Bose

MisterSatellite · 14-12-2001, 12:20

OK, so all the 'real' hi-fi enthusiasts hate BOSE, but what does everybody else think? I have a lifestlye 8 mk2 and i think it's great - i had a blown fuse in the amp / base unit a week after i got it, but that was down to my house being struck by lighting.

Steve E · 28-12-2001, 22:45

I had an Acoustimass 7 system and was well pleased with it, ignoring the HiFi anoraks I do consider the looks of a system as important and I did not want big box's in my living room. However I came to set up a Home Cinema system and found that the Bose could not match the depth and musicality of "conventional" speakers. The Bose sound good with the volume cranked up with bangs and crashes in a film but high volumes are only 1% of listening time. I chose the Mission Cinema 7 system and find it excellent for music, films, and general TV sound.

If you like your Bose, that's all that counts - enjoy them.

Cheers

jerpoint · 18-04-2007, 10:38

I have a Bose Lifstyle 48 and am very unhappy with it. Granted sound is OK but DVD has given trouble returned it to Bose they put new DVD in and now it will not play home made DVD's or MP3 disks. (A cheap DVD player will) The Gracenote data on the machine will only have data for about 70% of a persons collection in my opinion. It takes ages to load up a collection only 10 disks per day. Certainly more could be done by Bose to bring this machine into the 21st century and allow a customer to go on line to get data of each CD. Feel very let down by Bose

soulboy77 · 18-04-2007, 11:04

For Price and Quality Bose systems do not represent good value for money. I remember a few years back having a demo in a dedicated Bose showroom of various systems models - very disappointed.

Like most 'Lifestyle' labelled products you are paying a premium for the design aesthetics.

iDan · 18-04-2007, 14:28

Not a Bose fan whatsoever.

You're paying for design, exactly the same with B&O, performance is nothing special.

Dan Sette · 18-04-2007, 16:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve E

ignoring the HiFi anoraks I do consider the looks of a system as important Cheers

Speaking as a wearer of comfortable warm winter clothing. Why?

A Hi Fi is meant to be listened to, not looked at.

What you are really saying is sound quality is un-important to you.

Furry Parka.

Glawster2002 · 19-04-2007, 10:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dan Sette

Speaking as a wearer of comfortable warm winter clothing. Why?

A Hi Fi is meant to be listened to, not looked at.

What you are really saying is sound quality is un-important to you.

Furry Parka.

I quite agree - as far as I'm concerned the only thing I worry about in the looks department is the colour - it has to be black!

howardl · 29-05-2007, 13:39

I have an accoustimass 10 III speaker system and Panasonic amp I find it more than adequate , the speakers may well be overpriced but suits me fine, Iwont be keeping it forever and probably change it sometime but not for a few yrs...I'm no audiophile to me the sound is very good.

skinj · 29-05-2007, 20:45

Firstly the Lifestyle name is a regiserted mark for Bose and should never be used by another make as a name for a system. Sony tried and failed after a court case!
I sell the bose kit in our shop and have to say that depending on the system you buy the value is very different. The Lifestyle 28/18 systems are really good. They will walk over most similar home cinema setups for sound quality and the styling is very non offensive. Anyone who says that styling does not matter is in cloud cuckoo land. The amount of people who either don't buy something or do buy somthing because its' design is huge. The quality of the soun when using the 18/28 for music is really good and the surround for dvd/tv is really absorbing.
The Sounddock for the iPod is a cracking bit of kit and the new headphones are also really good.
Where the Bose systems start to fall down is in there ability to keep up with changes in the market. The LS 38/48 & 321GSX systems are very good bits of kit, and make storing and playing back music really easy. The problem is that the amount you pay extra for these systems is huge. All theye are doing is adding a small HDD and some software yet they add between £400-£700 onto the price. For this you can't even keep the CDDB upto date by going on line you have to wait for Bose to send you a cd. Even then the CDDB is not complete and discs will remain annomous. I'ts almost better to just plug an iPod into the aux socket and listen that way!
We have found that the customers that buy bose form us come back time after time for more of it, as they have been that pleased with the original buy. We also find that the say the systems are always in use because of the ease of use and overall sound quality.

jamie1 · 05-06-2007, 21:39

ive got one and i think its great nuff said

jerpoint · 28-02-2008, 09:36

Had a Bose Lifestyle and Bose took it back as it was the greatest piece of overated rubbish i ever bought. Many problems with hardrive and also as pointed out above, inability to go on line to get Cd info is a major minus and the CD Bose send out is mainly for US market and does not take into account obscure Cd's we may like on this side of the pond. Get yourself seperates and go for an Escient 500LE a great piece of kit and besides going on line you also get CD cover and I love it. Also Monitor Audio and Sony amp you will be far better off both in pocket terms and sound quality etc.

