Quote Originally Posted by Audie Oghaisle
..anyone to rush right out and buy a Bose product, just relating my experience with the one I do own...I really don't give a ratz@$$...just watching the feeding frenzy on the part of some...

Regardless of other opinions, I believe the multiple drivers with eq, can and do provide quite respectable bass performance...there are a coupla' cuts...one on ELPs "Brain Salad Surgery" if memory serves me correctly and Heart's "Magic Man" where a synth note does sort of a nose-dive reverse glissando down to the Marianas Trench sonically...as reproduced on my system, it is smooth and even, no false humps, no sharp cutoffs, to a point where one can nearly count the cycles.

In the same vein, on Herb Ellis' and Red Mitchell's "Doggin' Around" there is a cut "Big M And the Bear"(I think that's the title) featuring Mitchell's stand-up bass...nicely articulated, sharp transients, deep low notes and proper sounding higher ones. Anyone who has actually heard jazz bass, knows there is a range of notes that will be augmented and resonate with the sound box of the instrument as a product of sympathetic vibrations and those outside the optimum range which will be less powerful but none the less identifiable as being produced by a bass fiddle...I get that...When it's captured in the source, I also get fingers sliding on the round-wound string's surface...nothing sloppy, no indiscriminate thumps.

Some time back, Audio mag had a column entitled "Auricle". Based solely on aural perception of high-end gear...As I recall, they did a review of a direct-to-disc recording of Charlie Byrd and his combo...White, heavyweight, virgin vinyl...45rpm...all the bells and whistles associated with the then "state-of-the-art"...they loved it, raved about the soundstage and depth, the near-eerie presence of the cornet player...one complaint...rimshots on the snare were a mile wide.

They did a really wonderful word-picture of the disk, so I head on out to my local audio "salon" purchase it and give it a lisssen...see just how lousy my gear is...just as described, a very, very impressive piece of work, imaging, the horn player and the snare...just as described...I can only relate my experience and you can believe me or not.
They work, if you know how to listen to them.

And I do listen to other gear in the shops, I've liked some electrostatics and B&Ws weren't bad, a bit directional but not bad...and I do have a pair of STAX SR-44s with a dedicated amp and source...I do keep in touch with convention and "reality"...

Audie
Audio never had a love for bose. "boom and sizzle" or "boom and tizz" was the way they described most bose products, including a very negative 601 review.

Anthony B Cordesman, who now writes for TAS wrote Auricle. He detests Bose. His personal system (one of them), is the VMPS Supertower III which he purchased after a review.

Now, if you told me that those big speakers effortlessly went to 16hz, I'd believe it. But bose?

The reason bose reviews draw flames, is because they are written like one is describing an ultra high end system. The reviews (like yours) give bose charactaristics that are outside the operational parameters of the system.

If you had said you thouroughly enjoy bose for the soundstage and effects, and reach sonic bliss, I doubt anyone would critisize that much.

But when you obviously target real highend systems with your comments, you will draw flack.

You can admit you enjoy bose. You can love them. But don't tell me they can accurately reproduce the bottom of 1812's cannon shots, because that isn't possible with 901's. Not my law, just physics.

And don't tell anyone bose has brilliant treble detail when the design was in fact measured to roll off sigificantly under 14khz, or less than am radio. You can hear what isn't there by design.


BTW, I have all of those recordings, many on Lp and cd. The bass in heart doesn't go all that deep, it's more 30's and 40's. That is verifiable on any system that is capable of reproducing it, not just mine.