A friend and I went to a Bose outlet this past week acting as a couple of college kids looking for a sound solution for the dorm. I knew ahead of time that the products would be lousy. They were worse than I remembered/expected. However, what really took me aback was the sales staff. Our salesperson obviously had no knowledge of audio or electronics. Here are a couple of prime examples:
We began with the 3-piece computer system (which was $249 and sounded no better than my $80 Boston Acoustics system). I angled the speakers in to us to listen, our salesman turns them out and says, "We like to have them like this, because it spreads out the sound." Of course the sound went from way overpriced to worthless with the adjustment.
I asked the salesman about the 901s and if they had them on the floor. He said no, they've taken them off since they've moved more towards home theater. He added that since they've been taken off the floor, they've sold more. Maybe because the consumer can't audition them now? He also said the Acoustimass systems really came close to the same performance of the 901s. This, if true, would make me seriously worry about the engineering and pricing of the 901s.
Lastly, he put a CD in an Onkyo player and it said "Mechanical Error" or something like that. I pointed it out to him and he said, "It's because I didn't tell it to play yet." Obviously no knowledge of how to use electronics, why would I trust his opinion of what to buy?
I was shocked at the lack of ability of the sales force in the outlet. I guess it's cause most people who buy Bose go and buy it; they don't need much convincing. Good thing they have their "reputation" or they'd be lost.