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new Bose speaker for iPod?
- Thread starter zelmo
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I don't know much about stereo equipment but I've been reading some pretty negative stuff about Bose.
Inkmonkey said:
lol.. like what.. the only negative thing is likely to be your bank balance after you paid for it 😛
Peyote
macrumors 6502a
I would never buy anything made by "Blose".
What's that saying...."No highs, no lows, it must be Bose..."
I'll give it to their marketing dept, they've built up a great brand for themselves, but the only people that buy Bose are those that don't know any better. When I was recently picking out bookshelf speakers, there is a reason I decided on JBL's over Bose...they sound better. Don't buy into the hype that is created by Bose themselves...go listen to their products next to another recognizeable brand. Hell, even Yamaha makes better home speakers.
BTW, I'm not one of those snobby, pretentious "audiophiles" that will only listen to a speaker if it costs an arm and a leg. I used to set up and run concert speaker systems consisting of eight 18" subs, twelve 15" woofers, and 6 big azz horn tweeters all with eight amps made by Crate. I've heard most of everything out there, and I've never heard something that sounded good come from Bose.
What's that saying...."No highs, no lows, it must be Bose..."
I'll give it to their marketing dept, they've built up a great brand for themselves, but the only people that buy Bose are those that don't know any better. When I was recently picking out bookshelf speakers, there is a reason I decided on JBL's over Bose...they sound better. Don't buy into the hype that is created by Bose themselves...go listen to their products next to another recognizeable brand. Hell, even Yamaha makes better home speakers.
BTW, I'm not one of those snobby, pretentious "audiophiles" that will only listen to a speaker if it costs an arm and a leg. I used to set up and run concert speaker systems consisting of eight 18" subs, twelve 15" woofers, and 6 big azz horn tweeters all with eight amps made by Crate. I've heard most of everything out there, and I've never heard something that sounded good come from Bose.
Peyote said:
I've only heard pro Bose speakers.. like the 802's at a conference my dad organised. I was playing my cd's over them when the room was being rigged.. there where 6 double sets of these.. 12 in total.. and they sounded pretty darn good to me. But im guessing that it might be a bit expensive.. and large to have in your lounge.. lol
Peyote
macrumors 6502a
JLS said:
And large scale setups employ some type of graphic equalization...usually at least 30 bands, which can make Bose sound good, but who has a 30 band EQ hooked up to their home stereo, much less their iPod?
Bose has a deserved reputation for being somewhat innovative, but that doesn't mean their products generally sound good.
I've used both Polk and Infinity, as well as both the Bose 501 and 901 series, in my home set-up over the years. I think Bose makes a decent speaker, so this SoundDock or whatever it is called is worth checking out.
Does anyone have recommendations for an alternate small, sub-$300 powered speaker system that puts out a great sound? What about the latest Altec InMotion system?
Does anyone have recommendations for an alternate small, sub-$300 powered speaker system that puts out a great sound? What about the latest Altec InMotion system?
RubberChicken
macrumors regular
Peyote said:
Yes, but the listening experience is pretty subjective. However, I think Bose do invite suspicion on two counts. Firstly they only allow resellers to demo their equipment in dedicated rooms, so I've never found it possible to directly compare to other products. Secondly, they don't publish any detailed specifications, so you cannot compare numbers with other products either. Any audiofile reviews I've read invariably can the Bose products as inferior because they chop out a lot of frequencies and heavily manipulate what remains. BUT, often they concede that this makes them sound "good" to most people, by creating a warm, rich, enveloping soundscape. But to a trained ear, they sound shocking, as you said. Most people don't have trained ears, so ultimately it's best to compare products side by side and pick whatever sounds good to them.
jtgotsjets
macrumors 6502
RubberChicken said:
True to life, and my ears are 42+ years old and battle worn. 😀
It is very subjective, comparing speakers when you're in a showroom. I made my own CD to take with me when shopping for audio equipment. It includes a good representation of my musical preferences, specifically tunes I'm VERY familiar with and which cover a broad spectrum of styles from Marilyn Manson to Mike Oldfield.
iJon
macrumors 604
i had a stock bose setup in my old car. it sounded pretty good, never needed to upgrade it. when i got my new jeep it some low end system. i replaced everything with high end infinity kappa's and it sounds incredible. added a small 10" infinity sub in the back and i was set. and it only costs me about 450, everything new.
iJon
iJon
bousozoku
Moderator emeritus
Peyote said:
You would knock Bose and then pick JBL? Well, as long as they sound good to you. I can't imagine anyone picking JBL except stone deaf rockers who want to feel their bass since they can no longer hear it.
That said, I wouldn't pick the iPod station--I would rather pipe the music to a full-fledged audio system.
Peyote
macrumors 6502a
bousozoku said:
Well I never said I picked JBL over Polk or B&O or something, I just picked JBL over Bose, Yamaha, Sony, etc, etc...It's not like JBL is in my dream system or something.
BTW, I DID get to listed to Bose next to Yamaha, next to JBL, etc. And not in a Bose room either.
To me bose isnt to bad for TV or Movie watching... So I got my little bose speakers to do that stuff... but if im going to play music then I turn on the speakers that make up the bench in my room; its actualy the bottom part of an NSM jukebox... combined with the bose speakers the music sounds good.
I'm quite cheap, so for music I just find an older jukebox at auction (here in los angeles there like 50 bucks... once i got 4 for 33 cents each) and chop it up... keep the origional amps, all the spakers, and if possible the speaker boxes to setup in a room.
