My trip to the Bose factory store...

[EYEdROP0]

I went to the Bose factory store in Anthem, AZ recently. I walked in and the guy immediatly started demoing the Bose iPod dock. It sounded OK, but I wasnt impressed. It was very dark sounding and didnt have much detail. So I asked him to take me to their 901's. Those sounded extremely wide, almost too wide. Without the EQ, they sound terrible. The EQ makes a big difference. The lows went deep, but not very flat. The mids were very distant. The highs sounded really nice and sweet, but the extention sucked. When listening, there seems to be a sense of some frequencies missing while others are emphasized. Detail was acceptable, yet some things just werent "there" in the music. I would pay $300 for them, that would be a pretty good deal. But $1400 is pretty nuts. Thn he demoed the ~$300 301's, which actually had similar, if not better detail then the 901, without the ginormous sound stage. These were defenitly the best deal in the shop. The mids were decent and highs were sweet, but they needed a sub. Next, I demoed the $4000 Lifestyle system. COMPLETE RIPOFF. The guy had the volume at 50% and I had to ask him to turn it up. 75% was of moderate volume. The system had an EQ on it that would adjust itself as you raise the volume. This was to keep the tiny cubes from over-excursion. It was adjustable only to a certain point. The more volume, the less configriable. The sound was pure ****. It literally sounded like a $200 JVC surround at walmart, just with a wider soundstage. The highs were sweet but again, didnt extend. The mids were almost non-existent. The bass was smooth and I heard no port noise. Yet, it extended only to like 40hz. Nextwas the Bose in-ear headphones. Very dark sounding with good bass impact and response. But the mids kinda sucked and the highs were worse. No detail. Then I tried the QC2. These are the best sounding anything in the shop. Mids and highs were even and detail was pretty good. The bass was weak but overall OK. Ive heard much better in $100 Grados, but I could live with the QC2 if I had to. The noise cancelling ability was suprisingly good and made background noise into a muffle.

Overall, everything sounded atleast OK. Some things like the QC2 and 301's were actually decent in their price range. But the rest was grossly overpriced and sounded very mediocre.

The people there were actually kind enough to let me demo my own material at any volume I wanted. The sales guy admitted he loved B&W as well as some other brands. He was actually somewhat knowlegable and agreed with most of my comments about the sound. Whats funny is the main manager walked out when I was done demoing the in-ears. He asked me what I thinked and I said "they are comfortable, but the bass is overbloading the mids and the highs dont extend enough. He didnt say a thing the rest of the time I was there.

Bose has some good sounding stuff for the quality of materials they use. The Box designs and general concepts they have are actually pretty cool, but if they would just use better drivers and put some R&D into their sound, I bet the price would be more justifiable. But for now, I would probably never buy Bose. They have the money and deveopment team to make good stuff, I know it. But they arent doing **** except advertising. The sales guy also said they might make a DVR. Stupid.

Final verdict: Bose isnt that bad. All of their stuff sounded OK, with some stuff being somewhat priced fairly. Some stuff sounded good, but never "great". The sales guy told me that its usually rich people coming in and simply saying "It sounds fine, give me 2 of those". I guess its just the name...

 

[Austin M]

Very interesting experience; thanks for sharing. Do they have many of these showrooms around the country?

 

[MidnightSensi]

I like their headphones for on the airplane. Noise cancelling works great and they are comfortible.

I also broke them, and they were awesome about replacing them. Even gave me the new model.

Not a fan of a lot of their other stuff though. The little cubes don't sound thte best, but people really like their style and I can appreciate that I guess even if it isn't for me.

 

[fmw]

Very interesting experience; thanks for sharing. Do they have many of these showrooms around the country?

Probably. They have one about 50 miles from here in Michigan City, IN.

 

[j_garcia]

Depends on where you are. I've seen a number of them in my area, generally at malls and certain retailers with large floor areas for lots of foot traffic. In their demo room they would NOT let me use my own material.

 

[jamie2112]

Depends on where you are. I've seen a number of them in my area, generally at malls and certain retailers with large floor areas for lots of foot traffic. In their demo room they would NOT let me use my own material.

What? They wouldn't let you use your own stuff? That is reason enough to boycott the whole company. Oh wait I already do....

 

[soundhound]

I had 301s, when I was young and stupid. 301IIs actually. Do not like.

 

[Exit]

There is a Bose store at the premium factory outlet shopping center in Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri. A guy at work said it was so great you just had to go and listen to it so my son and I did. They did the cube system hidden behind phony bigger speakers and the adaptive frequency response demonstration. I thought it sounded ok but no where near what the price was. I guess rich dumb buyers at least get an ok sound, but there certainly was no thunderous bass like with a subwoofer, or more particularly my SVS. My brother bought a Bose system and did not even have the speakers in the right positions for surround sound. He is a lawyer. I was polite and did not say anything because I was just there for Christmas day and did not have time to fix it. My friend at work got a Bose system for free because the previous homeowner left it installed in his finished basement. He was smart. My friend thinks he has a top notch system, so I let him go ahead and think that. Why burst someone's bubble and get them pissed off at you in the process? I think this Bose scam is a lot bigger than we suspect.

