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I have to admit as the OP says that I was "blown away" the first time I heard the music from a tiny Bose bookshelf system many years ago. They do sound great for the size that they are.
But then I was also "blown away" by the price tag which is why I've never even once CONSIDERED purchasing a Bose sound system.
I do have a Bose BT Speaker, however it was a gift to me. Sounds good enough.
Yah, sure, marketing has never convinced anyone that a product was subjectively superior when it objectively wasn't. It's never convinced anyone to pay more for nothing but a name or an impressively polished ad.
Look, at a conceptual level every consumer purchases that which best meets his or her needs or wants -- best marginal value for any given price point. So on that level, each economizing individual makes the best choice for themselves.
In practice, nuh-uh.
If you like it, that's good for you. I'm sure the acoustimass or whatever they call it nowadays is superior to the utility speakers built into thin-screen televisions these days. I happen to think there are much better alternatives at much better prices.
Beats are another triumph of marketing over engineering, in my opinion. So are most Harleys. And there are really countless examples in every facet of life. The crap music that's popular and makes lots of money does that primarily due to marketing.
Stuff that gets marketed like crazy is visible, easy to find, meets with the approval of the spouse and friends, probably shows up in Consumer Reports, and there's strength in numbers. So, one marginal benefit of Bose might be that you don't have to do much shopping or critical thinking or regular thinking or listening or traveling around to auditon stuff or reading enthusiast sites, etc. Just like I'm not a vacuum cleaner enthusiast and just went for the Eureka Boss, because it was easy, your average mainstreamer who wants a "good" system doesn't have to go very far or work very hard to find Bose. And I understand that. Doing a bunch of deep digging into vacuum cleaners wasn't my bag (no pun intended) -- BUT, I'm well aware there ARE better vacuums and better vacuum values, and that I just went for something easy, mainstream, boring, visible. But I won't do that for cars, motorcycles, computers, audio equipment, video equipment, cameras, art supplies, cuisine choices, travel destinations, etc.
Fair points made.
Bose make fantastic products for people who want music in their life, but don't want the equipment to be a feature of the room. Bose stuff is designed to hide. They are great at getting large noise out of tiny boxes, but due to the compromise of these tiny boxes it is unreasonable to expect them to perform as well as as a big system.
Last edited by louie0406; 03-04-2016 at 12:39 PM..
Bose make fantastic products for people who want music in their life, but don't want the equipment to be a feature of the room. Bose stuff is designed to hide. They are great at getting large noise out of tiny boxes, but due to the compromise of these tiny boxes it is unreasonable to expect them to perform as well as as a big system.
False premise when it comes to "music in their life" for many folk.
But at least I now understand your parameters for what is musically "good" about Bose:
"... great at getting large noise out of tiny boxes".
Some friends bought a pair years ago. They placed them on shelves at each side of the fireplace. I can't remember what they paid for them, but I do remember thinking, "Are you crazy?" Very mediocre sound quality that didn't carry. When we played cards we sat about 20 feet way and unless the volume was way up you couldn't hear them.
I've got a set of cheap speakers I bought at K's in the '80's that, iirc, cost about $50. 2 front, 2 rear, one center, no sub-woofer. Blew the Bose out of the water.
Bose makes some of the best sounding speakers around. And they are pricey, but worth the price.
The problem is that they also make your standard mass produced crap. You can often find this lower quality stuff in retail stores.
There's about 22 Bose stores where you can listen to their good speakers. Another 20 or so that are in markets which don't carry high end speakers. I wish they carried them online but their online store only has their mass produced crap.
Bose speakers are nothing more than over priced computer speakers, especially those Bose Acoustimass.
Read my post above yours. Bose Acoustimass are their low end mass-produced speakers. They sound good for what you can purchase at Best Buy, but that's not saying much.
If its merely "better sound through marketing", why is the average consumer (not audiophile) blown away when they here the sound that comes out of these speakers given their size.
Because the average consumer has never heard sound coming out of a premium driver. When all you have to compare chuck steak with is burgers it probably seems pretty good.
Quote:
Originally Posted by louie0406
I doubt millions of consumers are lying to themselves and forking over hundreds/thousands of dollars for a product that they feel sounds subpar but got sucked in by "marketing".
They're not lying to themselves, they're just uneducated.
If you have someone listen to good sound from good speakers, you get one of two outcomes, they don't care and can't tell the difference, or it's like an epiphany, and it's like a new world has opened up for them. This isn't just people who really don't know, but often people who think they know, and they might, just not really the right brands, because often you can get far better quality, for a similar price as a more "popular" brand.
Friends don't let friends by Bose for a reason, and buy other sound equipment is a well earned acronym.
If its merely "better sound through marketing", why is the average consumer (not audiophile) blown away when they here the sound that comes out of these speakers given their size. I doubt millions of consumers are lying to themselves and forking over hundreds/thousands of dollars for a product that they feel sounds subpar but got sucked in by "marketing".
That's exactly what marketing is. Bose has sold you on the idea that their speaker sound really good. But if you were to replace the Bose with some true audiophile quality speakers that barely cost more you won't buy Bose again.
I never understood the bad rap that Bose gets. I have several Bose products and I'm more than satisfied with them.
Well my mom/dad have the latest one and I think the sound on it is aweful!! (Heavy toned down bass)
No bass/treble controls so your forced to listen to it as they wanted you to...
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Yah, sure, marketing has never convinced anyone that a product was subjectively superior when it objectively wasn't. It's never convinced anyone to pay more for nothing but a name or an impressively polished ad. 
