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  1. #1
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    why so many bose bashers?

    Alright people, I know Bose are way overrated and WAY overpriced but I think they sound pretty good. I used to own a pair of 301IV and I really liked them. I felt the price was to high at $328.00pr. but they had pretty good bass and decent highs. I once went to a college film class with my ex and they were showing the full monty wich was a dumb movie but they had a Bose accoustimass system, not sure wich one but it was in 1999 if that helps. Anyway I was amazed by how crystal clear the sound was. I don't remember how the bass was because theres not alot of bass in the movie but it was one of the best sound systems I have ever heard. I think if Bose could just come down in price by atleast half, more people would by them and not bash them so much. I am no newbe to home theater, I've been in it for about 7yrs now and I do know good sound. I know that alot of you guys have much better than what I have but I am very satisfied with my JBL's and yamahaRXV-1400. I can't justify spending hundreds, even thousands more for slightly better quality. I also have a seperate sound system for music, a 3000 watt crown/JBL DJ system that really rocks.

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    1. AM specifications. There is pretting much nothing below 46Hz or over 13,300Hz and a frequency gap between 200Hz and 280Hz.

    2. Lifestyle. No DTS, DD, DPL II. All in one system whose functionality is unrealized.

    3. Price. Extremely overpriced. If they went for a third of the price as what they do then it would be worth considering.

    4. VCS-10 center. One of the worst centers ever made.

    5. Waveradio. A new generation of ripoff.

    Their other models, such as the 301 or 701 are fairly decent but still overpriced. Why go with Bose when you could go with a much better system for either the same amount or less? For example, the HSU Ventriloquist/VTF-2 combo goes for $660 delivered, add on a Yamaha HTR-5760 for $475 delivered, and a Panasonic DVD-F87K for $130 delivered and you have a far better system than the Bose LS-18 system.

  3. #3
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    I think one of the reasons people are so opposed to bose is it's like an awakening for some. There are a lot of people who get into HT/Audio thinking Bose is the best there is. That's what all the adds tell them. Then, you have some of people who decide to listen to Bose and then do the unthinkable abd listen to other systems. They hear much better sound with more features, far better price, interchangable components and ability to upgrade to name a few. They then say, why in the world would anyone pay for Bose? It's an inferior product at a much higher price. I think some people then become a little pissed that Bose is able to get over on so many people and they feel it's their duty to warn and help as many potential Bose buyers as possible. That's why I do it. I mentioned my Wife's boss a while back. He was getting ready to get a HT for his new house and thought Bose was the way to go. I took him to an audio store and he ended up buying a full Martin Logan system. It's pretty impressive. Sure, he went to a bit of an extreme but the difference is night and day. You can spend much less than a typical Bose system and get a much better system in all aspects except maybe for size.

    A quick funny story. My wife just hired a Decorator to decorate a few rooms in our house. The decorator went into our Living room where our HT is and said we had to get rid of the "BIG UGLY BLACK SPEAKERS" (Boston VR965 Towers). They just did not fit. She suggested some small speakers like Bose. MY wife had this look like maybe I would agree. My wife took one look at the disgusted angry look on my face and told the decorator they had to stay. I then told the decorator she would go before the speakers go. She looked at me with a weird look and realized I was dead serious and said "OK, the speaker stay, I can work around them." If it were me I would have fired her A$$ right there but the wife would not go for it. Needless to say, I'm watching that decorator closely.

    JSE

  4. #4
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    The reason people hate them is not that they are outrageously overpriced but that they are outrageously overpriced and not made in Europe.

  5. #5
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    Which raises the question..where are they made? Where can one buy a 2" full range thin cone paper surround half inch voice coil driver for $.69? The real shame is they slap it in a plastic Bose box and charge $1500 for it. Now that's research! Have to admire their marketing skills though.

  6. #6
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    That's idiotic.

    Quote Originally Posted by skeptic
    The reason people hate them is not that they are outrageously overpriced but that they are outrageously overpriced and not made in Europe.
    That's one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard. My VR1's are made for an American company but manufactured in China so what does that mean? Are you saying audio enthusiasts are inherently Anti-American?

    For the record, all of Von Schweikert's Custom line are manufactured in San Marcos, CA, Meadowlark's are made in Upstate New York, Wilson Audio in Utah, Alon in Colorado, Magnepan in Minnesota, Soundline in San Diego, Martin Logan in Kansas, Theil in Kentucky, the list goes on. If anything, good ol' Ahmericuhns DOMINATE the high end.

