THE SECRETS BOSE NEVER WANTED YOU TO FIND OUT 

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In about 2005 I was working in a hi fi shop outside of Washington DC, and a young couple walked in. The girl was a gorgeous blonde, and the dude had rugged good looks, but somehow I knew right away that they were going to steal something. We had Meridian, B&W, McIntosh, Runco, Sony ES etc....and Bose. I walked directly back to the manager's office and told him all hands-on deck to watch these people. Sure enough, the girl soon grabbed the Bose near the front door and ran out with the dude and got into their car. But my manager had been waiting for them outside, so he jumped in his shiity Civic and went on a high-speed chase until he eventually cornered them in a culdesac and called the police. We both testified them in court and they were both extradited back to Oregon lol. Anyway that's my only good Bose story.

We once had a stereo shop in our town named, "Stereo Dungeon". They would not let me leave without dragging me into the basement for a 901 demo. After which I said, "Now I know where you got your name; you drag people into the dungeon and torture them with 901s .

The biggest secret that leaked is the phrase.."no highs, no lows, must be Bose" which became a big thing among audiophiles.

I bought a set of 901s in 1978. They sounded good as long as the room was built for them. If you moved, you started all over again setting up your new listening room. Hassle. Sold them after 6 months, lost $150 in the sale. Bought a set of Klipsch Heresy's series 1 and never looked back. Nuff said.

I was once booted from a Bose training meeting at a dealer for asking too many questions that they refused to answer and then pressing for an answer when they sidestepped them. I'm talking actual spec questions like actual power ratings, impedance, frequency range, etc. The final straw was when I asked whether or not they were manipulating anything in their processing.

Bose - Anything I hate more than bad sound is when it's coming at me from all directions!

My opinion of Bose has changed a lot over the last 30 or so years. When I was young, I thought they were awesome. But that's for a couple of reasons. One, I was buying into the marketing hype. Two, my experience with audio at the time was limited mostly to cheap boomboxes and bookshelf systems. So, just about anything would sound better than that. But as I grew up and got more into the audio hobby, I learned about how Bose sued magazines that give their equipment a bad review, how their equipment was demo'd (separated from the competition and using music tailored to compensate for their deficiencies), how their speakers were susceptible to foam rot, the cabinets were made from lower grade particle board, how their acoustimass subs would catch on fire, etc. My opinion of them did a complete 180. I was definitely in the camp of "Buy Other Sound Equipment". Nowadays, my opinion on them has softened. Since they've stopped trying to convince the public that their equipment is high-end, and they've moved into being a more lifestyle oriented brand, I think they have finally found their niche.

Growing up under the shadow of 1 Mountain Rd, I worked for Bose from '88 to '91. I have stories. We called it "better off somewhere else." Or I called it "better sound through massive equalization" I graduated from the electronics program a local voc tech school and worked in production, customer service and QC for the original acoustic wave music system and the series II. I may drop a few stories tomorrow, but I'll tell you this; the original AWMS cost $230 and sold for around $850. The series 2 sold for $1k and they got their cost down to $175 (in 1989.)

I used to sell home and car audio at Best buy way back in the day (mid 90s). Each brand has their own demo area, but they were steps apart from each other. Customers would ALWAYS come in wanting bose. I'd play a Harry Connick Jr track, and ask them to pay attention to his voice. I'd then have them walk over and listen to the same track in Cambridge Soundworks. (Both sub/sat systems.). 95% of the customers were stunned, and would almost always buy the cheaper better Cambridge. Sometimes, I'd let them hold the satellites, where they would feel light cheap plastic (bose) vs. Properly dense and weighty Cambridge. The 301s are alright. But that's about it. Acoustimass just sucks in the 100hz to 400hz range. Make voices were just anemic.

II have had 301s and 501s back in the day. I still have the 301s They sounded good then and now. The 501s sounded great, but when the surrounds rotted as they did on MANY brands during that time period, it was very hard to get the grill off to work on them. That being said. Bose made some great sounding speakers. Not the best imaging, but they way they spread the sound around the room, it sounded good pretty much all through the room. So... forget the later acoustimass Junk. Don't buy it, but they have made some nice equipment in the past.

I think that Bose made some fine sounding speakers. The 501s, 601s, the original 701s, and the 10.2s - all had a character of their own and had desirable attributes that id consider 'hi-fi'. But this video perfectly illustrated where they went sideways. Much of the technology that Bowe employed was not their own. For example, Bose did not research nor develop technology such as waveguide, transmission line, or bandpass, yet they claimed their R&D developed these 'technologies' which were already decades old by the 70s.

