I'll admit it, I'm a Bose fan.

[atarilovesyou]

No highs, No lows-Bose?

Lol, I hope somebody already said me that. But the only people who did say that to me were losers working in snobby audio shops.

The Bose I had in my car rhat came stock was amazing, full nine speaker layout whatever thing and it rocked. 12 disc changer, just loaded it up and went. Until I kinda blew one day, and never sounded the same after that. Which was probably my fault for cranking it all the time. But it just sounded so good for rock/metal.

 

[Lopp]

Ah Bose. So polarizing to some.

I'm a hater myself, but do have some 10 year old or so noise cancelling earbuds as well as a portable Bluetooth speaker that's pretty old too. At the time it was hard to find something as small and portable as that Bluetooth speaker. Also, the noise cancelling on the earbuds is still amazing. Bose does sometimes fill a niche.

That being said, the Bose sound signature hurts my ears. Not bad with the Bluetooth speaker due to the nature of the speaker and the earbuds were good enough for what they were because the noise cancelling is so good.

Unfortunately, the sound of the Bose system in my Porsche 911 is pretty bad. Granted, it is hard to get good sound in a car and the point of a 911 isn't to have a good stereo. What's too bad is the desire to keep everything stock and being stuck with Bose. I hate how Bose seems to notch out certain frequencies, which makes it difficult to hear certain characteristics or even entire instruments in a mix.

I also have Sonos, which was great 10 years ago to run music to different rooms in an apartment where you can't rewire the walls. It served its purpose. It's not as bad as Bose, but I don't think the quality is near what people claim it is.

My other speakers are B&W CDM-9NTs driven by a Marantz amp. Not super audiophile, but makes Bose sound like a kid's toy speakers.

Everything seems to have its place. Sonos and Bose for convenience and B&W for enjoyment.

These days, most people are consuming their music on AirPods anyways.

 

[killer blues]

Sadly the days of spending hours putting together a complete audio system even as basic as a Marantz receiver, Dual turntable, Acoustic Research speakers and an Akai real to real tape player, stringing cords and wire are probably seeing a sunset. Those in their 20s don't have the passion we had about tone arm weight and which Shure cartridge was the best. Audio seems to be dumbed down to apps and instant connections. Bose and others recognize what the customer wants today, as they did with the wife approval factor....speakers need to be small and the gear needs to be hidden away preferably behind a cabinet door....don't talk to me about heat or beautiful blue dial with gyro fly wheel tuning... So there we are.

the way we did stuff is too expensive today.

 

[john weires]

If you listen to them side by side with good speakers, you'll hear a big difference. I don't know if it's still the case, but back in the day when they actually had stores dedicated to selling audio systems, Bose always insisted their speakers be set up on their own so you couldn't do a side by side comparison.

I have a friend with those satellites and bass module thing, and to me it sounds really fatiguing and annoying.

There's also a good reason why they don't publish specs. I can't find it now, but years ago there was a test of the specs of their acoustimass thing and they were abysmal. A huge hole in mid bass, nothing above 13k and +/- 10db up to 13k.

Remember the wave radio when they were comparing its tubey thing to a pipe organ pipe. That was ridiculous.

The Acoustimass AM-5 system's measured performance was a joke. The first time I measured them in my store, I thought they were defective. Subjectively their sonic performance bore out the test measurements. Fatiguing and unnatural to say the least.

 

[john weires]

Jesus.

Old people are funny.


If you ever wonder why people aren't into audio- it's because of all this dick waving.

I've got a set of 301s and 501s. I had them for 20+ years until I found out on the internet that they suck.

They're still hooked up to my stereo. That's running a $1500 power cable, hooked up to $9000 speaker cables and control with $500 wooden knobs.

Stereo April 2020 by Dave The Golden Boy, on Flickr

Nice classic audio collection. Stacked like that I hope they don't fail due to poor ventilation. Parts can be hard to get for those old beauties!

 

[john weires]

the way we did stuff is too expensive today.

Technological improvements have been such that it doesn't have to be. A 1970's $1000 stereo receiver would cost around $4000 in todays dollars.
$1500 today buys a fine integrated amp that would include a DAC and overall better performance too. You get more for your money these days!

 

[MKB]

In my audiophile circle, Bose is to home audio as Ovation is to acoustics and Peavey was to amps. Those "in the know" knew they were not nearly as good as the hype suggested, and there was a bit of shame around corksniffers with just the name. I have to say though that I have a new set of Bose bluetooth in ears, and they are mighty good. I like everything about them except for the battery life, but that really isn't a big issue.

All noisemaking devices (speakers, guitars, amps, etc) have a universal factor; if you are happy with it, that's all that counts. And in addition to that; if you are happy with a device, do all you can to remain happy with it, including staying away from the influence or promise of "better" gear. Chasing the "better" dragon is always an extremely expensive endeavor.

 

[Madsen]

I have a pair I got in the 90's in the living room. They sound better than the TV speakers.

 

[Sam Hill]

The Acoustimass AM-5 system's measured performance was a joke. The first time I measured them in my store, I thought they were defective. Subjectively their sonic performance bore out the test measurements. Fatiguing and unnatural to say the least.

A friend of mine had that $1200 system in his living room, until he blew up the subwoofer, and asked me to repair it.

When I took it apart, I was more than a bit surprised - not because it was well built, no; because it was so cheaply assembled, out of such remarkably sub-par components, and yet somehow still managed to sound better than terrible. I mean, it was literally built with $15 worth of parts, and maybe 45 minutes total of Asian labor.

