Some of you may know that I am into pool. Over the weekend I was working as a referee for a pool tournament in CT. It's was at a very nice place. Everything looked upscale and clean. Much nicer and larger larger than our older tournament sites. But there was an issue with the sound. The walls were bare as bare could be. No acoustic tiles or even a picture or two to break up the sound. Fill this room with close to a thousand drinking pool players and the noise level was torture. The music system consisted of 6 small Bose speakers and a base module. The 6 speakers were mounted at the top of the south and north walls. They were angled down, pointed from there to the opposite walls near where the floor would meet them. The base module was mounted on a wall near the door. Every time there was an announcement, the music would cut off, and the anouncement would come through the same speakers. Everyone would turn to me to ask, "what did they say?" I would not know since I couldn't hear either. I took a break Sunday afternoon. (long days: from 8AM till 3 AM the next mornings) While standing outside to get out of the "sound hell" someone asked me what I thought of the new site. I told him that I liked it very much but that it had some sound issues. He agreed. I went on to say that they could fix it with a few acoustic tiles. He didn't seem to know what I meant but nodded. Then I said that they needed to get rid of those tiny Bose cubes and put in real speakers. A look of total shock came over his face. He said, "But Bose makes the best audio that money can buy." I started to laugh. About a dozen people turn to me. Their faces are bright red. The intense look on their faces was hard to describe. If looks could kill, I would have burst into flames at that moment. One yells, "BOSE IS THE BEST!!!" Another says, "yeah, if you're so smart, who do YOU think makes the best speakers?" I said, "Um... well... I don't really know who is the absolute 'best' but there are many who are better." More people start turning my way. The crowd starts to move in closer. I'm starting to fear for my life, but I push on. Someone yells, "WHAT KIND OF SPEAKERS DO YOU HAVE?" I'ya.. I have Infiniti speakers." So, you think INFINITY makes the best?" Um, no... but they are better than Bose. They aren't really anywhere near the best. Some would say that ML's are the best. Others would say Magnepans, or Apogees, or Totems or Ushers are the best. Some of these could cost up to $20k or more. But I've seen some that go for as much as 1/4 of a mil. I don't know if they are the BEST. What I do know, is that Bose is not.
It may have been a good thing that the tournament director stepped outside for a second to ask me some rule questions. It just may have saved my life. I got dirty looks from people the rest of the day.