Although I'm not a Bose fan either, for PA or open areas they do pretty good. The reason I don't like them is they don't image. With one speaker facing forward and eight facing the rear at angles, they bounce the sound around all over the room. They're not intended to reproduce the recording as it was intended to be heard.

They wouldn't hold up in a room with proper sound treatments. Audiophiles try to control first reflections, standing waves, floor reflection and rear-wall slap echo. Bose creates and embraces the effects. They're anti-audiophile, the anti-christ in audio-theology.