Bose Wave Music System??

[5t3v3]

My old man keeps asking me about it and I have no idea if this thing is really worth over $600. It just seems overpriced to me.
I can't find any convincing reviews on it so I was hoping some of you can provide some thoughts and opinions.

http://www.bose.ca/controller?url=/s.../wms/index.jsp

[Mitsu3000gt]

I've heard it, my ex's mom had one. Its decent but not even worth half what they charge IMO. There are $100-$200 computer speakers that sound better.

[clem24]

As with anything Bose, your first instincts are right: this is severely overpriced. I can see why they charge so much: so they can pay off all the full page ads and infomercials to market this thing.

Consider that $600 can actually get you some very decent and much more capable stereo equipment, in terms of features and sound quality. Also consider that, for $600, it doesn't even come with a USB or SD card slot. Still requires CDs? Seriously how long can they possibly milk this product (and their other products) for?

I think the phrase that best describes this is "it's good for it's size but don't expect miracles". And I honestly think the only reason why this thing is so great is because it's competition is alarm clocks, and no alarm clock sound good. But you will never find this device and "audiophile" together.

[Tarrantula]

From personal experience - these are good quality as far as the sound - but there is NO bass. and i mean - NOOOOOOOOOOO bass. for me it is a deal breaker cause it was like a whole section of the music was missing.

[r3ccOs]

Though its not awful.... and actuality "not bad", $600 for not bad is expensive.

I bought the Boston Microsystem CD for $250 from Soundsaround, which is principly simular, but does MP3 (can't remember if the latest Gen does)
has a bass trim control and I think sounds much better... (more SPL as well)

It also has a better tuner and can be hand while Soundsaround still sells them, as Boston has stopped making them and now sell the "ok" sounding Solo/Duo's

I use it in my bedroom and its fantastic for simple ambient music and has better bass than the BOSE, let alone the better midrange detail. It does have a big transformer and works principly on transmission lines (wave guides) to produce bass (of which deep extention is impossible due to the phsyical driver size)

For my radio in my office, I use a Tivoli Model 1... primarly on CBC Radio 1. The Model 1 has a much better "speaker" but lacks any fullness, its like a very high quality soft-dome silk tweeter, but nothing more.

For $600, you can get a proper micro system which isn't much smaller in profile and will give you substantially better quality (i.e. Denon Micro w/ Warlfdale bookshelves)

[r3ccOs]

http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/p...stem-cd-review

ALSO, though it's not as clean as a Civic with shaved handles, having buttons on the top is a HUUUGE convenience, especially if you misplace the remote for the Blose wave radio

The microsystem also too comes with a remote and a handy remote caddy built in.

[5t3v3]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

Clearly Bose' marketing is winning over my dad so I need to give him alternatives so he gets his money's worth. I'll check out Boston Microsystem and Tivoli Model r3ccOs mentioned.

Please feel free to suggest any other recommendations. I'm not familiar with audio stuff at all. I guess what I'm looking for is "micro" system, eh? I don't think my dad necessarily want an alarm. but he probably wants to listen to radio or some oldie shit.

[clem24]

Does he want to play CDs only? Is he tech savvy? You might also consider the Squeezebox Boom. It can steam online radio stations but does not pick up terrestrial signals. I know there are many stations in Calgary that are online and picked up by the squeezebox (and online stream always much better SQ than any antenna).

[msommers]

If he is willing to look for an iPod system, I'd strongly consider the B&W Zeppelin. I had a chance to demo this product on the weekend. While it can't hit ultra-low frequencies on high volume (Ex. Massive Attack's Angel riff), it performs very very well. I tested a Sarah McLachlan song and she sounded just fantastic. Honestly, if it had a sub-out or was able to hit those, likely sub-~40Hz frequencies, I would have bought it without question. My trance beats sounded nearly as good as my Sennheiser headphones at home.

[r3ccOs]

Originally posted by msommers
If he is willing to look for an iPod system, I'd strongly consider the B&W Zeppelin. I had a chance to demo this product on the weekend. While it can't hit ultra-low frequencies on high volume (Ex. Massive Attack's Angel riff), it performs very very well. I tested a Sarah McLachlan song and she sounded just fantastic. Honestly, if it had a sub-out or was able to hit those, likely sub-~40Hz frequencies, I would have bought it without question. My trance beats sounded nearly as good as my Sennheiser headphones at home.

almost nothing but multi-driver full floorstanders, subwoofers (good ones) or headphones go sub ~40hrz

Most music don't have those frequencies other than large orchestrations or synthetic reproductions (your trance or electronica which again uses more mid-bass when producing against a monitor)

ALL of these options IMO are a compromise... I just wanted a clock/radio or radio to listen to, but by no means would I ever use it as an actual listening aparatus.

Problem is... good stereo's are a lost art
People want simplicty to listen to their music, but are buying the wrong devices.

How much space does a good set of floorstanders take up? Not that much (or good bookshelves)
How much does it cost for a decent amp and a PROPER source with a good dac? A bit but not exorborant that one cannot afford.

People would rather blow their cash on the latest big-screen, portable device or video game system... rather than spend the money to enjoy their music.

In England, almost everyone had a proper stereo... They, unlike us in NA, value their music enough to purchase equipment the way we do with our other gadgets.

A simple setup that I'd advocate for, Axiom audio M22s, a proper stereo amp such as a Denon, Rega Brio or NAD 372 BBE, and a CDP such as a NAD 542...
Add a sub if you "need" more bass

That will be substantially better than what MOST people have ever heard from their music

[msommers]

I suppose I jumped to the conclusion that given the Bose's size and portability, that is what the OP's father may be after. Given that I was in the same boat (ie: desktop application), the Zeppelin is very good at what it is designed to do and would still recommend it.

r3ccOs is correct, nothing in these mini/wannabe type applications will beat a proper sound system, however I think that's quite intuitive. There are many factors to why people choose other systems: cost, space, bells n whistles...

If I had the space, I'd be keeping the studio monitors I have now. They're simply fantastic and are self-powered to boot. But, space is something I don't have. I actually settled on a desktop Focal setup after spending many hours hoe-humming about what the heck to do.

Lastly, I do believe a subwoofer is a need if you want full frequency representation. A tightened bottom end can really make a song sound drastically different than a bookshelf application that is apparently rated to go quite low but does it poorly.

I think some of us get spoiled in some regard as once you decide to take the dive into the hifi world, everything else sounds like shit. I know it may come across as pretencious, but it's true. I let my roomates try out my headphones and while they aren't anything spectacular (Senn's 595 in a 0404 USB) I took our Bose's system and set it up on my desk so they could flip back and forth. They all liked the Bose's system because the bass was bigger!

I'm looking forward to putting together a nice home theatre setup one day. Actually, I'm looking forward to see what I get but not looking forward to how much it's going to end up costing me