Topic: Help, Bose content...

[Chanher]

M dad is convinced he needs a Bose system.  His reasoning is that he wants great sound in a portable device (he wants to get that small one with a CD player).  My first instinct was to try to talk him out of it, but I actually have no real knowledge on the subject.  Is that his best option for something small and portable?  Is Bose crap?  thanks in advance

[Lil Kim Jong-Il]

Bose gets bashed pretty hard when they try to compete in the highend arena.  But since he's buying a portable stereo, it's probably decent enough.  I have no first hand knowlege of that one, but I read a couple of favorable reviews when we were comparison shopping for a gift.  We ended up going with a denon system that had amazing sound for what it was.  You best bet is to try to find someplace to do a heads up comparison using CDs that he plans to play.   

search for reviews at www.audioasylum.com, but be prepared to hear lots of people bashing the bigger bose speakers.  www.audioreview.com might have some reports too.

[nickgregory]

my parents actually have that unit, and honestly, for such a small unit, it is in a class by itself.  I know it is popular to bash bose, and I would agree, when you are talking about how overpriced their speakers are as compared to comptetitors products which sound better, but I dont believe that criticism extends here.  The unit sounds great for such a small piece of equipment imho.

[Lil Kim Jong-Il]

Cool! I read good reviews, but never from someone I knew to trust. 

So in the commercials they portray the sound as being much bigger than the box.  Is that accurate?   Are the drivers in some kind of transmission line enclosure?

[nickgregory]

I have no idea how they do it technology wise (never been motivated enough to research it), but the sound is pretty incredible from such a small device.  It is not in the same league as my playback systems in terms detail, but in terms of filling a room, with spatious sound...it is pretty sweet...puts most of the bookshelf systems I have heard to shame, and even some of the low end rack systems.

[Chanher]

that's cool, I'll tell him that.  +t's

[BWolf]

if your talking about one of those wave radios, my father has one is his house and the thing blasts and sounds awesome, i have never had any complaints about it, works really well

i don't know about thier other full stereo systems, but i would definately shy away from their "high-end" speakers because you can get a lot more for your money elseware...

[Lee]

the wave radios are pretty cool... definately the best sound in something that size.  Not a whole lot of bass, but it's to be expected with those tiny drivers.

[som]

One alternative to consider is the Cambridge Soundworks equivalent:

http://www.cambridgesoundworks.com/store/category.cgi?category=aud_radio&item=c174rczzz

[Chanher]

+t's