Good to get bose speakers for cheap?

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Megabitz

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I know the bose stuff is looked down upon from audiophiles, But if i want something that looks nice and rather small that will last for a while is it worth getting some of these bose things? Mainly catalogue stuff im looking at as thats the choice i have as i have some special discounts.

For example I can get a Bose Companion 50 new for £150, so about half price, or the Bose Companion 20 for £65.

Just want decent things to use for good audio, I have a number of systems and dont like moving things about a lot so was thinking about getting some of these for my DAT Players, Laptops, Lan boxes, Stuff i dont use every day of the week.

Thanks.
 
Bose really isn't that great, and for what they are, they are terribly overpriced due to their undeserved name-brand recognition. In the 90's they were one of the first on the market with their satellite-subwoofer systems and came to symbolize that kind of speaker system. Fast-forward to today, and there are countless similar options. Even many types of sat-sub computer speakers can outperform a Bose sat-sub system, and likely at half the price or less.

If you want something small that actually sounds good, check out something like this:
http://www.jblpro.com/www/products/recording-broadcast/3-series/lsr305
 
for me the companion 20's could be a viable option as they sound decent enough (i've listened to them a few times) they are ~fine and fairly small / easy to deal with.. For me if I was going to deal with the bulk of the 2.1 Companion 50's I'd probably get something better.. just because a sub is a hassle to place / deal with.

the previous poster is certainly right that the JBL or other powered studio monitors could be an option but the 305's are going to be a fair bit bigger than the companion 20s and more expensive.

is it only the bose you can get a discount on or do you have other options?
 
Let me be clear, im not looking for something to replace my microlabs on the main PC, just a quick thing for decent sound that will get thrown about a lot, Im not after anything silly and the companion 20s seem to be a nice size, was also looking at getting 2 Sony SRS ZR5's and hook them both up and ill be paying about £50 each for them too.

Catalogues dont have a great deal, Mostly battery operated things

Can get a naim Mu - So Qb for 300, But thats gonna have to wait a while, I do want that also the Mu - So for 700 i cant get them till a later date, but the things i already stated are some of the smallest powered speakers i can find.
 
although many snub their nose at Bose because of perceived superiority, I have NEVER heard a person who actually owns a Bose product state they were unsatisfied. Many will even try to fit in by saying "I'm sure their other products aren't great, but this one particular product I own has been pretty good".

Bose is the tangible version of MP3. Everything on paper says that MP3 is inferior to other standards. Yet it has been proven many many times that most people can't tell the difference between MP3 and "better" standards. People are instead drawn to its practicality. Bose figured out you don't have spend as much on the innards, you just have to make it easy to use and look appealing and people will be satisfied. And they will pay what they think is reasonable for that product.

I don't try to talk people out of buying Bose. If you want to talk about technical details or material differences, sure I'll talk about it. But if you think Bose suits your needs (and sound is only 1 need), then I say go for it. People buy "better" audio products because of things like looks or status (though not admitted), which I don't see any different then buying Bose.
 
westrock2000 said:
Bose is the tangible version of MP3. Everything on paper says that MP3 is inferior to other standards. Yet it has been proven many many times that most people can't tell the difference between MP3 and "better" standards. People are instead drawn to its practicality. Bose figured out you don't have spend as much on the innards, you just have to make it easy to use and look appealing and people will be satisfied. And they will pay what they think is reasonable for that product.
Click to expand...

There may have been a time when Bose had bargain prices but not these days. In terms of sound quality, Bose is fine for what it is, but you better be prepared to spend twice as much as comparable sat+sub systems due to the Bose brand name. Using your MP3 example; MP3 is only valuable due to the smaller file sizes resulting from lossy compression, same as something like Bose only being worth it if you get a great price. At typical Bose prices we would be talking about MP3s with file sizes approaching FLAC.
 
GotNoRice said:
There may have been a time when Bose had bargain prices but not these days. In terms of sound quality, Bose is fine for what it is, but you better be prepared to spend twice as much as comparable sat+sub systems due to the Bose brand name. Using your MP3 example; MP3 is only valuable due to the smaller file sizes resulting from lossy compression, same as something like Bose only being worth it if you get a great price. At typical Bose prices we would be talking about MP3s with file sizes approaching FLAC.
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Most people can't play FLAC on their car radio brah! But even "purists" will say FLAC is flawed because it technically gives up information (these are the same poeple that believe 1 meter of silver RCA makes sound different than 1 meter of copper RCA. Also, FLAC is usually Redbook spec'ed and not high res spec....so again on paper it would look inferior. I don't know off the top of my head if FLAC can even do high res, I know AAC can, but there is almost no support for high res or multi-channel AAC.

