Bose Acoustic Wave music system II is garbage

Some pretty extreme comments being thrown around here. The hard left and hard right wing attitudes are for the garbage can.

The Bose. Well, it's not my cup of tea, but I can see how some folks like their products.

They do make a fine clock radio and their noise canceling headphones are interesting.

The product in question, I have no comments since, I've never auditioned.

Bose in the past has been somewhat innovative for consumer grade products though.

 

What about the other guy's below-the-belt comment about those who spend money on "hundred dollar wires" ? Why don't you also reprimand him on that ? My opinion.

 

A friend of mine's aunt had one. It wasn't terrible. Not high fidelity, but not offensive. The sound was rather like bland food... not exciting, but it won't give you indigestion, either. The problem is that the Bose marketing steamroller has flattened everything in its path so that people are convinced that when they hear Bose, they're hearing high fidelity. They don't know that they're not.

 

My parents have a Bose Wave Radio - the original with lift-top CD player. I've listened to it many times on my visits, and while it's not everything it's advertised to be, it does give pleasant, room-filling sound in a very small, easy-to-use package.

It's limitations are it's maximum volume level (it can only be turned up so high before clipping and distortion sets in), and it's clarity on the bass end of the spectrum (muddy, boomy, bloated).

CDs that are mastered hot, brickwalled, etc., don't sound as good on it as CDs with better dynamics and more breathing room. Acoustic, jazz, etc. sound much better on it than congested, balls-to-the-wall titles.

Its price-to-performance ratio is also too small, in my opinion. However, for people like my parents who can't stand all the tech-y details that come with component systems, the Wave Radio was well worth the price. It gives them reasonably good sound with zero tech hassle, and that's what means the most to them.

 

In other words, play Gordon Lightfoot on the Wave and not the Sex Pistols.

 

That's what I have to keep telling my folks...

 

I've heard the Bose Wave radio many times...most of the hotel rooms I've stayed in have one on the bedside table. Wal-Mart sells Sony, Emerson and other manufacturer's products that provide nearly identical quality to the Bose wave radio, along with a CD and tape deck. These products typically cost no more than $60 and require the tech savvy of a three year old. What does the wave radio cost?

 

DUDE YOUVE LOST ALL CREDIBILITY NOW WITH THAT STATEMENT


None of those low priced radios begin to compare sound wise to the bose. The bose is in a whole different level sound wise, than any low priced table top cheapo boombox or alarm clock.


Sure its high priced for the sound you get, but its far superior to just about anything in the $200.00 and under category. Many mentioned the cambridge soundworks and a few other higher end table radios, and frankly the bose falls much closer in overall sound to those.
Perhaps you are being silly now, as that shows you are not able to differentiate sound quality in the least if you believe the bose is similar to a wal-mart boom box. Not even close.

 

Perhaps in your haste to use bold, red text you missed the point. The wave radio, as was the case with the Acoustic Wave music system this thread was created for, doesn't provide quality in any way commensurate with the exorbitant price tag attached to it. I'm not going to say that the $60 radios you can buy in any store are stellar, but the wave radio doesn't sound like much of anything either, and it certainly doesn't boast the quality necessary to justify its price tag. The wave radio, and the acoustic wave music system, are products designed to lure in suckers, nothing more.

 

Motionoftheocean,

If you don't mind filling in your music profile, it might help folks understand your
frame of reference. I guess one wonders to ask you if you auditioned the Bose side by side with the Emerson playing the same music.

Not being a Bose fan, I've heard the Wave Clock Radio too, but side by side with others playing the same music and would by no stretch of the imagination attempt to compare it with any clock radio in the $100 dollar range or less sonically or otherwise. Do you remember the Emerson or Sony models? You also expanded and used the term quality. The Bose also still uses the high quality blue green LED's for the clock and also comes with a remote
control. The track record for reliability over many years of usage is outstanding as is their warranty. There are other companies that make similar quality Clock Radio's but, again the price point is around $200.

FOr myself, I purchased a Teac Clock CD radio for around $160.00. Although it is excellent, I would not attempt to compare it to the Bose Wave.

 

Nearly everybody here agrees the Bose Wave stuff is a bit pricey for what it delivers. The essential question for me is, does it deliver a decent musical experience for those who already own one? I know that, for my friends who do, it does. If someone is enjoying music via one of those units, does that really make them suckers?

Anyway, I've not encountered any audio products at Target or Best Buy (in truth, I've never been in a Wal-Mart electronics department) costing $60 that sound as good as the entry-level Wave; while acknowledging that the $500 price tag of the Bose unit is still regrettable. I'm sure there are products costing >$250 or so that may, or in fact do, sound competitive.