I worked for an electronics retailer a long time ago and can confirm most of this. The store loved to sell them because of the profit margin. We were not allowed to do A/B demos, which was weird because we had them in the demo room... On a slow night I decided to tinker with them. On the demo unit I was able to get around the demo and put in the same movie that was on the demo. Sounded horrible. Hooked up some bookshelf speakers and had some one come in and listen. They asked, "why are we listening to the TV speakers? I also did installs and hated lying to the customer about their purchase.

I had a pair bose 301 speakers, yamaha receiver, Panasonic cassette deck technics turntable. It all sounded awesome after I replaced the woofers with rockford fosgate woofers. All this was in the 1980s.

I was a Bose Professional Products dealer in the 90's! There were no limitations on how I demonstrated or compared the speaker systems. I sold and installed a ton of 402's, 802's, 502's and the Acoustimass 12" subs. We installed these in churches, schools, civic centers etc and they always sounded great. We had many compliments on the audio quality. I also used these systems to do live sound gigs and only a handful of artists had issues, mostly because someone told them not to use Bose. We made believers out of some. The portability for that time period was amazing! In my opinion they were some of the best speakers ever made for live sound productions. Sadly I no longer have any Bose products (except a Wave radio) as I sold my last system a few years ago. It's still in use today with some of the components nearing 30 years old. I'm still sold on Bose!

I worked at Sears selling A/v back in the mid/late-90's. Bose completely controlled pricing, and commission. The 301's were the only worthy product they made. RIP Advent.

I used to love Bose. I remember hearing the 901’s and falling in love with them. In the nineties, I purchased the Acoustimas 5 speakers because they sounded phenomenal in the showroom. I had to move the subwoofer around a lot in the room and I finally got them to sound very good. Eventually I gave them to my brother in law and I purchased vintage equipment which sounded a lot better. I lost the respect I had for Bose. They aren’t terrible speakers, but there are a lot of speakers out there that are just as good and even better for less money. Thank you for sharing this video with us.

I'm not a Bose fan, but I think brand and marketing should be left out of the equation when purchasing a sound system. As consumers we should be able A B compare as much as possible. Blindfolded would be best to be fair to all brands and designs.After all, at the end of the day it's about the SOUND we personally like better.

When I sold stereo’s in the mid 70’s, we had separate rooms for a number of manufacturers. This included Bose but the Bose speakers only collected dust. The rooms with ADS and Bozak speakers would help sell those speakers. They were paired with the best electronics like McIntosh, Nakamichi, Yamaha, and Dynaco.

Hi there the Just Audio team, I feel honered that my the Acustamass speaker series comment 'Complete and Utter Junk' was among those highlighted for this video. I had no idea it would generate 418 replys. I did follow and read them, along with an ocassional comeback of my own. I always look forward to watching your new video's. Thanks.

In 1994, I trialed the Acoustimass 5 Series 2 system (ported subwoofer, tiny cube satellites). The subwoofer produced a monotone response (despite many efforts to find some sort of acoustic 'sweet spot' in my room), and the tiny satellites produced a top end that was not very well defined. Horn-loading the bottom end by facing the woofer port into a corner of the room helped, but this was a silly place for the woofer to be. Female vocals suffered due to the limitations of the satellites. My view was, and remains, that sub/sat systems might be okay for television and computers; but they do not provide a quality listening experience for music.

Great topic. Obviously most of the Bose speaker systems rely on the acoustic of the room they're in. As a Pro Audio engineer I know that

I still have one of those old acoustic wave designs with a tape deck. For almost 40 years now. I was in elementary school when I got it brand new from my father. These days I use it exclusively as speakers for various devices. The radio still works, the tape deck died decades ago, but it can still blast anything that can plug into it. Most recently it has been hooked up to my Steam Deck when playing it in my backyard. I have no loyalty to Bose, but given that I have had one of their radios since almost as long as I can remember and have used it a ton, Bose is connected to a lot of my memories over the years. So I do tend to think fondly of them. Though I suspect if I had actually paid for it myself, my feelings might be different. addendum: I also see some humor in a 40 year old device being used as speakers for a modern handheld. (for a portable, the Steam Deck sounds fine, but as the automotive junkies would say, there is no replacement for displacement.)

I inherited my dads Bose 901s a few years ago that he bought new in NYC back in 88-89. Receiver & amp setup would pump 450 watts to each speaker which is what the 901s were rated for. I just remember as a kid they rocked the house. We used them for a few years for or 7.2 surround system and they did OK and I mean just ok because we couldn’t use the Bose equalizer on our receiver and they were recently replaced with Klipshe towers with atmos built in. The 901s are now in our bedroom with our old 7.2 receiver but via the Zone 2 out, then to the Bose equalizer, and a hi-fi mini-amp that feeds about 250 watts to each speaker and has bass / treble adjusts. They sound amazing again & it’s the best that I’ve heard these speakers in nearly 20 years. Sitting in bed is like being surrounded with sound and it’s great, plenty of bass and zero need for a sub. If that’s something you don’t fancy, turn them the other way, so the speakers are facing you directly lol

Approximately 30 years later and i still love and play my Acoustimass 5 speakers daily.

