Bose Wave Music System review from a non-audiophile.

My brother-in-law bought one of them a few years back. It sounds OK for what it is, but it is not for any discernible audiophile.

I would never have paid $499 for that thing, though.

 

My mother has one in her apartment. It's serves its purpose, which is to fill the space with sound from small unit. It is overpriced.

 

My wife loves our Lifestyle 38 and thinks that it is sooo cute. So as long as it's pleasing the person who owns it. more power to it. Also, everytime my wife gets a CD, she loads it into the Bose, so that she can listen to it all over the house.

M~

 

I have the FS-SD5 and 7. Those are the rectangular ones. The sound isn't bad. Amp gets noisy as it reaches maximum output. I have one that I've put hundreds, maybe thousands of hours on. I have another that is very temperamental in regards to skipping. But these things look pretty cool.

Dan

 

To paraphrase Steve, if you care about quality of sound in any way you're an audiophile.

I could hear the difference between masterings on my pal's Wave system perfectly well.

 

My dad has a Carver setup with Boston Acoustic speakers, and for movies and CDs, the imaging is really nice and clear. Far above anything I have. No one here really talks about these brands, so I don't know how they rate relative to other brands. I have also heard an all-tube setup playing vinyl at a shop in Austin that specializes in 2nd-hand turntables. Not as clear-sounding, but very lifelike and engaging. Lastly, I have a cheap Califone all-in-one that was used in schools. Hi fidelity? No way, but I love playing my Bell and 49th State Hawaiian 78s on it and hearing surprisingly nice mid-range tonality.

I think for me, any setup that isn't too harsh or muddy can be satisfying, depending on your expectations.

 

Bose is what the average consumer thinks is an audiophile brand, while most audiophiles think little of it.
My main beef (an annoyance) is their ubiquitus (and overlong) commercial on the high def cable channels which is shown over and over again. "avoid the mess of tangled wires" "gives you the crisp highs as well as the deep lows" .....and the couple who start dancing whenever they hear the Wave, no matter what they are doing....

 

My best friend up in Seattle bought one. When I went to his house he showed it to me and turned it on for a listen. I'm not a Bose guy at all, but I must admit, it did sound pretty darn good and it sure filled his house up with nice sounding music! There is just something to it that makes music sound really nice. I was impressed by the sound coming out. Very nice system for someone who just wants to hear nice sounding music! Perfect for his needs, for sure. It's a nice unit for someone who wants to hear nice sounding music in their living space without getting a stereo system. It sounded good!, better than I thought it would for sure. Nice.

 

Were I looking for a tabletop deal I'd consider a Tivoli ($150 or $300? for stereo if you actually want stereo in that context) and put an iPod or other portable player for the aux input. You'd have the tabletop unit, a good AM/FM tuner plus a portable digital player and probably more satisfying sound than the Bose for $500. Mo' betta.

 

Bose gets unnecessarily slammed, mostly because many people think it's "cool" to do so.

A while ago, I was at a friend of the family's house and the friend happened to have the Bose Wave radio. I had heard that the sound quality of the it was unbelievable for its size--having seen Bose commercials and infomercials--so I turned it on and gave it a listen, expecting some sort of sonic miracle. The sound I heard emanating from it was really nothing special. It wasn't bad and was inoffensive, but it certainly was not miraculous and didn't really impress me. In short, it sounded like any other similarly sized "kitchen" radio.

On the other hand, I am a big fan of Bose 101 speakers--the little ones in the ported thermoplastic enclosure with the 4.5" "stardriver." They sound nice and warm.

 

My first thought was how it might stack up against the B&W Zeppelin at $100 more. Haven't heard either.

 

True, but don't worry - the folks who unnecessarily praise Bose outnumber them by a truly vast measure.

 

Yeah, but not on this forum, which was one of the reasons I started this thread.

 

Sure it's not "Hi-Fi" or "High-End" but anything that gets someone enjoying music gets my thumbs up! Glad you found something you enjoy.

 

its not anything but a plastic con sold direct to you at an amazingly hi price

if it cost 100 bucks it would be ok

 

Heaven forbid a company makes a profit, eh?

 

I'll bet a lot of the Wave antis have not heard one in a home environment. I'm a bit of a Naim/Rega snob, and I thought my pal's Wave sounded great, even for $500 - which, if you consider it, isn't too much dough for a decent-sounding rig. My last system cost nearly $10k, and I know a few people I've had over to my place silently thought "what a fool"! From my perspective, $500 is cheap. Now, is it perfect, for that money? Hardly. And yes, I believe an intelligently-selected set of separates (CDP, amp, speakers) can sound better; but very tough to do for $500, new. But you can't unplug and move such a system into a different room (for social gatherings, etc.) as easily as the Wave can, in thirty seconds.

 

I should mention in all fairness that Cambridge Soundworks makes a Wave-type unit for about $300 (IIRC) which is very competitive with the Bose one.

 

See link on post nine...number nine...number nine...

 

Got mine 20 months ago and love it, for certain specific uses. Mainly I keep on a bedside table to listen to AM radio (Coast to Coast) at night before going to sleep. Reception is good for AM and FM, with no external antenna. I'm 30 miles from the towers.

Love the big clock, which brightness changes with the ambient light, so it doesn't become a night light. Love the sleep timer, alarm clock, all that stuff.

I'm happy with the sound quality. When I want audiophile stuff I go to my main system. But this sound is excellent for a table radio.

I also move it around a lot for areas where I don't have access to my main stereo system. Love the portability and the fact that it remembers the time.

Had to return my first one because the CD player didn't work well. But this new one has worked without a hitch for 20 months. It even plays, flawlessly, MP3 CDs with over 200 tracks, in shuffle mode without ever having a problem.

 

My parents own one. My mom thinks it sounds fantastic, but consider she's 72 years old. One thing I noticed when picking it up was it's heft, it felt like it was made of lead. SQ wise it's not bad at all for a small portable CD player. Definitely over priced.

 

Most people don't listen closely enough to music to care. Either that, or their hearing is shot.

 

There are no Bose products that are not overpriced. No wonder Amar Bose, its founder, is among the 400 wealthiest men in the US ...

 

I have owned one for twenty years. We've taken it camping and on other trips. It may or may not be "audiophile", but it is much more than that. It is music where it means the most, among friends in just about any locale. I have a battery pack.

I would describe any sound reproduction device in terms of whether or not I've felt I heard the entire musical event reproduced. I think the Bose serves this purpose. Other systems may have a better sound stage or defined bass, but the Bose unit has a good compromise of it all. Nothing appears missing. I've tried some supposedly better units, but none I've heard really satisfies like the Bose.

In fact, we had it outdoors today as my wife and I used our hot tub, the best way to get any sunshine I've found in our current near-zero winter weather.

Yes, my single-ended tube-powered Spendors sound better, at least inside. But, an outdoor comparison is too difficult to attempt. I've read several threads where audiophiles scoff at the Bose. But, it it is a unique product, and, in my opinion, deserves its success.

 

I've never heard one and I hate them. Why? Because more than once when that TV commercial has come on my wife has said something like "wouldn't it be nice to get rid of all of that stereo stuff and replace it with one small box like that?" Tell me I'm not the only one. Never mind that my receiver, cd player/recorder and speakers total cost was less than $400.