28-02-2008, 09:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by jerpoint

Had a Bose Lifestyle and Bose took it back as it was the greatest piece of overated rubbish i ever bought. Many problems with hardrive and also as pointed out above, inability to go on line to get Cd info is a major minus and the CD Bose send out is mainly for US market and does not take into account obscure Cd's we may like on this side of the pond. Get yourself seperates and go for an Escient 500LE a great piece of kit and besides going on line you also get CD cover and I love it. Also Monitor Audio and Sony amp you will be far better off both in pocket terms and sound quality etc.

Deleted

Last edited by richard1960 : 28-02-2008 at 09:42. Reason: found my answer

Fishface · 28-02-2008, 09:58

The styling of Bose gear on QVC always reminds me of 1970’s clock radios. Are they all like this?

sancheeez · 28-02-2008, 10:44

A friend of mine just spend £280 odd on a Bose iPod dock.

It sounds decent enough, but I totally fail to see how they justify the price tag. I've heard other docks that are less than half that price and sounded just as good.

For that money he could gone to richer sounds and got an amp and half decent set of speakers ....

But then, he's always been a bit of a brand snob .... if it costs (at least) twice as much as all the others, it must be twice a good ..... fool.

marksut · 28-02-2008, 22:54

Have to agree with SKINJ, we sell bose in our shop also and the repet business is a major factor. OK priceing is OTT but from a retailers point of view, the margin is very high on all Lifestyle and 321 products, but so is the cost for us to buy them in. IMOH I would say a very good product as in no major faults and great back up from Bose themselves.

infiniteloop · 29-02-2008, 00:17

Hahaha....repeat business...high margins....

All reasons a Bose dealer will sell you their terrible kit in preference to decent hifi. It's massively overpriced rubbish.

Chris Frost · 29-02-2008, 00:22

Most people don't know what "Hi-Fi" sounds like, so when they listen to a Bose they think it's good enough. It's probably going to sound more dynamic than the stack- or mini-system they've had so they're happy. Who is to say they're wrong?

Bose do a good job of marketing in to the life style sector. Folk who would never dream of walking in to a Hi-Fi store will go and buy Bose and they seem happy to pay the prices. It's not what I would choose, nor is it my first recommendation, but for a certain segment of the buying public it does what they want and they're happy.

Orbitalzone · 29-02-2008, 08:57

Well I say good luck to Bose, if they've found a profitable way to sell consumer products.... I'm not saying they're good or bad but clearly they've found a market for their products and no one is made to buy them.

There is far too much same old same mass produced rubbish offered by the vast majority of consumer electronic manufacturers / rebadgers so it's nice to have a few different products.

JohnD2000 · 02-03-2008, 12:12

If you want to hear how bad Bose kit sounds, listen to Marvin Gaye's "I Heard it through the Grapevine". Just listen to the floor tom that sounds on the 2nd and 4th beats of the verses. On a proper system it will sound "there" but not obtrusive. On the 2-3 Bose systems I've listened to it booms out and completely ruins the song.

I have a wave radio that the wife insisted we buy for the bedroom. We just use it as a clock these days. The £100 2nd hand Pioneer amp and cheap as chips Mission speakers sounds far far better and cost a quarter of the price.

ntlhellworld · 02-03-2008, 12:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnD2000

I have a wave radio that the wife insisted we buy for the bedroom. We just use it as a clock these days. The £100 2nd hand Pioneer amp and cheap as chips Mission speakers sounds far far better and cost a quarter of the price.

Most of the time, Bose dont make bad audio equipment, you can usually just buy better for less money, however the wave radio is a terrible product, it sounds horrible, it is quite literally offensive to my ears, I must have an allergy to it.

