[Spirit]

Just for fun...
I went into a Bose store in the Sawgrass Mills mall in Florida.
I would like to read about your opinion's on this enigmatic 
corporation.
I will give you my impressions later!
You guys first.

[pearsall001]

To the uninformed they are the cat's meow!!! As long as they look no further than that, BOSE marketing has them hooked thinking they're the best out there. I've been to the BOSE store here in Voorhees, NJ. Their HT room is set up perfectly to showcase their strong points & just by accident their weak points are never heard. The music demos are tailor made to make you think "WOW" these are really good. They need to keep you in the dark to get the sale. But then again, a lot of people buy them. Kudo's to their marketing team. They're doing something right when they can sell a HT system for about $4000 when the sum of it's parts probably only amount to a few hundred bucks. How do you say "Buyer beware"?

[95bcwh]

what else is there to say? Bose is simply the best sound in the world. My dream is to own a Bose system one day. Look no further.

[Zero]

Ah Bose, the usual pinyata all self-appointed enlightened folk who have found better stereo at better prices. Lets face it, every single last one of us have picked up the stick and taken a few swings to the name at one point or another. Sometimes, it just feels good to perform an innocent celebratory dance. Unless you are star player for any said football team - the opportunities to do so are rare. Is it really that much of a sin? .. nahh. We all deserve a self congradulatory pat once in awhile.

Regardless, I retain the utmost respect for what Amar Bose has done for the industry.  There are many companies that play the game, but only Bose can rightfully claim to have put the awareness of 'better' sound in the minds of Americans. Bose is a company that sells more products per year than the entire Hi-Fi speaker industry combined, and thats world-wide folks. He has won awards for many innovations running the second most advanced lab on the planet (first place kudos belong to B&O) that go well beyond audio/video electronics. As much fun as it is to harmonize against 'the man'... the truth is, the industry is eternally thankful for what Bose has done.

[95bcwh]

Bose is a company that sells more products per year than the entire Hi-Fi speaker industry combined

This is interesting, I never know that Bose is THAT big... where did you read about this??

[kenk]

Bose is a company that sells more products per year than the entire Hi-Fi speaker industry combined, and thats world-wide folks.

If this is the case then more than 50% of the household's stereo system in the world are BOSE!! 

[srlaudio]

They have the best ADVERTISING in audio......however you NEVER see their speakers in a professional recording studio.......hmmmmmm  could be related to that old pro audio verse:  No highs, No lows, must be Bose.  If you want true definition:  SLS S8R full range, Bag End Infrasub 18 (2).  I have also heard great sound from VMPS towers.  Bose? forget it!

[95bcwh]

ok..I just checked on Bose company's profile, $1.8 Billion revenues last year.. that's pretty big.. I'm sure Krell, Audio Research don't sell as much.

[Zero]

95,

Check out Forbes.

Kenk,

I am of course, excluding HTIB systems. Bose outlet stores can be found in virtually every major city in the United States. You will also find their displays set up in nearly every major US territory. Sure, there are other major players in the game; Harman International, Polk Audio, Paradigm, Dali, Bang and Olufson and of course, B&W - but none of those companies have exlusive outlet stores (well, B&O aside). You sure as hell haven't seen them holding contracts through the military exchange (AAFES). Roll your eyes as much as you'd like, but on average, Bose rakes in more cash in one week than some well known botique brands will make in a year.

Edit: It may be too late to stop the mob of towns-people from rushing into my haven with pitchforks and torches in thirst of blood - but my original post was to give a perspective rarely seen in threads such as these. Would I spend my hard earned cash on their products even at 50% off? Nope. But then again, I can say that about a lot of products I've come across. Sometimes using honey is a refreshing departure to saturating your bread with vinager.

[satfrat]

I had 4 Bose 10.2 floorstanders in my hometheater system for 18 years and loved every minute of them. It wasn't til I got into "internet audio" and with it an "internet education" that I realized I wasn't suppose to like them so much. So I graduated from "internet schooling" with a Masters in B.S. Of course I had to upgrade to high end audio now and with a lot of help, most of it right here at AC, I now surely do have a hometheater/music system that totally blows away what I had back in the precomputer awareness days. It's funny when I think back how much I thought those Bose 10.2 loudspeakers cost me, like to break the bank buying 2 sets. But that purchase alone didn't add up to what I paid for 1 set of Odyssey Lorelei's, and of course I bought 2 sets of them too. Yep I have a better setup now and I'm still paying off credit cards 3 years later. Back in my Bose days, I never had a credit card balance. Guess I'll be paying off my "Masters in B.S." student loan for many years to come. It was well worth it IMHO. 

Robin

[PhilNYC]

If this is the case then more than 50% of the household's stereo system in the world are BOSE!! 

Don't forget...Bose does car audio, too...

[boead]

Bose is a company that sells more products per year than the entire Hi-Fi speaker industry combined

This is interesting, I never know that Bose is THAT big... where did you read about this??

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. who owns the Panasonic brand is by far the largest audio/video electronics company in the world. I believe they are followed by Sony and then Royal Philips. 
In the top 10 there is LG Electronics, Hitachi, Toshiba, Pioneer, Samsung, Sharp amongst others. Even in the ‘specialized’ group, Bose is a no show. I don’t believe Bose is even in the top 50.

