M

moreira85

Audioholic Chief
i am at my parents house and my mom hands me this flyer and says what do you think of this? its a bose 3 2 1 for the bedroom. i said oh thats junk.
she said for 499.99 the sound is great. i said junk!!!!! sounds okay but way overpriced.
 
G

gus6464

Audioholic Samurai
i am at my parents house and my mom hands me this flyer and says what do you think of this? its a bose 3 2 1 for the bedroom. i said oh thats junk.
she said for 499.99 the sound is great. i said junk!!!!! sounds okay but way overpriced.
Those are the ones with 2 speakers and bass module right? If so my wife's dad has one, complete garbage. Music sounds like crap, midrange is nonexistant. Just bass and highs.
 
Seth=L

Seth=L

Audioholic Overlord
Those are the ones with 2 speakers and bass module right? If so my wife's dad has one, complete garbage. Music sounds like crap, midrange is nonexistant. Just bass and highs.
IT SUCKS, IT DISTORTS WHEN PRESSED TOO HARD AS WELL.
 
Davemcc

Davemcc

Audioholic Spartan
I had one of those until I finally woke up to the fact that it wasn't very good at all. Luckily, I found somebody of less discerning tastes to buy it from me, but I still felt bad taking their money.
 
ParadigmDawg

ParadigmDawg

Audioholic Overlord
Junk is a strong word; if you just listened at low, background volumes the BOSE would be fine. The cost is what is crazy; they should be $199 and then I wouldnt have an issue with it.
 
Seth=L

Seth=L

Audioholic Overlord
Junk is a strong word; if you just listened at low, background volumes the BOSE would be fine. The cost is what is crazy; they should be $199 and then I wouldnt have an issue with it.
And I still wouldn't buy it at that price.:D
 
GlocksRock

GlocksRock

Audioholic Spartan
Take him to a real stereo shop and let him listen to a quality setup and then ask him to re-evaluate his opinion of Bose.
 
S

SHARP0305

Audiophyte
Possibly Wrong Item Referenced????

The Bose system referred to may be junk, but @ the $499.00 price are we sure we are all talking about a 3-2-1 sytem? I have never seen the 3-2-1 system anywhere for less than $999.99. The $499 cost sounds more like the Wave Radio/CD System. The only place I believe that is cheaper is at Sam's ($799) and they have the older acoustimas speakers. Am I right or did I miss something here?
 
GlocksRock

GlocksRock

Audioholic Spartan
we may be missing something, but it really doesn't matter as the answer will still be the same. Bose is garbarge for what it costs... it wouldn't be so bad if it were 1/4 of the price it sells for.
 
S

SHARP0305

Audiophyte
Lighten Up

Hey GlassRocks:

No offense, but there are still people out there that might take exception to all your views. I don't disagree with your comments regarding pricing of Bose products but a 3-2-1 system @ $499 might just appeal to certain people. That was my only reason for wanting to clarify the system vs pricing question.
 
C

cmusic

Junior Audioholic
He might be thinking of the Bose Cinemate speakers, which look like the ones in the 3-2-1 systems. They are item number 018CINEMAT at Crutchfield and are priced at $499. I work for a local cable provider and I hooked up a Scientific Atlanta 8300HD cable box and a Samsung 50" LCD with the Bose speakers at a customer's house a few weeks ago. The customer was hard of hearing and wanted extra speakers so the TV sound would be louder. It was no worse or better than the stock speakers in the Samsung flatscreen. The customer did not think they made much of a difference either, but since he paid for them he wanted to use them.

I also hooked up a full 3-2-1 GS Series II system a few years ago. The sound was the same as above mostly because the system had the same speakers. The built in DVD player was pathetic. It claimed to be progressive scan but it had no component video outputs, only composite and S-video. It did not even upconvert its composite video input (like from a VCR) to S-video. The customer was a lawyer and like the system really well since his wife paid $1200 for it as a Christmas present to him. I did not have the heart to tell him it sucked and his wife wasted their money.

And a few years ago I knew a guy that worked for Bose in the accounting dept at their HQ. He told me they had over two times the people in the marketing dept than in the acoustic engineering dept.
 
Seth=L

Seth=L

Audioholic Overlord
The Bose system referred to may be junk, but @ the $499.00 price are we sure we are all talking about a 3-2-1 sytem? I have never seen the 3-2-1 system anywhere for less than $999.99. The $499 cost sounds more like the Wave Radio/CD System. The only place I believe that is cheaper is at Sam's ($799) and they have the older acoustimas speakers. Am I right or did I miss something here?
There is a 3-2-1 system that does not come with a DVD player that is around $499.:)
 
R

rnatalli

Audioholic Ninja
There are entire 5.1 systems for under $499 that are superior to Bose. Here are a few off the top of my head:

Athena Micra 6
$349 at Best Buy (Last time I checked)

Mordaunt-Short Premiere
http://www.tsto.com/cgi-bin/TSTO.storefront/473e01e4007b272e2740ac10034105ae/Product/View/2516&2D1
http://www.accessories4less.com/cgi-bin/item/MORDMS907BL

Mission
http://www.tsto.com/cgi-bin/TSTO.storefront/473e0241007ef0122740ac10034105aa/Product/View/2229
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=300-633

Boston Acoustics
http://www.onecall.com/ProductDetails.aspx?id=25410
http://www.onecall.com/ProductDetails.aspx?id=25414
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=300-633

Monitor Audio
http://saturdayaudio.com/picturepages/bronze_gala.htm
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=300-633

All of these speakers when you do the math come out to $500 or less and all would leave Bose regardless of model in the dust. If you're really careful, you could spend about $350 on speakers, $25 on a cheap DVD, and the rest on a refurbed receiver. I wouldn't buy Bose even for $100 when there are Bostons or Missions for the same coin.
 
