WOW WAS I AMAZED BY THIS HUNK OF JUNK! IT WAS THE LAMEST EXCUSE FOR A MINISYSTEM! BOY...... GLAD THAT I HAD THE HONOR OF NOT OWNING THIS PIECE OF CRAP! DOES A STUPID SMALL CRAPPY DESIGN JUSTIFY THE HEFTY PRICE TAG OF 1200 BUX? WRONGO STUPIDO! BUT IF YOU ARE RICH AND JUST WANT TO BUY IT, ID CONSIDER GIVING IT TO A WORTHY CAUSE..... THE LOCAL WHORE HOUSE! GOD WAS THIS THE BIGGEST PIECE OF CRAP EVER!

The sound of this unit is actually decent for the starters. If it weren't for the price and the very poor built quality, it would have earned 3 stars. Too bad...

Rich, spatially deep sound.

Great system. Wasn't sure what to expect after reading all these "Bose-bashing" reviews of all their products. I may be an amateur audiophile after only 3 years and about 10 grand in equipment, but I know I like the sound quality, design, and ability to play clear, loud, music at New England Patriots tailgating parties. Seems like a hell of a system. would I pay the $1400 retail tag? Probably not...but then again...only goyem pay retail...take it form a guy in retail. I think that after owning the product, it only reinforces my belief that all these Bose-bashing guys are anal retentive dopes who just need to sound arrogant enough to undermine a competent, if dommewhat overpriced, offering. Now let me duck as I avoid the onslaught of every pea brained "audiophile" who still lives with his mother... God Bless Her and her anechoic chamber...

Makes a good door stop.

It makes "sound".

P.T. Barnum was right - there's a sucker born every minute. How else could you explain the positive reviews this grossly overpriced piece of junk gets?

Bose is well known for using inferior components and producing inaccurate sound, and this system continues that tradition. The frequency response is terrible, highs and lows are pushed to excite the ears initially, and the midrange is non-existent. This is another Bose trademark - push the sound so listeners "think" they are hearing something extraordinary (they extend their marketing techniques to their products themselves). The fact is that this is a very inaccurate system that colors the sound to sell units. But the sound is tiring after a short time, and becomes obnoxious upon extended use.

I can't believe other reviewers call themselves "audiophiles" and then give this unit high marks. But I guess if Circuit City or Best Buy is your idea of a "high-end" store, you won't know any better. I suspect the good reviews here are simply justifications for spending obscene money for this marketing gimmick, in spite of what some of the tin ears say ("Bose bashers are jealous"??!! Of what? High priced junk that can't compete with ANY other brand?). $1000 for this? Astonishing!

Do your own research (you'll find Bose doesn't publish technical specs on their products, or allow the a/v magazines to review their products, because they would be too embarrassing), spend time learning how to listen, and listen to LOTS of products. For $1000 you can find many, many fine-sounding systems that will show just how bad this Bose is.

Oh, by the way, I got the Bose as a gift, compared it to what I already had in my bedroom (at half the cost) with the giver, and she returned it and yelled at the store manager for selling it to her in the first place. Good girl.

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Two tin cans and a string.

Big sound

Boomy, fatiguing to the ears

I listened to this thing for about 15 minutes, it was all I could stand. I was at a Bose shop in San Diego. The morons had it set up in the corner. It hurt my ears. I quickly had him move it away from the corner, it helped some. But still it was way too boomy. It's like you press the "mega bass" button on your typical $125 boom box. Why pay over $1000 dollars for a boom box with the "mega bass" button always on?

It is quite loud and is impressive, the volume and bass vs the size of the thing. But the sound isn't real or pleasing. My home system sounds far better (though it did cost $6300).

I then went to a Good Guys and listened to some 300 to 600 dollar systems, small CD players/FM with small speakers attached by cables. WHAT A DIFFERENCE!!! The sound was clean, all tones accounted for. Real treble. Clean bass. Though they didn't reach down much below 100Hz, far cleaner and pleasing to the ears than the AcousticWave.

Please, listen for yourself. Perhaps you need to listen to a true Hi-Fi system to know what true bass and sound quality is.

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Sonys and Denons

Looks

Sound, Price

$1000? Gheesh! Got to dink around with this thing today in a relative's not-large living room and just kept wondering why Herbie Hancock would sell out like that. Maybe the convenience is nice, I'll grant that, but if I bought a receiver and cheap speakers that sounded like this, I would be so sick. The human voice, people, sounds very bad on this thing and if it can't get a voice right, what good is it? I messed with position, tried it loud and soft and it all comes down to this being a $1000 toy. At $500 I wouldn't be so upset, as the looks and convenience couple with reasonable volume capability would qualify it as a fair "lifestyle" product- one whose convenience may allow it to overcome its sonic shortcomings. But $1000? There are companies like B&W, NHT, Axiom, PSB, Tannoy, Paradigm, KEF, Acoustic Energy, who make terrific small, cheap speakers that can be mated with a decent receiver and/or integrated amp to produce sound that cannot be remotely compared with this- even with bad placement.. Many computer speakers mated with a portable cdp would be better. Or try the $450 Denon-Mission minisystem. I shouldn't be so annoyed, but given the advertising claims... aw,never mind. It was just so darn hard trying to pretend to like this thing in front of my dear, sweet niece.

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Cambridge Model 88, Wave Radio

Unbelievable sound, best I've ever heard. Puts everything else to shame.

Too inexpensive, Bose could have charged thousands more.

