# Bose speakers.......



## panaman (Dec 16, 2008)

I've been browsing around here a long time and it seems that BOSE speakers have a bad rap...
My only complaint is that, I haven't seen anything else that can compete with the bose sound/size.

Maybe I am a noob.......I have some pretty small Energy speakers.. but I have heard some friends bose speakers and they make my Energys cringe..... and my energy speakers are probably twice the size.


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## recruit (May 9, 2009)

Hi panaman, yes Bose speakers are not Ideal and tbh are expensive for what they are, although they are fairly capable for such small speakers, I owned a pair many years ago and they appealed to me because of there size...it is only when you get to listen to full range speakers do you then realise how much sound you are really losing and I could not settle for anything less now.

If you are looking for a discrete install and WAF comes into it then a lot of people do choose BOSE because of this, although I would be more inclined to go for inwall speakers if I had the choice.

Edit: If you want small then the MKSound Xenon range would be a better choice as it has superior sound to BOSE imo


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## panaman (Dec 16, 2008)

hey thanks for the tip...
do you know where one would be able to hear a set of MKSound Xenon


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## recruit (May 9, 2009)

The Dolphin Group now distribute MK speakers in the US, the link gives info for dealerships and contact details...

http://www.thedolphingroup.org/


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## panaman (Dec 16, 2008)

that sux..... there are none close to me


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Have a look at this post here as it explains why Bose and other products like them are not ideal.


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## recruit (May 9, 2009)

tonyvdb said:


> Have a look at this post here as it explains why Bose and other products like them are not ideal.


excellent thread Tony :T


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

I think the big thing is that Bose cube speakers and ones like them are not full range systems as they have a big hole in the frequency response between about 150Hz and 300Hz and do not go lower than 40Hz with the bass cube.


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## recruit (May 9, 2009)

exactly, they can sound impressive for there size but there are better solutions availible with all the frequency range intact...


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

If I had access to some I would put them through REW and that would tell a very clear story.
Back in the 80's The Bose 901, 801's and so forth were actually very nice sounding speakers the problem was that they were WAY over priced for what they were and you needed that stupid proprietary Bose EQ with them for them to work properly .


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## DougMac (Jan 24, 2008)

Ya canna change the laws of physics, Jim!

Even if the small Bose speakers were well engineered (which they're not), made from quality components (which they're not) and reasonably priced (which they're not), you can't get around the limitations imposed by their size. 

If you have to go with smallish speakers, look at offerings from Ascend and SVS. I use the Ascend HTM 200's for rear surround in my HT and they're really nice sounding speakers. I tested them as mains in a sub/sat configuration and was impressed at how good they can sound. I've also read some good reviews of the small SVS speakers. Contrary to Bose, they are well designed, well built and reasonably priced.


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## MatrixDweller (Jul 24, 2007)

Paradigm Atoms or Definitive's small speakers are much more impressive. Better quality, better performance, better price.

Bose is marketed towards the generation of consumers who couldn't figure out how to set the clock on their VCRs (Baby Boomers).


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## Jon Liu (May 21, 2007)

Just like Doug said, "Ya canna change the laws of physics, Jim!" 

Sound in general is essentially just a movement of air (over generalization, probably) but size does matter. Is size everything? No, but again the tiny jewel cubes that Bose has and their Bass module simply cannot move that much air so they sacrifice on certain aspects, i.e. high and low end of the frequency spectrum.


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## JCD (Apr 20, 2006)

So most of the reasons why we rant against Bose have already been stated. If you want to see something in detail, this site does a pretty good job.

If you NEED to go small, I've heard Orb speakers are pretty decent. They're still expensive IMO, but not the outright robbery that Bose is and they're supposed to be better.


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## Jungle Jack (Jul 28, 2009)

Hello,
Sadly, there is a reason that there is an adage; no highs, no lows, must be Bose. The Intellexual thread about Bose really hammers home why so many audio lovers are not fans of Bose.

