Bose... crap?

There is a reason you won't find Bose in a professional recording studio.

 

There is a phrase that many audio geeks go by, "Bose blows". I have heard a few Bose systems, and while I find them perfectly adequate for background noise I can't stand them for any type of music listening. I find them unfulfilling, but if you like how they sound, then that is really all thats important. Check out head-fi.org for headphone info. There are some pretty good affordable options out there.

 

Yes, bose is junk. Spend more money yearly than all the audio companies combined on advertising and marketing. Crap product.

 

Bose is much higher priced than it should be in most cases

But, do have Bose companion myself. They are hooked to the plasma, for more richer sound than the boring factory flat TV-speakers. Work great.

And... I think I know which headphones you bought, cause I bought a pair myself. Mine got ruined three-four weeks after purchase (I used them every day). To be fair, I have had a Etomytic pair, and a Shure pair as well. Those were very expensive, 150-200 $ range. Both got ruined. Now I have a 35$ Sennheiser pair - they sound just little less awesome, but they're the best in-ear headphone buy yet.

 

I like my Bose ipod docking system. but I had some (relatively) cheap Bose noise-canceling headphones and they were complete crap.

 

Well I'm not an audiophile. My brother makes fun of me because of it. Last week I picked up a pair of B&O A8 earphones and I love them so far. As far as audio quality goes they sound good to me but I'm no expert, that's why I get made fun of because I buy the quality but can't tell

I bought this pair for comfort more than anything.



Bose sounds great to me.

 

I've owned two pairs of Bose noise canceling headphones and they have both been good. I actually have the same issue with them stuttering, but its only when the jack takes a bump and I've had that happen with pretty much all of the headphones I've owned. When it comes down to it IMO Bose makes good audio equipment but it is overpriced.

 

A guy on the Volvo p1800 owner's group site once told us No highs, no lows, must be Bose!

 

Guys, you are arguing about a non-issue. It's like complaining that the [fill in the blank appliance-type car] doesn't have the same handling, power, quality of fit and finish, etc. as a higher priced exotic or collectible vintage car. Two, entirely different markets.
I probably spend more on a handful of tubes, or a phono cartridge than most people would lay out for an entire system:- to me, it is worth it, to exact a level of realism that sometimes leaves me startled.
But, that is generally not how most people listen to music, which is background to other things, sound in a moving car (horrible environment) or listening or watching via a computer hookup with a small ancillary sound system.
Bose is a brilliant company. The have achieved a market presence that few audio hardware companies could, in an environment where most everything is small, disposable plastic and based on innovation, not 'purist' sound.
As to warranty or performance claims, contact the company directly. My sense is that they are responsive to consumers.

 

BOSE = "Better Off with Something Else"

Better sound through marketing....

Jedi "in the audio biz"

 

Hmmm.....interesting, I own a set of Bose noise canceling headphones for about 4 years now which I use alot since I fly a bunch and I've never had ANY problems. The only problem I have is that you get tired of wearing them around your ears on a long international flight.

 

I'm using the Bose iPod docking system, and by far it's one of the best buys i made. Perfect sound, it sounds great when i really blast the music, or even when it's soft.

However, earphones and headphones, i've always preferred Sennheiser. It's clearity is outta this world, and it's really worth it. Bose ear/headphones OTOH, is much more 'bassy'. Not clear as Sennheiser.

 

No doubt the over the ear headphones fight flight fatigue immensely, but the seperation at times is not the best on full dynamic range music like say opera or symphony orchestras.

APHORISM WARNING! Even a new key in an old lock will wiggle.
Think of it like this, a new car fits a key perfectly tight. After a few years and a few hundred thousand miles, things flex and the key gets a little loose. To put it in a sexual manner (this is fchat after all) like a 'hotdog in a hallway'.

The Triport has a great build quality as do many of their products, even if they look like two Dixie cups. I figure we can all conjecture that not all the products come from the same factory or maybe not sourced from the same suppliers, but if other things work just fine, maybe you should try attaching the headphones to other devices. After a while we tend to stress the socket we plug things in to and the reflexive little tabs that make contact inside the recepticle may not be perfect and heck, even though it is a 0.25" jack, maybe the Bose tip is 0.24" and the contacts are flexed back just enough to not make a hard contact.