-Chris

Cylinder · 02-03-2008, 12:42

I don't know much about Bose.

But when I see them on QVC, I agree with what the guy is saying about the philosophy of the company etc..

But I just can't get my head around those prices.

Maybe if I won the lottery, I'd consider having a closer look at their products.

Neilnjones · 02-03-2008, 14:06

Most speakers systems are attached to an amplifier and the required sound is there to listen to.

Why does the Bose Acoustimass 15 system need to be connected to the amp- what does it do to improve the sound ?

call100 · 02-03-2008, 15:19

I have a Bose system in my car. Can't say its any worse or better than others I've had/heard...

John Major · 24-08-2008, 20:23

I'm traditional: I run a spaghetti junction of wires connected to Pioneer, Technics and Denon equipment with KEF speakers

Denon: for house-wives that don't like 'big boxes'

skinj · 25-08-2008, 11:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by infiniteloop

Hahaha....repeat business...high margins....

All reasons a Bose dealer will sell you their terrible kit in preference to decent hifi. It's massively overpriced rubbish.

To be fair Bose margns are not much higher than most other good brand. The difference is that the vast majority of customers who purchase bose really enjoy and appreciate the equipment.
You make it sound like it is wrong for a business to try & make a reasonable profit.
I agree with some of the posts abou Bose here. The uMusic system needs to be far more tailored to the country it s sold in, and they need to add lan/wan connection to allow instant lookup of cd's. The reliability of the Bose has generally been very good, although there has been a glitch with some DVD drives over the last couple of years.

14-12-2001, 12:20	#1
MisterSatellite Awaiting Confirmation Join Date: May 2001 Location: Leeds Posts: 31	Bose OK, so all the 'real' hi-fi enthusiasts hate BOSE, but what does everybody else think? I have a lifestlye 8 mk2 and i think it's great - i had a blown fuse in the amp / base unit a week after i got it, but that was down to my house being struck by lighting.

05-06-2007, 21:39	#10
jamie1 Forum Member Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 170	lifestlyle 48 ive got one and i think its great nuff said

28-02-2008, 22:54	#15
marksut Forum Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Portlaois, Ireland Posts: 19	Have to agree with SKINJ, we sell bose in our shop also and the repet business is a major factor. OK priceing is OTT but from a retailers point of view, the margin is very high on all Lifestyle and 321 products, but so is the cost for us to buy them in. IMOH I would say a very good product as in no major faults and great back up from Bose themselves. Last edited by marksut : 28-02-2008 at 22:57. Reason: editing

02-03-2008, 14:06	#22
Neilnjones Forum Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 329	Bose Most speakers systems are attached to an amplifier and the required sound is there to listen to. Why does the Bose Acoustimass 15 system need to be connected to the amp- what does it do to improve the sound ?

28-12-2001, 22:45	#2
Steve E Forum Member Join Date: Dec 2001 Posts: 13	I had an Acoustimass 7 system and was well pleased with it, ignoring the HiFi anoraks I do consider the looks of a system as important and I did not want big box's in my living room. However I came to set up a Home Cinema system and found that the Bose could not match the depth and musicality of "conventional" speakers. The Bose sound good with the volume cranked up with bangs and crashes in a film but high volumes are only 1% of listening time. I chose the Mission Cinema 7 system and find it excellent for music, films, and general TV sound. If you like your Bose, that's all that counts - enjoy them. Cheers

18-04-2007, 10:38	#3
jerpoint Forum Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 48	I have a Bose Lifstyle 48 and am very unhappy with it. Granted sound is OK but DVD has given trouble returned it to Bose they put new DVD in and now it will not play home made DVD's or MP3 disks. (A cheap DVD player will) The Gracenote data on the machine will only have data for about 70% of a persons collection in my opinion. It takes ages to load up a collection only 10 disks per day. Certainly more could be done by Bose to bring this machine into the 21st century and allow a customer to go on line to get data of each CD. Feel very let down by Bose

18-04-2007, 11:04	#4
soulboy77 Forum Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Herts Posts: 17,005	For Price and Quality Bose systems do not represent good value for money. I remember a few years back having a demo in a dedicated Bose showroom of various systems models - very disappointed. Like most 'Lifestyle' labelled products you are paying a premium for the design aesthetics.

