Horrific Confession and Question

One reason many audiophiles bash Bose, I suspect, may be that one time or another they got burned by Bose -- I have. I had to work my tails off during the summer and save like Scrouge to afford (an amplifier and) a Bose satellite system about ten years ago which was almost 1K at the time (I know, I know). After a year of horrific experience with them, I finally found the light and realized what a rip-off they were. It was not really the sounding bad or missing frequency factor that got me. Rather, the rip-off part that leaves a long lasting impression. Ever since then, I have become a Bose basher. :) With regards to the enjoyable Bose at Tower Records, I too like what I hear. I second the opinion that it may be because of the multiple speaker setting. Multi-speakers, when placed right, can make ambient sound that is very impressive and pleasing for casual listening. At the same time, I suspect it has something to do with the joy of music shopping. Like going to some bad sounding concerts or live. Most good concerts do outshine any system by gazillion times. But, regardless of sound being natural or otherwise, some lives sound quite bad. Neverthelss, it is still more enjoyable for me to listen to a quartet, solos, or guitar riffs in live than from my audio. I think the occasion of going and being in a live concert adds dimesions that not only compensate for bad acoutic, screetching guitar, dry violin, etc., but also turn what could be a disastrous experience into a very enjoyable one. Well, nothing can cure the overamplified sound in a small bar, though...

When listening to radio, mostly as background, I prefer the "5 channel stereo" mode of my Denon AVR-5700. Although accurate imaging is lost I get a more pleasing ambience. This helps me to concentrate on something other than the sound of my stereo. When something interesting attracts my attention I will switch to stereo. I have also noticed that the 5 channel set up works well at low volumes for ambient party music.

Bose sells alot of product and while it may not be the absolute best performing, nor even a particularly good value, Bose is a popular choice for many people. I also believe it is an appropriate choice for most of the consumers who purchase them. As I see it there are two types of audio consumers in this world -- those who buy 18" x 15" x 30" 150 lb. monobloc amps attached by short lengths of $5,000 cables suspended above the floor to coffin sized speakers and those who buyers who want something that "sounds good", doesn't take up too much space and looks nice. I don't believe either group can lay claim to loving or enjoying music more than the other. If we audiophile want the average listener to respect our choices, then we must do them the honor by respecting theirs.

Go with your gut. Personally I don't care for Bose. My best advise is, if you can't here the difference then don't buy it. What does your main system consist of? Will it integrate with bose?

onhwy61: as is usually the case, your post is well-written, tho i find your reasoning and conclusion somewhat disturbing. first, the so-called "audiophile community" is not close to being as monolithic as you describe. witness this site. witness the disagreements, often heated, more often super-heated. second, bose has the market share it enjoys because it is a master of marketing, not because its products are now any "better" in any sense than those you might buy at much lower prices. bose began by marketing to the folks who read "audio" and "stereo review" (sadly, i'm old enough to remember when it was called "hifi review," and i had a subscription). do you recall that there was a whole quasi-hippie subculture back in the early to mid-70's that sold macrome nets that allowed you to hang your pentagonal bose boxes from the ceiling? ( coincidentally, i met dr. omar bose around 1979-80, when i worked for the ftc and enforced the old "audio output rule". his company ran a national ad that was blatantly violative of the rule, which was pulled after i made my usual big brother threats.) when bose was "outed" by the likes of j. gordan holt, it switched its marketing to a wider audiance, still playing on dr. bose's "connections" to mit (the univ., not the dreaded wire). later it went "direct" with ads in "parade" and "readers digest," etc. now, bose has its own stores in damn near every shopping center of note in the usa. it has well-trained salesfolk, as is perfectly described by tubegroover. bose is a marketing paradigm that is likely emulated in the "practical" exercises required of mba candidates from wharton to stanford. that ought not make it any more admirable than a political candidate who runs on the looks of his wife and carefully selected soundbites that have nothing whatever to do with important political issues. i'm sorry, onhwy61, but i simply cannot agree that we must "honor" bose because it is the predominant choice of the great unwashed any more than we should honor those scoudrels in congress who got there, to paraphrase h.l. menkin, 'cause noone's ever gone broke underestimating the intelligence of the american voter.