I gained new-found respect for their engineering and marketing acumen, if nothing else: those guys know how to make money.

 

[CheckSix]

A friend of mine had that $1200 system in his living room, until he blew up the subwoofer, and asked me to repair it.

When I took it apart, I was more than a bit surprised - not because it was well built, no; because it was so cheaply assembled, out of such remarkably sub-par components, and yet somehow still managed to sound better than terrible. I mean, it was literally built with $15 worth of parts, and maybe 45 minutes total of Asian labor.

I gained new-found respect for their engineering and marketing acumen, if nothing else: those guys know how to make money.

Amar made billions... he learned from PT Barnum...

 

[Lopp]

You got me to search for Patricia Barber, I’m now listening. Garbage? Not even close.

Holy balls!

To put it in context, I like US Power Metal, Thrash Metal, etc. (although I have been trained on classical guitar at a conservatory and played in jazz band at my university). Favorite current band is Flotsam and Jetsam. Someone mentioned PB being akin to smooth jazz. Generally, not my cup of tea except for background music that I put on for the sole purpose of ignoring.

Maybe I'm in a mood, but I also searched for PB and You Gotta Go Home was the first song that popped up. Fascinating stuff. Complex yet catchy. Thanks for recommending.

Sorry for hijacking the thread.

 

[83stratman]

I saw her play at the Stereophile HiFi '99 show in Chicago. She was great. I didn't care for her guitar players over use (IMO) of chorus though.

Holy balls!

To put it in context, I like US Power Metal, Thrash Metal, etc. (although I have been trained on classical guitar at a conservatory and played in jazz band at my university). Favorite current band is Flotsam and Jetsam. Someone mentioned PB being akin to smooth jazz. Generally, not my cup of tea except for background music that I put on for the sole purpose of ignoring.

Maybe I'm in a mood, but I also searched for PB and You Gotta Go Home was the first song that popped up. Fascinating stuff. Complex yet catchy. Thanks for recommending.

Sorry for hijacking the thread.

 

[bigtone23]

I have owned some Bose speakers: 201, 301 5.2, 601. All sounded pretty good for my needs. I particularly liked the deeper bass of the 601.
The Bose system in my parent's old car sounded good, too. It was hyped, but that worked out for the better in a car.

 

[Twang_Banger]

Everything I have owned from Bose has looked good, sound good and hold up well. I have owned Bose headphones, computer speakers and bluetooth speakers and all have been great. I know audiophiles tend to not like Bose, but they have worked well for me.

Amen, bro. Seems like a bit of audio-snobbery going down on this thread! I have a L1 Pro system with the 4 channel tonematch mixer. Works great for my purposes (solo acoustic gigs). My ears ring so badly, I wouldn’t hear the difference anyway! Audience always tells me the sound is great … what else matters? LOL

 

[John Dell]

Another Bose lifer here and here's why--

I've had a Lifestyle surround system at home since the 90's. Whenever something has failed, it is easy to troubleshoot. They answer the phone. They mailed me an empty box that I placed the failed stereo into and shipping was arranged. I received a replacement, turned it on, the display guides you through the set up (including volume levels to compensate for speaker distance) I paid the bill and I got back to listening to music, playing guitar and spending time with my family instead of dealing with a stereo. If there are any companies out there that can match or beat that level of customer service and convenience, I'll entertain the thought of a different stereo.

Bought the S1 Pro speaker and have been using it as a guitar amp for some covid era jams in the park. SG>a few pedals>S1=great rig

Also, the condescending "audiophile" comments talking crap about the brand are more entertaining than Netflix. They probably hate that too, prefer "real" movies

 

[seward]

Imagine how I feel...I love Parasound for inexpensive used hi-fi, can't get enough of the HCA series, but I don't get a lot of Likes from audiophiles. Now it turns out that toroidal transformers are Going Too far...I can't win.

 

[Sp8ctre]

My ears are shot from all the concerts I attended in the 70's and 80's. I collect recordings of live shows in the FLAC format. I'll be honest, when I listen to the FLAC files against an MP3 I can no longer tell the difference.

Bose speakers work just fine for my living room movie watching surround sound. My set are old Acoustimass 6 cubes with a subwoofer back from the mid to late 90's I believe.

When I lived in Japan for 11 years, I had a fantastic audio system with a Onkyo M506RS amp with a P306RS preamp. I had all the DBX equipment along with Nakamichi Dragon cassette deck and turntable.

Bose 901's were many peoples speaker of choice, but when I listened to them in a closed environment listening room, they sounded flat to me. I ended up with Klipsch Lascala speakers. Way too big for a living room, but I was young and wanted what I wanted! The wife put up with it until we were nearly 40 and I had quit listening to it. I sold it all for quite a large profit!

My main music system now is my computer with powered Presonus Eris E44 monitors and a Presonus subwoofer.

 

[guitararmy]

I remember all of the infomercials they used to run.
My grandmother-in-law had the all-in-one CD player thing.
It wasn't bad sounding...

 

[Tremendo]

Not necessarily a Bose super fan, but got my 2nd Bose S1Pro speaker yesterday, and they are great for what they are. Small, battery powered, clears speakers for vocals and guitar and a mini PA setup.

Also, I generally hate sound bars, but have the Soundbar 700 and Bass Module 700, and they have done better than anything else I've tried in my 2 story living room with tough acoustics.

 

[vvc41]

Bought 601 speakers in 1978 and had them reconed a few years ago, still like them very much. But like the reader stated I never liked the 901.