    More to the point, I can't BELIEVE there's another f'in anti-Bose thread. Does anybody know how to pan down on their screen or do a search anymore??

  7. #7
    RGA
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    Topspeed.

    Actually it is a tribute to European Based companies who despite having to nearly DOUBLE their prices still manage to outrsell and more importantly out sound the home grown competition. B&W's 600 series is basically their low end line(along with the 300 series) and is often compared to say Paradigm Studio series. but in the UK the Studios would be priced up in the Nautilus line to make it worth while and they would be totally outclassed - so they don't go there.

    Skeptic - well he seems to only like his own designs - i mean he remakes all the speakers he buys - obviously the people at AR and every other company know nothing about speaker design.

  8. #8
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    "Are you saying audio enthusiasts are inherently Anti-American?"

    No. I'm saying that Americans have always been suckers to buy European engineered and built equipment at price multiples of what comparable equipment engineered and built in the US or Japan cost. Look at some of the old crap from companies like Tandberg, Telefunken, Grundig, B & O, Quad (amps and preamps) and the list just goes on. There were some European companies willing to compete on the US market pricewise like Wharfedale and Tannoy but they were few and far between. I lived in Europe for two years and saw that their domestic market was equally ripped off an not just by electronics equpment makers. High VAT (value added taxes) and protective tariffs (at least when I lived there) and no real sales or discounts then. Is their equipment crap? Consider that a Thompson television set bought new from a department store blew up three times in my house fortunately under warranty. Without the kinds of liability laws we have here, its a wonder more people aren't killed by their junk. My friend almost was by a defective electric blanket. Do I consider European equipment in general inferior to American, Canadian, and Japanese built equipment? Not all of it but in general yes. Is their production costs outrageous? Yes. Strong Euro, high wages in many places, tremendous social benefits and taxes, and a protected internal market. Small inefficient domestic production techniques as well and a level of management skill notoriously inferior to their North American and Japanese counterparts. Generalizations are dangerous but to me, made in Europe is almost a code phrase for; stay away, high prices, poor quality, awful value.

  9. #9
    Suspended topspeed's Avatar
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    RGA,
    The exchange rates are so incredibly screwed up right now, I'll bet American speakers that are expensive here are absolutely outrageous across the pond.

    Really, what Euros sell in decent volume outside of B&W, Dynaudio, JM Lab and Sonus Faber? Sure you've got Mission (went a year w/o a US distributor, didn't seem to be missed), Harbeth, Castle, a recently resurrected Dali, and boutique manufacturers like AN, Avant Garde and MBL but I'd wager their sales units are about equal with American boutique outfits. As far as the Euros "out sounding" their American counterparts, that's personal opinion, nothing more. This is coming from a guy listening to an all Brit rig right now. Seriously, I could care less where anything is manufactured (OK, except France, but we won't go there) as long as it sounds the way I want it to, I'll buy it. The only bias I have is against crappy sound.

  10. #10
    RGA
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    Topspeed is not big anywhere even in Europe - They have one dealer in London. They have the same display approach there as well which will limit their number - they are very widely distributed on a world wide level though - and kits help increase that.

    Where Skeptic is right is on labour. At least from what I was told by my dealer Peter Qvortrup of AN is not happy with employees that don't show up for days don't barely do anything and then get paid high wages because of their SYSTEM in England - one of many reasons he's moving stuff to Canada - it's not cheap labour here either but you don't fall three months behind on catching up orders either. And the wages are still considerably less here than Europe. And in AN's case the speaker was largely designed in the US. Just made a lot better by a Dane. Skeptic is unfortunately living in a time warp of 1982 - B&W and other Brits are actually making good speakers - IMO better than most of the dreck sold here. Yes exceptions are abound but Ameria had their hayday - and got the snot beat out of them where the likes of JBL and Bose are the American Pride and Joy. Americans know how to sell it and package it - QC who cares - which is why the likes JBL and even Klipsch are a shadow of what they once were. Now they're relegated to Costco like bargain stores with a sound mostly to match.

  11. #11
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    Bose alternative?

