Bose?

L

LadyRachel

New member
Aug 7, 2006
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Toronto
www.ladyrachel.ca
Hey I have a question about BOSE mini towers. I need a new little stereo for my place and have heard about the amazing sound BOSE has for their smaller radios - I need one that has an aux jack for my mp3 player, a CD player and radio. Nothing too expensive but something that will certainly fill my space with crisp clear sound for under $600.

Can anyone suggest or help me?

xoxo
Lady Rachel
 
don't buy Bose

I have several different Bose products, and while the sound is good, the versatility is not. I will never buy Bose again, and I have over 10K invested in Bose products. I don't think the sound is that much better, and the extra you pay for that extra sound is not worth it.

PTL
 
My advice is: don't buy anything just because of the "name". While some products made by some manufacturers are better than others, no manufacturer makes the best of everything. least, that's what I've found.

My advice to you is to go out and listen. Nothing compares to what will please your ears than your own ears.

What I do when shopping for something like audio is bring a disc of something I really like and am familiar with. That way I know what it sounds like in my car, on my home systems, my pc whatever.

As for sound quality, if you have a pentium 4 pc, you already have one of the best sound systems on the planet. Put a nice set of surround speakers on it, a decent sound card (like a sound blaster fatality 24 bit) and you'd be surprised how good it sounds. I'm pretty picky when it comes to audio and I was blown away by my $100.00 Logitech Z5300 and even more so when I installed the fatality....
 
For $600, go to Futureshop armed with a few of your favourite CDs, and try them out on different stereos. Make sure to crank it up if you like stuff with heavy bass to make sure it has the power to play what you want without distorting.
 
Please don't take this the wrong way but for $600 you can find a wide range of mini stereos that will do the job. For that kind of money there isn't too much difference in the systems that you could buy.

As many people mentioned just go in and try them out with CDs that you are familiar with.

If you decide that you really want to get into sound quality you will need much more money. Is there a major discernable difference? Yes. IS it worth the extra cash..... that's debatable.

If you get serious into stereos $600 might get you one piece of a stereo used. But this becomes a dangerous game as once you get a high end stereo forget about going to your friends houses it will just be a disappointment.

One draw back to buying min systems or all in ones is that if part of it breaks you have to replace the whole thing where as getting the speakers, amp and players separately you have much more flexibility.

But this doesn't sound like what you need. You are looking for something that is small, affordable, can handle the mentioned formats. So the short answer is that all the many of the companies offer something along that lines.
 
What Frank said!!!

Although, I'd like to add that the mini shelf systems, while (for the most part) are nice and clean sounding when I was looking at them I found them terribly lacking in bass response. I mean, you just can't get 20 hz out of a 4" round speaker.
 
I agree with the do not buy Bose but

PraiseTheLoad said:
I have several different Bose products, and while the sound is good, the versatility is not. I will never buy Bose again, and I have over 10K invested in Bose products. I don't think the sound is that much better, and the extra you pay for that extra sound is not worth it.

PTL
Click to expand...

They do not sound good at all. There concepts involve a high level of phase distortion it is more of a long term marketing gimmick
 
Head down to Bay Bloor radio. bring along a favorite cd and try it different systems.

They have lots to choose from and they really aren't that much more than the future shop stores but you will get good advice from the salespeople.

Bay Bloor carries a lot of brands so you have a great selection. The alternative mentioned about using your computer is a good one. Your system can easily handle the sound quite inexpensively. A good sound card with a good speaker set will be less than 600 most likely.

Carbon computing has a great selection of speakers for computers and you can again bring your own cd and listen to all of them.

Have fun!
 
Bose is generally very bad value. The sound is poor, and materials are cheap. The gear does not test well (they avoid showing measurements). People have posted independent tests on Bose and it is usually not good. Their headphones tend to be the only thing positively reviewed (and they are still overpriced).

If you want a mini stereo, and simply need an iPod as a source, I imagine any dock will do. If you want something nice, you can buy very small amplifiers that will fit in the palm of your hand and are quite good. Speakers can then be as big (or as small... or as loud) as you want. However, generally, it is very hard to get good sound out of a small speaker. If you want specific recs, feel free to PM me.
 
I've heard those Ipod docking stations, one by JBL, and frankly, IMHO, while it was clear, it sucked ass. No dynamic range. Kind of reminded me of the very very first portable radios.....(you know those old dinosaur realistic types? lol)

As stated, if you have a pc or even a laptop, you can't beat a surround sound system. I paid $100.00 plus taxes for my logitech 5.1, and the X-Fi card I bought on boxing day for $169.00. So for under $300.00 I have deep rich bass, crystal clear highs, great separation, surround sound and the ability to play anything from CDs MP3, wav, DVD, LP, 45, plus you can play any IPOD IRIVER MP3 player through the USB port or the aux input on the front panel.
 
Does this guy Work for Bay Bloor Radio ?

MarkII said:
Head down to Bay Bloor radio. bring along a favorite cd and try it different systems.

They have lots to choose from and they really aren't that much more than the future shop stores but you will get good advice from the salespeople.

Bay Bloor carries a lot of brands so you have a great selection. The alternative mentioned about using your computer is a good one. Your system can easily handle the sound quite inexpensively. A good sound card with a good speaker set will be less than 600 most likely.

Carbon computing has a great selection of speakers for computers and you can again bring your own cd and listen to all of them.

Have fun!
Click to expand...

I bet this is they guy on the radio commercial even. I have seen him reference going to Bay Bloor Radio on a number of occasions. Bay Bloor is a great place for High end systems and you can get some good deals. Way back when I wanted some really good head phones they hooked me up.But I would blindly buy what the sales guy tell me .
 
Not to endorse anyone location but the people at Bay/Bloor know exponentially more than anyone at any big box store.

So Mark likes the store? Same way I will support some retailers who have steered me right in the past......and I doubt he's the guy on the radio, maybe the one in the print ads, but not on the radio...heheheh
 
Not impressed by Bose at all. They seem to stay with the older technology. Much better stuff out there at much cheaper prices. I think Bose is way overpriced because of high advertising costs.
 
Here is a review comparison of the Bose wave, The Cambridge soundworks and a Tivoli system.

http://www.geek.com/hwswrev/conel/tabrads/index.htm

I think there is better bang for the buck with Cambridge Soundwork's(not sure where it retails in Canada) a cheaper competitor to the Bose Wave and If you like the simple yet classy look and great sound from a small unit then Tivoli as suggested by a poster above is your choice.

There are off course more expensive better sounding compact designs like Bang and Olufsen as well as Cheaper more richly featured and greater value for money brands like JVCs.

Like many said though. It's best to try a few at the store and see how they sound as some systems don't sound as well as they look or as well as they were reviewed.

While I like JVC mini systems, I ended up with a Kenwood which sounded better at the store and at home and was much cheaper than the JVC.

Denon,TEAC and Onkyo are other well priced for the quality systems that may be found at Bay Bloor and finer audio stores.

Added: Another great link on top 10 mini systems. Opinionated but gives you an idea of what brands to look at.

http://stereos.about.com/od/stereotoppicks/tp/best_lp_systems.htm
 
Thanks Spragg, I totally forgot about B & O. I will tell you this: if you like high tech looking systems then B & O is the way to go. I remember when they first brought out that CD player that opened when you waved your hand in front of it and it couldn't just open like any other, it had to have two glass panels that lifted and parted.

I was never overly impressed with their sound quality (tho they do sound excellant) but for visual? Nothing compares....
 
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