[mix4fix]

I can't find the original online article where someone broke down a Bose Lifestyle system and proved it was junk.

[bladesmith]

Not a Bose fan, but what I find interesting.  Some are kind of OB type speakers.  (weird, never noticed that before.)

[mhconley]

I always liked the sound of Bose 601 speakers.  I had a friend in the very early 80's that had a pair.



Martin

[bladesmith]

I had no idea, maybe Bose was ahead of there time.

[jackman]

Damn, that's a big ass picture!  I have a confession, I acquired a pair of speakers similar to the ones in the first picture, the one from BladeSmith, back in the 90's, when I had no money.  They were from a friend who got them second hand.  I thought they sounded pretty good at the time, but multiple paper tweeters (or any tweeters) pointed in all different directions probably wouldn't do it for me today.  It's going back a long time but I never remember the speakers imaging well and I wound up selling them and picking up some Dahlquist DQ-10's, but that's a different story.  The guy who bought them from me loved them, but I'm pretty sure he was on drugs and was not the most discriminating listener. 

Looking back, I'm not sure I ever heard a good sounding set of Bose speakers (the large ones) in a good system.  Not sure the sound would appeal to me in any system but the Acoustamass stuff, I have heard in many of my neighbors' homes did not make me want to sell my system and convert to tiny boxes.  Bose seems to be focused on making really teeny-tiny speakers (with lots of holes in the frequency spectrum as people have pointed out) but some people really like their stuff.  Maybe they make the best teeny-tiny speaker systems, and some people really like their sound.  Heck, look at the frequency response measurements of many popular speakers and Bose is not the only company with funky response charts.  If having small speakers in you home makes your wife/girlfriend (or both!) happy and you get laid more often as a result, GO Bose!  Just sayin...

[DaveC113]

Bose stuff varies from ok to rip-off.

The acoustimass is certainly rip-off, defined by their refusal to allow direct comparisons with other audio companies and a very carefully set up demo involving video that must be played with the audio in order to take your mind off the sonics. I worked at a store that sold acoustimass systems in the early 90's. They suck and are a huge rip off.

Some of their other products are much more above-board and do not use deception in order to be able to gain sales.

[mhconley]

Damn, that's a big ass picture!

Yes it was.  It should be a little more reasonably sized now.

I have a confession, I acquired a pair of speakers similar to the ones in the first picture, the one from BladeSmith, back in the 90's, when I had no money.  They were from a friend who got them second hand.  I thought they sounded pretty good at the time, but multiple paper tweeters (or any tweeters) pointed in all different directions probably wouldn't do it for me today.  It's going back a long time but I never remember the speakers imaging well and I wound up selling them and picking up some Dahlquist DQ-10's, but that's a different story.  The guy who bought them from me loved them, but I'm pretty sure he was on drugs and was not the most discriminating listener. 

Looking back, I'm not sure I ever heard a good sounding set of Bose speakers (the large ones) in a good system.  Not sure the sound would appeal to me in any system but the Acoustamass stuff, I have heard in many of my neighbors' homes did not make me want to sell my system and convert to tiny boxes.  Bose seems to be focused on making really teeny-tiny speakers (with lots of holes in the frequency spectrum as people have pointed out) but some people really like their stuff.  Maybe they make the best teeny-tiny speaker systems, and some people really like their sound.  Heck, look at the frequency response measurements of many popular speakers and Bose is not the only company with funky response charts.  If having small speakers in you home makes your wife/girlfriend (or both!) happy and you get laid more often as a result, GO Bose!  Just sayin...

I also loved my big ass Cerwin-Vega's at the time.  Our tastes change as we mature...

Martin

[jackman]

Martin, I had a pair of those as well.  A friend offered to give me his brother's giant old pair of Cerwin Vega that were in his basement but they were too big and I was too lazy to pick them up.  He wound up putting them on the curb. 

Sorry to derail the ripoff thread. 

[DS-21]

I always liked the sound of Bose 601 speakers.  I had a friend in the very early 80's that had a pair.



Martin

Neither the 301 above nor the 601 are OB - the widebanders are closed back.

A small restaurant we frequent has a pair of these Bose 601's as their house speakers. They don't sound great, but they are very consistent through the room. While the 601 just too much of a kludge to work well as serious mains, its virtues are such that I think they'd make great surrounds. I've thought about doing something similar with four Aura Whispers or NS3s, and an 8" woofer.