    JSE wrote "You can spend much less than a typical Bose system and get a much better system in all aspects except maybe for size. " And I fully agree. Currently I am doing A-B inhome demo's to convince the wife of the first part of the sentence. (Thanks Sams Club for the Bose Accumass 10II with 1 yr return policy and 90 days interest free ) While I know towers are out of the question, trying to move to small bookshelfs (Paradigm Titan or Mini Monitors on stand) and dipole rears (she freaked when suggested cutting hole in wall for in-wall rears, but may still be an option).

    Now to the last part of the sentence "except size". It seems that size doesn't matter...unless you are talking about speakers! If size does matter, what alternatives to Bose are realistic. Klipsh seems too bright. How about NHT 5.1; Polk 6700; AR 6? Suggestions would be appreciated.

  12. #12
    JSE
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    Quote Originally Posted by ibhim
    JSE wrote "You can spend much less than a typical Bose system and get a much better system in all aspects except maybe for size. " And I fully agree. Currently I am doing A-B inhome demo's to convince the wife of the first part of the sentence. (Thanks Sams Club for the Bose Accumass 10II with 1 yr return policy and 90 days interest free ) While I know towers are out of the question, trying to move to small bookshelfs (Paradigm Titan or Mini Monitors on stand) and dipole rears (she freaked when suggested cutting hole in wall for in-wall rears, but may still be an option).

    Now to the last part of the sentence "except size". It seems that size doesn't matter...unless you are talking about speakers! If size does matter, what alternatives to Bose are realistic. Klipsh seems too bright. How about NHT 5.1; Polk 6700; AR 6? Suggestions would be appreciated.

    Although not quite as small as Bose, the HSU Ventriloquist (sp?) system seems to be pretty impressive for it's size and comes with a far better sub than the Bose Sub thingy. I have never listened to it but it appears to get really good reviews and HSU is a good company that puts out quality products. You might also look at Cambridge Sounds Works. They have some fairly small speakers as well. In general, most major speaker companies have small size surround sound packages, but not normally as small as Bose.

    JSE

  13. #13
    Suspended topspeed's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by RGA
    Topspeed is not big anywhere even in Europe -
    Hey now, I'll have you know that I have a huge following in Germany...right there with David Hasselhoff!

    Yes exceptions are abound but Ameria had their hayday - and got the snot beat out of them where the likes of JBL and Bose are the American Pride and Joy. Americans know how to sell it and package it - QC who cares - which is why the likes JBL and even Klipsch are a shadow of what they once were. Now they're relegated to Costco like bargain stores with a sound mostly to match.
    Again, this is personal opinion. JBL's K series is supposedly a very good speaker. Of course, they're Canadian anyway (Harmon Int'l) so maybe we'll just consider them NORTH American, eh?

    Bose has to be respected for their business model, and if that isn't American, I don't know what is. While their speakers are questionable, his savvy isn't.

    Saying American QC is gone is horsesh!t. VSA, Thiel, Meadowlark, and ML speakers are all beautifully crafted. Even the mass market Polks are well built. Hey, at least they aren't coming in vinyl wrapped boxes like Paradigm's Monitor and Studio's. And then theres...

    Look, we're never going to agree on speakers, origin, or whatever and who cares anyway? The main point is this:

    DO WE REALLY NEED ANOTHER BOSE THREAD!!! AAAUUUUUUUUGHHHH!!!!!

  14. #14
    RGA
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    True but hey we have changed the subject away from Bose. The Paradigms use real wood don't they?

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    Paradigm's Studio's are finished in a wood veneer, however the "rosewood" is actually walnut veneer stained to look like rosewood.

    The Monitor and Performance lines have wooden boxes but are covered in laminate (immitation wood). Additionally, uncertain if the entire Performance line or the Titan and smaller has an injection molded (i.e. plastic) back rather than wood.

    Then I look at Polk with their mass market RTi line having real wood veneer - if only their grill didn't have the distracting gray plastic trim. Plus, the nighmare surrounds with the clamshell design rather than the increasingly standard trapezoid design. Is it too much to ask that the speakers blend in rather than bring attention to themselves? That is where Bose excells and Polk went in the opposite direction.

  16. #16
    RGA
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    Quote Originally Posted by ibhim
    Paradigm's Studio's are finished in a wood veneer, however the "rosewood" is actually walnut veneer stained to look like rosewood.

    The Monitor and Performance lines have wooden boxes but are covered in laminate (immitation wood). Additionally, uncertain if the entire Performance line or the Titan and smaller has an injection molded (i.e. plastic) back rather than wood.

