My Sister Just Ordered a Bose Wave 3.....Tell Me About it

she read or heard it was good, a boombox type player.... she paid $200 upfront, with 2 more payments to come....not sure the total price, but she said the next 2 are smaller amounts.... I have never heard about this Bose player, previously... did she get a good player? a bad player? did she get hosed? honest opinions welcomed, don't hold back

 

Why didn't she buy that $160,000 turntable?

 

Yeah, it's only 160 easy payments of $1000.

 

But seriously folks... These sound nice for most folks who like to have music playing in the background which is what most people do. They are a great solid sounding product. Even Billy Joel sounds pretty good on them

 

I own a Bose Lifestyle 38 system and I paid a lot of money for it (as in over paid) but it's still working fine, and I actually enjoy using it. About overpaying and all of that stuff, it's Bose of course you are going to over pay. If she is happy and enjoying it, it's all good.

M~

 

It's a little late now since she already bought it. What are you going to do with this information?

 

A friend had one in her kitchen on the counter. There were a couple of evenings having cocktails in the kitchen. The other housemate kept telling us to turn it down.
So I had to listen to it low, and for something like that, it was bearable. Listening to Ya-Ya's and it was ok. In a stereo store a year or so ago I saw a Phillips small boombox style thing with detachable speakers. This thing surrounded terrific and believe it or not had two (not sure what size) tubes! They only wanted $350 or so. Before I'd buy Bose, I'd look for one of those Phillips, for the money it was great. I could kick myself for not buying one when I could have, would have been great for a bedroom system!

 

she expects to receive it Thursday, and she has a 30-day money back guarantee.....I hope to get plenty of responses, share them with her, listen myself, and give her a good amount of information to use....in case she is less than enamored with the purchase

 

Find out what she's using it for and what room that she'll be placing it in, then you'll get no shortage of opinions on how the same quality can be obtained for a lesser price (or better quality at the Bose price).

 

Well, that's just it, it's a good $99 boombox at five plus times the price.

 

I've heard the various Bose Waves, and I think they're way too boomy in the bass and weird in the mids. The opposite of flat, to me.

But I gotta say, Bose owns this market, and they advertise the hell out of it. I think there are systems that sound a lot better for the same money, and systems that sound almost as good for about half the money.

 

I'm with this , the EQ points sound weird to me ..... I alos don't think they sound good at louder Volumes , Talk radio seems to be weird sounding as well .
My parents bought a Bose wave ,aybe 2 years ago ? I had read about A LOT of problems with the cd player going bad on them .... the oen my Parents bought the cd was messed up straight out of the Box & they were not all that Blown away by the sound (they were trying to downsize a bigger system) in the end they took it Back & i helped them get a little Denon bookshelf system Receiver/cd player is about the size of a loaf of bread & each speaker is just a hair bigger + the price was about $375 , much less $$
But heck if she has 30 days no risk , maybe she'll like it .

 

You know, there's tons of used ones available on eBay cheaper. That would be my advice if she really wants it. No question, it's a nice-looking unit, and it does sell very well. The CD transports in them are for crap and tend to break, so watch out for that.

 

No highs, no lows, really blows. Must be Bose.
Regards, Sam

 

I am subjected on a bi-weekly basis to Bose speakers in the ceiling of a building I go to. They are incredibly bright and we have to tame the treble on the amp to make them sound good. I can't stand them. I have Bose in my car (it came installed) and I'm cool with that. I guess it just depends on where you're listening and what model you're listening to.

Ed

 

To me it has an odd too warm or boomy bass, that lacks some clarity, its hard to explain. it sounds fairly okay in the background, and listening at low to moderate levels, in fact even good in some ways, but listened to critically, something is a bit off.

 

Most people that buy Bose love it. She just invested a nice chunk of change to enhance her music listening experience. Don't rain on her parade, let her be happy.

 

That explains it quite well, I think. Boomy and loose in what I would call the "mid-bass," i.e. not the rock bottom. I didn't bother to look at the specs, but I don't think it has a rock bottom.

My mother has one in the kitchen. Sounds fine if you want to listen to opera broadcasts on the radio while you're in the kitchen, that sort of thing. Anyone who is an audio enthusiast would probably not be satisfied with it as a first choice.

 

BOSE = Better Off with Something Else

Now that we got that out of the way...

 

Inlaws have one and honestly I know we all bash bose relentlessly, but it has some odd sound qualitities, that make some stuff sound better and some stuff sound muffled or worse. I think thay have some type of dynamic EQ thing going on, and at lower levels it boosts some of the bass and so on, and EQs the mids and highs, but as its turned up the EQ varies. Sort of like the typical "loudness" circuit that used to be on all stereos, but with some ...uh "Bose refinements"

 

I guess thats one way of looking at things. .....

Ive made silly purchases and mistakes and things in the past, and LATER someone told me they knew better. I welcomed the information, but WISHED they had made their opinion to me, before hand.

When asked why they didnt, they said they didnt want to "Butt in", or "Seem too forward" etc.

Honestly I felt worse realizing they knew better and sat back and smiled and said nothing.......

 

It is my understanding that she has already made the purchase. If she came looking for advice before hand the answer would be different. In my expereince people like this don't really want advice they want affirmation.

My friend is a Doctor that also happens to play the piano. He loves musc and told me he was going to buy a Bose Wave. I advised against it and helped him pick out a nice entry level stereo. B&W speakers and Cambridge Audio electronics and NAD CD player. He was very excited, but after living with the stereo a couple of weeks he returned it a bought the Bose Wave anyway. He likes it much more and has bought two more, one for his office and one for his bedroom.

I am not insulted but I did learn a lesson about giving advice regarding audio gear. I would do the same thing again except I wouldn't waste my time going to the store and liestening with him. I would just point him in the right direction.

 

I've never heard them, so I can't comment on SQ, but...they look really good and come in three different colors, you don't have to string wires, they are portable and they have good resale value. Plus they have an interesting bass-loading design that they claim produces far better/deeper bass than anything comparable. I don't know why it wouldn't, from looking at the pictures of it on their web site. It's a pretty cool design, especially for casual, background music.

I put a three-piece Onkyo shelf system in our bedroom, plus I added an Onkyo sub. It sounds OK, but honestly, If I were doing it today, I'd try the Bose Wave Radio with CD. My wife thinks she'd love it.

 

thanks for all the input, I think I will consider everything that has been said here, and listen for myself....I have noted the comments about wonky EQ and excess Bass, etc., so I will be specifically listening for that....I'm sure my sister will love it on first listen, but psychologically speaking, one sort of has to affirm their purchase....btw, she will play it in her bedroom exclusively placed about 5 feet from her bed, but "no background noise" listening....she tends to get involved emotionally with the music she plays

 

The people who love them love them for the modest and decor-friendly form factor, plug-and-play simplicity, and that "room-filling sound" thing that comes across like the voicing and EQ from hell to audiophiles, but sounds like full-bodied hi-fi to a lot of people. My family's homes are infested with them and I wouldn't dream of throwing cold water on what's working for them.