Bose: Why Audiophiles Should Stop the Hate

[cliff11]

Bose

Bose bad rap with audiophiles is as it should be.

They use cheap drivers and do not sound like a good speaker.

I have been in this business for 30 years and Bose has been great on advertising and customer service but if you like music or movies forget about having good sound.

 

[renegade87]

Been there, done that!

Having worked in Bose's Westborough MA manufacturing plant (closed in '98) for 6+ years, I have had significant experience with many of Bose's most popular products. Including the 901's and the Wave Radio (of which I worked on thousands of the motherboards incuding the prototypes). I was present when the first prototype was demoed in the Westborough cafeteria for the entire first shift. A blind demo that had everybody "wowed". All that sound from a tiny clock radio was the general sentiment.

I walked away from that demo feeling very similar to GO-NAD!. At the time I said to co-workers "A clock radio for $400? (remember, in the initial units the integrated CD player and changer were not an option... typical Bose, 5 years late and too much $) At that price, it should wake up and go to work for you"

Though at this time I wouldn't consider buying any Bose product, as I will not give any of my hard earned money to any company that treats it's employees like "paid slaves".

Dr. Bose has done much for the industry. But I've never seen a larger group of megalomaniacs in my entire life as some the personalities I encountered in my years at Bose.

 

[zhimbo]

I think the most analogous company is not a cable thief but Starbucks.

That's pretty spot on - including the part where Starbuck's truly is better coffee than the crap I was familiar with growing up that my parents drank, and was served in the local diners, etc. Starbucks actually has paved the way for better coffee in many areas, even if at the same time it makes far too many people think that "good coffee" should taste either charred or like a milkshake.

Bose truly is better audio than many (most?) people are familiar with. That's sad, but true.

 

[Wayde Robson]

That's pretty spot on - including the part where Starbuck's truly is better coffee than the crap I was familiar with growing up that my parents drank, and was served in the local diners, etc. Starbucks actually has paved the way for better coffee in many areas, even if at the same time it makes far too many people think that "good coffee" should taste either charred or like a milkshake.

Bose truly is better audio than many (most?) people are familiar with. That's sad, but true.

I like the Starbucks analogy.

 

[mtrycrafts]

...
But, unfortunately, this forum is overwhelmed by the few here that tout so emphatically that numbers make music, and everything else is wrong

Bring on the hate.

No hate, just facts. Numbers do matter with solid research to support this.
But then, people are allowed to like and prefer whatever their harts desire, no?

 

[bikemig]

I think, before this thread really becomes violent flame war we should switch and talk more about coffee...

How do you roast them?? Over or machine? I try to by local fresh roasted and grind right before brew..

I'm too lazy to grind them just before I brew coffee so I grind them in the store. I have been using the Chemex coffee maker (or drip if you prefer) and it makes a great pot of coffee; even better than my French press that I loved.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

I'm too lazy to grind them just before I brew coffee so I grind them in the store. I have been using the Chemex coffee maker (or drip if you prefer) and it makes a great pot of coffee; even better than my French press that I loved.

I'm too lazy to drive to coffee place every few weeks, which is about typical expiration of any ground coffee (from what I heard) but whole coffee stays fresh for few months....

btw: I do Moka Pot aka Stove-top espresso .. saving money towards Bialetti

and p.s:

 

[Audioholics]

The same way Apple continually grows

Oh, now it's ON! lol

 

[Lulimet]

For me Amar Bose is the Billy Mays of audio, period.

Billy Mays is a legend!

 

[bikemig]

I'm too lazy to drive to coffee place every few weeks, which is about typical expiration of any ground coffee (from what I heard) but whole coffee stays fresh for few months....

btw: I do Moka Pot aka Stove-top espresso .. saving money towards Bialetti

I've had whole beans stay fresh for even longer than just a few months. But there is a great coffee place near me that I like going to once a week so there is no reason not to grind it there. If you haven't tried the Chemex, you should. It makes an awesome pot of coffee and is seriously low tech. Now if I could only get an AV system that worked like my Chemex, I'd be good. Any ideas?

 

[jeffsg4mac]

Oh, now it's ON! lol

Yeah that was really a bad comparison as the two companies really have nothing in common. One offers decent products with stellar engineering that are sometimes higher priced and sometimes not depending on the product, and the other offers WAY over priced junk touted to be the best you can get and uses the consumers ignorance to maximum advantage.

Bose is a dishonest company that lies about their products and preys upon the ignorant consumer with fancy misleading advertising.

 

[BMXTRIX]

Bose has some uniqueness to their products, but I've never understood why people like them when cheap in-wall speakers are more diminutive and cost far (FAR!) less. But, their original speakers from years ago are decent as are some of their commerial products.

But, they do have a high dollar profile and a 'Better sound through marketing' approach to the industry that is despicable.