    Then I look at Polk with their mass market RTi line having real wood veneer - if only their grill didn't have the distracting gray plastic trim. Plus, the nighmare surrounds with the clamshell design rather than the increasingly standard trapezoid design. Is it too much to ask that the speakers blend in rather than bring attention to themselves? That is where Bose excells and Polk went in the opposite direction.
    You don't know what the actual wood is made from though do you. An engineer on another forum was saying you want the speakers to be made Good materials. In response to good Ply wood "No internal voids and far better overall material quality.
    It really is the only thing, other than solid hardwoods or Corian type materials, that should be used for quality speaker cabinets."

    And I can tell you first hand that the idfference between the same speaker made out of chipboard and Ply is startling. Though the former was still very good - i'm glad the maker decided to dump chipboard.

    But my little B&W DM 302s were a molded plastic and sounded quite good for $225US. Obviously this quote was from a poster referring to more expensive speakers.

    Arggh just listen and decide - it's easier.

  17. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by JSE

    A quick funny story. My wife just hired a Decorator to decorate a few rooms in our house. The decorator went into our Living room where our HT is and said we had to get rid of the "BIG UGLY BLACK SPEAKERS" (Boston VR965 Towers). They just did not fit. She suggested some small speakers like Bose. MY wife had this look like maybe I would agree. My wife took one look at the disgusted angry look on my face and told the decorator they had to stay. I then told the decorator she would go before the speakers go. She looked at me with a weird look and realized I was dead serious and said "OK, the speaker stay, I can work around them." If it were me I would have fired her A$$ right there but the wife would not go for it. Needless to say, I'm watching that decorator closely.

    JSE
    JSE- i must say that your story is pretty funny. i was looking at cartman and i was visually seeing Cartman yellin at the decorator "b*tch, you leave my speakers there...and get back to work!"
    needless to say, your story made me laugh my ass off.
    as with bose, i agree that you are doing the right thing. the other day a girlfriend of my gf was over and was saying that her roomate had a totally expensive stereo system. so naturally i asked what speakers he had. she proudly said bose. i kept my mouth shut becuase i already knew it was too late.

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    BOSE IS THE BEST - wanna know why? read on...

    for all marketing and corpoate sales minded people. this is the number one reason BOSE is so darn popular (and like some noted, the reason that they are the first "hifi" speakers everyone comes across when they decide they like music reproduction).
    BOSE is a smart company. Smart meaning they know how to make money. The KEY is to spend equal or more amounts on advertising and marketing as they do on production. This is simple marketing 101 people. BOSE is the master of marketing and have been for two decades. This is how they have so much money to play around with peoples heads. They were smart from the beginning and have built a very succesful company. I bet we'd all feel a bit different about BOSE had we bought stocks back in the 80's. Did you already know that most Hollywood Blockbusters that we all flock to actually spend more $$$$ on marketing their movie then they do on production? THis is the way to get millions to see what can be said are horribly aweful movies. And i guarantee every single one of us has walked out of a theater feeling we got ripped off because it was soo bad and NOTHING like all the previews and posters and billboards and reviews and interviews and MTV etc have made it out to be. BOSE is not dissimilar in this aspect.

  19. #19
    Forum Regular Woochifer's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JSE
    A quick funny story. My wife just hired a Decorator to decorate a few rooms in our house. The decorator went into our Living room where our HT is and said we had to get rid of the "BIG UGLY BLACK SPEAKERS" (Boston VR965 Towers). They just did not fit. She suggested some small speakers like Bose. MY wife had this look like maybe I would agree. My wife took one look at the disgusted angry look on my face and told the decorator they had to stay. I then told the decorator she would go before the speakers go. She looked at me with a weird look and realized I was dead serious and said "OK, the speaker stay, I can work around them." If it were me I would have fired her A$$ right there but the wife would not go for it. Needless to say, I'm watching that decorator closely.

    JSE
    I feel your pain. You're not the first one who's told a tale like that on this board. Aside from bombarding us with infomercials, Bose must also have some deal going with all these interior decorators. Either that or they've never gone out and priced out alternatives. Either way, their priority is having some look in mind, regardless of how functional the room actually is when it's finished. Given where your functional priorities are, it's good that you put your foot down. Heaven forbid if this board is going to turn into a daily therapy session of woe about how you caved in and now have to live with a Lifestyle 50!