I was fortunate enough to be able to listen to various speakers in the barracks, ended up Cerwin Vegas over the 901s.

Back in 83 I worked for AR. This was in Vogelweh West Germany at the Sound Center. My other friend worked for Bose, and another for JBL. We occasionally played the Telarc 1812 overture. It was funny how many of speakers were able to play the cannons, 6 Hz I think. Not loud, because the German manager would come banging on the sound proof glass doors so irate. The Bose 901s would just blare out some strange muted speaker cones crashing sound. I think the Bose rep realized that bass wasn't it's forte.

The biggest audio mistake I made was buying the Bose 901s in 1972! I traded them in one month after purchasing and took a big hit. Bottom line their sound sucked.

In the late 80's or early 90's, I went to one of those "speaker reveal" demos where they reveal the tiny cubes. In that event, they were actually bold enough to give you a copy of the demo CD they used. In the room, I was indeed relatively impressed that the sound was so full from such small cubes. However, when I took the disc home and played it on my moderately-sized, but good quality Teac bookshelf speakers, I noticed something was wrong: there was practically no bass on the 1812 Overture segments. What should've stressed my speakers to reproduce sounded flabby and hollow. I think I was eventually able to compare it to a real 1812 recording and the difference in low bass was mind-blowing. Bose deliberately sacked the EQ on their demo CD to make it impossible to overtax the low end on their speakers in the demo sessions.

Early in my "DJ Career" (2000's), I used the Bose 802 tops and a 502 BP sub. They sounded great when you had the proprietary Bose EQ module hooked up. You could also put them pretty much anywhere in the room and still get great sound. Not true with most modern systems/subs.

15 YRS AGO A GUY SOLD ME A NAD T750 FOR $40 PLUS SAID THESE SPEAKERS GO WITH IT, 901s W/O THE EQ. BOTH STILL SOUND GREAT TODAY! BOSE OUTSTANDING STEREO EQUIPMENT!!

One of my neighbors had his own radio show back in the `60's, `70's and `80's. When he moved out about 20 years ago, he was throwing out his Bose 201's. I grabbed them and hooked them up to my stereo. Up to that point, I had a set of Pioneer column speakers that could shake the house. The sub on one of them went bad around the same time I found those 201's so, I was replacing the Pioneers with the 201's and they sound just as good at the Pioneers when I first got them..

Just get some nice Polk audio or JBL speakers and you’ll be fine.

I have a couple of friends who are deep into high quality audio. They consider it bad manners to mention the "B" word without at least first apologising for it.

I worked at a electronics store and we had a Bose room. I brought in my ESS speakers to the store once, just when Dire Straights "Money for Nothing" came out. We (all sales staff) went in the room and cranked through all the systems playing that song. That's when i settled on the Onyo receiver and, Teac multi-CD player, which I still own. The ESS speakers i later sold because they were too big for my condo I had and settled for a Bose system. I'm still kicking myself for that.

I've had the 901VI version 1 and loved those, in 2007 I sold the 901's and bought the Bose Panaray series 802III, MA12, 502A and the CANNON II, now after almost 2 decades they still sound amazing, (and very loud) with 1 RSP1582 (5.1 setup )and 6 Uma 2000 in mono bridge, 630w each.

I had a pair of Bose 301s that, when properly place in the room, sounded incredible. I thought I had blown them, but the foam collar around the bass speaker had just deteriorated. I found a kit to replace that foam, and now my son uses them. Those speakers are over 40 years old and they still sound really good.

As a young hi-fi fan in the 70s, the Bose 901 was something to aspire to. I was also gobsmacked the first time I heard the Acoustic Wave. But I knew that any room I had was not the right context for these things. The nail in the reputational coffin here is the former salesman talking about the sound-enhancing hollow pedestal. Maybe Bose should sell those.

Just finished painting a Bose LT MB12 sub (PA system for large gigs) ... They sound wicked. Clients love them and request the LT system.

The stereo imaging on Bose speakers is horrendous. I owned a pair of 301 Bose speakers to replace a pair of Avid speakers with dying crossovers and thought they were pretty dull sounding speakers. The cabinets were light, the drivers and tweeters were nothing special. This may seem hyperbolic, but the only speakers that I had owned that were possibly worse than the Bose were a pair of Morse/Electrophonic Air Suspension speakers that came with one of those all in one receiver 8-track combos with a Garrard record player. Also if the 901 was made correctly, it would not need that equalizer.

I love my Klisph "The 5's" with the Kilisph sub. Never had much interest in Bose products, just kinda intuitively knew to stay away.