My personal biggest issue is that they seem to spend more on marketing and litigation than they do on engineering. They are doing a stellar job as millions are brainwashed that Bose equates with great sound.

I do have an issue with people who insult those who own their wares just the same. AVSForum is downright nasty to most anyone who says that they own Bose. This is not the way to help an individual make a different decision in the future. It is just at the prices that Bose Systems go for, it is extremely easy to provide alternatives which are far more faithful to the source signal.
Cheers,
JJ


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## eugovector (Sep 4, 2006)

Other small speakers that should outperform Bose at a fraction of the price:
RBH CT Series
Audioengine P4 (A2 is you don't need to get to Rock&Roll dBs)
PSB LR1


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## recruit (May 9, 2009)

I know of many people who are more than happy with there Bose speakers and although they enjoy watching movies they have no intention of changing them because it satisfies there needs for what they want, there is a market clearly for them and that is the way it is, but when you want more then that is when you understand the limits of Bose systems, that is why it is great to have forums like this so we can give advice to prospective buyers and let them know the facts of why so many people are put off by them and there limits...


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## DougMac (Jan 24, 2008)

Tonight will be interesting. We're having some friends over for movie night. One of my friends has a living room home theater setup with some sort of Bose system for the sound. He asked me what kind of sound system I had. How do you explain? Saying I've got Ascends with an SVS subwoofer means absolutely nothing to the general populace. If it's not in the big box store, it doesn't exist.

I'm interested in his impressions. I'm certainly not interested in "converting" him, and the last thing I'd do is point out the defeciencies of the Bose he owns. Furthermore, his system may be perfectly adequate for his needs. He and his wife have a very tastefully decorated living room and the speakers in my dedicated HT would be out of place in his home. 

Of course I think he could buy a system that would be scarcely more noticeable, but think of the effort involved to find it. The closest decent audio store is 85 miles away in Atlanta. He, as most of my friends, would be clueless about how to hunt down decent audio on the web. You're not likely to hunt down something you don't know even exists. If, after his visit tonight, he asked about how to get better sound, I'll point him in the right direction.


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## Jungle Jack (Jul 28, 2009)

Hello,
Doug, hopefully this will be illustrative to the gathered masses. I would imagine feeling and listening to true low frequency information will be an epiphany to your friends.

Look forward to hearing their comments.
Cheers,
JJ


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

I always love seeing the look on peoples faces as they feel there cloths literally vibrate on their body when they are at our house for the first time to see a movie, their smile says it all:bigsmile:


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## recruit (May 9, 2009)

DougMac said:


> Tonight will be interesting. We're having some friends over for movie night. One of my friends has a living room home theater setup with some sort of Bose system for the sound. He asked me what kind of sound system I had. How do you explain? Saying I've got Ascends with an SVS subwoofer means absolutely nothing to the general populace. If it's not in the big box store, it doesn't exist.
> 
> I'm interested in his impressions. I'm certainly not interested in "converting" him, and the last thing I'd do is point out the defeciencies of the Bose he owns. Furthermore, his system may be perfectly adequate for his needs. He and his wife have a very tastefully decorated living room and the speakers in my dedicated HT would be out of place in his home.
> 
> Of course I think he could buy a system that would be scarcely more noticeable, but think of the effort involved to find it. The closest decent audio store is 85 miles away in Atlanta. He, as most of my friends, would be clueless about how to hunt down decent audio on the web. You're not likely to hunt down something you don't know even exists. If, after his visit tonight, he asked about how to get better sound, I'll point him in the right direction.


Look forward to what you friends have to say after the showing, I remember when I had my M&K 850 system and a friend had the Bose Acoustimass 15 speaker package, he heard mine and wanted some, infact when I put them up for sale to upgrade he promptly bought them off me...


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## DougMac (Jan 24, 2008)

Jungle Jack said:


> Hello,
> Look forward to hearing their comments.
> Cheers,
> JJ


His jaw dropped. He couldn't believe the difference. He can't wait to come back and hear more. We had several couples over and the movie we watched was not conducive to showing the true capabilities, so he only got a taste. He wants to come back and watch something that will exercise the sub more, like "Master and Commander" or "The Dark Knight".

