Is Bose worth the premium

[bennyboydurham]

I've got the Bose Companion speakers on my iMac, which for computing speakers are more than adequate. I have a Lifestyle 12 in the lounge which I swear by and also a Wave Radio. The latter is the only Bose product in my house that is overpriced and underperforms, IMHO.

[siscar]

Bose is to Hi-Fi what the iPhone is to smartphones. Just as the phone geek would dismiss the iPhone so Hi-Fi geeks dismiss Bose.

Part of the reason is that both the iPhone and Bose are about style/design, perhaps at the cost of some performance/functionality. If the style/design is important to you then they are good products, but if it is all about performance/functionality then there are better choices.

[Mr_Yogi]

The iPhone analogy is true I think for the majority of BOSE stuff, you pay a premium for the flashy design, so for the same money you could get something which sounds better but it’ll look more like traditional hifi. This is great if you like the look of hifi, but not so good if you don’t, or more importantly your other half doesn’t (and you don’t ware the trousers ).

The problem I have with BOSE are their cube speakers, they are impressive for the amount of sound they can produce, and can wow with some music. However because they are soooooo small, the sound quality is seriously compromised, when compared with not only similarly priced traditional speakers, but also other ‘lifestyle’ speakers which are less compact; such as the Monitor Audio Radius range. Because of the size of the cubes much of the work is done by the sub, which is pretty poor, especially when it’s expected to produce half the mid range too. Whenever I’ve heard these things I’ve thought the sound was a complete mess. In the end you are paying for the design and the engineering to make them so small (which is still an impressive feet).

When I first heard them (age 13) and couldn’t believe that they produced the sound I was hearing, I was mightily impressed. That was until I started looking for my own hifi

[headcase]

siscar said:

Bose is to Hi-Fi what the iPhone is to smartphones. Just as the phone geek would dismiss the iPhone so Hi-Fi geeks dismiss Bose.

Part of the reason is that both the iPhone and Bose are about style/design, perhaps at the cost of some performance/functionality. If the style/design is important to you then they are good products, but if it is all about performance/functionality then there are better choices.

The Bose lifestyle systems have used the same Design for the past 7 years that i can remember so even that is pretty dated by todays standards.

[HereBeMonsters]

So if, theoretically, one could acquire Bose kit cheaply, how does it rate? Equivalent to..?

[Steve748]

AFAIC it's only good enough for AV as it's better than TV speakers but for music, get something decent

[headcase]

My opinion is that is really is very good for home cinima applications, if the 4k lifestyle system was say £900 then i would proberbly buy one.. to me that is how much overpriced it is.

[HereBeMonsters]

I have a set of the 301 speakers for my hi-fi, as I live in a flat and there was nowhere to put anything bigger. For the size they are they produce a massive sound, and as they were only £150 about 5 years ago I think that was a good deal?

Then again my stereo is an audiophile's worst nightmare. Lovely Yamaha Natural Sound amp, NAD CD player, Technics Direct Drive turntable and a TEAC tape deck, but it's also plugged into the PC so I can play iTunes through it, the telly so I can play films and games through it, and a 5 channel mixer for musical instruments/DJ decks etc. The cable jumble down the back can't be good for sound quality!

[Steve748]

HereBeMonsters said:

Then again my stereo is an audiophile's worst nightmare Technics Direct Drive turntable

Nothing wrong with a Technics T/T, I have spent ages and a lot of money getting my dream T/T, an SP10

[ChasW]

Went for the Denon system in the end. Came in at £16.95 above my gift allowance. Fits neatly into an existing cabinet. Should be here is a couple of days.

Thanks all again.

[Steve748]

Denon is a lot better than Bose, let us know what it's like when you get it. Which speakers did you go for?

[HereBeMonsters]

Steve748 said:

HereBeMonsters said:

Then again my stereo is an audiophile's worst nightmare Technics Direct Drive turntable

Nothing wrong with a Technics T/T, I have spent ages and a lot of money getting my dream T/T, an SP10

Sorry, what I mean is that I have a few fairly decent components, but all wired up with a massive spaghetti jumble of cheap cables with the TV, computer etc.

SP10 looks nice - wasn't it the first direct drive turntable ever? Mine is an SL-1300, Linn cartridge.

Edited by HereBeMonsters on Friday 30th October 17:07

[Steve748]

I have a SP10 one the very first ones and I have just managed to get a mark 2 which is currently undergoing a bit of restoration before it replaces the mk1.


SL-1300, Linn cartridge...lovely combination

[HereBeMonsters]

Steve748 said:

I have a SP10 one the very first ones and I have just managed to get a mark 2 which is currently undergoing a bit of restoration before it replaces the mk1.


SL-1300, Linn cartridge...lovely combination

Nice, always good to have a bit of history around the home.

I am loving the turntable - would you believe I got it free from FreeCycle? At first I started buying up vintage vinyl, but was underwhelmed with the quality vs. CDs. Recently though I've bought some new vinyl, and the difference is astonishing. Sonic Youth's Daydream Nation is a completely different record on vinyl compared to the CD.
I also find that whenever listening to a CD or the computer through the stereo, I tend to either jump on the internet, read a book or even play a video game. When I put a vinyl record on though, everything else gets turned off and I just listen.

Anyway, back on topic. What do we think about Bose car audio? A friend has it in their A3, and I have to say it's pretty good.

[ChasW]

Denon SC F107 speakers

[Peter G]

Definitely not in my opinion.

[alant]

My wife bought me the Bose sounddock system for christmas last year. I am not into music in such a way that I could tell you whether it is good or bad mid range or anywhere else, I thought the sound was great, particularly compared to the Tesco systems the kids have and I also thought it looked neat. However a year later, after regular use but not massive use - once or twice a day taking the ipod on / off, it has stopped working. To make it work you have to wedge something behind the IPOD to force the pins forward. Spoke to one of the staff in a BOSE store I visited and he said he thought it was a pretty common fault and that I could have it repaired for £69 - not covered by the warranty as it was "damaged through use".

So do I spend the £69 or look for something else, he did offer to sell me a wireless system that streams itunes from my Imac for £400

I think I will be looking for something else, the tesco systems (£19.99) are used by the kids and not treated particularly well and they are still going strong after 2 years.

[Dr Moose]

alant said:

My wife bought me the Bose sounddock system for christmas last year. I am not into music in such a way that I could tell you whether it is good or bad mid range or anywhere else, I thought the sound was great, particularly compared to the Tesco systems the kids have and I also thought it looked neat. However a year later, after regular use but not massive use - once or twice a day taking the ipod on / off, it has stopped working. To make it work you have to wedge something behind the IPOD to force the pins forward. Spoke to one of the staff in a BOSE store I visited and he said he thought it was a pretty common fault and that I could have it repaired for £69 - not covered by the warranty as it was "damaged through use".

So do I spend the £69 or look for something else, he did offer to sell me a wireless system that streams itunes from my Imac for £400

I think I will be looking for something else, the tesco systems (£19.99) are used by the kids and not treated particularly well and they are still going strong after 2 years.

Take it back and tell the shop assistant to fk off. Not fit for intended purpose surely?

[headcase]

Of course its fit for the purpose, its just gone faulty thats all, even with a mechanical failure like that the warantee will cover it, if its not under warantee then you will have to pay for the repair. Just phone bose up, they will sort it for you. They fixed an SA3 for us the other week that a customers kids snapped off all of the dip switches without any problem at all.

[bennyboydurham]

Not wanting to sound like a Bose fanboy but I've always found the customer service to be excellent. My Lifestyle needed an internal fuse when it was 6 years old and they fixed it FOC.