(Welcome again to Julie, one of the finalists vying for a blogging position at the upcoming AT:Home Tech. Comment away.)
They also have more apartment-sized audio products like desktop speaker systems and compact audio equipment like the Virtually Invisible speaker packages for people concerned about space. They also sell audio transmitter and receiver packages which allow you to listen to music from a single source in various rooms in your home, plus they have a selection of outdoor speakers for those lucky enough to have an apartment with a patio or deck.
Bose has definitely taken design into consideration and most of the equipment they sell either looks nice or can easily be hidden away. The new Companion 5 multimedia speaker system, for example, consists of two fantastically sleek-looking desktop speakers on their own compact matching stands, plus a bulky woofer that can be kept out of sight.
It's definitely worth going to see and hear the Bose collection in person if you've been thinking about buying their products online.
-Julie
Copyright © 2008 Apartment Therapy
Bose is an excellent place to go if you want to drop buckets of money on sub-par equipment.
If you are thinking of setting foot in a Bose store do yourself a favor and check out your local hi-fi shop first. You'll be able to put together a much nicer system for the same price or less. Even better, hit some of the online forums like www.avsforum.com, or audioholics.com for advice and recommended systems.
Friends don't let friends buy Bose.
Ditto the audioholics.com recommendation. I put together a kick-ass home theater system for about half the price of a Bose system, and it sounds way better to boot!
If you care at all about sound, seriously, don't buy Bose.
Last year I had to go through a series of hearing tests and we were worried that I was losing my hearing. Found out that I have lost a substantial chunk - but that it should NOT progress further. I celebrated by buying myself a Bose wave machine. I wanted to hear music - in the best possible way. It was a gift to the frequencies that would not fail me .
i don't think bose is expensive at all for the sound and quality and design that you get. i used to spend chunks on huge speakers and heavy component systems. then i got a bose system and am perfectly happy with it. in fact i think bose is cheap for what you get in the way that sometimes a $40 steak at a diner is expensive but a $100 one at a restaurant is cheap?
Bose would be the $100 steak that turned out to be grade B with a big piece of gristle on it. If you've never had grade A it might taste pretty good.
You can get speakers the same size as Bose for cheaper that have better performance if you are after the form factor.
And let's not even start on their sales tactics. A little searching online will turn up a report by a person who attended a Bose demo in the store. After the demo he lifted the curtain on the display stand to discover that the speakers were being amped by two Krell monoblocks that were not mentioned during the demo. For those who don't follow audio stuff Krell monoblocks sell for around $8000 a pair, and are considered very high end.
I sold my 10k system (Martin Logan, Krell, Acurus, Moster)and bought a BOSE speaker system with a Pioneer receiver. Unless you have the space, right acoustics and money to spend. Don't waste your time. Go get a BOSE engineered system and enjoy your movies and Cd's
Whoohooew! Audio snobs duking it out!
Audio reception is a very subjective thing and casual listeners of music, like me, have a disdain for people who claims to hear better than the rest of mortal folks.
If Dick walks into Jane's apartment and sneer at Jane's Bose system, Dick should be shown the door. That's just plain rude, Dick.
I agree Thatcher. But Dick should have tried to help Jane before she blew her money on Bose and helped her get a much better system for cheaper.
Again, it's not that Bose is total crap, it's just really really expensive for what it is. If you could get a system just as good looking as Bose, that sounded just as good or better for half the price why would you buy Bose?
Bose uses inferior materials in their product. Thin, low density fiber board for the enclosures, untreated paper cones for the speakers, tiny magnets and thin spiders for support, highs and midrange being handled by a 2.5 inch speaker, "sub" bass being handled by a 6" speaker, etc. None of that equals a good listening experience.
Bose survives on marketing and branding alone. This may ruffle some feathers but it doesn't make it any less true.
Yeah, when it comes to Bose, you're really paying for marketing, not quality. It's not like, totally crappy, but it's still not worth the price. True, most people can't tell the difference... but if you can't tell the difference, then why spend that much money on a high-end audio system in the first place? I work for an AV consulting company and I can tell you that everyone in our industry laughs at Bose and how silly their prices are versus their quality. It's like buying Monster cables, which no one who knows very much about AV products would ever do. But if it makes you happy to have the Bose brand name, then go for it.
I just noticed that this was an entry in the home tech blogger contest or whatever you want to call it. I definitely wouldn't pay any attention to a blog that paid homage to a company like Bose.
Another one of the many problems with Bose (much like with already mentioned Monster Cable) is that they refuse to provide detailed specifications for their equipment. Instead they claim that it's not necessary. Bose is just about the only company in the audio world that won't provide specs and it is generally assumed (and I believe confirmed on a few occasions) that it is because they fail to measure up to equipment that costs significantly less.
Likewise the idea of small, paper-cone speakers and a subwoofer can often be proven to be scientifically flawed in that you simply cannot produce the proper range of frequencies necessary for good audio. Considering that a great deal of information is in the mid-range this is one of the worst things you can lose in an audio system.