I'm quite cheap, so for music I just find an older jukebox at auction (here in los angeles there like 50 bucks... once i got 4 for 33 cents each) and chop it up... keep the origional amps, all the spakers, and if possible the speaker boxes to setup in a room.
RubberChicken said:
This dude nailed it. They sound great to most people just listening.. but they are actually creating their own wierd form of distortion. I sold a pair of bose speakers for $500, they had a great overall sound feel, but it wasn't really true, and lacked most all bass. I bought a $100 pair of Sony's which work better for a normal listening environment anyway- not as rich sounding, but much truer. Bottom line- save your money
It seems most people here just want to bash Bose. The question is not about how good their home theater systems are but how good will the iPod lounge be? Personally, I think it will sound good compared to the other iPod dock systems that are available. It has a much larger area for speakers so I would assume it would have better speakers than the other systems. What are your opinions on the other systems for the iPod? Can you put one on the other side of the room and crank up the volume and still get decent sound?
bousozoku
Moderator emeritus
Peyote said:
I understand. The only time I've listened to Bose products in a specially-prepared room was when the first Acoustimass system was given its premiere. It was, ummmmm, satisfactory. I don't like much of what Bose does but I have Bose high end equipment and find it to be quite good. However, I noticed something when I went to the Bose website today: most of the floorstanding speakers were missing. I feel about Bose the same way I feel about VW and Apple. I'd hate to see them go away but they'd better start innovating again.
Arrgh!
It's true to say that people with 'absolute' opinions are almost always wrong. (I realise the irony in making the statement too - hence my 'almost').
Manufacturers aren't 'good' and 'bad' - products are. There are cruddy Ferrari's and great Oldsmobile's - it's all relative.
As for specs - many audio geeks believe that anything that can theoretically can be heard, they can here. Hence any manipulation of audio they view as negative. In effect they read the specs and then extrapolate the performance. If you ever have a chance to listen to powerful motional feedback speakers (which produce an almost perfectly flat response) you'll realize why Don Was is the only guy I know who uses them to listen to his record collection. They're too brutal. Most good audio equipment flaters in the same way that film does (Kodak etc. make very little film aimed at producing realistic color - they make sure your pictures look good - which is different), TV's do (check out the contrast and color again) and other audio equipment (flat microphones are never used by anyone because it'd make records sound as bad as people singing normally does).
The point is - even opera houses and concert halls are designed to flatter sound. Stereos are the same. Sure some Bose stuff sucks but the manipulation issue is moot. It's done intentionally to compensate for the crappy, reverberant rooms most people have to listen in and the compromises people make in speaker placement.
Pewer ratings and frequency responses are left off for good reasons too. Few people would buy a 20 watt set-up if a competitor is offering 100 watts for the same price. Bose (and others like Tivoli Audio) know that numbers are meaningless and thus leave you to decide by listening.
Truth is most Bose gear is loved by the people who buy it. They're not stupid. Listen and you'll find amazing gear at a range of prices.
If you want audio 'truth' - forget boutique hi-fi. Buy a rackmount studio AMP and a set of Mackies with a Velodyne Sub. It'll be pretty damn truthful and will make 90% of your music sound like crap. As for MP3's and AAC's - you'll never listen to them again.
Anyway - that's my $.02
Inkmonkey said:
It's true to say that people with 'absolute' opinions are almost always wrong. (I realise the irony in making the statement too - hence my 'almost').
Manufacturers aren't 'good' and 'bad' - products are. There are cruddy Ferrari's and great Oldsmobile's - it's all relative.
As for specs - many audio geeks believe that anything that can theoretically can be heard, they can here. Hence any manipulation of audio they view as negative. In effect they read the specs and then extrapolate the performance. If you ever have a chance to listen to powerful motional feedback speakers (which produce an almost perfectly flat response) you'll realize why Don Was is the only guy I know who uses them to listen to his record collection. They're too brutal. Most good audio equipment flaters in the same way that film does (Kodak etc. make very little film aimed at producing realistic color - they make sure your pictures look good - which is different), TV's do (check out the contrast and color again) and other audio equipment (flat microphones are never used by anyone because it'd make records sound as bad as people singing normally does).
The point is - even opera houses and concert halls are designed to flatter sound. Stereos are the same. Sure some Bose stuff sucks but the manipulation issue is moot. It's done intentionally to compensate for the crappy, reverberant rooms most people have to listen in and the compromises people make in speaker placement.
Pewer ratings and frequency responses are left off for good reasons too. Few people would buy a 20 watt set-up if a competitor is offering 100 watts for the same price. Bose (and others like Tivoli Audio) know that numbers are meaningless and thus leave you to decide by listening.
Truth is most Bose gear is loved by the people who buy it. They're not stupid. Listen and you'll find amazing gear at a range of prices.
If you want audio 'truth' - forget boutique hi-fi. Buy a rackmount studio AMP and a set of Mackies with a Velodyne Sub. It'll be pretty damn truthful and will make 90% of your music sound like crap. As for MP3's and AAC's - you'll never listen to them again.
Anyway - that's my $.02
bousozoku
Moderator emeritus
Penman said:
Carpeting and oddly-shaped rooms are tough on sound, too. It's always surprising to me that more expensive equipment doesn't take such things as probabilities in their equations toward sonic perfection. I'm amazed how many times I see hardwood flooring and perfectly square rooms.
People want perfection, not truth. Why else would people buy tube amplifiers? They cut off the reality--they're like white lies. 🙂