The Bose 301s I recommended to my parents are still putting out great sound 30+ years later. And the little blue tooth my sister got me for Christmas sounds a lot better than anything I had previously to hook up to my phone. That said shitty tactics by companies always make me refuse to buy their products.

Forgot to mention couple points. Many of the Bose speakers are based on being able to listen in multiple spots and still hear stereo unlike traditional speakers. The 901 activates room sound highly, and is one of the best ways to put the band in your room vs hearing what it sounds like from a control room. A drum will sound like its right there. One fault noticed on mini cubes is a hole around crossover. Pushing big and small a bit too much.

Bought my 901’s in 1987. Love them still to this day.

Every time I'm leaving Boston on the 95 I look at the factory and I spit out my window

I’m 1975 I worked across the alley from a job shop that was making the drivers for Bose. The manager there told me it cost them about 2 dollars to make each one.

I always hear about all these draconian restrictions for Bose retailers, but I’m starting to wonder if that’s just an urban legend. I specifically remember hearing them at two places: 1) The audio demo room at the Base Exchange on an Air Force base. Bose speakers were connected to the speaker matrix switches just like everything else. They had Acoustimass systems like the Redline and Jewel, the tower model (401), the VS100 and similar Model 101… But lots of other stuff, too. 2) A local home and car AV dealer had a demo room where I discovered Beyond the Mind’s Eye playing on LaserDisc, on a set of Acoustimass speakers. I was a late teenager, and thought it sounded great. I saved up and got the LCR set for Dolby Pro Logic, and used VS100s for the rear. I later learned they weren’t the pinnacle of audio excellence, but they were fun and I have great memories of enjoying music and movies with them. The point being, that demo room had all kinds of stuff in it too - not just Bose. I think I got to see a MiniDisc for the first time there, come to think of it. And a Phoenix Gold Cyclone. Not that that has anything to do with anything, I just miss that place and all the cool stuff they had.

Back in 2003, There was an incident in a "Big-Box Store" near where I live, Some customer, while shopping, forgot their slushie drink in a paper cup, placed on an empty shelf that happens to be right above an active Acoustimass bass module below. Several hours later the paper cup leaked and slowly dripped it's entire contents through the shelf and right into the Bose Acoustimass vent holes. A series of repeated loud booming and crackling sounds were heard, followed by sparks and sales associates rushing to the scene and finding the plug to pull. needless to say the most memorable sound it made was *boh-boh-boh-boh-boh-boh-boh-boh-boh-boh-boh-boh-boh-BZZZZT*. ...I think the acoustimass was even afraid to pronounce its own brand name! I had to conceal my laughter in coughs after I found out someone left their drink, that ended in poetic justice! hahahahahaha

Bose told us not to call them subwoofers, but to call them "bass modules."

If you were using 201s or 301s for background they are OK but a good $200 bookshelf speakers would blow them away.

I can't speak to the later BOSE line but I own a pair of working 901s and they sound pretty freaking good and compare well against my JBL 4312s.

I was a BOSE Pro Audio dealer in the 80's and sold many of the Bose speakers for sound reinforcement PA systems. We were not restricted on demonstrations. Customers paid the premium because of the small size and wide sonic dispersion of the BOSE 800 speakers. Our finding was that extremely high power amplifiers (400 Watts/Channel or more) helped with the inefficiency of the speakers. I tried to blow up a set of BOSE 800 Series II using a Carver amp (450/Channel) cranked to just below clipping and played a CD through it for 8 hours. neither the amp or speakers died.

I own a pair of 501's from the 80's, and are still sounding good, and yes, any speaker system is going to sound different at home, or in a different room. Speaker placement and room acoustics make a big difference.

In those surround and stereo systems with small sattelites and a bass module it was more like "only highs and lows, it must be Bose". Those lacked some frequency range to properly cross over between the bass module (atleast they did not miss use the therm Subwoofer like too many do today) and the sat's.. It worked pretty good for movies for what it was. But that's about it... NOT a musical system at all.

I have a nice set of 301's i use as surrounds. Dont try to use them as main's. I think thats why the hate, they aint designed for that

We have a six figure + audio system and we are not a Bose fan except for one product…the 601 series III. Those speakers work really well in the rear of our home theater system with their multi- directional tweeters. Bought them in the 80’s and still use them today. The woofers have been re-foamed of course but they have a spectacular sound in the bed layer of our 7.2.6 system.

I used to have a pair of Bose 901 IV, people would always tell me no highs no Lows they’re BOSE, but man I played the Telarc version of Tchaikovsky‘s 1812 overture, and those speakers were swinging back-and-forth all that bass and air that speaker pushed out was absolutely amazing!!

I can sum it all up in two words, Martin Logan.

