http://www.hometheaterblog.com/hometheater/2006/03/what_about_bose.html

Slander: words falsely spoken that damage the reputation of another <– cant be this one

Libel: Published words or pictures that falsely and maliciously defame a person. Libel is published defamation; slander is spoken. <– Hard to consider these articles libelous with summations like these:

“I’ll close in saying that Bose is very often an emotional purchase by uninformed (through no fault of their own) buyers looking to buy a ‘surround sound system’ and more often than not the size of the Satellite Cubes is what seals the deal. However if you’re after genuine sonic fidelity and aren’t limited to a speaker that’s tiny, I urge you to do your research, hear multiple systems and refrain from impulse purchases, your ears and wallet will thank you.”

No where in that statement or throughout the articles do I libel Bose as a company or product, I’m offering my personal opinions and observations.

“I urge you to do your research, hear multiple systems and refrain from impulse purchases, your ears and wallet will thank you” could hardly be construed as a damning comment.

Oh and in case there was any doubt as to my opinion of the company in general. A friend of mine (who’s technical opinions I hold above almost everyone I know) tells me the Bose noise canceling headphones are an awesome product. There now that should dispel any myths that I’m on some frivolous anti-Bose crusade.

<—Hilarious.

Anyway, the good people at BOSE were happy with out sales, overjoyed, even. We didn’t sell many 901’s except to certain customers: they were bulletproof, mostly, and you could play them “real loud”. So, if you came in after checking out some Cerwin-Vegas that you loved, or it was obvious that good=loud to you, you got 901’s and our service department remained blissfully ignorant of your tone deaf, always-clipping ways, which normally destroys a loudspeaker rather quickly.

601’s we couldn’t move if we put guns to our customers heads, but the 301’s were nice, mellow speakers for certain people, and we used a lot of them when a clothes retailer or record shop wanted something not-to-fussy without all those annoying highs and lows; very unobtrusive sound that didn’t offend. We even had a customer who owned a record store, and we installed a pair of 301’s outdoors so he could play music to passers by. They lasted for years and did the job, polite, inoffensive, but hardly hifi.

If you cared just a bit more about sound but still had the loud bug, we sold you Klipsch speakers (we were the largest Klipsch dealer in Canada at the time). They were also quite bulletproof, but so efficient that few amps ever made it to clipping anyways.

The HF drivers occasionally blew out if you really abused them, but the rest was fine, and we offered a no-questions-asked lifetime warranty on them (not the manufacturer’s or distributor’s warranty, we ate the cost but it worked for us since it was fairly rare; 2 or 4 replacements a year).

And if you wanted good sound, we had dozens of “proper” hifi speakers, from Rogers LS3/5a’s to Maggies and everything in between.

But, they had a real problem with our demoing. Since we would not agree to a dedicated BOSE area, we mutually agreed to move the line to a competing dealer in town. We even sold them our inventory, which made the BOSE people a little miffed; they expected to sell new stuff to them.

I think we sold 2 sets of 901s in the 5 years I was part of the store, but probably 200 pairs of 301s. Still, it was easy to say goodbye to them; no-one really cared for the sound and we did have a line for the Motorhead crowd, so they weren’t missed at all.

Even then, BOSE was best known inside the industry (not to the public, though) as the triumph of marketing over music.

Best regards.

Bose speakers are made with paper cones. Ever leave paper out on a humid day. What happens… The paper changes shape,curls, well this happens with your Bose speakers and that effects the sound. Also the speakers are held together with foam that will deteriate over time.

Also the gap in the Frequency Response is like buying a $80,000 lexus and not getting a transmission. You are paying more not having those frequency responses.

I am guilty of having my parents buy a BOSE system though. First I didn’t know how bad bose was and second I didn’t want to be bothered by them always asking… How do I use this thing again. I now can solve that with a Harmony universal remote control

However when my Aunt wanted a home theater system I told her no Bose. Instead we went to a Home theater store in her area. Auditioned a complete set up in her price range. She wound up spending about $2100 installed with dual recievers for a second zone.

Even Best Buy and others will install a system into your home and set it up for about the same price as a bose system.

My Motto is if it costs more than $100, go spend 15 minutes on the web and do some research, it can save you thousands.

So I read lots of magazines and Internet posts until I came up with what seemed to be a regularly recommended set of bookshelf speakers, Optimus speaker with Linnaeus tweeters by Radio Shack. Don’t have a cow, apparently Radio Shack’s speakers (at least that particular set) were an audiophile’s insider tip for cheap speakers (kinda like using 18-gauge electrical cord for speaker wires).

Anyway, I bought them because the recommendation came around from many sources. I would appreciate a recommendation here, too. Maybe a $1000 set each. Just a suggestion.

While an audiophile might want to set up all those speakers, I don’t. I just want to plug in and go.

I’m also really impressed by the bass. I like how it thumps a lot, and I can always clearly hear all the bass in every song I listen to. I don’t really understand what you mean by mid-range though, but I do have bass, and lots of it. Yeah baby!

I picked the Bose because there were only a few to choose from. I had walked into a Sony store, and was soon confused. They had so many different sizes and shapes of speakers I had no idea what made one better than the other, and I certainly wasn’t going to sit and listen to them all. It also helps that the bose are small as the old lady doesn’t mind so much.

joe.

Part of the problem with speakers (and sound gear in general) is that the uninformed can easily get fixiated on an idea of what sounds “good” without really testing out whether what they’ve been told really matches up with how their ears and mind percieve sound. A potential purchaser will hear that certain types of speakers sound “warm” which can be a nice way of saying very mid-range in character while lacking high end clarity and low end body. Unless you know to listen for good clarity throughout the audible frequency range a buyer may have no idea what they’re missing.

I agree with the author that I can’t completely rule out Bose as appropriate for some users but that my instinct when I here someone ask about them is that the person doesn’t know a lot about audio. Also I completely agree that Bose isn’t great in terms of bang for your buck. Even if you like a particular Bose system’s sound I guarantee you can get the same quality for less money elsewhere.

I can’t emphasize enough the need to listen and compare various speakers to get a good idea of what you’re buying.

I’m one that says – get what your ear enjoys – but at the same time, being a geek – I look for the specs. So I want good specs on a products – but also want the performance that sounds good to my ear.

Of course we could get into the transistor vs tubes ordeal. But lets not. =)

As a little kid, I believed him. I thought, “wow that must be some really high-tech stuff.” Of course when I started getting into audio equipment, it became obvious how full of crap this guy was. It’s kind of sickening actually, that they get millions of people to buy these things with ads like that.

I fly every week and so I was over the moon when my wife bought me a pair of noise cancelling headphones. However, within a year they had falolen apart. The sound when travelling was great but the product was not robust enough to taken with you on a plae week in, week out.

Undaunted, I marched on. I upgraded to the new version of the headphones, with their hard travelling case.

Another year, another worn out pair of headphones. This time I mailed them back to Bose. I was silly and did not use UPS as directed. That was the last time I saw those headphones. That was the point at which I discounted Bose as an option for any future purchases I might make.

Among some pro-audio folks I know, the saying goes: “Bose: Better Sound Through Plumbing.”