Last edited:
GlocksRock

GlocksRock

Audioholic Spartan
Hey GlassRocks:

No offense, but there are still people out there that might take exception to all your views. I don't disagree with your comments regarding pricing of Bose products but a 3-2-1 system @ $499 might just appeal to certain people. That was my only reason for wanting to clarify the system vs pricing question.
There may be people out there that think Bose is a good deal for the money, but the fact remains that Bose is still overpriced. Like was already stated, there are much better systems out there that can be had for $500 or less.
 
BMXTRIX

BMXTRIX

Audioholic Warlord
Bose & Monster are the two companies that are most slammed. Yet, at the end of the day, Monster products actually DO what they are supposed to do and a good analog or HDMI cable from them will actually do what is expected, even if it could be had for far less elsewhere.

Bose, on the other hand, simply doesn't deliver what they should. You miss out on the actual subharmonics and there is an entire mid-range area that the speakers can't reproduce at all.

At $199 - with the size of the system, it may appeal to a certain market, but it should never be confused with quality or a capable product. For the money they DO charge, something like the Onkyo HTS-800 system will give people 7.1 surround sound with a receiver that switches HD component video - and they publish some of their specs.
 
Polygon

Polygon

Audioholic
Earlier this year I was at a car show. While standing by a support beam at one of the exhibits I could hear this horrible sounding music. I turned to see a plastic Bose speaking in my face. The only words out of my mouth were, go figure. I have never heard a Bose system that sounded any better than anything you could buy at Wal Mart.

I mean, who make speakers out of paper any more? And who uses plastic enclosures at that price. Because, plastic is so great for acoustics. :rolleyes:

Bose & Monster are the two companies that are most slammed. Yet, at the end of the day, Monster products actually DO what they are supposed to do and a good analog or HDMI cable from them will actually do what is expected, even if it could be had for far less elsewhere.
My problem with Monster is the fact they are over priced. You can get cheaper speaker cable from other vendors that is the same and for interconnects I would rather buy Canare. Less money and just as good.
 
M

moreira85

Audioholic Chief
The Bose system referred to may be junk, but @ the $499.00 price are we sure we are all talking about a 3-2-1 sytem? I have never seen the 3-2-1 system anywhere for less than $999.99. The $499 cost sounds more like the Wave Radio/CD System. The only place I believe that is cheaper is at Sam's ($799) and they have the older acoustimas speakers. Am I right or did I miss something here?
my mistake, i meant the wave radio.
 
F

FguerraG

Junior Audioholic
There are entire 5.1 systems for under $499 that are superior to Bose. Here are a few off the top of my head:

Athena Micra 6
$349 at Best Buy (Last time I checked)

Mordaunt-Short Premiere
http://www.tsto.com/cgi-bin/TSTO.storefront/473e01e4007b272e2740ac10034105ae/Product/View/2516&2D1
http://www.accessories4less.com/cgi-bin/item/MORDMS907BL

Mission
http://www.tsto.com/cgi-bin/TSTO.storefront/473e0241007ef0122740ac10034105aa/Product/View/2229
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=300-633

Boston Acoustics
http://www.onecall.com/ProductDetails.aspx?id=25410
http://www.onecall.com/ProductDetails.aspx?id=25414
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=300-633

Monitor Audio
http://saturdayaudio.com/picturepages/bronze_gala.htm
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=300-633

All of these speakers when you do the math come out to $500 or less and all would leave Bose regardless of model in the dust. If you're really careful, you could spend about $350 on speakers, $25 on a cheap DVD, and the rest on a refurbed receiver. I wouldn't buy Bose even for $100 when there are Bostons or Missions for the same coin.
You'll have to agree that most folks don't have any interest in jumping trough hoops in order to have a decent sounding HT , that's where Bose as a company comes in; Complete system in a box with massive marketing campaigns with supposed experts & supposed celebrities endorsing the "ease of set up & most wonderful sound" that only compare to other complicated systems that costs Thousands of dollars etc. (You get the point rigth...)

So it's a matter of knowledge & convenience, when people start investigating the possibilities of an HT setup their mind boggles with all the options, brands specs watts hertz auto setup hdmi component future proofing dolby dts TRUE DOLBY :eek:

most will say WAIT! I just saw a Bose comercial last night and I bet I can get it $50 bucks cheaper at Sam's Club and that'll be the end of it.

So we should consider our selfs lucky that we took our time and did not fall into the convenience of Bose trap.
 
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