BOSE Acoustimass/Lifestyle systems - why you should steer clear!!

[PepeGameblouse]

Let me put it this way. Bose sounds good for what it is but you can build your own system of towers and bookshelfs and it will sound better than any Bose system for the same price. It is that simple. And yes they are overpriced, just like monster cables. The markup is incredible on those systems and sure they sound pretty good for small speakers, but towers sound so much better. Plus there are quite a few subwoofers, I'm a velodyne fan, that sound better as well.

[edgebsl]

I used to laugh @ Bose before the whole acoustimass craze, because their whole idea on speaker design was that old fashioned 4 inch paper cone drivers would suffice as a full range driver if you had an elaborate enough crossover and you used some sort of cardboard "honeycomb" matrix throughout the cabinent to augment the bass.GEEZ..way to get around designing a decent driver.

That is the technology around their "01" series and their "Wave radios".
And ironically, as much of a jackass design those were, they are leagues above the "Acoustimass" series.

Now a 1 or 2 inch paper driver is a full range, and you can just cross them over high enough that they won't bottom out creating a giant hole in the midbass and not to mention theres really nothing above 10k.....

I mean, if anything good came out of this, it increased demand for people so that companies like KEF or Infinity or Definitive Tech had to step in and make compact systems which of course sound a million times better than Bose could ever dream. And also giving us motivation to create a smaller sub like the small piston-like subwoofers like the sunfire and earthquake designs which are now being copied by every speaker manufacturer out there.

Bose created a market for tiny speakers and thankfully some engineers with an ear created some to fill that market with something that sounds good.

Another laugh is their $300 headphones.
If they were so good, why wouln't you start seeing those in recording studios instead of AKG or Sennheiser?

BOSE = preying on the ignorant.
I rank them up there with Enzyte and Relacore

[Beta Man]

****hiding my enzyte****

[SkullPhyre]

Bose= crap. The uneducated ignorant masses think they are good because they cost alot. Alot of things costs alot doesn't mean they are good. A nasty 5k hooker is expensive doesn't make it good.

[Beta Man]

Originally Posted by SkullPhyre

Bose= crap. The uneducated ignorant masses think they are good because they cost alot. Alot of things costs alot doesn't mean they are good. A nasty 5k hooker is expensive doesn't make it good.

I know what thread you just came from

[mr.hidef]

Originally Posted by edgebsl

I used to laugh @ Bose before the whole acoustimass craze, because their whole idea on speaker design was that old fashioned 4 inch paper cone drivers would suffice as a full range driver if you had an elaborate enough crossover and you used some sort of cardboard "honeycomb" matrix throughout the cabinent to augment the bass.GEEZ..way to get around designing a decent driver.

That is the technology around their "01" series and their "Wave radios".
And ironically, as much of a jackass design those were, they are leagues above the "Acoustimass" series.

Now a 1 or 2 inch paper driver is a full range, and you can just cross them over high enough that they won't bottom out creating a giant hole in the midbass and not to mention theres really nothing above 10k.....

I mean, if anything good came out of this, it increased demand for people so that companies like KEF or Infinity or Definitive Tech had to step in and make compact systems which of course sound a million times better than Bose could ever dream. And also giving us motivation to create a smaller sub like the small piston-like subwoofers like the sunfire and earthquake designs which are now being copied by every speaker manufacturer out there.

Bose created a market for tiny speakers and thankfully some engineers with an ear created some to fill that market with something that sounds good.

Another laugh is their $300 headphones.
If they were so good, why wouln't you start seeing those in recording studios instead of AKG or Sennheiser?

BOSE = preying on the ignorant.
I rank them up there with Enzyte and Relacore

Because you don't use noise cancelling headphones in a RECORDING STUDIO........DUH!

[mr.hidef]

Originally Posted by btf1980

I've never seen a statement so off base in my life. We carry and sell bose, and I will come off the record and tell you that it stinks. Just embarrassing. What's my personal agenda there?

The reason why it is irrelevant is because the typical bose buyer is not an enthusiast of any kind. It's simply name recognition. No speaker company has a prolific profile like bose. They saturate the airwaves and media, so their marketing people are doing a bang up job. However, having great marketing and advertising does not mean your product is good. Luckily for bose, the people who view their ads don't know any better. If a speaker is audible and works, that suffices for that crowd. They are "ahem" lifestyle speakers. If quality mattered to a buyer, then that person probably would not be buying speakers that have ice cream cone scoop like woofers. I mean seriously.

I watched a bose presentation video through work, and I kind of felt bad for the bose rep. He was just doing his job, but you can tell even he didn't have any faith in what he was saying. Poor fella.....he has to go around singing the virtues of the acoustimass.....

Bose are STILL considered one of the elite sound companies in the world........just not for HOME audio. they made their name in concert systems, and stage systems long before you were born.Why do you people get so worked up about this anyways?Do you really care that some people like bose systems?

[edgebsl]

Originally Posted by mr.hidef

Because you don't use noise cancelling headphones in a RECORDING STUDIO........DUH!

Actually, most AKG and Sennheiser designs let in very little outside noise.
For example, if you are recording in an iso booth with your guitar cab, as many guitar players do so they can get a little controlled pickup feedback when they want, you want isolated sound so you can hear a good mix in your phones. Same way in the drum room. A drummer has to have an extremely isolated mix in his phones to get over the 110db + crack of his snare so he can hear a click track or the other instruments.