    Sometimes I think that decorators must have something against music and movies! Ever notice that the pictures in those home decorating magazines typically show NO audio equipment whatsoever? MAYBE you'll see a plasma screen on the wall. They'll typically have coffee table books or magazines lying around, but you never see CDs or DVDs anywhere in those shots. And if they actually show a speaker, ever notice that those speakers HAVE NO CABLES attached? Even in audio magazine ads, this seems to be the case.

  20. #20
    Forum Regular Woochifer's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by ibhim
    Paradigm's Studio's are finished in a wood veneer, however the "rosewood" is actually walnut veneer stained to look like rosewood.
    The veneer option was available for the Studio v.2 series, but Paradigm eliminated the wood veneer option for the v.3 versions, which are all laminate. Supposedly, less than 10% of all the Studio v.2 speakers that Paradigm sold had the wood veneer, so the demand simply wasn't there to carry that option over to the v.3 series. Only the Signature series now has real wood veneer (Paradigm subcontracts with the same Italian cabinet maker that Sonus Faber uses to produce the cabinets for the Sigs). The Studio series cabinets are all made from MDF, while the Monitor and Performance series models are made out of less dense particleboards.

  21. #21
    Forum Regular Woochifer's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by RGA
    Skeptic is unfortunately living in a time warp of 1982 - B&W and other Brits are actually making good speakers - IMO better than most of the dreck sold here. Yes exceptions are abound but Ameria had their hayday - and got the snot beat out of them where the likes of JBL and Bose are the American Pride and Joy. Americans know how to sell it and package it - QC who cares - which is why the likes JBL and even Klipsch are a shadow of what they once were. Now they're relegated to Costco like bargain stores with a sound mostly to match.
    Huh? What planet are YOU living on? "got the snot beat out of them where the likes of JBL and Bose are the American Pride and Joy"? "relegated to Costco like bargain stores with sound mostly to match"? Last time I was at Costco, I didn't see any Magnepan, Vandersteen, Thiel, Martin Logan, Wilson Audio, Von Schweikert, Innersound models being sold there, or even JBL or Klipsch speakers for that matter. If you're going to make an irresponsible generalization like that, at least get your facts straight. Who the hell considers JBL and Bose the "Pride and Joy" of America? I certainly don't, and I was born a few exits down the 101 from where the JBLs are made. You're not even from here, so who the hell are you to say what ANYBODY in the lower 48 takes pride in? Your propensity to reckless stereotyping seems to be expanding beyond the rhelm of reality and into pure fantasy.

    And if you're going to compare B&W and other Brits to the "dreck" sold here, also keep the cost in mind. The lowest level B&W model I've seen sold around here costs $300. Comparably priced models from Boston, Infinity, JBL, Klipsch, Polk, etc. might not sound as good to you, but that hardly makes them "dreck" or not worthy of consideration. In fact, quite a few people might prefer them to the B&Ws, and I doubt that it's all about the packaging and the salesmanship.

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    Has anyone else notice our illustrious poster has yet to chime in? Hmmm, can anyone else say Troll. With that in mind, can we please let this and all anti-bose threads die the death they deserve? Seriously, isn't about time we started another ss vs. tubes war anyway?

  23. #23
    JSE
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    Quote Originally Posted by Woochifer
    I feel your pain. You're not the first one who's told a tale like that on this board. Aside from bombarding us with infomercials, Bose must also have some deal going with all these interior decorators. Either that or they've never gone out and priced out alternatives. Either way, their priority is having some look in mind, regardless of how functional the room actually is when it's finished. Given where your functional priorities are, it's good that you put your foot down. Heaven forbid if this board is going to turn into a daily therapy session of woe about how you caved in and now have to live with a Lifestyle 50!

    Sometimes I think that decorators must have something against music and movies! Ever notice that the pictures in those home decorating magazines typically show NO audio equipment whatsoever? MAYBE you'll see a plasma screen on the wall. They'll typically have coffee table books or magazines lying around, but you never see CDs or DVDs anywhere in those shots. And if they actually show a speaker, ever notice that those speakers HAVE NO CABLES attached? Even in audio magazine ads, this seems to be the case.

    Oh yea, It got better today. Her A$$ is fired if I have anything to do with it, but of course I don't.

