturer renown for their large speakers. Small powered home theater units are, no doubt, on the horizon.

Bose Jewel cubes

No, Bose don't suck, but to use Marx's words, they merely take that which is sacred and make it profane

The single most important thing to remember about the best selling folded horn-loaded loudspeakers on the market today is that they are cute little boxes. The large size of their bi-directional sound is a vivid contrast to their diminutive size. They make great sound for their size - this is from someone firmly in the "bigger is better" camp when it comes to music and speakers.

In fact, the living room response of a small black pair recently revealed that the small cubes with the round backs do indeed capture a good portion of the audio spectrum. The truth of the sharp looking cubes is not how badly they perform; but how much of the music they capture. They measure surprisingly well, which says as much about their engineering as it does about the validity and weight of frequency response measurements.

Either the small speakers do a very good job of capturing a wide swath of the musical range or the importance of such measurements is historically over-inflated. My woefully inadequate measurements show something like 315 to 8 kHz within about 4 dB. With each cube pointed off-axis from my sweet spot, by about 45 degrees, there also seems to be little or no measurable reflections from the side-walls. Pretty impressive for speakers than fit in the palm of your hand.

The stack of two cubes per side does need a generous twist of the amplifier dial to start sounding good and they should never be seen in public without a sub-woofer, but the little cubes are a marvel of engineering. More like a tightly wound Honda VTEC engine than a heavy Chevy big-block. The differences are actually quite subtle.

Although the volume of the Cornwall boxes is hundreds of times larger than Bose's boxes, the big old horns reveal the delicate nuances of music which make them eminently more listenable and enjoyable. They play with authority and verve, making music joyous and addicting.

Compared to my big old horns, the pianos on the Jewel cubes have no ring, the cymbals are distinct, but without dramatic sizzle, they have no mellow ring or crisp swish. The Bose boxes have less tonal definition, details are buried and attack on notes is slower. Saxophones have no "blat", bite or edginess. While their bass is less solid with little punch, in some respects, especially on typical recordings of popular music, the little boxes are easier on the ears than the audiophile ones. No wonder so many of my friends have the Bose systems: they get most of the music without the ugly row of speakers, cabinet and electronics which forms an expensive wall in my living room.

If I was not a tweaking audiophile, these charming, barely there, speakers are certainly ones that I would consider. The Wife Acceptance Factor is the top of the list. The music sounds good, but it will not suck you in to further stereo improvements and large collections of discs. Buy these jewels and then find another hobby.

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

Colin's Music System Cornwall 1s & Klipsch subs; lights out & tubes glowing!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Colin, always well written. So, got a publishing deal yet? hehehe Great explaination, yet again! Smile.gif

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

-justin

I am an amateur, if it is professional;

ProMedia help you want email Amy or call her @ 1-888-554-5665 or for an RA# 1-888-554-5665

Klipsch Home Audio help you want, email support@klipsch.com or call @ 1-800-KLIPSCH

RA# Fax Number=317-860-9140 / Parts Department Fax Number=317-860-9150

ProMedia 5.1 Placement Help s>

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...