Studio phones are typically a VERY isolated design. And actually the "noise cancelling" or isolated headphone was the first design, and open ear designs that let in some outside noise were a bit of an innovation a few yrs back.

Bose is trying to market the isolated headphone as something wholly new and innovative. Once again preying on the uneducated who have never heard a good set of headphones.

[edgebsl]

Originally Posted by mr.hidef

Bose are STILL considered one of the elite sound companies in the world........just not for HOME audio. they made their name in concert systems, and stage systems long before you were born.Why do you people get so worked up about this anyways?Do you really care that some people like bose systems?

By whom?

Concert or stage? You have got to be kidding me right!

You're talking to someone who has been a musician his whole life and has actually played on stages with JBL vertec arrays, Claire Brothers systems.
Pro soundmen chuckle at the name BOSE. Don't even ask about my experience with this: http://www.bose.com/controller?event...ians/index.jsp
It is a joke and can't hold its own against an old fahioned bi amped wedge.

Its funny, to me it seems that the people who get worked up over BOSE, are the people who invested money in them. They won't audition other systems in the price range and say "Well I auditioned X, X and X speakers in the same price range and the BOSE had better low end extension or more detailed highs." You just get those trying to defend their purchase.

If you love your system.... great.
Chances are though...that if you shopped around ...you'd fall in love many more times over. And it is very likely, you may be angry about what you paid for your "innovation"

When's the last time you saw a TV ad for B&W? for KEF? or Paradigm?

Price a television ad and you find out where your $2000 goes when you buy an acoustimass flagship system. It sure doesnt go into driver construction.

[mjbethancourt]

The technical info is great. Finally, empiric evidence of what I had to learn the hard way. I can speak from years of experience on the brand, and they simply do not perform as advertised. The acoustimass units have no sound accuracy and they sound overdriven (i.e. the primitive method of intentionally generating distortion). The even more expensive units sell by sheer ignorance. I can't believe they've got people buying into the fairy tale that you can get "concert hall surround sound" from those single speaker units of theirs. Their cones are made from terribly inferior materials; my old guitar amps have better materials.
There's a reason why they sell their stuff through Sharper Image: their market is people with more money than brains. They benefit largely from a (undeserved) reputation built on their contracts to do the factory sound systems in luxury cars, working from the expensive = better mentality. I've long since replaced all my old Bose equipment (didn't buy it, they were gifts) with gear that is ten times better at less than half the cost. That Bose stuff actually hurt my ears, it was too loud in all the wrong sound ranges, and very flat. If Bose home speakers sound good to you, you might have a problem with your ears.

[edgebsl]

Mr Hidef...you're running an 805 with BOSE?

My god man, once you get a decent set of speakers you are going to soil yourself hearing that beast!

[Beta Man]

Originally Posted by edgebsl

Mr Hidef...you're running an 805 with BOSE?

My god man, once you get a decent set of speakers you are going to soil yourself hearing that beast!

Onkyos aren't very musical in my opinion..... and if he likes Bose, he likes Bose.... no reason to say he's intending on replacing them.

[Blu Red]

All Highs No Lows Must Be Bose!!!!!!

[Entertainment72]

So what can I get for the $800 I paid for my 6.1 Bose? Which 6 speakers and sub do you guys recommend?

[Beta Man]

Originally Posted by Entertainment72

So what can I get for the $800 I paid for my 6.1 Bose? Which 6 speakers and sub do you guys recommend?

first off, you didn't get a "sub" with your bose system, you got a "Bass module"

If you like your speakers, that's all that matters, I don't see the reason why people feel to attack bose so adamantly, same with Monster, etc.... Let people buy whatever the hell they want.


And to answer the question, there are multiple HTIB for $800.

[Amel]

lol at Bose

I cant believe people buy that crap

[Entertainment72]

I can't believe people buy FORDS and CHEVY's but they do.. It's all subjective.

[Xerious]

Originally Posted by Entertainment72

I can't believe people buy FORDS and CHEVY's but they do.. It's all subjective.

fords and chevys are crap too.

[Beta Man]

Originally Posted by Xerious

fords and chevys are crap too.

agreed.... but they have a lot of "brand loyal" customers too.... like bose, and apparently Klipsch, Mac, etc.

[ausamerika]

Originally Posted by Beta Man

first off, you didn't get a "sub" with your bose system, you got a "Bass module"

If you like your speakers, that's all that matters, I don't see the reason why people feel to attack bose so adamantly, same with Monster, etc.... Let people buy whatever the hell they want.


And to answer the question, there are multiple HTIB for $800.

Though I agree with the general consensus on Bose -- they just don't do it for me, I am perfectly fine with their existence in the market. They fill a niche for folks who are more interested in name than quality; as was said before, more brains than money. Caveat emptor, and all that.

However, Monster makes me crazy. I went to Circuit City AND Best Buy (as there aren't any real stores within a reasonable distance) looking for a subwoofer cable --and lo and behold, both stores had ONLY Monster products. I'd rather run w/o an LFE than pay $110 for a 20' RCA cable.