Bose Blows: I just need to vent

[haraldo]

he he

I did a demo through my mobile phone to show some significant differences, just for the sake of it...

I Converted Nelly Furtado's Somebody to love from lossless flac format to
1. 64 Kb/s mp3
2. 256 Kb/s mp3
The flac file was originally ripped by Exact Audio Copy and guaranteed extremely high quality

Some people actually believe digital is digital......

I played this from my mobile phone via ordinary phone jack onto Audioengine 2 active speakers. The results were even more shocking than what I believed could be possible...
The 64Kb/s is so horrible that it's almost beyond imagination, wohooow this is bad, so lifeless and flat that....

After this, listening to the 256Kb/s version almost felt like very high end
Unfortunately my mobile doesn't take lossless, so we couldn't compare directly

My girlfriend, who I demoed this for, was also shocked beyond imagination and she will never ever hear about any low quality lossy comprimation after this.

Going onto my Dell computer with regular soundcard playing flac files wasn't actually so big of a difference, but soundcard is not so good and Audioengine 2 is not the most revealing speakers, although good for their price.

Well..... The brain is very easily fooled to believe that something mediocre is very high-end, just play something bad enough for a start...

 

[A/VUSMCSGT]

Bose!?!?!?!

I thought that was the top of the line stuff???

HAHAHAHA!!!!!

 

[gixxerific]

Well this thread made up my mind. I was going for one of two sets of speakers. Bose or Dynaudio, I guess Bose is out.














\jk I"m still going Bose

 

[CaliHwyPatrol]

When I worked at Circuit City, I always had fun with Bose customers. I would demo a Bose system, then demo a similar Infinity or Polk system. Not one of them could ever tell me the Bose sounded better, even if they wanted it to. It was great satisfaction being able to save so many people, and save many people I did.

Since there is always at least one schmuck out there who didn't want to be saved, I used them to meet my sales goals. "That Boses system is good, but look at this Bose system! You'll be the envy of all your friends! (can't tell you how many sales that line got me) Now, the wires that come with the Bose system are definitely Bose quality, but if you really want to blow them out of the water, hook it up with these THX Monster cables!"

So, out of spite, and to the joy of my managers, I'd take these dopes to the cleaners and sell them a $3000 system they could have had for a third of that. Suckers.

The only thing Bose ever had over anything else I sold was being user friendly. Any idiot can work a Bose system. Some of the sound systems out there are damn near impossible to figure out, and the instruction manuals are written by people who don't speak English. The Bose displays were the easiest to set up, and that appeals to a lot of people.

A favorite pastime of mine while working there was calling Bose customer support and harassing them about not releasing specs on their speakers. A common response was "just hear the difference". Never did I get any specs from them.

 

[Alex2507]

Any idiot can work a Bose system. Some of the sound systems out there are damn near impossible to figure out, and the instruction manuals are written by people who don't speak English. :

Excellent!
Now I can actually reccomend a Bose system based on their fantastic manuals.
"Oh man, just wait until you read this ... you're gonna love it".

Hey tcarcio,

I hope I didn't cross the line. I was trying for a tone of good natured ribbing as we are practically neighbors. In all seriousness I can see the wisdom of having a happy wife. Maybe she tells her lady friends, "he's got all that silly gear in there but out here, I insist on Bose".
That would make a great add.

Hey Bose! There's more where that came from if you want to pay me!
Yep, I definitely have a whorish streak.

 

[haraldo]

Well this thread made up my mind. I was going for one of two sets of speakers. Bose or Dynaudio, I guess Bose is out.

Dynaudio is good
Which model are you considering?

 

[haraldo]

When I worked at Circuit City, I always had fun with Bose customers. I would demo a Bose system, then demo a similar Infinity or Polk system. Not one of them could ever tell me the Bose sounded better, even if they wanted it to. It was great satisfaction being able to save so many people, and save many people I did.

Since there is always at least one schmuck out there who didn't want to be saved, I used them to meet my sales goals. "That Boses system is good, but look at this Bose system! You'll be the envy of all your friends! (can't tell you how many sales that line got me) Now, the wires that come with the Bose system are definitely Bose quality, but if you really want to blow them out of the water, hook it up with these THX Monster cables!"

So, out of spite, and to the joy of my managers, I'd take these dopes to the cleaners and sell them a $3000 system they could have had for a third of that. Suckers.