Back in the 80’s, my buddy’s older brother was in the Navy, stationed in Japan. He had a set of 901’s shipped home with explicit instructions that they were not to be opened until he returned home. Well, one Friday night we were hanging out at my buds house, drinking some beers as his folks were out for the night. We couldn’t resist the temptation, and we unboxed those 901s and rocked the house . Compared to the crappy speakers I was used to, they sounded pretty good to my 20 year old ears!

Back in the early 1980's I bought a set of 601's when I was still in college. The sad thing today is kids only want some bluetooth speaker that works with their iPhone. I do vaguely remember the Bose section being separate from the other hif-fi gear in the store. They replaced my RtR speakers that I also bought after my freshman year. I had those 601s until 2004. The foam around the drivers was completely rotted and would crumble if you touched them. I gave them away to a junk hauler. I don't know if he re-sold them or took them to a landfill. I've also had two pair of noise cancelling headphones. I have to say those worked quite well when I was on planes. We also have a Bose radio (I think called the wave) that belonged to my father-in-law. It still works and is in our bathroom. I use it every time I take a shower. But, I learned a long time ago that their speakers were not very good.

In college I got to sample just about every sound system out there in the mid to late 70s. Bose always impressed me as being ordinary speaker hardware in nice cabinets. In the "average speaker" catagory, JBL was so much better.

The word "BOSE" just looks like the german word "Böse" that means "Evil" ;-)

Bose 901s are legendary

I have a set of Gen6 901's and if you pair them with a decent amp AND are using the equalizer that came with them which is VERY necessary AND put them about four feet from a reflective wall they sound pretty decent. That's on the Speaker A position on an old Harman Karden 100W/ch amp. The speakers I have on the Speaker B position are an old set of Yamaha NS-8390's with 8" woofers. These Bose are set up EXACTLY like instuctions direct. If I did an A to B demo you would always pick the Yamaha's as the better sounding speaker from about 2 to 10 feet. If you move farther back I'd bet you'd pick the 901's. Both those sets are currently running with the much hated Polk cheap subwoofer ( with the rat trap removed and a towel shoved in the port). The 901's definitely need a subwoofer. Some Bose products have their place. Their bigger speakers are pretty good in larger places. The smaller systems (AM-5) are terrible in big rooms. The AM-5's work well in my wifes office via an old Sony receiver using her computer as a source.

My 'Secret Find' of the mid-80's was a Pair of Genesis Physics Corp 320's. Have had to have the woofs resurrounded a couple of times; they mate up with a pair of Realistic T-110's and an old pair of KLH Model 6s, wired up in a special manner all together .. and sounds better than many 'high-end' speakers that cost 10,000 dollars a pair. My setup blows them away :) Great for movies AND music with no EQ change, just monitor the volumes (I use L and R amps). Been using this setup since 1987 and will until the day I die. !

Dude still doesn't know what "bait and switch" means ... and there's a LOT of misinformation in here... but I guess that's what you end up with when you build a video from the insufferable comment section of a RU-vid hate video and try to pass it off as "facts".

Buy Other Sound Equipment

My first big speaker purchase as a teenager was to save up for a pair of the original wood-grained rectangular Bose series II 301’s. This was before the dedicated listening rooms and I remember their sound was better than the JBL and real close to the Polk Audio speakers next to them which were more expensive. And now, more than 40 years later, my younger brother still uses them to listen to his vinyl collection. They did and still do sound amazing. Now… their headphones and their Acoustimass… well you might as well pack mud in your ears.

Never forget ordering Harmon-Kardon speakers back in the 70's when I was obsessed with trying to buy the best stereo equipment. I was so excited when the UPS guy delivered them to our retail store. Opened the box, they were completely disassembled into a junk pile, couldn't believe it. I notified the discount dealer I purchased from, nothing, no response. I then contacted Harmon-Kardon thinking for sure they would get after them and require them to take them back and send new ones. Zero response, couldn't care less. Never purchased another HK product again and never will.

Bose was founded by Amar Bose, an Indian (India) American entrepreneur. You like my speakers or there will be trouble

