Best Anti-bose Article I've Seen Yet

[94Camaro]

sadly your ears may in fact be screwed or you actually don't know what "good sound" sounds like.

 

That B&O system (like the mark levinson system from lexus) is getting rave reviews (as all of those links have told you)

Please don't start that stuff about "good sound". Sound is subjective, just like color. You might say, that car is navy blue, but someone else may see a purplish color. Everyone perceives what they hear differently. Yes, there are accepted "norms", but it still comes down to what sounds good to a particular consumber. I generally prefer paper drivers over the new aluminum/kevlar/super material, as paper seems to have a "warmer" sound to me.

And before you rank B&O as superior to Bose, allow me to quote the original article.

The message I want everyone to take from this lengthy review is that Bose, like Bang & Olufsen and Nakamichi, sell lifestyle and designer products whose prices are very heavily saturated by image and appeal.

My first Camaro had a Bose sound system, and it had good sound. Not great sound, but good none-the-less. It was well balanced throughout the whole car, and no frequency was overpowering.

@Hyper Threaded - I don't know where you got that information, but the drivers in my car we're all Bose, not Delco like GM generally uses.

 

As for their home systems, I don't have experience with them. So, I don't feel qualified to pass judgement.

 

P.S. sdy, please don't take this personally. I read over what I said again and a lot of it sounds very confrontational towards you. I'm just feeling very devil's advocatish today. :thumbs-up:

 

For the record, I no longer own any Bose products. My newer Camaro has the Monsoon system(similar sound quality to the Bose, but less durable ) and my home sound system is made up of JBL E50s and E30s. B:)

[Hyper Threaded]

Just cos your woofers say "bose" on the grille, doesn't mean they're made by them, that's more brand marketing for you.

[94Camaro]

Just cos your woofers say "bose" on the grille, doesn't mean they're made by them, that's more brand marketing for you.

Hmm, funny thing is, the car didn't have the Bose logo visible in it anywhere. But hey, that's marketing for ya. I didn't know the car had the Bose system until I pulled one of the speakers out for the heck of it. The back of the basket had Bose stamped on it and a non-GM/Delco part number. Course, what would I know about it, having seen it firsthand...

[sdy284]

Please don't start that stuff about "good sound". Sound is subjective, just like color. You might say, that car is navy blue, but someone else may see a purplish color. Everyone perceives what they hear differently. Yes, there are accepted "norms", but it still comes down to what sounds good to a particular consumber.

 

And before you rank B&O as superior to Bose, allow me to quote the original article.

 

Yes I know sound is subjective. However what i meant to say was that some people don't know what sound "should" sound like. If all you've ever heard was bose...then you'd think that bose was great. right? But but a bose system next to a klipsh system...and you'd be a fool to not hear the difference.

 

 

And yes, B&O is a "designer product" but it also a great product. You don't see bose products getting rave reviews in AUDIO magazines do you? No, you don't. Why is that? But you do see Nakamichi/ Mark Levinson & other "designer" brands getting those great reviews. Is it marketing? very doubtful. Brands such as those don't advertise much, if at all. They don't need to.

[94Camaro]

Ok, with that clarification of "good sound" I'll definitely give you that point.

 

 

But for the "designer" aspect, why does everyone feel the need to dump on Bose so much? They're obviously the "low-end" of the designer market. Everyone knows that Aiwa is low-end and the prices reflect that. For the designer market, Bose's prices reflect the fact that they are the low-end product. They cost what, 1/15th that of a B&O system? So why do people expect the quality of a B&O system?

 

Basically, I see a lot of people comparing Bose to the "non-designer, mid-high-end" market, and then being upset that they aren't similar quality. Why not compare Bose with their targeted market, and acknowledge their placement within that market?

[LoArmistead]

I'm not a big fan of Bose premium prices either. Logitech seems to do me just fine, but hey I'm a hick.

 

My mom's Lexus has a Mark Levinson system in it that sounds REALLY good.

[sdy284]

Ok, with that clarification of "good sound" I'll definitely give you that point.

But for the "designer" aspect, why does everyone feel the need to dump on Bose so much? They're obviously the "low-end" of the designer market. Everyone knows that Aiwa is low-end and the prices reflect that. For the designer market, Bose's prices reflect the fact that they are the low-end product. They cost what, 1/15th that of a B&O system? So why do people expect the quality of a B&O system?

 

Basically, I see a lot of people comparing Bose to the "non-designer, mid-high-end" market, and then being upset that they aren't similar quality. Why not compare Bose with their targeted market, and acknowledge their placement within that market?

 

in no way shape or form was I comparing Bose to a B&O system. I only brought B&O up because kingdingeling did. So no, i don't expect bose to be on par with a B&O system. I do however expect them to be worth the money that you pay for them...but they're simply not worth it. You can buy ANY bose system and put it up against a system that costs the same and i guaran-dang-tee you that the bose would lose the comparo.

 

All those bose systems would actually be worth the money if you subtracted about $500. from the price

 

Lo: You brought up another good point. With B&O, Mark Levinson, etc, you're paying a premium price for a premium product. With bose, you're paying a premium price for a non-premium product.

[94Camaro]

I agree, Bose isn't worth the price, but that's you and me. Again, I'm just being the devil's advocate.

 

As for Mark Levinson, how do they fit into the discussion of premium speakers? I wasn't aware they even made speakers and thought they were mainly amplifiers and processors?

Edit: After a little research, it appears that cars the the ML system use ML circuitry and the speakers come from another unknown Harman group.

Edited November 17, 2006 by 94Camaro

[Andrewr05]

Edit: After a little research, it appears that cars the the ML system use ML circuitry and the speakers come from another unknown Harman group.

Harmon Kardon

[sdy284]

I agree, Bose isn't worth the price, but that's you and me. Again, I'm just being the devil's advocate.

 

As for Mark Levinson, how do they fit into the discussion of premium speakers? I wasn't aware they even made speakers and thought they were mainly amplifiers and processors?

Edit: After a little research, it appears that cars the the ML system use ML circuitry and the speakers come from another unknown Harman group.

wow..that is an interesting fact... I was unaware that the Harman group had anything to do with ML...interesting.

 

that makes me value my harman kardon reciever just a little bit more

[94Camaro]

Harmon Kardon

So you're saying HK speakers are used? Or are you just freely associating? The Harman group aka Harman International is made up of Infinity, JBL, AKG, ML, Lexicon, Madrigal, Crown, Soundcraft and several others I'm not remembering. I could find no information on which branch from which the speakers for Lexus came.

 

 

wow..that is an interesting fact... I was unaware that the Harman group had anything to do with ML...interesting.

 

that makes me value my harman kardon reciever just a little bit more

Yeah, pretty cool huh? It's part of the Harman Specialty Group. Mind if I ask what receiver you've got? I'm gonna be in the market again soon...

[bigred]

I have ZERO complaints about bose products. and yes I've spent a lot on them. but I find them to be worth it in the long run.

 

 

have an acustimas setup that's the same age as a klipch. the klipch have just deteriorated in sound quality over the years, while the bose sill sounds as good as the day I bought it.