[orthobiz]

Almost had the wife convinced. Redoing our family area, showed her a picture of the Hsu Ventriloquist satellite nestled in the palm of a hand. Showed her the single midbass unit that fills the gap between 80 and 250 Hz. Showed her the parts express mounts that hold the satellites into the ceiling. Told her that with a Panasonic receiver it could come in under 1000 bucks with a CD players.

Then she saw the subwoofer.

Unlike me, who would have a kneeler in front of the multi-box stereo tower of worship (no intentional blasphemy here), with shelf after shelf of equipment stacked to the ceiling,
my wife isn't into it if you can see the stereo, see the speakers, and worse yet: see the WIRES.

So now she wants a Bose radio ("can you get a CD with one of those?")

Is there a good radio/CD player all-in-one?

biz

[ton1313]

FYI,

I was in our local SAM'S club, & they sell Bose there. They have the new Bose, I think the model is 3-2-1. It is a clock radio sized, DVD/CD player that runs 2 small speakers that perform "Simulated Surround Sound", and a "smaller" bass module. Retail $799.

That being said, I do not feel it would take the place of a full set of suround speakers, but it might be the compromise that could work for the wife.

[ohenry]

I've had the wire hatred thing going down in my house too.  If your looking toward a table radio/CD, try looking at the Cambridge Soundworks model.  It's cheaper than the Blose and performs well.

Also, since aesthetics and size matters (too bad smaller isn't desirable in everything   ), try checking out the Tivoli stereo (CD, radio/speaker,  2nd speaker, subwoofer).  Those sound pretty good, they're in a small, elegant package, and women like the looks.

Or just say, "It's my way or the highway, bi-otch."  Yeah, right. . .

Good luck, Henry

[Rob Babcock]

Cambridge Soundworks makes a very nice sounding alternative to the Wave Radio.  It also happens to be less than 1/2 the price.  Wal-Mart carries them (or at least some Wally World stores do).  You can also buy direct from http://www.hifi.com.

[orthobiz]

Thanks everybody.
Will check out the Tivoli. We have
some of the Cambridge units at work
and the sound is OK, especially if you tone
down the bass.

I have trouble with digital locking radios.
I still like to fine tune, especially since "off-center"
often gives the best reception.

biz

[Brad]

The Tivoli sounds very good and has a terrific tuner

[BradJudy]

I literally inherited a Bose Wave radio and I don't think it's bad.  I never use it because I listen to CDs/MP3s 95% of the time rather than radio and because my main home systems are nicer.  I would guess that there are better price/performance options, but I'm not a fan of any form of blind bashing (regardless of the vendor), so I thought I would chime in.

[Kim S.]

My best friend has a Bose wave machine.  While definately midfi, I think it sounds quite good for an all in one system.  If I lived on a sailboat or other cramped quarters I would seriously consider it.  My criticism of Bose is their hyberbole advertising.  Its so effective I think they have convinced alot of casual listeners they have the ultimate when they are far from it.

[Tonto Yoder]

... My criticism of Bose is their hyberbole advertising.  Its so effective I think they have convinced alot of casual listeners they have the ultimate when they are far from it.

Evidence of what you're saying:  I told someone I was driving a couple hours to audition a turntable ( but I didn't mention its name since I knew they wouldn't be at all familiar with it). Her response was "Oh, it must be a Bose!"

Personally, the acoustic wave I've heard was terrible sounding---bloated bass that might be impressive since it comes from such a small package but ultinately unsatisfying.

The smaller Wave radio seemed like it could be good in certain circumstances (a kitchen, bathroom, spare bedroom) but the cost seemed high.

[cjr888]

Grab one of these setups.  Should cost you maybe $400-450, and get CD/DVD/SuperVCD/VCD/CDR/MP3/JPG playback, a digital amplifier that plenty of people here like a lot, and a tuner...  If you have to put the speakers right next to it, its still not going to take up a lot of space, but you'd also have the option to spread them apart...

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=11998.msg104533#104533&highlight=wood#104533
http://www.jvc-asia.com/sg/exa1/features/index.html

[orthobiz]

Will seriously consider the Tivoli because with the options maybe I can gradually sneak up on my wife without her knowing that she has a multibox stereo extravaganza.

biz