I am just estimating here but I would say 99.746% of people
believe Bose is the best speaker ever made or as Bose claims are the most
respected speaker ever. I hear it all the time, some guy bragging about his superior
Bose system. Bose owners look down on
the rest of the audio world as if they were driving a Ferrari. The problem is
that they are in fact driving a Yugo and not even a new one.
Bose survive, hell they flourish because of an amazing
marketing drive. They have brainwashed the world into believing they build the
greatest speakers in the world. Nothing
could be further from the truth, Bose are simply the biggest rip off in the
audio world.
Bose uses paper cone drivers that have been around for
decades, unchanged. Why does this matter? The sound these diminutive paper
cones produce require the elimination of a vast swath of the frequency range
used in common recordings. They don’t just remove the top end or the bottom
end, they hack the mid frequency range to pieces as well. A full 80Hz is
missing if you use one of their Acoustimass modules, while a mind blowing 180+ Hz
is missing without it. According to Intellexual.net the actual
frequency response of the Bose speakers is 280hz – 13.3kHz, even the cheapest
speakers fill 120Hz – 20kHz and better speakers, even at a fraction of the cost
of Bose are 40Hz – 22kHz.
Just for a reference, the same cone speakers found in most
Bose systems are also used in alarm clocks that cost under $25. So how can they
sound so good? Well, they don’t but they certainly sound better than my alarm
clock. This is accomplished by removing much of the frequency range from the music before it
is sent to the speaker. This is why it is difficult or even impossible to use
the Bose speakers that come in a kit with other brands components. This is especially true
of the Bose car audio systems that require a complete rewire to replace the head
unit and speakers.
In addition, the cheap plastic boxes and cubes used for Bose
enclosures are inexpensive and reduce the quality of sound even further. Anyone
who has ever looked at how to build a speaker understands that plastic is one
of the worst materials you can use. I will concede that building an enclosure
out of aluminum cans would be worse but at this level of badness I don’t see that it
would make a difference.
I can go on and on about how Bose refuses to release
frequency response information for their systems, something that every other
manufacturer, and I mean every other manufacturer provides. I can go on about
how Bose displays in the store are designed to provide sound within a very
specific area that cannot possibly be recreated in your home. How about the
fact that they use amps that cost thousands to drive them, instead of using
their own system, which is what they make it appear to be doing.
Enough about why to avoid them, what should you get instead.
One of the things people do really like about Bose is the size of the speakers
and I admit that is a tough one to find elsewhere but you don’t have to go much
bigger. Almost any Home Theater in a Box will sound better than Bose once
calibrated. I am including the Panasonic
unit that can often be found under $150.
Will the Panasonic unit give you great sound? No, not even
close but it is as good as anything Bose puts out if you set it up properly.
Home theaters in a box are easily bested by buying the speakers and receivers separately
but if you want Bose equivalent sound at a fraction of the cost, this is a good
place to start.
Don’t fall for the marketing hype, anyone legitimately
serious about home theater or audio will tell you about Bose, if they suggest
otherwise, you are talking to a home theater poser.