I can only comment on the one Bose product I actually owned although I did try their noise cancelling headphones when I was flying a lot and they worked very well especially compared to other noise cancelling headphones I tried. I also noticed that the USAF used them on their P8 Orion and other aircraft. They really pioneered that product and it worked well. When I first saw the original Bose 901s in a store window and the price I thought who would pay $476 for that? Three years later I did along with the pedestals and frankly for several years I enjoyed them very much. In those days I was not a critical listener yet. My alternative was AR3a. In those days many speakers had rolled off high ends especially because of the way dealers who hated AR exhibited them. So what did I get for my money? 18 table radio speakers? No, 18 drivers we'd now call midwoofers manufactured by CTS and hand segregated into three lots by hand (later done by computer in series II) that handled 30 watts each and had a cloth roll surround for their acoustic suspension function, two small but sturdy wooden cabinets, and an equalizer unit made with precision one percent and five percent parts. So money wise I didn't feel cheated at all. So after several years I went overseas so I boxed them up and forgot about them for several decades. Then one day many years later I took them out and didn't like them anymore. Now I'm an engineer and so when I don't like something I once did I want to find out why and what I could do about it if anything. First of all the putty that sealed the drivers to the wood had dried up and cracked. The cabinets weren't air tight anymore. I called Bose and they said they considered the product unrepairable but offered me a trade in for 50 percent off on their latest version. I declined and instead resealed all of the drivers with clear GE silicone caulking. right where the rim of the basket met the wood. The next day I pushed one cone in and all of the others popped out instantly proving the systems were air tight again. No highs, no lows, it's Bose? Yes but why. I identified three things wrong with the frequency response. Two were in the bass and one in the treble. The speaker had a well known FR rise in the upper bass of about 7 db at around 250 hz. Bose had said in his white paper that he wanted the resonant frequency to be above 180 hz so that the phase shift at resonance would be inaudible. He got that wrong and as a result not only was the resonance frequency too high but the speaker was underdamped. The size of the box and stuffing control the resonance frequency. The bass rolled off at 12 db per octave and crossed the 1 khz output at about 95 hz continuing to descend so that even with 18 db of boost, the speaker's output was considerably lower than needed. This is one reason people played these speakers at ear shattering levels to hear deep bass. The simple fix was to add additional equalization removing both the rise and the fall. This resulted in a speaker with no muddy upper bass and low bass that proved Julian Hirsch's measurements were correct easily reaching 30 hz flat with no distortion and capable of room shaking bass within its limits. It would take 4 pairs to equal what my one pair of Teledyne AR9s with two 12 inch acoustic suspension speakers could do. This is due to the excursion limits of the drivers and the fact that they can only handle 270 watts per channel. With the additional boost of around 12 db, four pairs would require about 1000 watts per channel. The Crown 2502 drive core II amplifier is ideally suited for that. My most powerful amplifier is a Marantz 930 receiver that has about 128 wpc. When pushed you can see the room lights dim. 😄 The below 40 hz 10 db shelf filter on the equalizer came in very handy. Fixing the treble was a much harder problem that took four years until I was satisfied. The midwoofer drivers make for unacceptable tweeters. Gordon Holt was right when he said their inertial mass was too high. Even if it wasn't, dispersion of a 4 inch driver in the top octave would be awful. The solution was to design an array of inexpensive tweeters, 3/8" polys, my favorite, suitable crossovers, and make the system biamplified. Six per channel were needed. They cut in at about 9 khz using single pole crossovers. One hangs from the upper lip of the cabinet using a bracket just above the midwoofer, there are three on the back, and two fire straight up at the ceiling. I was surprised how little output it took, my 100 watt per channel JVC 500 receiver loafing along. I was also surprised at how much difference the upfiring pair made. Both receivers have built in equalizers, there's the Bose equalizer, and I use a Radio Shack disco mixer with dual 7 band equalizers as the master preamplifier. All of them had to be carefully adjusted. The end result was worth every bit of the effort. This is now a full range system whose tonality is very accurate across the entire audio spectrum. Plenty of highs, plenty of lows, no 8 foot wide violins or singers, retaining all of the special attributes of the direct reflecting principle with none of the flaws. As for the quality of the parts Bose used in this model and series II, I am very satisfied that they are very high quality. They are now 54 year old and work perfectly, much better than new. If I didn't have a much better experimental system I invented, I'd be listening to them a lot. But the EEAS prototype sounds so great I listen to nothing else. It's much more fun for me being an engineer than a shopper. A lot cheaper too.

Years ago a Bose store opened up in a nearby plaza so as I was walking by I stepped in. The salesman convinced me to go through his presentation. I didn't think they sounded that good because I have a superior stereo system. But when the salesman revealed the little cubes I said I know stereos and there is no way you can get that kind of bass out of those tiny things, I'm calling BS. So he then reveals he is also using a cheap hidden subwoofer and I left.

I had a pair of Bose computer speakers. After a few of years, they would cut out and come back randomly. Looking online the problems was a faulty capacitor, which was a known fault of the speakers. Bose would not even let me pay for a repair but did offer me to sell new ones directly from them for a 20% discount over retail (the exact same model with the known problem). Two weeks after ordering, I called them up to find out where my new speakers were. They said they wouldn't ship until I returned the old ones. So much for the 20% discount when I had to pay to ship the old ones back. Canceled my order on the spot and never returned as a customer.

I sold home and car audio at The Good Guys in the late 90's and early 2000's. I hated Bose's sound quality, and I never understood why people bought it. You can't get good high or low frequency sound out of a 2" midrange speaker with no tweeter, and their cheap band-pass sub sitting behind your couch isn't going to fill in everything else that's missing.

