Bose Wave Music System - Graphite Gray by BOSE
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Our Price: $499.95 Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $419.99 (click here) Category: Speakers See more digital camera details and other models |
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Digital camera reviews of Bose Wave Music System - Graphite Gray
Digital camera Review: DO TRULY LOVE MY BOSE!
Summary: 5 Stars
I, frankly, as "working class", never woulda paid full price for a "clock radio", but my corporate brother bought one, and, for reasons other than performance, sold it to me at 1/2 price. I am going back 5 yr. or so here, have the old model CD/radio where the top opens, but having had it as my primary "stereo" the last many years, were I to lose it, I WOULD pay full price for a new one! In fact, I got three of my friends to buy the Bose Wave over the ensuing years and all love the thing too! Mine still works as well as ever, has travelled and moved all over w/ me, showing it's durability. "If I were a rich man, yiddle diddle diddle, etc.", I would buy a dozen and gift all friends and relatives! OK, I enthuse, but it has been a fine purchase and I highly recommend it!Digital camera Review: Does what it's supposed to do. Not for all types of music though.
Summary: 4 Stars
I've been using Bose equipment since 1995. I won't say Bose is necessarily better than anything else out there but if you listen to a Bose system and it fits your needs, then who's to tell you not to buy it.
Regarding this Wave Radio/CD, I purchased it from Bose[...] and they gave me a free Bose glass table stand. Always go to Bose[...] because they usually throw in something with the Wave units. Either a stand, or an upgraded remote.
As far as sound quality is concerned, placement is key. If you hide this in a bookshelf, sound quality will suffer, the ideal placement for the unit is in an open space backing up to a wall. The purpose of backing up to the wall is to increase the low end response. Try it and you will hear the difference.
When you listen to the unit at lower to moderate volumes, it sounds good when you're listening to acoustic, classical, or jazz music. If you think you can play rap, R&B, dance, etc. on this, you will be very disappointed as I don't think Bose designed this unit with such a user in mind.
If you remember the old Bose infomercials for the original Wave Radio/CD's from yesteryear, they used to have one line which said "It sounds like a system costing five times as much" and then on your TV you would watch the Wave system morph into a full stereo system. That couldn't be farther from the truth. For three reasons, this unit does not use a tweeter, it does not have a true mid-range driver, and there is no subwoofer or at least an output for one. An acoustic wave guide structure will only take your sound so far. In fact if you raise the volume quite a bit, the sound becomes hollow not deeper.
If you want a nice sleek system to keep by your bed or on your desk at work, and you listen to the radio or the music I outlined above, you'll actually be surprised at this unit. That is what I use it for. $[...] is very pricey and IMO not really worth it, but if you don't mind spending the $500, and you use it within it's limitations, I don't see anything wrong with it and it sounds very good.
Honestly I think this is more of a status symbol. Bose does really well with advertising and when someone sees the Bose Wave Radio, you get a nod of approval.
Digital camera Review: Don't Believe Everything You Read or Hear
Summary: 1 Stars
I received the Bose System last year as a Christmas gift. Nice and easy to hook up. Looks modern and stylish. So far, so good.
Turned the radio on to classical station and wasn't as impressed by the sound as I expected to be. Very flat with no way to accentuate the highs or lows because, as many other reviewers have mentioned, there are no bass and treble controls. So be it, I can live with that.
Next step was try a few CDs. I inserted the first - a home burnt disc - and watched as the front display blinked "Reading Disc" for THREE solid minutes. I ejected the disc and reinserted it. Two minutes later I ejected it again. The third time I had to press the "Eject" button on the remote numerous times before I was able to retrieve my CD. Finally on the fourth attempt it played.
Enjoyed the music for a while and tried a second CD. This time after a minute or so of "Reading Disc" the Bose system informed me this disc was "Not Playable". Again, as other reviewers have noted, these CDs worked in EVERY other machine that tried to play them. Just for interest's sake I then tried a commercially made CD. Music started up almost immediately but come Track #11 the music skipped like somebody had bumped into your old turntable.
A few days later I called Bose to report these problems. They agreed to exchange this unit for a new one. New one is received and works slightly better than the original. It plays most of my burnt CDs (about 90% of them anyway) without having to reinsert them multiple times...until a month or so ago. Now I'm back to not knowing when I put a disc in if it's going to play or not.