But I prefer FLAC over PCM because of space as well as bona-a-fide metadata support. PCM (WAV) can support metadata, but it's not guaranteed support.
 
westrock2000 said:
although many snub their nose at Bose because of perceived superiority, I have NEVER heard a person who actually owns a Bose product state they were unsatisfied. Many will even try to fit in by saying "I'm sure their other products aren't great, but this one particular product I own has been pretty good".

Bose is the tangible version of MP3. Everything on paper says that MP3 is inferior to other standards. Yet it has been proven many many times that most people can't tell the difference between MP3 and "better" standards. People are instead drawn to its practicality. Bose figured out you don't have spend as much on the innards, you just have to make it easy to use and look appealing and people will be satisfied. And they will pay what they think is reasonable for that product.

I don't try to talk people out of buying Bose. If you want to talk about technical details or material differences, sure I'll talk about it. But if you think Bose suits your needs (and sound is only 1 need), then I say go for it. People buy "better" audio products because of things like looks or status (though not admitted), which I don't see any different then buying Bose.
Click to expand...

I paid for Bose in the past and I was completely dissatisfied with the quality of the product, the quality of the sound and especially the cost. And that was even before they added even more premium to their product and before there were a bunch of other better quality products on the market now with smaller packaging.
 
westrock2000 said:
although many snub their nose at Bose because of perceived superiority, I have NEVER heard a person who actually owns a Bose product state they were unsatisfied. Many will even try to fit in by saying "I'm sure their other products aren't great, but this one particular product I own has been pretty good".

Bose is the tangible version of MP3. Everything on paper says that MP3 is inferior to other standards. Yet it has been proven many many times that most people can't tell the difference between MP3 and "better" standards. People are instead drawn to its practicality. Bose figured out you don't have spend as much on the innards, you just have to make it easy to use and look appealing and people will be satisfied. And they will pay what they think is reasonable for that product.

I don't try to talk people out of buying Bose. If you want to talk about technical details or material differences, sure I'll talk about it. But if you think Bose suits your needs (and sound is only 1 need), then I say go for it. People buy "better" audio products because of things like looks or status (though not admitted), which I don't see any different then buying Bose.
Click to expand...

Literally every single Bose product I have ever owned has been an utter disappointment - Including 2 versions of the Quietcomfort Noise Cancelling headphones, the Bose Companion 3 system, some bluetooth/airplay speaker, and the original audio system in my car. To be clear, I only ever received these things as gifts or as part of some promo deal - maybe that's why I don't fit in your bracket, because I would never actually buy Bose.

On the other side of the spectrum, my Dad swears by Bose products. He has the headphones, computer speakers, and earbubds. He is also the owner of about $50k worth of KEF reference towers and listens to vinyl on a tube amp. Sometimes I don't get him, but it just goes to show that there's no accounting for taste.

I'm glad people enjoy their purchases, but it does make me a little sad knowing that said person could likely have gotten a better product at a far better price. Bose definitely has the brand recognition and it's likely that even the most uninitiated will have heard of them.

For the OP, those seem like decent prices for the systems if you are just looking to fill a small area with sound, but don't think that you'll be getting a system that is equivalent to others at the same MSRP (without your discount). Honestly, if you aren't an audio enthusiast, you probably won't notice. I usually advise people to build out their own systems, but the Bose fit your needs for a reason I'm not seeing - like space/form factor etc.
 
See, that's beautiful!

I think there is some Internet rule about this. Like a Moore's Law type thing. It states something along the lines of "If you want to get the right answer on the Internet, don't ask a question about what is the right answer. No one will answer. Instead, state the wrong answer and wait for everyone to prove you wrong with the right answer".
 
NoOther said:
I paid for Bose in the past and I was completely dissatisfied with the quality of the product, the quality of the sound and especially the cost. And that was even before they added even more premium to their product and before there were a bunch of other better quality products on the market now with smaller packaging.
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I think of it like this

Bose makes many good products that are overpriced.