18-04-2007, 14:28	#5
iDan Forum Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 8,812	Not a Bose fan whatsoever. You're paying for design, exactly the same with B&O, performance is nothing special.

18-04-2007, 16:09	#6
Dan Sette Forum Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Cornwall (at last!) Posts: 5,641	Quote: Originally Posted by Steve E ignoring the HiFi anoraks I do consider the looks of a system as important Cheers Speaking as a wearer of comfortable warm winter clothing. Why? A Hi Fi is meant to be listened to, not looked at. What you are really saying is sound quality is un-important to you. Furry Parka.

19-04-2007, 10:40	#7
Glawster2002 Forum Member Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Nailsworth, Gloucestershire Posts: 10,404	Quote: Originally Posted by Dan Sette Speaking as a wearer of comfortable warm winter clothing. Why? A Hi Fi is meant to be listened to, not looked at. What you are really saying is sound quality is un-important to you. Furry Parka. I quite agree - as far as I'm concerned the only thing I worry about in the looks department is the colour - it has to be black!

29-05-2007, 13:39	#8
howardl Forum Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 4,909	I have an accoustimass 10 III speaker system and Panasonic amp I find it more than adequate , the speakers may well be overpriced but suits me fine, Iwont be keeping it forever and probably change it sometime but not for a few yrs...I'm no audiophile to me the sound is very good.

29-05-2007, 20:45	#9
skinj Forum Member Join Date: Nov 2001 Posts: 3,206	Firstly the Lifestyle name is a regiserted mark for Bose and should never be used by another make as a name for a system. Sony tried and failed after a court case! I sell the bose kit in our shop and have to say that depending on the system you buy the value is very different. The Lifestyle 28/18 systems are really good. They will walk over most similar home cinema setups for sound quality and the styling is very non offensive. Anyone who says that styling does not matter is in cloud cuckoo land. The amount of people who either don't buy something or do buy somthing because its' design is huge. The quality of the soun when using the 18/28 for music is really good and the surround for dvd/tv is really absorbing. The Sounddock for the iPod is a cracking bit of kit and the new headphones are also really good. Where the Bose systems start to fall down is in there ability to keep up with changes in the market. The LS 38/48 & 321GSX systems are very good bits of kit, and make storing and playing back music really easy. The problem is that the amount you pay extra for these systems is huge. All theye are doing is adding a small HDD and some software yet they add between £400-£700 onto the price. For this you can't even keep the CDDB upto date by going on line you have to wait for Bose to send you a cd. Even then the CDDB is not complete and discs will remain annomous. I'ts almost better to just plug an iPod into the aux socket and listen that way! We have found that the customers that buy bose form us come back time after time for more of it, as they have been that pleased with the original buy. We also find that the say the systems are always in use because of the ease of use and overall sound quality.

28-02-2008, 09:36	#11
jerpoint Forum Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 48	Had a Bose Lifestyle and Bose took it back as it was the greatest piece of overated rubbish i ever bought. Many problems with hardrive and also as pointed out above, inability to go on line to get Cd info is a major minus and the CD Bose send out is mainly for US market and does not take into account obscure Cd's we may like on this side of the pond. Get yourself seperates and go for an Escient 500LE a great piece of kit and besides going on line you also get CD cover and I love it. Also Monitor Audio and Sony amp you will be far better off both in pocket terms and sound quality etc.

28-02-2008, 09:41	#12
richard1960 Posts: n/a	Quote: Originally Posted by jerpoint Had a Bose Lifestyle and Bose took it back as it was the greatest piece of overated rubbish i ever bought. Many problems with hardrive and also as pointed out above, inability to go on line to get Cd info is a major minus and the CD Bose send out is mainly for US market and does not take into account obscure Cd's we may like on this side of the pond. Get yourself seperates and go for an Escient 500LE a great piece of kit and besides going on line you also get CD cover and I love it. Also Monitor Audio and Sony amp you will be far better off both in pocket terms and sound quality etc. Deleted Last edited by richard1960 : 28-02-2008 at 09:42. Reason: found my answer

28-02-2008, 09:58	#13
Fishface Guest Join Date: Dec 2002 Posts: 675	The styling of Bose gear on QVC always reminds me of 1970’s clock radios. Are they all like this?

