Whatever happened to Boston Acoustic

[phredude]

Hi,

I was just wondering, what happened to Boston Acoustic speakers? I've been told by many sources, most of them reliable, that they changed over the years. I owned an old pair of t830s which I love, but I believe you can't get them anymore. A few sales reps, even the one selling Bostons, mentioned that the sound quality has declined somewhat, even though they are good speakers. They seem to have ventured more into car audio and custom systems. What did they do to them, and why?

Thanks, and have a nice day.

phred

 

[Redbone]

I have been a big Boston Fan for many years. I have to disagree with your salesman as Boston just came out with some great floorstanders the VR-3 series. They sounded really awesome for a $1325 speaker. Most recently Tweeter Etc... Bostons Biggest distributor dropped them in favor of Polk Audio- Why???

I have heard that they have focused their efforts on Home theater in wall installations. They are also putting systems in Chrysler products.

 

[Shinerman]

I have been a Boston fan for years and currently have Boston VR965 towers. I really like them and felt they competed very well and bettered many other speakers in the general price range. As far as Tweeter not carrying Boston anymore, I don't knew. It could be just about anything. Maybe Boston did not want their speakers being sold by salesmen who know very little about Audio, in general. Could be anything. I did notice Boston being carried in a Great Indoors store recently.

I don't their sound has gone down in qaulity by any means. Is it different than the Boston speakers of the 80's and 70's? Sure, but I don't think it worse. Like the previous poster stated, they have some really nice speakers out right now. The VR2 and VR3 and very good for the price and the VR-M80 and 90 are very impressive. I love my VR965 towers.

I think Tweeter is probably trying to go a little more main stream with Polk. They are a very popular brand and have big brand recognition. Boston, not so much. I also notice Tweeter is now carrying Sapphire which they have an exclusive contract with and also Yamaha speakers. I think they also got rid of Vienna Acoutics and have scaled back of Sonus Faber and Martin Logan. I think they are simply trying to build of business with bigger names. I know in speaking to a Old Timer salesman at Tweeter from back in the Home Entertainment days, Tweeter has seen a slump in sales over the last couple of years. I think they are finding it hard to compete with Best Buy and Circuit City.

Anyway, my .02 cents.

Shinerman

 

[Unregistered]

Carrying those brands will just turn Tweeter into Best buy....

 

[Shinerman]

Carrying those brands will just turn Tweeter into Best buy....

Bingo! I think Tweeter is trying to compete with BB and CC but it also wants to hold on to their "upscale" image. In reality, Tweeter is just a step above BB and CC especially now that BB carries the makes of Klipsch, Athena, and even JBL. These speakers compare pretty well with the likes of Polk, Sapphire, Yamaha, etc. Tweeter still hold on to Boston built ins, Martin Logan and Sonus Faber to keep that "upscale" image and they do offer custom installs. But, that about it. Here in Houston, Tweeter bought Home Entertainment stores. Home Ent. was a mid to high end audio/vidio store that had a very informed staff and could really help someone make the right decision. Now, when I go into Tweeter, I find myself asking somewhat basic questions and getting blank stares. Or, the salesmen give the standard, "it will do everything" response. Great Place?

Shinerman.

 

[djoxygen]

Can't speak to the Tweeter issue as we have none up here in Mpls, but I believe that Ultimate Electronics is still a Boston dealer. I know they're not quite nationwide, but they cover a big chunk of the middle and southeast.
An old friend of mine is a rep/trainer for Boston and he loves pairing their stuff with Denon receivers. I can vouch that it was a nice combo as of about 2-3 years ago, but I haven't put ears to the latest offerings from either. I can't imagine that it would be any worse. Boston does seem to be putting a lot of effort into car and wall/ceiling speakers, but they've still been tweaking the rest of the line and I haven't heard anyone cry "foul" yet.

 

[Unregistered]

Just heard from a guy in the business who said that Tweeter refused to warehouse Boston Speakers and wanted Boston to Ship speakers directly on a sale. Boston told tweeter to go fly a kite and Tweeter picked up the mediocre and mid level Mathew Polk brand.

 

[Redbone]

Tweeter is such a crock of crap. I was there last night and asking about the boston line and a lot of those pimply faced sales kids regretted loosing them. However the sub that they all seemed to love six months ago the PV-1000 was actually I was told not a favorite of Tweeter sales people??? These fools are so two faced, cannot tell who is telling the truth anymore.

I think Boston makes a great product.

 

[Unregistered]

Just heard from a guy in the business who said that Tweeter refused to warehouse Boston Speakers and wanted Boston to Ship speakers directly on a sale. Boston told tweeter to go fly a kite and Tweeter picked up the mediocre and mid level Mathew Polk brand.

That could be true. I have notice that Tweeter often does not have certain products in stock and often have them shipped from another store. I still have a funny feeling that Tweeter might be running a little lean lately. At least around my area in Texas, just about everything Tweeter sells can be found for less at other dealers. Sure, they will price match but why bother when you can get that same TV at Joe Smoe's AV without the hassle?

Another poster on another forum that bought a Boston setup through Tweeter had to have his local store get the products from several different stores. This was before they discontinued the Boston line there.

BTW, djoxygen, Ultimate Electronics seems to have also dropped Boston. I was just at one In Ft. Worth and they had 1 Boston VR965 tower left. Man, if they had two, I would have bought them. They wanted $250 for it. They had none of the more recent Boston models. I tried to ask a salesman but they were all busy selling Monster Cable. He He. Man, I though I walked into Moster Cable store.

Shinerman

 

[Shinerman]

Baaaaaahh!

Forgot to log in again.

Shinerman

 

[Redbone]

Tweeter is running very lean and hurtin for sales. Went in last night to buy a monster power line conditioner and the sales kid practicaly raped me. He tried to sell me a $1000 ML subwoofer and didn't even have it in stock, said he could get it in 3 days. When I told him I like to hear things before I buy them, he went on to state that the best place to audition a sub is in the home etc etc... All I can say is just try and return stuff, it sucks.

That went on talking another salesman and himself about how that was the best sub $1k could buy, I beg to differ. The point is I have never been mauled like that at Tweeter before. What happend to their useal salesman arrogance??

 

[YoMAMA]

First, Boston Acoustic dropped Tweeter only because such a small portion of their sales were retail at Tweeter locations. BA deemed it necessary to stop their retail sales as they were investing a lot of money without the marginal return needed to validate going forward with the partnership. It is a real shame as I bought my first surround system at Tweeter comprised of BA speakers only to have upgrade to the VRM60, VR10, VRMX and later adding in-wall surround back. I love the way these rock!

I do not like Polk Speakers as many of their diehard fans do. Their LSi line is really nice with Vifa Tweeters though personally built-in subs just never did it for me as it take away from music (imo).

I will continue to go to Tweeter because they have Denon and Elite products which basically completes the rest of my system and keeps me curious for new product rollouts.