You mispronounced one of their products. It's called the "Acoustiass". Your welcome. 😉

I will say back in the 80’s when one of the woofers in my 301’s got taken out during a party, I drove to their place in I think Framingham to buy a new woofer. While waiting for the speaker, a guy with what looked like a prototype walked by and asked me if I wanted to get a quick tour. I did and it was pretty cool. Still have the 301’s in my garage.

i have a pair of Bose 501 series 3, modded the crossovers on em a bit and had to rebuild them as the wood had disintegrated, now they sound soo much better! i love em! (i did hate them in their stock form, found them to be very bassy initially, now they're perfect)

Stay away from that cheap audio man !! He’s all strung out on caffeine 😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂👀

In the 70s, my parents gave me a new pair of the Bose 901 series 1V as a college graduation gift. I enjoyed them but didn't like the active equalization. I didn't feel deceived, and I appreciated their spatial sound qualities. Sound issues are subjective, so please note that not all Bose speaker owners were dissatisfied...

Back in 1992, I got a pair of Bose 201 speakers to use for surrounds. On systems of the day, both rear surround speakers got the same signal and I don't think anything above 7 kHz was sent. I had them on top of 2 bookcases on the back wall of the room and they worked great for that purpose. Later on in 1998 when I upgraded to a Dolby AC3 / dts system, I replaced them with larger full range speakers and moved them closer to the listening area since they got full range separate signals.

When it comes to the Wave radio, it's a nice unit as even at very low volumes, the sound makes it to places you don't really expect it to go. My father had his in his kitchen and could clearly hear the music far from the radio. I was astonished by that feat.

Dont have all products but have had my 301s since 82' and they still sound amazing. Have them on a platform hanging from the ceiling and only replaced one tweeter shipped to the mt. and done promptly under warranty years ago.

I've owned several systems over the years starting way back in 1976. I've run Pioneer, Yamaha, Phase Linear and other receiver/amplifier setups. I've paired those receivers with everything from JBL to BIC Venturi to Altec Lansing speakers. But by far the best sound system I ever had was a Yamaha 100w per channel amp running a pair of Bose 901 Series II Direct Reflecting Loudspeakers. The 901's could comfortably take everything the Yamaha could give them. Classical music was incredible off both vinyl and CD. Rock and Roll was concert-like. Heavy Metal was head bangingly awesome. But here's the thing --- Bose 901's are designed for only one application. They MUST have a rectangular room with at least an 8 foot ceiling. They MUST be located along the narrow wall, equidistant from the long walls on both sides, equidistant from the back wall and either (depending on the circumstance of the audience) at head height when sitting or at head height if the audience is going to be standing. A large room is a must. Seperation of the speakers MUST be at least 10 feet. A room with a carpeted floor is good, hardwood floors are best. Wood paneling is best but the most commonly found painted sheetrock is suitable. They sound like shit when simply placed on the floor. They sound like shit when placed 6 feet apart in the corner of a room. They sound like shit when placed too close to the corner, wall or ceiling of a room. They sound like shit when placed too far apart. This is why they are so maligned. They are very picky when it comes to setup. I had the chance to run my 901's with a 200w Phase Linear setup and they were incredible. No distortion at very high volumes. I would put my old setup against anything running today. I currently have a matched pair of 901 Series VI speakers. Sadly, I have not had the opportunity to set them up for over 10 years. I don't have the right architecture.

I worked at Circuit City in the late 90’s and although we always had a dedicated endcap display for the Bose Lifestyle system, we were allowed to demo any of their other speakers in our primary listening room. And I can tell you that I sold quite a few Polk RT25’s after demoing them against the Bose 301’s.

A bunch of years ago, I had an experience with a 2008 SAAB 9³ Turbo. It had a Bose stereo in it and IMHO that car had the BEST factory "stock" system I had ever experienced! It sounded so good and was so loud.. the more I raised the volume, the louder and BETTER the system sounded! I just didn't understand it. It did make being broken down on the side of the road a little better! I demonstrated some Black Sabbath for the cop that stopped to check on me.. He agreed! Lolol 😎

I found the electronics in them were quite iffy. For instance, I bought an Acoustimass 12 in the late 90s at the Bose outlet store in Huntley, IL, and they were always offering a free system to go along with it. For this system, they gave away a free Bose Wave Radio. That's the first clue the markup was huge, but I wanted the smaller speakers. The LED digital readout on the CD player portion of the system died shortly after the warranty expired. I didn't experience this, because I had upgraded to the even smaller speakers and had given the system to my parents. With my upgrade they threw in a smaller system the Acoustimass 3 with the CD player. I thought that would be a nice wedding gift for my sister, so I pulled the trigger. I was proud of my gift. The problem is they didn't immediately use it. It sat in the box for two or three years until they bought their house. It didn't work new out of the box. Obviously, the warranty had expired. They used to give you all kinds of free systems to get you to buy into the larger systems.

