bose and its bad rep

[Flash]

I will be buying Bose Acoustimass 5 Series III Stereo Speaker System soon as Surrounds. Need a small form factor and left with very few options

I will compare it to a 20k BS from the likes of PSB or Wharf and give my take on it .

 

[Shivam]

In the starting of the thread I had posted my wife's impression but forgot the write my own.

I have heard Bose few times in their showroom, twice in hotel rooms (Taj, Delhi) and a few times at two houses.

The best sound was in the showroom but even that missed many things. Unlike what the people say, I could get the showroom to play the music that I wanted to hear. Beatles sounded good. Jagjit Singh was terrible sounding and Bach on a Church Organ the worst. When I translate this to scientific knowledge. Beatles was a mono remastered recording and especially made to sound like it did in the yesteryears radios.
Jagjit Singh sings at very low octaves at times and this along with the musical instruments at those low-mid frequencies were not getting reproduced very well.
Bach on a church organ sounds good with gut churning bass that emanates from those really low Hz. This was totally missing in the demo that I took. Once again confirming what the people have been saying about technical specifications.

The sound in the hotel room was too thin and it was playing the streaming radio that was being provided. No idea about the quality of the source.

At the houses where I heard the systems, the owners were really proud and I could not say anything to express my discontent at their systems but once again they lacked all that I had experienced in my earlier demos. One of the homes had a very troublesome room and the owner was actually happy with the supposedly deep bass that he was getting which were actually excessive standing waves.

Specifications don't say anything about the sound but I don't expect a car made with a 800cc engine from Maruti and covered in a body like Ferrari to actually run like a Ferrari. Provide a crowded road with pothole like in some small Indian town and then the Ferrari and the 800cc Ferrari will run in almost the same way.

For those who still didn't get the point, feel free to enjoy your Bose but I am not going for it and I actually laugh quietly when someone tries to impress me with it.

Addition : This is about the small speakers and Acoustimass systems.

 

[nandac]

btw just to note that there is no single 'bose'. they have many models like acoustimass, wave systems, 301, 901 etc.

a couple of "audiophile" reviews of the 901 :
We Review the Bose 901… – Reviews | TONEAudio MAGAZINE
Bose 901 loudspeaker | Stereophile.com

the price of the 901 listed in the 1995 review is like $500 a pair. when i bought my acoustimass in 1997 it was like 1000 bucks. but today the same acoustimass (minus the old cd player/amp) is like 300 bucks, while the 901 has jumped to $1500!

 

[thebanik]

After reading 7 pages, All I gather here is that the OP would defend BOSE at any cost. He is not here for knowledge(regardless of what he may write) but to tell others how he feels BOSE is not inferior to the other established audiophile brands.

 

[square_wave]

Bose maintained a better reputation for PA systems than for hifi. Is this still true?

I know that the Madras Music Academy have one of the best-sounding auditoria here, and it is Bose equipment, but then, many music halls in Chennai have such bad sound systems that it is easy to be best!

This is correct. Some of their professional installs for PA is quite nice. But one of the reasons why most people perceive bose PA installs as good is because most typical PA installs across the world especially in India is extremely bad. In India it is mostly Ahuja. Once you remove these and get a professional bose install, there is a quantum jump in quality. I have seen this happen in some halls and churches. The difference is similar to what you experience when you sell your mini compo music system and buy your first bose speaker.

But if you talk to high end professional installers who do high quality PA audio, they do not prefer bose. The possibilities are endless with other options

 

[vizeta]

^^

I worked with a Pro Sound & light equipment distributer/solution provider for 5 years (1999-2004). (I have exp. with OHM audio UK and Meyer sound US)

You are correct most of Auditoriums had Ahuja and they were upgrading to JBL/Das/Martin other pro audio brands. JBL had good reputation in this segment.

I have seen few small Auditoriums installed with Bose but I have never seen BOSE is being considered as good option for live performance.

But the sound equipment rental companies used to provide Bose 802 model (which was actually a good wide dispersion speaker) for small conference/performance and background music. which was actually considered very good speakers for this purpose.

I have seen several Bars/restaurants in Delhi/NCR with BOSE (Satelite +SW models) installed for Background music. I found the installation done so badly that you will feel unequal distribution of Bass everywhere (because of constraint of place and SW hidden somewhere under the counter.

 

[deba]

Bose is excellent when it comes to delivering "big sound" from small speaker package.......many have copied Bose and its research in Psycho acoustics.......if you want real big sound from big enclosures then go for other brands........