BOSE WAVE MUSIC SYSTEM OWNERS!

[trf]

I have seen these radios/cd players advertised on TV & paper for what seems like forever. From the info listed on their web site, they are quite pricey @ close to $500. Do any of you guys/gals have one or heard one? I have, what I concider, an upper end receiver/sound system, not by far the best, but no slouch either. I like feeling my movies/songs. Really though, does this small unit stand out that well, that one would be willing to fork over the price of a decent Smith? Any and all input appreaciated. Thanks!

[The Big D]

I have one; find it stunningly good. Bear in mind I am NOT a music aficionado but the wave music systems are splendid.

I also have the Bose Cinemate system on one of my HD teevees. I actually find the sound from it only marginally better than the "stock" system but it looks kinda cool.

Be safe.

[mstuhr]

Hi TRF,
My wife has one. It is OK for music in a room. I would not take one over a decent cheap stereo.
It is nice for C.D.s or radio music in a single room.They do well for no more space than they take up
If you have the room to put the gear I would think you could do better for the money with a component system.
Good luck
Mike

[jkc]

I replaced what in its day was a sophisticated component system with a Bose Wave radio/CD player, and now wish I'd done it sooner. For its tiny overall size and small footprint, it borders on the miraculous. High fidelity, annoy-the- neighbors volume capability, handy remote control, what's not to like? Mine is only capable of playing a single CD, but I don't consider that a flaw. These little machines are acoustic marvels, like all Bose products. If you get the chance, check out a Bose factory store for an illuminating demo model of a slightly larger unit, made of transparent plastic, and filled with expanded polystyrene beads (such as are fused together in insulated coffee cups, or used to stuff beanbag chairs) which graphically illustrate the pulse of sound waves through the Bose ingenious and carefully engineered "folded horn" speakers --- it's "acoustics illustrated" and a great example of applied physics. I'll guess you'll be delighted with the thing...

[bmcgilvray]

We've had one for 7 years now and enjoy it for its room-to-room portability and the high quality sound that it produces for its size. We both really appreciate music and require much from a system. The Bose doesn't replace our main stereo system but does work well in a spare room. I enjoyed having it in my office before retiring.

[m657]

.....the component Bose system has some stellar qualities that far exceed the capacity of the Wave. Of course so does the cost.

I don't know their new product names. The little cubes about the room with the sub woofer makes for quite a spectacle. Go to somewhere you can listen to all the set ups to insure you pick exactly what you want.

I like the Wave, for what it offers in a simple convenient and decent sounding box. Very much a step up as salsa is a taste step up from cafe catsup.

[E Z MUNNY]

I have one in my work shop/reloading room/toy room (all the same place) and love it. I live about 45 minutes from an outlet mall which happens to have a Bose store which sells both new and refurbished units. I bought a refurbished unit at a considerable discount and enjoyed great music for about 2 months when the CD unit went bad. Bose promptly sent me a brand new unit as soon as they received mine and I was back up and running in just a few days. The sound is every bit as good as they advertise it to be.

[onebadscrambler]

M657- The Bose Lifestyle
I bought this setup approx 17 years ago while in the Corps. Still works and sounds great. Bose products are pretty good.

[Old 44 Guy]

I have an older one, 10 years I think. It's OK but very directional. Have to turn it to get the best reception. AM that is. Very pricey & made in China.

[venomballistics]

Im not a fan of Bose to be honest.
the price to sound ratio disqualifies most of the Bose offerings in my eyes.
I have a large interest in audio electronics. At present Im building a guitar stack.
Ive even designed a fair portion of the thunder one system offered by creepingdeathrc.com.
having built my own sound systems for decades, I know what goes into it, and Bose does not put your monies worth into it.
Of late, Ive seen some phenomenal offerings from Logitec in the way of PC speakers.
for around $50 these can deliver amazing audio performance, and you need only add your choice of portable audio toy, be it MP3 player of ye old CD player to make it complete.
save money for more guns and ammo

[max]

Our son gave us one for Christmas several years ago and we are very pleased with it.

[therevjay]

I don't have one. I have heard one though, and it's unbeliveble the sound you get out of something so small.

[afriqueart]

I prefer my setup: JBL 35's, McIntosh preamp/amp, Mac Tuner, Nakamichi CD, Tandberg Cassette and a Thorens TD2030 turntable.

Drop in an Eagles Greatest hits CD mastered by Steve Hoffman (DCC) and you can't get much better than that!

Ask Bose to see specs. They won't show them to you. Great marketing, mediocre products.