 

http://www.audiobuys.net/Teac/2354.htm

 

Overpriced yes. Garbage no...

 

Fine. There are also people who don't see the need to try any other beer beyond Bud Light.

Your ears don't lie, but they don't know what they are doing either. I'd wager many dollars to donuts that a single experience with a real audio system, set-up properly, would destroy every notion of what "freakin good" actually sounds like.

I suppose it comes down to curiosity. Some of us have too much for own good, but that's much better than those who have none at all.

 

Suckers? Well, perhaps I wouldn't go so far as to insult the mainstream. Products such as Bose Wave are manufactured and advertised to the masses. The "lowest common denominator" is their target. Is that ok? I suppose it is, but isn't ok to presume that many, many "lowest common denominator" folks (especially music fans) will enjoy and appreciate a new, enlightening listening experience? The only alternative approach is for some of us to stick are noses in air and proclaim, "they'll never get it!".

 

Most people on either side of that argument would get it if they were properly exposed to better equipment. I sincerely doubt any of the Bose advocates have heard enough non-Bose products to know just how great music can sound. Bose's marketing obviously targets people with money to spend who don't know enough have about audio quality to realize they're getting rooked. I would imagine the people who do know something but get lured in by the hefty price tag, are likely to demand a refund, like my relative. He's far from an audiophile, but he's heard enough decent audio equipment to know when he's being ripped off. Hell, it didn't require any expertise to recognize that his cheapy Sony mini Hi-Fi was a better purchase than the Bose. I'm just glad he decided to bail before he was locked into paying the $1400 for that piece of junk.

And as far as the wave radio goes, I mentioned earlier than they've been in dozens of hotel rooms I've stayed in over the last decade or so. I've heard everything imaginable played through it. There's no justification for the price tag.

 

Seeing a Bose in a hotel room is fine because I usually have a few CDs along with me. They work well for what they are. Great sound? nah but who cares. I guess that puts me momentarily into the mainstream!

I always though of Bose along the same lines as some of the "hi-end" CD and vinyl sellers (whom there have been threads on here) who charge way beyond what the merchandise is worth while proclaiming the product able to recreate everything short of raising the dead. Money was meant to be spent and some folks apparently do it better than others!

 

I had some Bose 401's back when I was 19 / 20 years old around 1994 and sung the praises. Chicks liked them, the dudes admired them and my ego was stoked.

But something started to bother me as I started reading more audio magazines within the next couple years (I didn't get online until 2000). I started reading some of the anti Bose stuff - the lack of specs, the overpricing factor, the marketing and the fact that what I was hearing really wasn't that great of sound for many (subjective yes - but I was going to keep an open mind).

I took it one step further and started questioning my purchase. I knew in my quest for good, affordable sound that there must be better. Perhaps twice as good for half the money.

My good friend bought a pair of Mission 731 bookshelf speakers in early 1997 and asked me to come to his place to give them a listen. I was more than delighted - I had heard of Mission before but knew nothing of them. I grabbed a few of my favorite CDs and went over. What I heard blew my mind. 10X the detail & accuracy than what I was hearing on the Bose. The 401`s went deeper (or did they, these speakers were designed for corners so tons of boom & bloat was apparent). This is exactly what I needed to hear and I realized just how crappy of a purchase I had made. My audio hobby took a sharp left turn and I have never looked back. Within a few years as I put together a proper stereo the Bose got sold and I have never been a fan since.

Thats the short version. Personally, I think Bose is garbage. I owned a pair and went from being an uneducated young & naive fan, sucked into all the marketing glory, to being one of the few that started second guessing the purchase and because of this has found decent, affordable sound.

Once I did that a whole new world opened up

 

My sentiments and position exactly. Glad my folks have one.

I also came across one when I was stuck in a Dallas hotel for a few days several years ago. Was thrilled to see it -- it was much better than what I had with me -- my old Discman plus headphones (which are also Bose!), or any of the other clock radio/disc-player combos I've seen in hotels. Does it compare to good home stereo? Of course not. But that comparison doesn't need to be made, at least not in this forum.

 

Bose Acoustic Wave

I had it a few years ago & it sounded like garbage!

 

I bet this would be a good bargain alternative to the Wave (TEAC, again):

http://www.amazon.com/SR-L250iB-Hi-...4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1293520883&sr=1-4

Admittedly, I haven't heard this unit but for nearly 50% less than the smaller Wave ($260 vs. $500), I'd surely audition if I came across one. TEAC stuff has always been good value audio, in my experience.

 

Apologies if I've already posted this one:

http://www.amazon.com/Yamaha-MCR-04...?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1293522423&sr=1-24

$20 more than the TEAC but looks even better.