[jermmd]

Don't forget...Bose does car audio, too...

I had a bose stereo in my old Infiniti Q45T. It sounded pretty good to be honest. The best car stereo I ever had was a Panasonic SuperTuner  III in a 1989 Cadillac Sedan Deville I had when in Med school. That car rocked. Of course, I've never really gone high end in car stereo. Now I pretty much only listen to talk radio in the car.

As for Bose, it wouldn't be bad at half the price. I always feel a little uncomfortable when acquaintances brag about their new Bose system. I congratulate them and don't comment. It's easy to be satisfied with a lesser sound system until you hear a really good system. It's like TV screens. A 27 inch screen is fine until you see a 36 inch screen-after that, the smaller screen is hard to watch.

[Daygloworange]

The first time I heard of Bose was back in 1987. It was at a band rehearsal. One of the guys handled the rental of a PA for vocals. He brought in these black plastic boxes that looked like oversized lunch boxes, the covers snapped off with some clips, and then mounted them on tri-pods. I'm not sure if they were active or externally powered by a powered mixer. I was thinking there is no way these things are even going to be heard given our instrument amplification set up, but they sounded awesome. Never heard vocals that clear before in a rehearsal space. They were definitely overachievers. I was pretty amazed.

Other than that, I heard the much talked about Wave radio at a local audio dealer, and thought it sounded like crap. I don't know that much more about them though.

Cheers

[miklorsmith]

Bose bashing is a complex phenomenon.  The most righteous and hateful among us couldn't doubt the business model and I seriously doubt even a Bose owner would choose the sound A/B'd with what most of us would consider "acceptible".

I heard a hi-fi guy say once that one's frame of reference is limited by their experience.  This is necessarily true, as your own personal best could be bettered but it's really a hypothetical exercise until it actually happens.  Ignorance is bliss.

I think there is an essential disconnect in our minds about who is actually buying Bose products and the reasons they do so.  It's generalizing, but I bet the desired function is to get better sound than a boom box.  A necessary parameter is WAF.  The cuboids accomplish both with flying colors.  These folks don't care if there's better sound to be had.  Is it 2"x2"?  Ha, your giant speaker is so gaudy.  Are you still in college?

As audiophiles, we mistakenly assume others have the same passion for sound.  My wife for instance thinks of (or admits to) sound in strictly binary terms, either we have some or we do not.  If we accept this mentality in "our" customers, our goals become quite different indeed.  And in that light who's the real genious?  Based on sales, we're just a speck within a subset and not worthy of pursuit.

Look at the bright side, buy Bose and be done with upgradeitis.  We say they don't offer value, but how much would it save not to be swapping gear all the time?

I know they've practiced heavyhanded tactics in their business and that's a different story.  In a free market, it's hard to disparage their business model though.  Know your customers, right?  As it turns out, the ladies are the determinitive demographic.

[Daygloworange]

miklorsmith,

Well put.

Cheers

[aerius]

They've done their work and nailed their market segment, and through various means they've acquired a stranglehold that's pretty much impossible to break.  They have the means to carry out a propaganda...er...advertising campaign that's pervasive enough to make almost everyone associate Bose with good sound.  And they've succeeded.

On the downside, their products don't sound nearly as good as advertised.  Overall I have a love/hate thing for them, leaning more towards hate.  It's nice that they've created an awareness and need for good sound, too bad they don't provide it.

[Russell Dawkins]

As audiophiles, we mistakenly assume others have the same passion for sound.  My wife for instance thinks of (or admits to) sound in strictly binary terms, either we have some or we do not. 

I think this also explains why so many (though not all) serious musicians I know have mediocre systems. Being exposed to the real thing all the time, they realise how far away we are from duplicating it in the home with anything remotely affordable, so they don't even bother. The main criterion then becomes to find a replay sytem where the tonality through the mids is acceptable.

[Daygloworange]

I think this also explains why so many (though not all) serious musicians I know have mediocre systems. Being exposed to the real thing all the time, they realise how far away we are from duplicating it in the home with anything remotely affordable, so they don't even bother. The main criterion then becomes to find a replay sytem where the tonality through the mids is acceptable.

I definitely fell into that category. As a musician, and having my own studio, having a kick but home system was a zero priority. I would rather spend the money on studio upgrades. I was also convinced that to get a killer home system that would really rock my boat was going to be a 20k investment minimum. I just wasn't prepared to sacrifice upgrading my studio for that.

Also, when you're an active musician, playing, rehearsing, recording, you get a little burnt on music. Sometimes you come home and want absolute quiet. Even a phone ringing softly can anger you. You get tired from overstimulation. So for me, killer 2 channel audio at home was not even on my wish list.

I stumbled across this as a hobby in search of better studio monitors. Now it's snowballed into wanting that killer 2 channel audio system for my home.

As much as I enjoy killer good sound, I can totally enjoy listening to music even on a crappy boom box. It doesn't matter. I love music.

Cheers

[Zero]

Wonderful discussion here folks.

Miklor, you nailed it.  And Dayglow, similar situation (sans the personal studio) - agreed with every word.