[elcruisr]

Ahh, Macs..... We once did our best to level a city block with an old Mac tube amp with hand wound transformers! Had a good preamp and some Infinities hooked up. You could watch the windows moving, amazing nothing broke. We had complaints down the block after our little experiment....

[dondavis3]

My wife has one for her office and I've heard it and it is unbelievably good.

Like most things - you get what you pay for certainly applies here.

[m1gunner]

Good quality product, well worth the price.

[george minze]

Originally Posted by jkc

I replaced what in its day was a sophisticated component system with a Bose Wave radio/CD player, and now wish I'd done it sooner. For its tiny overall size and small footprint, it borders on the miraculous. High fidelity, annoy-the- neighbors volume capability, handy remote control, what's not to like? Mine is only capable of playing a single CD, but I don't consider that a flaw. These little machines are acoustic marvels, like all Bose products. If you get the chance, check out a Bose factory store for an illuminating demo model of a slightly larger unit, made of transparent plastic, and filled with expanded polystyrene beads (such as are fused together in insulated coffee cups, or used to stuff beanbag chairs) which graphically illustrate the pulse of sound waves through the Bose ingenious and carefully engineered "folded horn" speakers --- it's "acoustics illustrated" and a great example of applied physics. I'll guess you'll be delighted with the thing...

I agree go to Bose store and listen to their demo. They had what appeared like two big speakers on the wall after the demo salesman took the big speakers off of wall and guess what there were two tiny speakers mounted under the two fax speakers I was impressed. I do think they are for one room application.

[n4zov]

I am used to quality audio equipment, but the Bose unit was impressive when I heard it demonstrated in one of their outlet stores. It would work well in one room as long as you never wanted to expand your audio system by adding other components or increasing coverage to more areas. Frankly, I think it is pricey for what you get, but it is a nice unit.

[Bekeart]

After buying a Bose Wave Radio I was not happy with it.

Bose uses electronics and a resonate tube (ala tuned organ pipe) to enhance the BASS response. These features work VERY WELL with unprocessed source material.

However, many CDs and most radio station process their audio by boosting the bass content to enhance the sound for listeners using playback systems without any bass enhancement

Bass boosted program material and the boosted bass provided by the Wave Wave Radio only works a lower volume settings. (i.e. not more than 30 out of 99 on the volume setting.

Listening to my favorite music station and many CDs I found that any volume setting more than about 30 the bass would overdrive the speaker causing a sound no more musical than the Aflack duck.

Only talk radio and news programs could be played at a room filling volume.

IF you decide you want the Wave System, please audition it with some of your CDs and try listening to your choice of radio station at a room filling volume. Mine was fine on the table by my chair, but hopeless when placed across the living room.

Bose has a good idea and it woks well, but when your source material is also processed with bass boosted the final result reached the limits of the speaker. BLEAT / QVACK



Bekeart

[venomballistics]

thats not speaker overload .. its amp clipping that does that.
give me 80 good honest RMS watts and a pair of 15" woofers. dome tweeters, 6.5" mid bass, and a 4" fulll range all properly crossed over and ill show ya what sound is

[bmcgilvray]

"Listening to my favorite music station and many CDs I found that any volume setting more than about 30 the bass would overdrive the speaker causing a sound no more musical than the Aflack duck."

Hmmm...mine doesn't do this.

[venomballistics]

I see I need to find a way of educating people as to what makes a proper piece of audio equipment.

here are two absolute requisites I go by
first is the power transformer ....
the transformer required to feed a proper amp is a rather large and heavy chunk of electronic component.
it should measure no less than 4 inches in any dimension and will weigh in at 8 pounds or more.
smaller will only power starve the amp.

second thing I look for are discrete output transistors.
these might be driven by a chip like the LME 49810 or similar or driven by an array of lesser transistors.
This is important to an amps performance.
there are lots of high power audio chips in use, and they all suffer the same shortcoming. There is only so much area in a chip. as a result corners are always cut in the output stage as these transistors demand some serious real estate.
Most of the time, the output devices are visible through the vent work of the product since they generate serious heat.
Look for a row of TO 220 or TO 3 shaped devices attached to the heat sinks.
the larger the quantity of output transistors, the lower the on resistance which means more ability to dump the transformers power into the speaker.
TO 3 types are preferred and oddly, they are one of the very first high power transistor designs created.
they appear as eye shaped plates with a short round metal can atop the center of the plate.
if you see a row of these in a piece of audio equipment, its the animal your looking for.