[OzarkTom]

Actually the biggest ripoff is the hype  behind all of these products. We have all fallen for it at times.

[geowak]

Actually the biggest ripoff is the hype  behind all of these products. We have all fallen for it at times.

I agree with this! In fact it should be written in STONE somewhere where audio fans can see it often. Products only live up to the accolades given to them on RARE occasions. I think most big and small manufacturers of audio products give us a great magic show. You can call it great advertising or psychological operations, but the product is probably not as good as it is claimed to be. I like the saying, "One only sees what is behind their eyes, not what is in front of them".

[JoshK]

IMHO, the biggest rippoff is cables, apart from good construction, there is basically no difference.

[gbeard]

Neither the 301 above nor the 601 are OB - the widebanders are closed back.

A small restaurant we frequent has a pair of these Bose 601's as their house speakers. They don't sound great, but they are very consistent through the room. While the 601 just too much of a kludge to work well as serious mains, its virtues are such that I think they'd make great surrounds. I've thought about doing something similar with four Aura Whispers or NS3s, and an 8" woofer.

I had a pair of these in the 80's! They wouldn't hurt anybody. Traded them in on a used McCormack DNA .05. Much better...

[RDavidson]

IMHO, the biggest rippoff is cables, apart from good construction, there is basically no difference.

I agree with you for the most part. There are differences (primarily due to varying construction techniques and materials used), but one doesn't need to spend anywhere near $20k or whatever ridiculous amount of $ to get cables that do their job correctly / accurately. But I guess if you have that kind of cash and need to spend it to feel secure about your system or impress friends, then have at it.

[jimdgoulding]

IMHO, the biggest rippoff is cables, apart from good construction, there is basically no difference.

I guess I'll have to second that, Josh.

[G Georgopoulos]

the biggest rip off is the one that doesnt work, i bought cheap dvd player to use as a cd player and it wasnt playing cd properly...

[Guy 13]

the biggest rip off is the one that doesnt work, i bought cheap dvd player to use as a cd player and it wasnt playing cd properly...

Hi Georgopoulos.
I don't think your DVD player is a rip off.
You might not like what I will write, but,
you got what you paid for.
I don't know what you paid,
but I guess it's something around 40 USD.
Yes, even if you paid 40 USD it should play music CDs, but not perfectly.
To me a rip off would be paying 500 USD for the same DVD
and find out that it gives poor sound.

Guy 13

[Letitroll98]

IMHO, the biggest rippoff is cables, apart from good construction, there is basically no difference.

We've kinda mentioned this ad infinitum on this thread and a zillion other ones, so I'm officially banning this topic from the thread as it leads nowhere and just causes schoolboy arguments.  Josh gets to have the last word and we're done here with it.  Find some other problem areas to talk about.

[Ericus Rex]

I had no idea, maybe Bose was ahead of there time.

In 1970 perhaps.  But today, no way.

[jackman]

I'm just surprised, pleasantly, this thread has not gone off the skids, into the bin by now.  Whenever discussions drift into areas of caps, cables, etc., it's usually a recipe for major conflicts.  I purposely stayed out because it's a losing battle.  It's funny because I've discussed high end audio with my friends and they feel the WHOLE category is a rip-off!  I disagree, of course, but no longer take the bait and just let it go. 

Not sure it fits into this thead but I love reading reviews from people who make outlandish claims about a minor (but high $$$) tweek "transforming" their system.  There is one AC guy whose posts I follow faithfully (no names) who experienced several MAJOR transformations, including the one where the "veil was lifted" from his speakers and the one where his could not believe the improvement after he installed some mega-buck hockey pucks or some speaker levelers that were accurate to three decimal points, etc.  In fact, everthing he does to his system results in a MAJOR transformational improvement to the sound quality.  Every one, without exception. Oh, and after all of these life-changing improvements in which he was hearing things inconceivable to mere mortals, he sold the speakers.  In fairness, the guy was very happy with his purchase (at least on paper), and I have never heard his system so who am I to say or speculate that he was ripped off.

I'm only bringing this up because this is exactly how my non-audiophile friends view my audio buying habits (and all audiophiles for that matter).  When I told my non-audio enthusiast friend the story about the guy with the high-buck hockey pucks (hey, that rymes!) he said I was like the 300lb guy at the beach pointing at the 400 lb guy and saying, "I'm not fat, look at that guy!".  The correct answer is: you are both fat! 

Maybe we are all in this together, afterall...

Cheers,

Jack