People out to make money are fine, and coming up with new ideas is fine. Overcharging is even fine if there are suckers who will pay the price.

I'm not a hater, but when Onkyo sells HTiB systems at 1/4 the price with far better sound, then people need to be made aware of the situation and done so loudly.

Just call me an audio evangelist.

 

[Dan]

I think, before this thread really becomes violent flame war we should switch and talk more about coffee...

How do you roast them?? Over or machine? I try to by local fresh roasted and grind right before brew..

I used to use a Nesco roaster but it broke twice. I just switched to the Hearthware iRoast2. I have only done two roasts, but am happy so far. I've never tried the oven but heard it was hard to do consistently.

I use the clever coffee brewer similar to a Melita filter.

"I'm too lazy to grind them just before I brew coffee so I grind them in the store. I have been using the Chemex coffee maker (or drip if you prefer) and it makes a great pot of coffee; even better than my French press that I loved." Bikemig

The chemex seems like it should work great, very similar to mine and actually glass. Since you boil the water in a pot like me, why don't you grind the beans while the water is heating? A $20 blade grinder does a fine job on these drip filter methods (not suggested for a French press though). The beans last much longer if they are not ground. I notice a drop off in flavor in about a week so I only roast about 1/3 lb at a time. Grinds lose flavor in about a day.

It is true that Starbucks helped popularize coffee in this country, Bose has done the same for home theater. But Starbucks is certainly not what it pretends to be. Their coffee is poor. Their purchasing practices actually hurt small farmers despite their claims to the contrary. It is a pleasant place to drink in though.

I'm reminded of a line from an old Tom Waits album "Nighthawks at the Diner" when he was talking about having a veal cutlet in a truckstop diner. "My veal cutlet got up and walked down the counter, tried to beat the $hit out of my cup of coffee; but the coffee was just too weak to defend itself!"

 

[Guavamanh]

Imho

I remember going to a local Fry's 15 years ago and watching/listening to a Bose presentation. I was floored and amazed by the sound. Luckily I was in high school and had no money to buy those speakers. It wasn't until years later that I found out that they had so many other components that made it a very unfair presentation of the HT in a box they were offering.

It does make me feel angry because they are misleading consumers, especially if they're targeting the average joe who's saved up a couple of hundred dollars hoping for an awesome HT.

The audioquest $15K+ speaker cables though... not sure if I feel sorry for those people

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Me beeing a cheap bastard (just checkout my speaker ) think that drip coffee methods waste expensive coffee
I think if I would switch from Moka pot, what I'd really like is a semi-automatic like Rancilio Silvia. Unfortunately (see the reason above) I still don't have it, but I feel that eventually then I'll have a bigger kitchen than NY apt sized one I'm surely to get it

 

[Hicks]

The thing that gets me is the refusal to post specs.

Personally I am a big believer in listening tests and also subscribe to the idea that specs don't tell the whole story.

But the fact is that your average consumer won't be able to do head to head listening tests across brands in the same environment, and that's why specs can provide a helpful frame of reference.

Denying consumers information, regardless of the company's philosophy as to how useful it is, isn't really in anyone's best interest.

 

[jinjuku]

From and audio-enthusiast perspective the fact that Bose doesn't even attempt to make a world class loudspeaker speaks volumes for their operation.

When I see them with their over exaggerated graphics showing a 4 way tower speaker reduced to a 2.5" cube. Well how much respect do you want me to have for said company.

It's the same as marketing a $1000 cable with a dictionaries worth of adjectives and flowery prose thrown into the description. If you aren't willing to line your product next to the competition and allow people to decide on ALL the merits and walk out of the store with a winning combination, well you deserve the derision of those in the know.

On CBS Sunday morning they did a segment on people that believe in reincarnation and talking about all their 'past lives'. They were attending a conference at $139/head. There will always be some sucker. BOSE knows this and it has made them rich. I just need to find a place to park my conscious and make some serious scratch.

 

[mtrycrafts]

....(Having received a very hefty "cease and desist" letter from Apple's army of attorneys, I can attest to that)

Please expand on this Sounds interesting and juicy

 

[majorloser]

...and the other offers WAY over priced junk touted to be the best you can get and uses the consumers ignorance to maximum advantage...

You shouldn't be so harsh on Apple.

 

[Whitey80]

Yeah that was really a bad comparison as the two companies really have nothing in common. One offers decent products with stellar engineering that are sometimes higher priced and sometimes not depending on the product, and the other offers WAY over priced junk touted to be the best you can get and uses the consumers ignorance to maximum advantage.

Bose is a dishonest company that lies about their products and preys upon the ignorant consumer with fancy misleading advertising.

"stellar engineering" seems to be quite a subjective term.
They DO have some of the best industrial designers on earth though, that's to their credit, but that's about it.