28-02-2008, 10:44	#14
sancheeez Forum Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 6,762	A friend of mine just spend £280 odd on a Bose iPod dock. It sounds decent enough, but I totally fail to see how they justify the price tag. I've heard other docks that are less than half that price and sounded just as good. For that money he could gone to richer sounds and got an amp and half decent set of speakers .... But then, he's always been a bit of a brand snob .... if it costs (at least) twice as much as all the others, it must be twice a good ..... fool.

29-02-2008, 00:17	#16
infiniteloop Forum Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: London Posts: 5,149	Hahaha....repeat business...high margins.... All reasons a Bose dealer will sell you their terrible kit in preference to decent hifi. It's massively overpriced rubbish.

29-02-2008, 00:22	#17
Chris Frost Forum Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Cheshire Posts: 6,462	Most people don't know what "Hi-Fi" sounds like, so when they listen to a Bose they think it's good enough. It's probably going to sound more dynamic than the stack- or mini-system they've had so they're happy. Who is to say they're wrong? Bose do a good job of marketing in to the life style sector. Folk who would never dream of walking in to a Hi-Fi store will go and buy Bose and they seem happy to pay the prices. It's not what I would choose, nor is it my first recommendation, but for a certain segment of the buying public it does what they want and they're happy.

29-02-2008, 08:57	#18
Orbitalzone Forum Member Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Sussex Posts: 12,173	Well I say good luck to Bose, if they've found a profitable way to sell consumer products.... I'm not saying they're good or bad but clearly they've found a market for their products and no one is made to buy them. There is far too much same old same mass produced rubbish offered by the vast majority of consumer electronic manufacturers / rebadgers so it's nice to have a few different products.

02-03-2008, 12:12	#19
JohnD2000 Forum Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: London Posts: 1,292	If you want to hear how bad Bose kit sounds, listen to Marvin Gaye's "I Heard it through the Grapevine". Just listen to the floor tom that sounds on the 2nd and 4th beats of the verses. On a proper system it will sound "there" but not obtrusive. On the 2-3 Bose systems I've listened to it booms out and completely ruins the song. I have a wave radio that the wife insisted we buy for the bedroom. We just use it as a clock these days. The £100 2nd hand Pioneer amp and cheap as chips Mission speakers sounds far far better and cost a quarter of the price.

02-03-2008, 12:28	#20
ntlhellworld Forum Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 2,649	Quote: Originally Posted by JohnD2000 I have a wave radio that the wife insisted we buy for the bedroom. We just use it as a clock these days. The £100 2nd hand Pioneer amp and cheap as chips Mission speakers sounds far far better and cost a quarter of the price. Most of the time, Bose dont make bad audio equipment, you can usually just buy better for less money, however the wave radio is a terrible product, it sounds horrible, it is quite literally offensive to my ears, I must have an allergy to it. -Chris

02-03-2008, 12:42	#21
Cylinder Forum Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 919	I don't know much about Bose. But when I see them on QVC, I agree with what the guy is saying about the philosophy of the company etc.. But I just can't get my head around those prices. Maybe if I won the lottery, I'd consider having a closer look at their products.

02-03-2008, 15:19	#23
call100 Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 6,572	I have a Bose system in my car. Can't say its any worse or better than others I've had/heard...

24-08-2008, 20:23	#24
John Major Inactive Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: SE England Posts: 678	I'm traditional: I run a spaghetti junction of wires connected to Pioneer, Technics and Denon equipment with KEF speakers Denon: for house-wives that don't like 'big boxes'

DS Forums

Bose

25-08-2008, 11:40	#25
skinj Forum Member Join Date: Nov 2001 Posts: 3,206	Quote: Originally Posted by infiniteloop Hahaha....repeat business...high margins.... All reasons a Bose dealer will sell you their terrible kit in preference to decent hifi. It's massively overpriced rubbish. To be fair Bose margns are not much higher than most other good brand. The difference is that the vast majority of customers who purchase bose really enjoy and appreciate the equipment. You make it sound like it is wrong for a business to try & make a reasonable profit. I agree with some of the posts abou Bose here. The uMusic system needs to be far more tailored to the country it s sold in, and they need to add lan/wan connection to allow instant lookup of cd's. The reliability of the Bose has generally been very good, although there has been a glitch with some DVD drives over the last couple of years.