They are also lean form over function.

An example of a good Bose product would be Bose Wave radio. It sounds good, does everything you'd expect, and is solidly built. It also costs $500 for something that you could get equivalent sound from a competitor for $150.

Bose triport headphones sound great, are comfortable and light, but they cost $300. Competitors in the space can do equivalent sounding headphones for $100

Bose IE2 earbuds are $100, and I've personally, subjectively, never found a better pair of earbuds. On this one they hit it out of the park. Comfort is off the charts and sound quality is 95% of my over-the-ears open air, high end, sennheiser.

Their Bose Cube theater systems or commercial DJ systems make a pleasing sound, but at considerable expense. Are they neutral and accurate from 20hz to 20,000khz. No way. But they look good, are small/non intrusive looking, and at modest volumes--are pleasing to the ear.

Bose brands well, makes a clean, refined looking product that works well. They are like the Apple brand of Audio.
 
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Archaea said:
I think of it like this

Bose makes many good products that are overpriced.

They are also lean form over function.

An example of a good Bose product would be Bose Wave radio. It sounds good, does everything you'd expect, and is solidly built. It also costs $500 for something that you could get equivalent sound from a competitor for $150.

Bose triport headphones sound great, are comfortable and light, but they cost $300. Competitors in the space can do equivalent sounding headphones for $100

Bose IE2 earbuds are $100, and I've personally, subjectively, never found a better pair of earbuds. On this one they hit it out KC the park. Comfort is off the charts and sound quality is 95% of my over the ears open air high end sennheiser.

Their Bose cube systems or commercial DJ systems make a pleasing sound, but at considerable expense. Are they neutral and accurate 20hz to 20,000khz. No way. But they look good, are small, and at modest volumes--are pleasing to the ear.

Bose brands well, makes a clean, refined looking product that works well. They are like the Apple brand of Audio.
Click to expand...

I was merely responding to westrock2000's claim:

although many snub their nose at Bose because of perceived superiority, I have NEVER heard a person who actually owns a Bose product state they were unsatisfied. Many will even try to fit in by saying "I'm sure their other products aren't great, but this one particular product I own has been pretty good".
Click to expand...

So now he has heard from at least one person who owned Bose products and was not satisfied. I also haven't owned just one Bose product, I have owned several. Unfortunately a few of the vehicles I bought came with Bose systems and I quickly had them switched out for much better audio.
 
westrock2000 said:
See, that's beautiful!

I think there is some Internet rule about this. Like a Moore's Law type thing. It states something along the lines of "If you want to get the right answer on the Internet, don't ask a question about what is the right answer. No one will answer. Instead, state the wrong answer and wait for everyone to prove you wrong with the right answer".
Click to expand...
Cunningham's Law
 
westrock2000 said:
See, that's beautiful!

I think there is some Internet rule about this. Like a Moore's Law type thing. It states something along the lines of "If you want to get the right answer on the Internet, don't ask a question about what is the right answer. No one will answer. Instead, state the wrong answer and wait for everyone to prove you wrong with the right answer".
Click to expand...

HammerSandwich said:
Cunningham's Law
Click to expand...

Seriously dude, you lose your [H]ard card for not knowing what Moore's Law is...
 
NoOther said:
Seriously dude, you lose your [H]ard card for not knowing what Moore's Law is...
Click to expand...

I work in the semiconductor industry, I can assure you I am well aware of Moore's Law and how it accurately predicts the lunar cycles. :pompous:

I had considered referencing the Streisand Effect. But this is not an effect, it's a law, and laws are laws.
 
HammerSandwich said:
We weren't talking about Moore's Law. Try rereading what I quoted, then click the link.
Click to expand...

Obviously, I was giving westrock2000 grief for naming the wrong law, just like you corrected him...sooooo why would I need to reread? And yes I understand he said "Something like Moore's law", but it isn't anything like Moore's law. That was my point.
 
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NoOther said:
Obviously, I was giving westrock2000 grief for naming the wrong law, just like you corrected him...sooooo why would I need to reread? And yes I understand he said "Something like Moore's law", but it isn't anything like Moore's law. That was my point.
Click to expand...

Maybe he meant MICHAEL Moore's law.
 
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