just came across this in some of my research on other thangs. this guy sums up bose pretty well for those bose-bashers.
DO NOT BUY ANYTHING FROM BOSE
Most people thing Bose is the best. Bose is geared toward the uneducated public (audio- wise). These types of people
generally shop in large electronic stores, and Bose is always a company that is carried. These people go in with money in hand,
and are ready to make a purchase that day. They might listen to a few speakers, but they always go back to Bose. For them
Bose is an easy purchase. Everyone has heard of Bose speakers. If people took time to listen to them they would realized they
sound terrible. Bose is often by itself in speaker rooms because Bose does not want any speaker near them so they can make a
quick comparison. Bose does not do any research and development. They spend all of their money on advertising. Bose spent
more on advertising last year than all high-end companies combined. Most speaker companies advertise only in audio and
home theater magazines. Bose on the other hand advertises in regular magazines such as People, Time, Playboy, and many
others. You will also see Bose in the background of many movies and TV shows. Bose pays them to put them in there so more
people see their products (the advertising term is product placement). Bose is the only speaker company with a TV
commercial. They also advertise in the most read audio magazines such as Audio and Stereo Review. Both of these magazines
should never be read, unless for a good laugh. They do not give bad reviews so they love everything no matter how bad it
sounds (including Bose). And, for all reviews they just reiterate the manufacturers specifications. But, since Bose doesn't have
any they just tell about how nice and unobtrusive they look.
Bose speakers in general are not full range speakers. (side note: My definition of full range should be at least from 60Hz to
20,000Hz and the frequency response should not deviate from the reference more than 3 dB in either direction (+or-).) The
AM series, lifestyle, and 501 have a tweeter, and a "subwoofer". The subwoofer covers from about 250 Hz and below. No
tweeter can accurately and with a fairly flat frequency response reproduce 125-20,000 Hz. So what this relates into is a big dip
in the midrange. They have a lot of highs which most people mistake for clarity, and they have some upper bass. The
subwoofer is a bandpass design, and is only usable in a narrow frequency. Bose's bandpass subs are very slow and boomy.
People mistake that as real bass. They also use two 5 1/4" woofers. A 5 1/4" is not a subwoofer. A subwoofer is designated as
a speaker that can reproduce the lower octaves (usually 100-20 HZ). The "subwoofer" can not reproduce this accurately so it
is only two woofers in a box, and not a subwoofer. Having the sub crossover so high also allows someone to easily hear the
relative position of the "sub". Bass is nondirectional from about 100 Hz and below. The V-100, 100, 151, 141, and freestyle
are all speakers that only use one driver. No matter what tricks they use a single 4 1/2" driver can't be full range. The 901 uses
nine 4 1/2" drivers (eight of them facing the back wall!). They need an equalizer to get closer to a full range flat frequency
response. An equalizer should never be used to fix speaker response problems. The 201, 301, and 801 are also
"direct-reflecting" speakers. Direct-reflecting is a marketing scheme. It does nothing for sound.
Bose in general uses cheap material for their speakers. They use plastic enclosures. One of the best materials (and the most
used) is Medium Density Fiberboard (MDF). Their speaker drivers are also low quality. The majority of tweeters in today’s
speakers are dome tweeters. Bose uses cone tweeters because they are cheap to make. And the last thing I am going to say is
that they do not change their speakers. They add a roman numeral to them and call them a new series. The Acoustimass
speakers were originally introduced in the mid-80's. They have not changed them since. The 901 has been around since the
60's and 70's. Both the AM and 901 speakers just get another roman numeral addition to denote a "new series".
I know what you are thinking, but "What about the good reviews I have read in Stereo Review and Consumer Reports". These
magazines give everything a favorable review. Stereo Review has been saying all equipment sounds the same since the
magazine first started. If everything sounds the same what the hell are they here for. The magazine is not worth the paper it is
printed on. Consumer Reports is even worse. They do not listen to any of the components they "test". All they do is give more
specs and then base their recommendations on specs and who sued them last. Bose sued CR because they gave Bose (901) a
negative review. They said that CR used unscientific testing methods. CR won the suit, but Bose has since always been given
good (great usually) reviews. So they are now definitely very biased. Two subjective review magazines have also reviewed
Bose, Stereophile Guide to Home Theater (SGHT) and Home Theater magazine. Both magazines gave Bose (AM-10 to be
exact) a negative review. Both of these are magazines that give subjective reviews which means they give positive and negative
reviews. Which means they don't have to worry about pissing anyone off (and even if they do they don't care) so they will give
a honest review of all products. Home Theater magazine in fact lost Bose as an advertiser (good riddance if you ask me) after
they published the negative review of the AM-10. If you want to know how the review went it got a 62 on a scale of 50-100
which is the lowest anything has gotten in their magazine (JAN 1998 issue). The SGHT review was a little bit more nicer. They
reviewed the AM-10 for a face off with two other budget HT speaker packages (JBL and PSB). They felt the Bose was the
worst of the bunch, but that was about it.
Here is a recap. Reasons why Bose suck:
Biggest reason: SOUND TERRIBLE
Lacking in the midrange (all vocals and most instruments are on the midrange)
Cheap plastic enclosures
No bass at all especially with the Acoustimass speakers (Dual 5 1/4 are not subwoofers)
Bandpass subwoofer=boomy and one notey
Tweeters can not cover the area above the sub effectively
"Subwoofer" will not distort because it has current limiting circuitry built in
Use cheap low quality drivers
Way overpriced (Speakers a quarter of the price sound better!!!)
If you don't believe me take some time to carefully listen to them and other speakers. It is easy to tell the difference between
Bose and other speakers if you take the time to listen carefully.
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