Why Bose doesn't publish specs..

[monkish54]

WHY THEY NEVER PUBLISH SPECS

I decided on a philosophy at the time. We would cut out specifications because of two reasons. We decided to make each product that came out superior to what was out at the time. If it was superior, the public would appreciate it. That’s why we don’t give any measurements on any product today.

There are two reasons we cut out the specifications:
1) We don’t know of any measurements that actually determine anything about a product, and 2) Measurements are phony, in general, as they are printed.

Dr. Bose Tells All: Company Secrets, Why They Don't Publish Specs, And More | TechCrunch

 

[ratso]

funny how absolutely villified bose has become. the originals gathered some pretty good reviews as i recall. stereophile i do believe reviewed them. here is a modern review of the 901's:

We Review the Bose 901… – Reviews | TONEAudio MAGAZINE

just fashionable to bash them nowadays i guess. i have never heard them.

 

[jonnythan]

funny how absolutely villified bose has become. the originals gathered some pretty good reviews as i recall. stereophile i do believe reviewed them. here is a modern review of the 901's:

We Review the Bose 901… – Reviews | TONEAudio MAGAZINE

just fashionable to bash them nowadays i guess. i have never heard them.

I checked Bose's website, and see no home theater speakers besides their tiny cubes.

They don't sell the 901 anymore. Even if it was the best speaker ever made, it hasn't been part of their product line for quite a long time.

I've seen lots of Bose systems in homes, but I've never seen a 901 anywhere.

Bose today is synonymous with tiny, low-quality cube satellites with full-range 2" drivers and "acoustimass" modules filled with a handful of 5.5" in a bandpass configuration.

 

[Steve81]

I checked Bose's website, and see no home theater speakers besides their tiny cubes.

They don't sell the 901 anymore. Even if it was the best speaker ever made, it hasn't been part of their product line for quite a long time.

Bose 901 Speaker System

I've seen lots of Bose systems in homes, but I've never seen a 901 anywhere.

Unfortunately, I can't claim to have either. I'd like to listen to a pair, and I've even gone into a Bose store or two in search of the 901 to no avail.

 

[bikemig]

I owned and used for many years the Bose 201s, . I gave them (along with the rest of my system) to my brother around 3 years ago. I liked the 201s actually but I like much better what I currently own and use.

 

[jonnythan]

Ah, my mistake. I'm surprised they still make them.

 

[zieglj01]

They do not publish for the consumer market, they are more
into the marketing, and filling their target section.

They do publish specs and some graphs on the pro-audio side
http://worldwide.bose.com/pro/en_us/assets/pdf/en/tds_panaray_802_series3_loudspeaker.pdf

Stereophile Bose 901 review
http://www.stereophile.com/standloudspeakers/425/index.html

 

[Nuance AH]

Dr. Bose is a great liar and very skilled when it comes to marketing. We all know the real reason why Bose doesn't post specs and measurements.

 

[ratso]

skilled marketer and big liar are the same thing. no one seems to care when $50K speakers are sold with graphs that are smoothed out the wazoo and plus/minus 10db scale.

 

[GranteedEV]

The sad thing is that his lie basically amounts to telling how amateur his "research" was.

 

[monkish54]

This is the sad thing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=eBZibpJlF2g#t=1s

 

[monkish54]

I wonder what Martin J. King thinks about Bose "Waveguide technology"?

Overview - Acoustic Waveguide Technology - Bose Learning Centre

 

[markw]

Bose really doesn't care what the audiophile community thinks of their tactics.

Their target market is the well-moneyed type who doesn't really care about sound.

They just want a cute, small, decorative, easy-to conceal appliance that puts out not offensive sound, impresses their like-minded friends, and are willing to pay a premium for it.

To put it succinctly, their marketing, design, and engineering departments have their their target market clearly in the cross-hairs

 

[JerryLove]

Dr. Bose : the Engineer at MIT (we could make a drinking game out of the amount of namedropping he does). As I read the article.

I was an engineer, so I knew measurements (despite this: Radioshack?)

Turns out that the printed measurements were often lies: so as an engineer I concluded that measurements were useless.

Since measurements are useless (and since preferences are random: that's also in the article) engineering is useless in speaker design. So you chould buy my speakers because I'm an engineer from MIT.​

That's about my sum.

As to Bose? The 901s are interesting (not much was using reflecting at the time, and I've always found arrays facinating, if rarely good). It's what got them attention (it wasn't being done).

The Bose system in my Infiniti hurts my ears at reasonable volumes.
The wave radio sounded good in the store: but so did others half the price.
I love the feel of their cans, but the sound is simply wrong and the parts a bit chincy.

 

[fuzz092888]

This is the sad thing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=eBZibpJlF2g#t=1s

This person makes me very sad. I had to restrain myself from typing a comment to him, but I reminded myself that he is a lost cause.

 

[monkish54]

This person makes me very sad. I had to restrain myself from typing a comment to him, but I reminded myself that he is a lost cause.

I typed like 4 comments, but deleted most of them. Each comment got a little more obnoxious than the last.

I did write him a message asking him, from an engineering perspective, why Bose makes good loudspeakers.

 

[walter duque]

I had a pair of 901 Series II in 75 which I powered with a Maratz 4400. They sounded great (different) at that time. I also had (4) 901 Series V in the early 80's powered by a VSP Gold Edition Streight Wire Gold Edition Pre-amp and two VSP (Mosfet) Gold Edition Power amps (200x2). In that system I also ran a DBX dynamic range expander and I think it sounded great. If there ever was a decend Bose speaker the 901's would be it.

 

[TLS Guy]

I checked Bose's website, and see no home theater speakers besides their tiny cubes.

They don't sell the 901 anymore. Even if it was the best speaker ever made, it hasn't been part of their product line for quite a long time.

I've seen lots of Bose systems in homes, but I've never seen a 901 anywhere.

Bose today is synonymous with tiny, low-quality cube satellites with full-range 2" drivers and "acoustimass" modules filled with a handful of 5.5" in a bandpass configuration.

I doubt there are many 901s working especially the original ones. The drivers were not made by Bose and could be bought OEM for $1.73 each.

There were quite a few around back in the day. To me they sounded absolutely awful.

 

[jonnythan]

I've heard some of their D/R tower speakers. The 701 maybe? It wasn't good. The sound was "full" in that it filled the room, but it was inaccurate and the FR was awful. Voices are especially indistinct because the drivers facing all directions destroy imaging and screw with signal timing.

 

[JerryLove]

FWIW: Parts Express has 901-compatable drivers for replacements.