Bose Sucks. Period

[Bubba Bob]

Alright,

Bought a pair of Bose Companion Speakers. Yes, stereo speakers for $100! Used em for a few months before they started rattling. Opened em up and found the problem. I paid $100 for two 5 watt speakers.

Ill repeat. TWO FIVE WATT SPEAKERS! No wonder the highs werent high and the lows werent low.

Never again Bose. Never again.

[iccaros]

Bose came on the scene with the first affordable speaker set with separate sub and satellite speaker. as my buddy who builds high end home theaters for people, will tell you Bose has never been out standing equipment. their new surround sound with only one box, is a scam based on delay of signal, which does not give you a true surround sound. after taking apart may of their system, I find their best material being there advertisements, convincing people that they are the leader.

but $100 for speakers now a days is cheep..

also wattage means almost noting for speakers, its current the coil can handle, it sounds like they were just tweeters, as a cross over should not push high current into the high range.

[isteve]

I got to go to the Bose plant a few years ago. They actually do some really cool stuff there and have some great engineers. Of course great engineering doesn't always make it past marketing.

I do like the quiet comfort headphones and they would be a good deal if they were half the price.

[iccaros]

try the Phillips, I have a pair, and exchanged with a guy on the plan to see the difference with the BOSE. here is what I got out of it, My Phillips cost me $70 and did just as good of a job, with less static noise (white noise created by the noise reduction) and still have a nice case. also my headphones work with the power off (no sound reduction but you can use them as standard headphones) while the BOSE could not.

http://www.jr.com/JRProductPage.process?Pr...eed.PHI+SHN9500

I bought mine at FRY's on sale, and they also had the BOSE set up. after trying them on different sources, the Phillips are a better product in my opinion and cost less. Plus the Phillips were made in Bothell, WA. I have no ideal where the BOSE are made. in case that matters to you..

also ISteve, I use these for the studio to block out other noises when setting recording settings. great, even in a live room.

[isteve]

I had some Philips USA noise canceling earbuds that sounded great and were inexpensive but lost them. For recording I'm using some older Audio-Technica's. I just bought a Macbook last week so it will be a while before I get new headphones but the Philips will be the first I look at being made in the states is a plus. Thanks for the info.

[iccaros]

Audio-Technica is a great company, I bought three mic's for like $50 thinking they would be good enough for stage use but cheep enough where I did not care if they got stolen or broke. They ended up sounding as good but with better responce then an SM58.

great mics, I'll send you the model number if you care

[isteve]

I did the same, bought a PRO 63 for $40 less then a SM57 for micing my amp. It's every bit as solid and sounds great.

[iccaros]

we should have jeff set up a audio section. I find it more fun then technical stuff.

[isteve]

I also like talking about audio gear but we're few and far between.

[cherokeechief]

wellk maybe the Bose of today might, but th eBose 901s are the tops. they are a one of a kind speaker. they had i believe 9 or 12 speakers inside the cabnet. ofcourse though you needed something to add more low end. the one thing about bose was little low end.

now as for the SM57 and SM 58 microphones, i can tell you from experience, i have used them both.

i ran sound for a local rock band for 3 1/2 years. i used many differnat mics but found that the best for stage work is the sm57.

i used them on drums, the guitar amps, and even used them for vocals.

the only differance between the two was the 58 had the ball on the end. that was the only differance, they were the same elements inside.

now if you wanted a set of stereo speakers that kick major butt, the Cerwin-Vega D-9s. the power handling is over 350 watts. i bought mine in '88 and still use them. i now use them with a surround system, along with a pair of D-7s.

call me crazy but i know a little something about sound and music. i worked in a music store for 15 years as a technician.

when you buy speakers you have to look at a couple of things, first is the power output of the amp, and the total harmonic distortion rate.

also if the music you are playing has extra bass, it is wise to use a sub. but, the main problem with blowing speakers is distortion. also if the music was recorded at a very high level, that would increase the distortion, mainly in the bass, and will destroy any speaker.

what many did not realize is back in the 80s, KEnwood had the lowest distortion rate than any manufacture out there.

just an ideqa of the sound system i used, Peaavey Prtoject One system, with 3 CS-800 amps. two on the mains, tri amped,

had 4 EQ-27 eqs, three on the mains and one on the monitors.

and a peavey Mark IV 24 into 4 into 1 mixing console, in a built in road case.

[isteve]

The 57 and 58 may have the same element but I'm pretty sure the 57 has a flatter response across the mids. Live it would be impossible to tell them apart but recording the 58 to me anyway sound warmer. I have just started playing in a new band the lead singer she uses a 58 and the bass player/singer she uses a 57. I still like my pro 63 for micing my amp.

As for old home audio way back in the 80's I had a sweet Onkyo setup with some Bose 301's (the american ones). The saying was "no highs no lows then it must be Bose" but I absolutely loved them.

[cherokeechief]

The 57 and 58 may have the same element but I'm pretty sure the 57 has a flatter response across the mids. Live it would be impossible to tell them apart but recording the 58 to me anyway sound warmer. I have just started playing in a new band the lead singer she uses a 58 and the bass player/singer she uses a 57. I still like my pro 63 for micing my amp.