The only thing Bose ever had over anything else I sold was being user friendly. Any idiot can work a Bose system. Some of the sound systems out there are damn near impossible to figure out, and the instruction manuals are written by people who don't speak English. The Bose displays were the easiest to set up, and that appeals to a lot of people.

A favorite pastime of mine while working there was calling Bose customer support and harassing them about not releasing specs on their speakers. A common response was "just hear the difference". Never did I get any specs from them.

$$$¤%#"@@ You can get a Krell amplifier for that amount of money

 

[highfigh]

If there's nothing available to do a direct comparison to, and Bose requires their dealers to have a separate demo space for their stuff, a lot of brands will sound good if the listener isn't listening too closely. Once a comparison is made, the differences show up and one is automatically "better" than another.

Out of the box, Bose can be easy to work, but even the most complicated brands can be easy to operate if a universal remote is configured correctly. Too many buttons will definitely intimidate a lot of people, even people who think they are usually in control of everything.

 

[markw]

Well, this is comforting to know.

Any idiot can work a Bose system.

Actually, I think it's a requirement to buy one in the first place.

 

[Alex2507]

Actually, I think it's a requirement to buy one in the first place.

Don't hold back.

 

[gmichael]

For someone who isn't into audio the way we are, Bose isn't all that bad. Much better than a HTIB. Average Joe hears a Bose and says, wow, that's great. They see that the prices are higher than any other speakers in BB or CC and assume that they are the best. The old, you get what you pay for theory. People with more money than audio experience will go for Bose 9/10.

Funny story,
I was a referee at a pool tournament in CT once. Had stepped outside for a break when I heard a few players complaining about the noise level inside. I spoke up, telling them it was because the walls had no audio treatments. They were just bare walls that reflect every little sound back and forth. Everyone became curious about what I was saying. Then I made a huge mistake. I said that the stupid Bose cubes they had in there didn't help much. OMG! It was like I just shot the pope or something. One guy yelled, "Bose is the best!" I chuckled. He asked, "Oh, so who do YOU THINK is the best?!" They all looked like they were going to burn me at the stake. Got dirty looks from everyone the rest of the week.

 

[Halon451]

Funny how some people will actually get angry in defense of Bose...

 

[haraldo]

Actually, I think it's a requirement to buy one in the first place.

One out of two, either a complete braindead idiot, or completely deaf....

 

[Soundman]

Funny story,
...He asked, "Oh, so who do YOU THINK is the best?!" They all looked like they were going to burn me at the stake. Got dirty looks from everyone the rest of the week.

So, I'm just curious, how did you answer this question?

 

[gmichael]

So, I'm just curious, how did you answer this question?

With the truth. Very few people agree on who's are the best and that everyone has different tastes. Then I gave them a few names like Apogee, Magnepan, Totem, Audionode, etc. Didn't help that they had never heard of any of them. Then I through in names like JBL and Infinity with the disclaimer that I didn'y feel that they were the best. They looked confused. But still pissed.

 

[haraldo]

With the truth. Very few people agree on who's are the best and that everyone has different tastes. Then I gave them a few names like Apogee, Magnepan, Totem, Audionode, etc. Didn't help that they had never heard of any of them.

WHAT...... somebody actually never heard about any of these brands......
Really sounds like bose people, we just call them #$%&@@¤

 

[captiankirk28]

I was goofing around and thought i would see what bose had to say about frequency response, thought i would share it with everyone.




Bose Response to me:
Bose's Response: Thank you for your inquiry. Bose Corporation does not publish frequency responses, simply because they are not accurate and usually will mislead the customer.
Frequency responses are usually measured with testing equipment set up in an anechoic chamber. An anechoic chamber is an isolated room designed so that sound will not reflect off any surfaces. Giving out such frequency response results is terrific- for those people who live in anechoic chambers! Most of us listen to our systems in rooms with very reflective surfaces, such as plaster, brick, glass, and dry wall, so the frequency response that a manufacturer may supply is no longer accurate. Just as no two rooms have the same dimensions, nor are they decorated exactly the same or have the same construction, no two rooms will sound the same when using the exact same speakers and amplifier.
For example, if you were to place any speaker in a room with no carpeting and wooden furniture, you would hear something completely different than if they were placed in a room with shag carpeting and plush furniture. Perhaps
this can be equated by imagining a single lighted candle placed in a room with completely black floors, walls and ceiling. Obviously, the same candle when placed in a room with white surroundings will appear to be emitting
much more light than when placed in the first room with black surroundings, as the light will reflect a great deal more off the white surfaces. Sound reflects off surfaces, much like light does. The surroundings make the speakers sound different in the same manner, because they actually are able to reproduce different frequencies via sound reflection and speaker placement.