I have the 900 soundbar with 700 surrounds and dual 700 subs in my bedroom. I paid 50% of the retail price. It sounds great, looks premium, is modern, reliable and doesn’t turn the room into a man cave. It works seamlessly with all kinds of content from the Sony tv, Apple tv and X-box with consistency. Yes, I could get an av system (I had an Epi/Technics and I love them), but this system has been objectively (Rtings) and subjectively (Andrew Robinson) tested to be good. It fits my purpose and I didn’t need to destroy the walls of the rental unit for cable management and then do it all over again when I move. It’s 2024, these systems have gotten really good for their purpose and I like it.

I worked at Pacific Stereo back in the late '70s. The Bose stuff sounded good, but only under specific conditions. A buddy of mine listened to some Klipsch side-by-side with the 901s (we could still do that at the time), bought a pair of Heresies, and never looked back. You could not have given me a pair of Bose. My ears were too valuable.

I have a pair of 901s circa 1976. They lack the bass if put in a big room. I still use the 901s I have,they've been rebuild but I use them as middle guys,the frequency response I send to them is 15k-300hz. I got subs underneath em and a piezo above em. Yes they do not like power but ,with this arrangement I have they do sound awesome!

Not sure if the story about dedicated room is true or if we were out of law, but I worked in a provincial audio/video store (Atlantic it was called, in province of Quebec, Canada) in the begining of the 80s. Yes, we had a closed listening room with amps, cassette decks and speakers who contained Bose 301, 501 and 901s, but they also contained JBL, Cerwin Vega and many other speaker brands. About 7 pairs in total with only 3 from bose.

I purchased my dream speakers, Bose 901s as a young soldier in Germany 1980. I had my chest stuck out like I had the best set of speakers available. My roommate purchased a set of Infinity Quantum 5s for about 150.00 less than my 901's and man I was totally jealous of the Infinity sound. The 901s were mostly hype, and you had to have them placed just right for a proper experience. I don't hate Bose, they are just OK.

My dad got a bose 321 system when i was young like in the early 2000s. It was probably what kept me away from hifi for so long. Luckily I got to experience vintage Marantz 2275 and a tube Pioneer SX-34B 20 years later. I was missing out.

I sold speakers at Circuit City in the 90s. We were not allowed to put BOSE products on sale as their prices were fixed by the manufacturer.

In 1988 i did AB comparison of Bose vs other brands in a room at Circuit City(large US chain) Got 901's I hung from my 10 ft ceiling for front, 401's rear on shelves and 2-201's in series for center. Onkio pro 90 receiver/amp. Still rocks to no end and with no end in sight.

I have a Bose SoundLink Color II and I have to say I'm glad I made that choice. This little thing is a tank. I left it in the bed of my truck for months, forgetting it was there and to this day it still sounds as bad as the day it was new 😊

My wife bought brand new Renault megane Bose edition in 2011 and she is still driving it and one of the main reasons she don't want to change a car is bose as it still have great pure sound at any volume with strong bass that moves music to a new level. I changed many cars with many sound systems and not one was even close to her, so I really like bose. I know that bose in mazda mx5 and Rx8 is bad, but in her megane it is soooo great

We've had a Bose Wave that we got used. Enjoyed listening to it during meals. One day the cd play went on the fritz. I called several repair shops who said they wouldn't touch it. So, I watched a few videos, ordered the capacitors ($7 for 40 panasonic brand mixed types), replaced the bad ones, and it works perfectly now. It's not for blasting. We enjoy it.

From my military time in the late 80s... The post exchange (store) they sold Bose. Yes they were expensive, but I could get them on layaway. Few options when overseas. I bought a set of AM-IIIs Hooked them to a Sony amp. Never looked back. I added onto the AM-IIIs with a brand called KLH for a center and 2 surrounds. They were a lot cheaper. I am still running those same speakers 30 years later. All of them. Have gone through several amps, but the speakers won't quit. Now with the new receiver amps that have the self/auto setup for the EQ and room balancing, is it the speakers or the receiver that makes them sound good? :)

Growing up in the 80s and 90s, I remember Bose well. In the 90s, I was in to car audio bass CDs. I remember taking a Techmaster P.E.B. bass CD to a Bose dealer. I said show me the best you have. Here come the 901s. It was the all in one acoustamass 901 system. The look on that guys face was priceless. The 901s could not play the bass. They fell on their face hard. You could hear the active EQ trying to compensate, but it could not.

It was great to see you with Cheap Audio Man in the first part of the video…you both always have great content..I may have to do a road trip to your store this summer.