As for old home audio way back in the 80's I had a sweet Onkyo setup with some Bose 301's (the american ones). The saying was "no highs no lows then it must be Bose" but I absolutely loved them.

the only reason the 58 would sound warmer, is the ball with the extra windscreen. i even used them in recording also. but to the average ear, there is not a noticable differance.

i also worked on a recording we did for an event that we played at. it took a month and 2 4 track recorders to get the recording ready for air play by the local rock station to promote event. it was a street dance for railroad days in 1986.

[Honda_Boy]

I bought some Logitech Z-4's for $50 at Office Max. Best speakers I've ever owned. Of course, I really want the Z-2300, Z-5300, or Z5500 but they are expensive. More than $25 for a set of 2.0 speakers is too much. I got some old Altec Lansings that like 6 years old that still sound fine and some JBL platinums that came with a Compaq that sound fine. I got those for free. I stick to Logitech mostly for speakers. I've had 3 sets and loved them all.

[Bubba Bob]

Is it just me or are speakers a scam these days? As with HB, i usually enjoy the sound of Logitech speakers. However, they never last longer than a year. My Bose speakers didn't last long either...

However, Ive got a pair of Realistic 3-way speakers in nice thigh-high walnut boxes that are still in perfect condition. Hell, im still using the original reciever! No rattles coming from the cones... 30 years old... makes me sick that Radio Shack no longer makes speakers...

How much do you have to spend these days to get good quality speakers?

Edited February 8, 2008 by Bubba Bob

[Honda_Boy]

Actually, I've had the Z-4's for about a year and a half, and I've had a set of X-530's that are about 2-3 years old that are still fine. My Z-640's lasted about a year or 2 but I broke them my self doing something stupid (don't ask). I miss those, they were my favorite set of 5.1 speakers. My Z-4's are 2.1. I also bought some Altec Lansing BX3's from Walmart for $30 2 years ago. They don't sound that great in comparison to the Logitech's but boy have they lasted. I've been using them on my TV almost the whole time rarely turning them off. I believe now they've been turned on for 10 months without ever being turned off. I've had amazingly good luck with computer speakers.

I just wish I could say the same about car speakers and radios. For the 3 (almost 4) years I've been driving, I've been through 5 head units (4 of which in just one car, 2 in another, one unit was used in both cars) and I really need to get another (contact issues with connector on the face). In the first Civic, started with some decent Pyles and Crappy Sony Xplods. Xplods sounded horrible, got some Premiers. Blew the Pyles, got more Premiers. Wrecked the car, pulled all the audio from it. Got the hatch, Head unit still functional but OLD. Speakers in front = decrepit JBL's. Threw away, replaced with Premiers from old car. Rear speakers, different size than what I had so I kept them. Luckily they still work. Changed head unit later with one from the old car. It's still working for the most part but it's giving me a little trouble so when I get the cash, I'm getting another plus some new rear speakers. That'll be 3 head units in this car in a year and a half.

[isteve]

I had some Altec Lansing computer speakers that are going strong, that I bought 6 or 7 years ago, I have them at work now. I got some Roland monitors at home now.

[garmanma]

Patrick Norton, on Tekzilla at http://revision3.com/tekzilla/, episode 23, just did a short review of various speaker systems that was pretty good

[Besttechie]

I'm not a huge Bose fan myself. There are a number of far better audio engineering companies out there who make excellent products. Bose is in my opinion the brand name of speakers, they obviously made a name for themselves, however, there is definitely much better stuff out there.

I use a pair of Klipsch ProMedia 2.1's for all my audio listening on my PC.

If you're looking for good quality, decently priced stereo speakers check out Paradigm.

B

[robroy]

I have a really nice set of realistic speakers from the early 80's that give the best sound out of my vinyl collection. Won't part with them for anything

[iccaros]

for those that do not know Realistic what a Radio Shack Brand when they used to make things... and they were great equipment, not top of the line but no where near the bottom.

ah the good old days when you need a 74 series chip, and could pick it up for under a dollar, and the sales person had a clue what 74 series logic was. .now they have no clue and when you do find them they are $3.

thanks for the walk down memory lane..

ps Vinyl is all the rage with collage students.. your speakers my be worth more then you think

[isteve]

The new big thing is tube amps, again. I even seen a tube amp for the ipod. I guess tubes never really left us especially when it come to guitar amps.

ipod tube amp

[Honda_Boy]

We've got some old Radio shack cabinet speakers (4 of them) like what ya'll are talkin about. They are more than 30 years old but we still use them on our Entertainment system. They still sound great.

[garmanma]

All of the Radio Shacks around here just want to sell cell phones. I'm lucky, I'm close to a electronic surplus store. Kind of like a salvage yard for electronics. You never know what you'll find there

Mark

[Bubba Bob]

All of the Radio Shacks around here just want to sell cell phones. I'm lucky, I'm close to a electronic surplus store. Kind of like a salvage yard for electronics. You never know what you'll find there

Mark

Radio Shack has really gone down hill. I guess they'd have to to stay in busniess, but it's irritating. Can't even trust radio shack branded items anymore, as they're always just re-branded made in china crap.