You may look at reviews of this product and thing ill of the system. Let me tell you why Bose is rated so poorly. It is simply a matter envy. Like the case with so many large successful companies, people are simply jealous of Bose. They look at their own failure of not being able to become a success and take that anger out at others better then themselves (in this case - Bose). I know those of you who don't have this complex will appreciate Bose for what it is, simply the best sounding system out there. Now, I am betting there will be further negative reviews following this one. But remember, it is simply another failure venting their anger.

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Klipsch, Acoustic Research, Polk, among other garbage.

size and sound quality,ease of hookup and operation,75 ohm antenna hookup

Top mounted LCD display,cheap remote

Amazingly great sound for the price.I have tried severalcompact systems(AIWA,Sony,Magnovox,JBL.etc...)in the 200-600 dollar rangeand nothing compares to the BOSE...........nothing!! I am listening to the music the way it is supposed to be heard,without the moronic "thump".Definetly a system for the serious listener.One super investment with unbelievable,unsurpassed quality and sound......buy it and experience "real" music.

Elegant design. Visually attractive, more compact than I expected. Clean lines, a unit for adults.

Weak sound, grossly overpriced.

Have been admiring the look of these things for years, watching the prices on e-bay. Questioned the price. Decided to set up a direct, side-by-side comparison with the $300 JBL 3030 minisystem. Put them in same room, covered with a sheet, put in identical CDs and had my daughter cue back and forth.

I was wholly unprepared for how poor the sound was. It sounded utterly empty and thin compared to the JBL. Tried classical, rock, R&B. I just couldn't find anything that changed the result. I'd probably buy the Bose for $175-$200 and accept the water-weak sound. $1,000??? they must be high. No wonder so many are available on Ebay. After all the marketing I was really expecting it to "fill the room". A joke. A real joke. I'm returning it.

No axe to grind. I love the design and can't buy the JBL either because I hate that design. I'm 44 years old and don't want the ridiculous teenage look in my house. But the JBL did sound good. It's a fair deal at $300. But, my oh my, was I disappointed by the Bose. I guess I was kinda hoping I'd hear something that would goose me into bidding $600 for one on ebay. But no chance. And I really loved the old Bose 901s in college. Oh well.

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JBL 3030

Ease of use.

The unit costs too much for what it offers.

I recently saw an informercial for this product that offered a "no-hassle" 30-day trial. I figured that this would be the best way to audition the unit as I was hoping to setup a listening area in another room of my residence. I have had trivial experiences with Bose, and I felt that I had to listen to the unit rather than trust the name brand. To me, it seems that either a Bose system is very nice, or it is a waste of money. I tried my best to have an unbiased analysis of my appreciation of the Bose unit.

My current music listening setup includes a Yamaha 795a receiver connected to two Paradigm Monitor 7 (conventional 3-way) main speakers. The CD player that I have is a Denon DCM-370. It was to this setup that I compared this Bose system. The price of the conventional equipment was purchased for a price that is comparable to the price of the Bose AcousticWave.

First off, please note that I did not use any HDCDs for my testing. Also, I chose not to use the Bose sampler CD as I felt that the mixing would be biased towards the AcousticWave syetem's strengths. I have always been a fan of Loreena McKennitt and used her CD 'The Mask and the Mirror' as the first CD that I tested. If you are not familiar with any of McKennitt's works, she posesses a beautiful voice and mixes her intriguing lyrics with celtic beats that are formed with a variety of classical and contemporary instruments. Her music usually is rather airy, with little bass.

I placed the Bose system in the location usually occupied by my center channel. Like all small systems, the Bose unit is amazingly simple to use and I was able to sit down and begin enjoying music. At first, I was impressed by the AcousticWave's ability to produce such room-filling sound from its small package. However, by track 2 (The Bonny Swans), I could tell that the unit seemed to have a slight problem with some sounds in McKennitt's vocal range. While the Bose unit produces sound that is much better than most boom-box and small integrated systems, it did not sound as incredible as Bose claims.

The sound produced by my Paradigm speakers is much more transparent and distinct than the Bose. Compared to the Paradigms, the Bose unit lacked the fidelity and sheer beauty of McKennitt's voice. Her voice came accross rather flat and lacking in definition when listened through the Bose. Many times, I felt that the instruments and her voice seemed to be produced separately, but not seamlessly.

Upon closer inspection of the Bose unit, I could see why. It seems that the AcousticWave has conventional tweeters for highs and the lower, instrumental sounds produced via the wave-guide system. I do not have any professional tools to gauge where exacty the crossover is, but I would venture a guess that it is within the higher portion of the human vocal range - maybe around 3500Hz. These conventional speakers sound fine enough - if they were found in a low price unit. It seemed that Bose attempted to mask this shortfall with their rich sounding wave-system. While this does produce rich sound, it does not compare well to the sound produced by the Paradigms. Also, you cannot adjust any parameters (bass, treble, etc.) of the Bose unit.

After a week of listening, I cannot justify the purchase of the Bose Unit at its lofty price. While $1000 may seem like a drop in the bucket for some, I feel that I must get my money's worth if a unit is to cost as much as my current system. While this unit is much better than those bookshelf units offered by Aiwa, JVC, and the like, this unit tries to set itself apart by using its wave-guide feature as a suprior artifact.

I must admit, the Wave technology is intruiging and offers its own unique sound. Unfortunately, the unit does not sound any better than a time-tested 3-way speaker setup. If you simply want a compact unit that is easy to use and sounds pretty good, the Bose unit fits that bill. However, I believe that if oneu invest the same amount of money on the conventional receiver/amplifier speaker setup, the result will be able a higher level of sound quality and enjoyment.

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Home theatre, 2-Channel stereo/receiver combinations.