Bose wave music system - opinions please

[chobochobo]

I have a chance to redeem some credit card points and now have enough to get a Bose wave music system. I stayed at the Benjamin in NYC recently and they have these in the rooms and I thought they sounded quite nice.

I've read the reviews and I know that they're relatively overpriced (here I'm getting it 'free') and not exactly audiophile quality (I messed with all that when I was a student, bi-amping, bi-wiring, valve amps, speaker cables that cost an arm and a leg etc etc). I mostly listen to music now using my G5 Imac with the Harmon Kardon soundsticks which sounds pretty good. The Bose will be for the bedroom.

Just wondering if any forum members have any experience with this system please?

 

[Tokyo Slim]

My dad shelled out $600 for one a while ago with a cd player, and barely ever listens to it. IMO it sucks pretty badly. If you listen to orchestral renditions of Pink Floyd its ok, but if you want to crank up some Zepplin, it sounds horrible. Don't even bother with hip hop.

 

[chobochobo]

Originally Posted by Tokyo Slim

My dad shelled out $600 for one a while ago with a cd player, and barely ever listens to it. IMO it sucks pretty badly. If you listen to orchestral renditions of Pink Floyd its ok, but if you want to crank up some Zepplin, it sounds horrible. Don't even bother with hip hop.

No Zeppelin, no Hip-Hop. Mostly classical/opera/jazz.

So does your dad want to sell his then?

 

[dkzzzz]

Definately listen to that system or comparable Bose speaker systsem in a store.
I would say that classical music and jazz are among the hardest to accuarately reproudce on even high end stereo let alone Bose.

 

[lawyerdad]

Well, in part it kind of comes down to what your options are, doesn't it? I certainly wouldn't buy a Bose sound system, especially as my main system. But, for example, I have a crappy little mini-system in my office at work that I probably got for $50 or something, and to put on some background tunes while I'm working at my desk it's fine. So, if the other choices in terms of redeeming your credit card points are all pretty unexciting, and you're basically just thinking of picking up a "free" system for the bedroom where you otherwise don't have a music player, I see nothing wrong with it. There's lots of mediocre but useful crap out there in the world that I'd never buy at anything like full retail but would be perfectly happy to find a use for if I got it for free.

 

[GQgeek]

bose

Use the points for something else ;p

 

[Concordia]

Cambridge Soundworks and Tivoli both make similar products that sound much better.

 

[MCsommerreid]

Boo to Bose. Though their speakers aren't necessarily bad, they aren't really comparable with a similarly priced product from other companies. However, being as how it's "free", there's nothing inherently wrong with Bose, assuming you aren't going for very broad dynamic ranges or the like.

Cambridge Soundworks, if anything like other Creative products, would be an excellent alternative. I love my PC setup with an X-Fi EP and Gigaworks speakers dearly.