 

I have a Wave CD player (one of the old ones, w/ the buttons on the unit as well as the remote), and it is great for the bedroom.

As far as the surround systems go, they are not well regarded at all in the audio community. Many other companies, like Yamaha, Pioneer, Denon, Onkyo, etc... make sytems that are far superior in fidelity, robustness, service, customization, (...the list goes on) for a fraction of the price.

My parents own several wave radios, as well as several of the larger radios/cd-changers, and 2 or 3 pairs of the bose headphones, and they all work as promised.

The biggest issue with Bose today is that they basically stopped funding the research they used to do, and used that money for marketing instead. The audio community has since left them behind, and Bose is no longer the innovator it used to be.

Its kind of like someone buying an Acura for $120,000, even though there is a Maserati sitting a little bit further down the lot for the same price.

 

My dad just bought a Yamaha surround sound for the living room. I haven't heard it yet. While he's not an audiophile he said he's been blown away by the sound quality.

 

It's not Bose, it's the crappy Apple products you are plugging the headphones into

 

I've heard very good things about the Yamaha systems, the yamaha system my neighbor has is a few years old so it doesn't have the new bells and whistles, but it has solid sound quality.

I personally bought a Harman Kardon 7.1 receiver and paired that with 5.1 Klipsch speakers all around and sometimes I just want giggle a little everytime I turn it on.

I built the entire system for 1/3rd the price of their comparable (read... still not as fully featured) system. Clearly I could have done significantly better if I was looking to spend the price of the bose system. If you go the home-theatre in a box route, a comparable system from some other company could easily be 1/4th the price or less.

 

I had a wonderful NHT system for years. Unfortunately, last year my daughter suddenly got fascinated with pressing the dustcones in, now it is attic furniture. Anyway, I went out and bought a Bose surround sound system because I wanted something small and hidden that she couldn't get to. It is not nearly as dynamic as my NHT system was, also it has NO BOTTOM whatsoever out of the box and is missing some midrange. Bass heavy soundtracks are a no go and the missing midrange frequencies can take some pop off snare drums and gunshots. That being said, adding a 10"sub to the system solved most of my gripes. I am really happy with it now. Bose systems definitely color the sound, but in an interesting way. Sort of like playing an electric guitar through a Vox amp vs. a high fidelity amplifier. You either like the coloring or you don't...I really like it. If you are looking for reference quality speakers---forget it. But it can be really entertaining for the non-audiophile.

 

You know, for a non audiophile, I think Bose products are just fine. I have a Bose SoundDock for use with an iPod/iPhone. It sounds nice, is portable, and fits the bill. I certainly can appreciate the bazillions of dollars worth of equipment that can be purchased, but in my case, the sound is perfectly decent, the styling is nice, and the price is fine. Was it "too much money"? I dunno... it works, and I'm happy with it.

 

I've had great luck with headphones from Sennheiser.

 

I worked for Bose between 1997 and 2003. Even though I was basically fired, I still like the products. Send your parents a Bose product (a COMPLETE system, be it Lifestyle or WAVE) and they will get 100% as good as sound as you will. Bose is the automatic transmission of audio. Bose is the point and click digital camera instead of the difficult to use SLR component camera. Yes, there are millions of better systems out there IF you can manage to not only hook it up right, but configure it right too, a reconfigure it every time you change sources or media. Bose is easy to use even for the elderly.

If you are an audiophile then go ahead and buy something else. But if you just want a decent sound and decent home theater (even when watching TV or an older movie) that is EASY to use then get a Bose Lifestyle system.

Personally I never thought the speakers by themselves stood out much and most were sold just because of the brand name.

Just as I was leaving Bose (or getting thrown out the door, haha) they were switching over to Chinese manufacturing for the lower price products, like headphones, computer speakers, etc.

Bose hasn't made their target profits in home audio in nearly 15 years. No big surprise since they don't have any revolutionary new products. Most of their profits are made in military contracts and car audio.

Aaron