We hope you do not take the fact that we do not publish speaker frequency responses personally. We do not publish our speakers specifications to anybody, whether it be before or after they have purchased a speaker system of ours. We simply invite our customers ....

 

[captiankirk28]

I was goofing around and thought i would see what bose had to say about frequency response, thought i would share it with everyone.




Bose Response to me:
Bose's Response: Thank you for your inquiry. Bose Corporation does not publish frequency responses, simply because they are not accurate and usually will mislead the customer.
Frequency responses are usually measured with testing equipment set up in an anechoic chamber. An anechoic chamber is an isolated room designed so that sound will not reflect off any surfaces. Giving out such frequency response results is terrific- for those people who live in anechoic chambers! Most of us listen to our systems in rooms with very reflective surfaces, such as plaster, brick, glass, and dry wall, so the frequency response that a manufacturer may supply is no longer accurate. Just as no two rooms have the same dimensions, nor are they decorated exactly the same or have the same construction, no two rooms will sound the same when using the exact same speakers and amplifier.
For example, if you were to place any speaker in a room with no carpeting and wooden furniture, you would hear something completely different than if they were placed in a room with shag carpeting and plush furniture. Perhaps
this can be equated by imagining a single lighted candle placed in a room with completely black floors, walls and ceiling. Obviously, the same candle when placed in a room with white surroundings will appear to be emitting
much more light than when placed in the first room with black surroundings, as the light will reflect a great deal more off the white surfaces. Sound reflects off surfaces, much like light does. The surroundings make the speakers sound different in the same manner, because they actually are able to reproduce different frequencies via sound reflection and speaker placement.

We hope you do not take the fact that we do not publish speaker frequency responses personally. We do not publish our speakers specifications to anybody, whether it be before or after they have purchased a speaker system of ours. We simply invite our customers ....

I posted this before but i still think it is funny to read.

 

[Soundman]

I was goofing around and thought i would see what bose had to say about frequency response, thought i would share it with everyone.




Bose Response to me:
Bose's Response: Thank you for your inquiry. Bose Corporation does not publish frequency responses, simply because they are not accurate and usually will mislead the customer.
Frequency responses are usually measured with testing equipment set up in an anechoic chamber. An anechoic chamber is an isolated room designed so that sound will not reflect off any surfaces. Giving out such frequency response results is terrific- for those people who live in anechoic chambers! Most of us listen to our systems in rooms with very reflective surfaces, such as plaster, brick, glass, and dry wall, so the frequency response that a manufacturer may supply is no longer accurate. Just as no two rooms have the same dimensions, nor are they decorated exactly the same or have the same construction, no two rooms will sound the same when using the exact same speakers and amplifier.
For example, if you were to place any speaker in a room with no carpeting and wooden furniture, you would hear something completely different than if they were placed in a room with shag carpeting and plush furniture. Perhaps
this can be equated by imagining a single lighted candle placed in a room with completely black floors, walls and ceiling. Obviously, the same candle when placed in a room with white surroundings will appear to be emitting
much more light than when placed in the first room with black surroundings, as the light will reflect a great deal more off the white surfaces. Sound reflects off surfaces, much like light does. The surroundings make the speakers sound different in the same manner, because they actually are able to reproduce different frequencies via sound reflection and speaker placement.

We hope you do not take the fact that we do not publish speaker frequency responses personally. We do not publish our speakers specifications to anybody, whether it be before or after they have purchased a speaker system of ours. We simply invite our customers ....

Well, looking at this response, I think it is now obvious that Bose is marketing to the extremely ignorant. What they are saying is in fact true, however, it is not the reason the don't publish their specs. I think it's obvious why don't publish them. It would be too embarrassing for them if they did.

 

[Soundman]

I posted this before but i still think it is funny to read.

So, did you respond back to them?