Bose Closing Most of it's Stores Worldwide

I always think of Bose as just the opposite.. all lows, all highs, no midrange. I can't stand JBL speakers for this reason. My home audio speakers are mostly Klipsch and I love them.

Popped $1500 extra for the Burmeister audio in my wifes new car and I think it sounds terrible.

 

The optional bose in 997 generation Porsche 911's is one of the best oem stereo's I've ever heard. But then you get in a GM truck with bose and wonder how its any better then the no name crap you got in the 90's.

 

Yeah I don't recall ever seeing a store either.

 

It came in those mid 80s Corvettes. Lol

 

Sure some of it’s decent. I haven’t heard the headphones but everyone seems to like them. The price they ask for it is what’s the issue. I pulled the Bose speakers from my truck and they’re junk paper/foam/plastic speakers.

Take this for example. For $4k I could piece together a setup that would blow this out of the water.
https://www.bose.ca/en_ca/products/...e-600-home-theater-system.html#v=ls_600_black

 

Bose suspension was bought by Clear Motion. We are developing stuff for them.

i have 3 bose products and actually really like them, don’t get the bashing:
- oem sound in the cayenne , yeah, over 1.5 decades old, but a good bang for the $
- sound bar for TV, got it on sale for $110, how can you beat that
- noise canceling headphones- had audio technica before but the Bose ones are in another league

sure, for home Hi-Fi there are better options, but heck, we are on a motorcycle racing board, who on here has good hearing anyways??????

 

I too never understood the Bose bashing. Yes dollar for dollar you can build a much better system but it will also take up MUCH more room, at least it did when I looked a LONG time ago. I think they have good small speakers like headphones, small sound bars, the little cube things you could hang from the ceiling. Much more than that and you could certainly do better or at the very least save some money.

Beats on the other hand
Those damned things are terrible! I went to check them out and made the guy get out a new pair because I thought the demo was blown or something way wrong...nope, just a steaming pile of $h!t

 

For what it's worth they used to have some of the highest manufacturing quality standards in the consumer audio/video industry for their electronics, at the component and board level. I'm not an audiophile by any measure, but have had one of their clock radios for nearly twenty years and been happy with it. Also have their sound bar, which is perfectly fine for my needs. I also really like their noise-canceling headphones, but wouldn't disagree that at retail pricing, you can do better on a performance cost basis, and I certainly wouldn't be looking at them for a really high end system.

 

Gotta innovate other younger companies are hungry.

Bose used a lot of porting, this adds gain at frequencies but it rolls off fast after that so the dynamic range suffers. They're decent but much better out there.

I believe the guy that started it was a professor was from India and donated everything to mit when he passed away which was pretty cool.

 

Their headphones are all that’s ever impressed me. My wife wanted a speaker so I bought her one last year under duress. She has stole my jbl flip 4, smaller, charge seems to last longer, easier to place and sounds just as good (we are not audiophiles by any means) and better on a lot of places. Plus you can connect a couple of them which is great for places we don’t have speakers. much better having two of them spaces apart at a decent volume vs one loud one. My parents have some $1000 or whatever radio deal in the kitchen. It sounds good but you can get a lot more for a lot less.
the internet information flow as well as the e commerce that comes along with that have changed the landscape a lot. Plus others have caught up with the same or better manufacturing / technology at a lower price point. Bose seemed to have a marketing strategy like Apple as far as charge a premium and it means a premium product. Difference is they don’t have the product Apple has as far as what users want (or think they need) and there are many more android platforms in that market that have a superior product which arguably (not getting into the Apple debate, just going by the market) Apple has. I cannot are how the overhead of dedicated brick and mortar stores was even remotely sustainable. I’ve been to two Bose stores to buy headphones on business trips and both were out of them. Had them overnighted to my hotel for the return trip and it was still cheaper than I would’ve paid at the store. I can say this much. Got the wife AirPod pro’s for Xmas. They aren’t bad by any means but nothing at all, not even close to the hype or quality of the competition. Obviously people are in the Apple train though because they were sold out everywhere and online a couple weeks before Xmas and didn’t get them until the 10th or so direct from Apple. The Bose kool-aid has been seemingly long gone and ask a 20 something about Bose. They will probably look at you funny. Yes’m rambling and yes I need a nap before heading out hunting. Oh and I can use 2 flip 4 placed quite a ways part on the ground and use an app via Bluetooth as a coyote call. Better than my $340 one I bought a couple years ago.

 

It’s not shit, they just don’t have the gap in the market to charge the premium they do that they once had. Their hesdphones are still titties. Bet I use them almost 1000 hrs per year just traveling.

 

I like them in my truck but I’m not a deaf mfukr to need some ear splitting noise to hear anything.

I’m not a ball player so I could care less about head phone shit.

Shame anytime anyone loses their job.

 

CB - I got a B&W stand alone speaker thing for Sam a few year ago (with points) and for what it is, it kills. Plastic body so a bit of buzz but it's crazy how good it is. B&W probably sold zero to the people that buy shit to work with their Ithingies but it kills.

Set up to sell to the idiots that buy Apple crap and expect great sound from wifi and it's probably works way beyond "No highs or lows" so, I think they lost tons of cash on that line.

The kid is dancing around wearing ipods listening to Bruno Mars so, no point in getting anything better than marketing hype. She has a Rotel, Oppo and B&W set up in the basement to listen to ~ 4K CDs on. Ipods and an iphone is what she chooses.

 

I, like many others commented here, love their headphones. Specifically the wireless/bluetooth ones. Sounds pretty good and I find them very durable. I had a set of Beats wireless once, and they cannot take a beating in the gym for shit. I also had a set of over the ear Beats that fell apart. Comparable Bose headphones...rock solid and market wise for two years plus and going strong.

I also like their Soundlink revolve wireless bluetooth speakers. You can charge them and take them with you, team a pair of them and listen to tunes at the beach or whatever. Decent sound and again..very durable.

Boston Acoustic and Klipsh speakers though for my preference for home audio.

 

My first experience (1976) with 901's was impressive. Turns out I didn't know what realistic reproduction sounded like. After nibbling in audio and building a few pair of speakers with high end components, solid cabinets, and well-designed crossovers (early 90's), when I re-listened to 901's they sounded horrible.

 

I have an old home theater setup with B&W Signature 7 in-walls, center standalone, and standalone rears. Velodyne powered 10" sub to handle the lows and an old Sony ES series 5.1 receiver and ES CD player. B&W's still going strong and sound pretty decent for almost 20 years. Sound good to me but I'm half deaf and have tinnitus.

I thought the original Bose 901's sound pretty decent with the right gear and proper room placement. Not mind blowing but good.

 

I've still got some Bose speakers from college that are over 25 years old, they still sound good enough to me.

 

I’m no expert and have a pair of the noise canceling headphones. Trying to protect what heating I have left. I wear these about 4 days a week normally 4-6 hours. Back in the summer I ran over them with the tractor tire. They don’t look as good but still work just fine

 

Their Lifestyle stuff is good for those who don’t understand electronics. They can simply push a button with an icon on it and get their desired result. It’s doubtful, optimal staging, sound quality, etc, is high on their priority list.

I’ve had 901’s and their “AM-series” setups, back in the 90’s, and was happy with both. However, I believe, that was around the time they started Mexican production.

Legacy Audio is local to me. When I walked in there, it was apparent, I had insufficient funds.
https://www.legacyaudio.com/

 

Sound is both relative and subjective. 901's had an active crossover you could play with to mess with frequency response like adding or taking away simple syrup from a cocktail. Its not until you've heard really accurate and full speakers 'till you understand the reference part.