Well said. The 901's look to cost $400/pair for their 18 cheapie full
range drivers, plastic enclosures & low-fi 'compensater'. I'm
probably being too generous.
$500 for their Wave plastic table radio? Jeez, I bought a boom box
that sounds better to my ears for $79.00 and it even has a handle :-)

Pretty steep prices from a "not-for-profit corporation" (according to
the salesman, anyway--I'm doubtful about that)


On 7 Feb 2004 14:25:13 -0500, (Scott Dorsey) wrote:

Julian Fowler wrote:

Applied to Bose "hi fii" products? APPLIED TO BOSE "HI FI"
PRODUCTS???

RAOTFL ... unless, of course, the result of "real science, research
and engineering concepts" is *supposed* to be crap sound ...

In actuality, Bose does an awful lot of very careful engineering and
research. But their products sound crappy because they are deliberately
designed to sound crappy.

They aren't designed to sound good because that's not the design goal
they have set. They are designed to sound different, to really stand
out from other speakers when you listen to them. They are designed to
sound exciting, to have a lot of boom and a lot of screech, so that
they really appeal to the inexperienced listener for a short listen in
the store.

Bose has done very careful research into how typical buyers listen to
stereo gear, and they have designed gear to get those buyers' attention.
A huge amount of very careful engineering goes into their products to
make them as cheap as possible and get the best possible margins.

It's worth it to take apart one of their Acoustmass enclosures. It really
is a brilliant piece of engineering... I swear it can't cost more than ten
bucks total to make one of those things. The amount of manufacturing
engineering that has gone into bringing the manufacting price down is
amazing.

I have to have a lot of respect for Bose, even if I can't stand listening
to any of their products. They know their market and they know how to
build products for that market to maximize profit. I'd certainly consider
Bose stock a good investment even if I'd consider buying their speakers
to be flushing money down the toilet.
--scott