 

[The Dali]

Aren't most Bose systems made in China now? I was really surprised when I went to a local BB and saw that the stuff is made overseas. I guess I was naive to think it would be made in the USA, but for the price of the stuff I just assumed you were paying for US labor. I know most of the normal day-to-day brands are made in China now (Boston, Polk, etc...) but when someone is paying 3 to 4 times the price you'd expect a little something for that money...

 

[Halon451]

I think that's the main point here - pretentiousness. I've heard so many different Bose systems in many different environments, and have never been impressed with them. It's easy to jump on the bandwagon and bash Bose (like Monster), but it's always refreshing when someone attempts to go in with an honest objective approach like the OP and see if the product lives up to its high price tag. In just about every case, it simply doesn't.

Are they OK? Sure, they get the job done every bit as much as a Monster HDMI cable will get the signal from your source to your TV, but is it really worth that much cash when it just sounds OK, or just does the job? I find it amusing still, that Bose is so secretive about their specifications and frequency response numbers, knowing full well that there are numerous audiophiles and 'holics around the world who know what those numbers are telling them. Subjective listening aside, the numbers can still (and do) tell a lot about the performance characteristics of that product, and Bose is understandably reluctant to share this with the world.

Simply put - Bose is a rich boy's toy, someone who only wants to spend that much money because he/she can and doesn't really give a crap about the actual listening environment as much as (we) probably do overall. It's an emblem, an icon, a status symbol, and nothing more.

EDIT: Thanks to EYEdROP0 for taking one for the team.

 

[The Dali]

Well, to be fair, I think some people buy Bose because of the marketing. They want to buy a "high end" system and the first brand that comes to mind for the uninitiated is "Bose". Just go to a local store and see how Bose has it's own endcap and cubicle. It is "special" and worth the money in the minds of people who are not as sophisticated with home theater and audio.

 

[skizzerflake]

Well, to be fair, I think some people buy Bose because of the marketing. They want to buy a "high end" system and the first brand that comes to mind for the uninitiated is "Bose". Just go to a local store and see how Bose has it's own endcap and cubicle. It is "special" and worth the money in the minds of people who are not as sophisticated with home theater and audio.

I think you got it. Bose systems tend to sound glittery in the store where you only hear them for a short time, but especially those tiny ones don't have much midrange authority. They're also overpriced for what they do. Unfortunately, though, lots of people have tin ears and once they are in a big mall, they have people where they want them and, being small, it's easy to carry them out to the car.

 

[Mitd]

I think that's the main point here - pretentiousness. I've heard so many different Bose systems in many different environments, and have never been impressed with them. It's easy to jump on the bandwagon and bash Bose (like Monster), but it's always refreshing when someone attempts to go in with an honest objective approach like the OP and see if the product lives up to its high price tag. In just about every case, it simply doesn't.

Are they OK? Sure, they get the job done every bit as much as a Monster HDMI cable will get the signal from your source to your TV, but is it really worth that much cash when it just sounds OK, or just does the job? I find it amusing still, that Bose is so secretive about their specifications and frequency response numbers, knowing full well that there are numerous audiophiles and 'holics around the world who know what those numbers are telling them. Subjective listening aside, the numbers can still (and do) tell a lot about the performance characteristics of that product, and Bose is understandably reluctant to share this with the world.

Simply put - Bose is a rich boy's toy, someone who only wants to spend that much money because he/she can and doesn't really give a crap about the actual listening environment as much as (we) probably do overall. It's an emblem, an icon, a status symbol, and nothing more.

EDIT: Thanks to EYEdROP0 for taking one for the team.

I use the LT1 series 2 (stick) for my Karaoke gig and it sounds great. I do use a mixer and EQ.

 

[Phil Taylor]

I've got a pair of 601s I've had since '82 that I still use for my R & L fronts. They still sound great - but "they sure don't make 'em like they used to".

 

[jamie2112]

Psss, Phil..I would keep that a secret bro...

 

[Phil Taylor]

Psss, Phil..I would keep that a secret bro...

Aw hell - I ain't ashamed. IIRC I paid like $325 for the pair brand new. They don't price 'em like they used to either.

 

[jamie2112]

Agreed Phil.

 

[Rickster71]

Why burst someone's bubble and get them pissed off at you in the process? I think this Bose scam is a lot bigger than we suspect.

So much so, it reminds me of politics.

 

[yuki]

the bose around the ear non-noise canceling headphones are some of the worst i have heard... the price makes them laughably absurd !!! the bass is muddy the, the highs non detailed, sound stage awful !! it is like a more expensive version of a skull candy headphone ! A cheap pair of snenhsiers can even beat these things and for the $149 you can get the senn 280 or 555 which are amazing period