Everyone was bowled over by the entire package. They couldn't get over how good blu ray looks when projected. More than one stated they'd much rather watch movies in my HT than at any of the local theaters. They're already conspiring to have regular movie nights. They're a great bunch and I'm all for it.


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## Jungle Jack (Jul 28, 2009)

Hello,
Play him Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen. While a movie lacking story, plot, and pace, it is one of the most impressive DTS-MA Soundtracks ever. Every professional reviewer has pointed out that it might be the loudest Blu Ray ever. They say maybe even too much of a good thing. Bass especially.

I am glad to hear your Bose owning friends were blown away by the difference between a system which reproduces the entire frequency response and one which uses psychoacoustical tricks and only emphasizing the midrange.
Cheers,
JJ


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## MatrixDweller (Jul 24, 2007)

DougMac said:


> His jaw dropped. He couldn't believe the difference.


I've had the same reaction many times, even with my older less robust Cerwin Vega system. 

A buddy that I worked with back in 1999 (horrible that it seems so long ago) had bought a Bose cube system and thought it was the cat's meow. I too at the time thought that Bose was a good brand name. I didn't really know anything back then and thought the idea of direct reflecting speakers was kind of neat. Bose had a lot of cool literature and a lot of the people I talked to, that I _thought_ were knowledgeable, liked Bose. I stayed clear of Bose though because they were a little too expensive for me at the time.

So I pieced together a system by picking up a center and surrounds at a pawn shop, a clearance Kenwood receiver and Pioneer DVD player from a big box store and a pair of Cerwin Vega towers half price at a furniture/electronics store. I added a 10" sub a few months later. All together it probably added up to about the same price my friend had paid for his Bose system but I had the luxury of buying piece by piece, paycheck to paycheck.

When my friend came over to check my system out he was floored at the difference in fidelity, how much the speakers filled the room and the quantity of bass. Sure his speakers took up less space in the room, but they were miles away in meeting sound quality of my similarly priced system.

One thing I did notice is that many computer speakers started to follow the same style that the Bose cube speakers used. I had some Cambridge Soundworks speakers that looked very much like a sibling to Bose. They however were a tenth the price. 

The Accoustimass speakers are very small and fairly idiot proof in setting up. So if size was your only parameter in buying speakers and you have trouble with anything electronic (ie: setting the time on your digital watch) then Bose is your brand.


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## recruit (May 9, 2009)

Jungle Jack said:


> Play him Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen. While a movie lacking story, plot, and pace, it is one of the most impressive DTS-MA Soundtracks ever. Every professional reviewer has pointed out that it might be the loudest Blu Ray ever. They say maybe even too much of a good thing. Bass especially.


I have still not watched this yet on BD, have seen it but not heard the DTS-HD MA soundtrack yet, think I will give it a whirl tonight :bigsmile:


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## Sam Ash (Aug 23, 2009)

Hi everyone, I am a new member here and thought I should contribute.

Check out the KEF KHT 3005 SE - I'm sure they will have agents in the USA. These 5.1 speakers are truly excellent full range speakers. To get the best out of them, team them up with a decent AV receiver/amp and you will love the sound.

Find out if you have a KEF dealer near you and go hear these speakers, I use them myself and have been extremely happy with them.

Hope that helps.


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## recruit (May 9, 2009)

Hi Sam, welcome to the Shack :T

the Kef eggs have always been quite popular for small and discrete speakers, heard some very early versions many years ago at a AV show and they performed quite well, I suppose they are another alternative to Bose...


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## lsiberian (Mar 24, 2009)

Sam Ash said:


> Hi everyone, I am a new member here and thought I should contribute.
> 
> Check out the KEF KHT 3005 SE - I'm sure they will have agents in the USA. These 5.1 speakers are truly excellent full range speakers. To get the best out of them, team them up with a decent AV receiver/amp and you will love the sound.
> 
> ...


www.accessories4less.com sells the KEF sets for the lowest price outside of craigslist. 

