Bose SoundDock

[jsg612]

Chaps,

Does anyone have any experience of the Bose SoundDock? I'm looking for a minimal solution to provide good quality audio in a medium sized room from my iPod. Are there any alternatives that I should consider?

Have got a budget in mind of a few hundred quid, although could push for something special.

http://www.bose.co.uk/GB/en/home-and-personal-audi...

I've had Sony and other branded units in the past around the £100 mark and they don't seem to cut it for me.

Cheers - experience and advice appreciated,
John

[ilikecars]

It's an absolutely fantastic bit of kit. Well worth the money.
I use mine daily and is portable enough to be able to take it outside in the BBQ season.

Get one!

[Makila2A]

^ What he says!

[Luke.]

Sonos S5. Unbeatable and not bad value at £349

[.Mark]

Have 2 sound docks and they are great, fill a room nicely with noise.

you'll get the purists on saying sound reproduction is rubbish and you should spend more etc. But to provide background music while you entertain or something they can't be faulted.

[TimJMS]

The problems will occur if you have young kids with different sized ipods. The pin connector then becomes the weak link, since the the different sized dock seats don't get used and devices wobble in the pins leading to pin breakage. I cant quite fathom why Bose hasn't made its Sounddock 10 Bluetooth connector available for smaller Sounddocks.

Otherwise it is a great buy.

[pikeyboy]

I have one great bit of kit, also worth trying a JBL, or even a B&W if you can afford it but hey are quite expensive for a docking station at 500 quid.

[JAGS]

I have a B&W Zeppelin and a Bose Soundock. Had them both for about 3 years + now.

While the Bose is compact and delivers great sound for its size, the B&W is MUCH better.

Agree on the dock connector becoming loose. I had to have mine repaired from a local AV repair shop after two years of ownership. The guy only charged a fiver and did it within 10 minutes while I waited, but I think it is a bit of a design flaw if you will be regularly connecting and removing your iPod from the dock. Just something to keep in mind...

[Luke.]

At the risk of sounding like a cracked record, the Sonos S5 trumps the Bose and the Zeppelin.

[SGirl]

I've got a Bose SoundDock - it's okay actually. Sound quality is fine, but I always find Bose equipment to be very bass-heavy and a tad overpriced for what it is.

If there were any way of reducing the bass output, it would be better.

[5pen]

Perhaps try the Vita Audio R2i. To my ears it sounds better, to my eyes it looks nicer and it includes a decent DAB tuner too.

I've not checked but there may be some deals on the older model Zeppelin now that the wireless version is out.

To echo some previous comments, the pin connector broke on the SoundDock we had at my cricket club bar.

[jsg612]

Thanks Chaps for the information, some really great feedback on exactly what I wanted.

I think I'll go for a run out at the weekend, armed with my iPod and see if I can have a listen to those mentioned. What I'm looking for is good clear sound quality with a 'warmth' to the bass, but not necessarily the loudest option.

Thanks again, appreciate your experiences.

John

[Rich135]

Be sure to check out the Sonos S5. It does a whole lot more than the Bose, and sounds just as good. you can control it from your iphone, itouch or ipad, access all of your itunes remotely (from your pc) without the need to plug your ipod in (but you can if you want to via a dock) and you can access all internet radio, napster, etc etc.

Simply awesome bit of kit. I didn't go for the bose as it was a one trick pony

[clarkmagpie]

Push the boat out for the Beosound 8 docking station.
We did and don't regret it for a second.

[matt3001]

Fantastic bit of kit.... The B&W Zepplelin is better in terms of sound, but is bigger and more expensive. Beosound overpriced!!!

Not a fan of the high end BOSE kit and I use a Naim and Bowers & Wilkins main set-up, but the BOSE for a bedroom or kitchen is brilliant,

What you have to remember is that unless all your music is FLAC, the source data will always be holding you back!

[halfpenny43]

clarkmagpie said:

Push the boat out for the Beosound 8 docking station.
We did and don't regret it for a second.

Agree - we bought one too. Stunning sound and takes our iPad.

[E31Shrew]

Paddy_N_Murphy said:

Have the Sounddock (the one with a battery so you can unplug take in the garden etc) and tis good.

I am sure there are others / better, but it suits my needs

Phew! Hope all is well

[Richyvrlimited]

I always wanted a Bose Sounddock for my iPod, that was until I saw one of these:



It sounds, (to my un-tuned ear) absolutely fantastic and looks amazing, was cheaper than the Bose too when bought from CostCo IIRC.

[.Mark]

Richyvrlimited said:

...was cheaper than the Bose too when bought from CostCo IIRC.

And about 6 times the size

[Richyvrlimited]

it's not that big, probably double the size of the Bose, plus you have the flexibility of where to put the speakers