    I was talking to my wife today and she said that the Decorator called her at work today and asked her about getting rid of the speakers or moving them to another room in favor of "something smaller". That Ho-Bag, Skanky, Back-Stabbing Biaaatch is going behind my back and trying to use my wife against me. My wife agrees with me but she won't let me can her either. She thinks it is kindof funny. Funny MY A$$! Also, get this. The "decorator" also asked my wife if we would be OK with putting the mains against the wall 90 degree to the right of the couch about 10 feet way? What the? I calmly said no and explained to my wife the whole surround thing, not the pound your right ear with sound thing. My wife told me she said no and actually explained to the Decorator the reasoning for having the speakers were they are for surround sound. My God, some of this stuff actually took with my wife. It almost brought a tear to my eye. Anyway, if you guys see a story on the nightly news about a man who offed a Interior Decorator, it was not me! OK?

    JSE

  24. #24
    RGA
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    Quote Originally Posted by topspeed
    Has anyone else notice our illustrious poster has yet to chime in? Hmmm, can anyone else say Troll. With that in mind, can we please let this and all anti-bose threads die the death they deserve? Seriously, isn't about time we started another ss vs. tubes war anyway?
    There's a war - the good tube amps killed em already right? Oh I would rather just see Bose as a company die out.

    Why don't people read what I actually say. Costco -LIKE bargain storers is not Costco now is it?

    And I said exceptions are abound - umm most of which were mentioned - JBL is dreck - Bose is Dreck - The lower priced Infinities and Advents and Cerwin Vega's I heard several years ago ARE all dreck. It should be painfully obvious CV is about package and decibals as sales tools. Of course some will like a certain model of an entry level B&W or an expensive B&W. Some would take a Cerwin Vega D9(or new replacement) over the Paradigm Studio 100 too - and the point is what? Some people wouldn't know an oboe from a cello either.

  25. #25
    Forum Regular Woochifer's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JSE
    Oh yea, It got better today. Her A$$ is fired if I have anything to do with it, but of course I don't.

    I was talking to my wife today and she said that the Decorator called her at work today and asked her about getting rid of the speakers or moving them to another room in favor of "something smaller". That Ho-Bag, Skanky, Back-Stabbing Biaaatch is going behind my back and trying to use my wife against me. My wife agrees with me but she won't let me can her either. She thinks it is kindof funny. Funny MY A$$! Also, get this. The "decorator" also asked my wife if we would be OK with putting the mains against the wall 90 degree to the right of the couch about 10 feet way? What the? I calmly said no and explained to my wife the whole surround thing, not the pound your right ear with sound thing. My wife told me she said no and actually explained to the Decorator the reasoning for having the speakers were they are for surround sound. My God, some of this stuff actually took with my wife. It almost brought a tear to my eye. Anyway, if you guys see a story on the nightly news about a man who offed a Interior Decorator, it was not me! OK?

    JSE

    Oh man! Divide and conquer conspiracies too? I thought that decorating entailed a little bit of painting, a couple of new end tables, and some miscellaneous grab bag stuff from Pier One Imports. All this cloak and dagger stuff is more like spy novel material than Discovery or HGTV channel stuff.

    Unfortunately, wives are usually fine with sacrificing that last bit of surround placement accuracy for aesthetics. I got my speakers in the ITU reference 5.1 alignment, but my wife says that she wants something like a screen to block the surround speakers from view when entering the room. She wasn't too sympathetic to my protests about how they would amplify the port noise or distort the surround imaging. And she's also insisting that I put up some kind of enclosed storage in the corner for our CD and DVD collections. Apparently, the idea of installing bass traps in the corner instead isn't getting too much traction either. When the latest Magnolia Hi-Fi catalog arrived, it featured the wall-mounted Martin Logan Frescos on the cover. My wife asked why not switch out the surround speakers for those? My explanation about timbre-matching was not persuasive, but the $1,000 cost (each) and the fact that I'll need to buy a new amp to power those things was enough to defer the discussion this time.



    But, maybe you can turn this situation around to your benefit. I mean, if your decorator's pulling out all the stops to goad you into new speakers, why not get new speakers? Just agree that the new speakers will NOT come from Bose! View it as an opportunity to do an upgrade without catching the usual flak about why you would "need" new speakers? I mean, those new wall-mounted models like the Martin Logan Fresco or Vienna Acoustics Schonberg series or alternatives from Paradigm, B&W, and Def Tech could very well fit the bill nicely. Your wife and decorator will think that you actually saw the merits of their way, when in actuality you're just using it as an excuse to indulge in some upgradeitis. Perfect scenario and satisfies any kind Machiavellian revenge motif.

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