I use the 2000 eggs for surrounds for the size they are fantastic. BOSE is an example of marketing at it's best/worst. I usually try the overpriced approach argument.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

They problem again is physics, you can not expect a speaker the size of a grapefruit to produce lows below 400Hz it simply is not possible. That then requires the so called "sub" to have to fill the gap below 400Hz and that makes for sloppy bass and missing frequency range. Test them with REW and you will see.


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## eugovector (Sep 4, 2006)

I've tested my Audioengine A2s, and they definitely get below 400hZ (60hz actually). It is possible to get low with a good small speaker design, but you are making design sacrifices (overall output, distortion, flat frequency response).


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Yes but your A2's are much larger than the Bose cubes and even the Orb audio speakers so I would not call them "grapefruit" sized (I guess I should have clarified that I meant the entire enclosure size)


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## Sam Ash (Aug 23, 2009)

recruit said:


> Hi Sam, welcome to the Shack :T
> 
> the Kef eggs have always been quite popular for small and discrete speakers, heard some very early versions many years ago at a AV show and they performed quite well, I suppose they are another alternative to Bose...


Thanks John, I am very happy with my KEF eggs (3005), they sound really good. At the moment I'm using a good entry level amp with them (Onkyo 606). I know if I get a higher spec amp, the sound will be even better.

However, for music - I have shifted from stereo mode to 5.1 mode via the Dolby ProLogic II codec. I really like the sound stage that it creates. Also, sound tracks recorded using DTS 5.1 sound very good.

Although I like the Subwoofer that comes with the KEF Eggs, I would like to get a sub with a bit more juice for those ultra lows. Those instances where you can feel the vibrations rather than hear the sound.

I'm glad to be a new member, this place seems to be quite good:T


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## recruit (May 9, 2009)

Sam, you have definitely found the right place for advice on all things AV and I agree by adding a better sub will only make the Kef speakers sound better, infact I would look at upgrading the sub before changing out the amp :T


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## Sam Ash (Aug 23, 2009)

recruit said:


> Sam, you have definitely found the right place for advice on all things AV and I agree by adding a better sub will only make the Kef speakers sound better, infact I would look at upgrading the sub before changing out the amp :T


Thanks John, I might try that. Might go for an MJ Acostics system or BK Monolith - Have you heard of them ?

I noticed you own an Oppo player, they're supposed to be very good. Fast loading times and they have a direct mode (act as a transport system) where the signal is handed to the amp untouched for the amp to process it which is ideal for in-amp codecs and in-amp video up-scaling.


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## recruit (May 9, 2009)

Sam Ash said:


> Thanks John, I might try that. Might go for an MJ Acostics system or BK Monolith - Have you heard of them ?


Hi Sam, yes BK actually make the subs/parts for MJ Acoustics and unfortunately they then mark them up at higher prices, the BK Monolith is a great sub and would have no hesitation in recommending it...

this thread is going slightly off topic now so if you need any advice for the subs then ask in the sub forum


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## Moonfly (Aug 1, 2008)

Get yourself some Bose 203 pro speakers. Totally different to the lifestyle speakers and not at all bad for the money :yes:

Ive owned both Lifestyle and the pro speakers and I'll never go back to a lifestyle system, but ive no intention of getting rid the ones I currently own.


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## lsiberian (Mar 24, 2009)

Sam Ash said:


> Thanks John, I am very happy with my KEF eggs (3005), they sound really good. At the moment I'm using a good entry level amp with them (Onkyo 606). I know if I get a higher spec amp, the sound will be even better.
> 
> However, for music - I have shifted from stereo mode to 5.1 mode via the Dolby ProLogic II codec. I really like the sound stage that it creates. Also, sound tracks recorded using DTS 5.1 sound very good.
> 
> ...


There is no need to step up receivers. Your speakers are easily handled by a 606. IOTW save your money for something else. :R


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