What set of speakers would you throw down a black hole, never to be seen, and more importantly heard from again?
You ever hear a set of speakers you wish you have never heard, you wish had never existed, you wish you could throw in a black hole never to be heard from again? I have.  Cambridge Soundwoks Model Seventeen by Henery Kloss. For $100 I spent on these back in the day…boy if I had only…. Turned out to be weak, toneless, real pathetic bass less speakers. Can’t even give’em away on craigslist.
I realize this just my opinion, which actually differs considerably from ‘some guy‘ who reviewed the Model Seventeens on audioREVIEW and gave them a 5 of 5.
But what about you? Best story for speakers you wish you could catapult into a black hole never to be heard again WINS an audioREVIEW T-Shirt.
Leave your story below in the comments. We’ll pick a winner next weekend.
Anything made by BOSE. A friend had the older ?01 whatever series that he was proudly displaying for setup in his new media room. I listened as he meticulously unpacked them and demo’ed them. He had been talking for months about his new house getting done so he could setup his dream media room. I listened as any good friend should as he played some music through his hi dollar amp and I smiled when he asked: “What do you think?”. I did not even bother to argue, he was a confirmed Bose coolaid drinker. I personally would not use 1 Bose speaker in my system if you gave it to me. My wifes ex left 1 of his 2 lifestyle systems when he left. I dug out my Vandersteens and amp from storage and replaced the bose system. Now she smiles when we walk past the bose display at the local megastores. We have 10 times the system for 1\2 the price and yes we did give away the lifestyle system. My wifes ex was also a confirmed BOSE coolaid drinker and he bought 2 lifestyle systems while in the military. Bose is by all accounts a great company,but that said, I would not miss their speakers if they all disappeared tomorrow.
I always said Bose 901s would make good boat anchors. I used to work for a stereo retailer in Southern CA. A customer walked in one day and asked to buy a pair. I commented, “Just a minute…. I will get you a salesman with no conscience.” Almost got fired.
Bose Acoustimass 16……….actually all Bose home theater speakers are junk.They ‘fool” your ears into thinking you are getting great sound,Then you realize you are left with hardly any highs, and mediocre lows……just muddyness.
Bose – “Better Sound Through Advertising”. I loved Tommy’s story. It must be HELL having to sell Bose products when you’re a music lover that knows better. In the early ’80′s I got saddled with a pair of wretched plastic pieces of S, I think they were called 902′s, allegedly “pro” audio units. Here’s their apparent plan; “Why actually design a proper enclosure with good drivers when we can just stuff 8 1-ohm drivers wired in series into a conveniently shaped box? We can make it sound “perfect” by adding a pre-set equalizer to the signal chain! Then, we can charge more for the system because it has an outboard gadget! And 8 speakers!” They may be able to handle 1000 watts, but it takes 1000 watts to get 100db out of them, they’re so insanely inefficient. I was fortunate in that these 902 – whatever – “things” were destroyed in a truck rollover so I didn’t have to try to unload them on someone else. I too, have a conscience. More new slogans – “No Highs…No Lows…BOSE!” “Better Sound Through Litigation”
The Yamaha NS-10 without a doubt. The near field culprit of thousands of unlistenable recordings.
Yep Bose anything. I’ve fallen 3 times for their products and every time I ask myself what was I thinking. The center channel speaker that was $200 ten years ago? Same today. THE worst center I’ve ever owned. The 201s? JUNK. Absolutely overpriced junk. If you want massively overpriced speakers with zero crisp sound buy bose. They sound like any 2-way speaker with a blown tweeter.