At this point I e-mailed Bose Tech Support and called them as well just to see if they came up with similar ideas. Right off the bat I could tell the guy on the phone had his "manual" in front of him with the standard solutions: use a better quality blank CD (I use only brand name CD-Rs like Sony, TDK, Fuji, etc.), burn the discs at a slower speed (I burn my CDs at 4X), try a different software program, and, my all-time favorite, wait a little longer for the burnt CD to cool off! Yes he actually told me that. And the e-mail response I got was just more of the same.
I recently traded in my second Bose for a third one (The original Bose was a Christmas present from my wife and I don't want to hurt her feelings by telling her I think it's a piece of junk). I've had this one a few days and it's no better than the other ones. Just for kicks I called Bose a short time ago and run through the whole thing with the guy. This tech's response was that if you burn 10 CDs they are all not going to be of the same quality. I asked him why they were ALL good enough to play on my $30 boom box, a $75 CD player at work, and my computer's disc drive but the $500 Bose System couldn't do any better than 7 out of 10. No answer. I then asked him why Bose felt the need to inundate the airwaves and newspapers with ads for this machine instead of taking some of their profits and developing an optical drive that worked the way it should. "Well, sir", he replied, "I'll certainly pass on your concerns". I feel better now.
Two more things: when you receive the system from Bose enclosed is a typed sheet Bose refers to as "Our Commitment To You". Part of this sheet of baloney states: "And we strive to avoid flashy sounds such as those associated with accentuated bass and/or treble frequencies. While those sounds may be initially attractive to the novice, they are not real and are not enduring".
In addition to selling an electronic paperweight for $500 Bose has the audacity to tell you that you don't have any idea what music should sound like. Only Bose knows. Granted we're all not sound engineers but we do know how we like our music. That's like going out for a meal and not being able to use any of the condiments on your steak or use sugar in your coffee because the chef has decided you're too dumb to know it tastes better his way!
The last thing is the segment of the ad campaign where someone from Forbes is quoted as saying this system sounds better than one costing five times as much. If that loon couldn't do any better than this with $2,500 to spend I'd have to question his effort or assume he was on Bose's payroll.
Overpriced. Overhyped. No tone controls. A remote that's too easily misplaced or lost. Non-existent tech support. A major MAJOR disappointment. Do not buy!
Digital camera Review: Don't Buy!
Summary: 1 Stars
I enjoyed my old Bose Radio /CD Player for five years and decided to "upgrade" to the better sound quality of the Wave System. I purchased a Wave Music System and CD Changer. Another reviewer said the CD player in these units is Dollar-store quality. That's being generous. The base Wave unit regularly "captures" CD's, often for several days, before deciding to eject the disc. Okay, I thought, just use the Changer. Wrong. The Changer more often than not balks, skips, and otherwise rebels if you try to get it to read a disc. Sometimes if you let it "rest" for several hours it will get over the rebellion. Usually you have to unplug and "reboot" the Changer, which corrects the problem every once in a while. Both units were returned to Bose and replaced (they were good about this) but are STILL not working properly. The second Changer is actually worse than the one that was returned. I won't bother returning these units again, but won't make the mistake of purchasing Bose equipment in the future.
The CD sound quality IS better than my "old" Bose Radio/CD player (when it's working), but the "old" one is DEPENDABLE. I agree with other reviewers the radio sound quality just ain't worth the price. I don't mind having to use the remote as much as other buyers, but purchased extras in case I lost one. They're cheap.
If I could purchase the Wave Music System and CD Changer again -- I wouldn't. The money I spent on these units is WAY too much for the quality. Bose used to deliver quality to their customers. Not any more.
Digital camera Review: Don't buy as a suprise
Summary: 4 Stars
The sound is great, the look is sleek, but it looses a star for indescretion. The box is labeled boldly "BOSE WAVE SOUND SYSTEM" and even has several pictures of the item announcing its arrival. Maybe they could add on the box "HERE IS YOUR "SUPRISE" BIRTHDAY GIFT!" or maybe "STEAL ME WHILE I WAIT FOR MY NEW OWNER TO COME HOME FROM WORK". Enough sarcasm-I was deeply disappointed that my husband's suprise gift was a dead give-away when he got home from work before me.