Watching this commercial for the "New Wave" system. It's a clock radio that the advertisement claims can "produce the same sound" as an actual stereo setup with "wires and contraptions." It also reproduces "crisp highs" as well as "deep lows."

This is obviously a false claim, like 100% of everything else they advertise. I've heard a lot of Bose equipment and shattered their in-store nifty little "blind test".

You can get ten times the performance for 1/2 the cost if you go with an actual audio brand such as Denon or Klipsch or Pioneer.

Are their advertising techniques technically criminal? They're making blatently false claims, after all, and their products are consistently overpriced, sometimes on the order of 50 times too much.

5/2/2008 7:45:15 PM

i had one of those radios, the sound was very good. no idea what the cost was though

5/2/2008 8:01:19 PM

You ought to hear a real stereo. Audiophile or not, I have a hard time imagining how anyone could classify that radio as "very good." But, to each his own.

5/2/2008 8:03:38 PM

old people ask for Bose, they have the $$ to buy it

5/2/2008 8:13:30 PM

Then is Bose doing the classic swindle the old folks routine? Which is illegal?

5/2/2008 8:18:47 PM

Quote :

"You can get ten times the performance for 1/2 the cost if you go with an actual audio brand such as Denon or Klipsch or Pioneer."

half the cost of the clock radio? how much does that thing cost???

5/2/2008 8:28:22 PM

first off... It's a fucking clock radio. Different market segment than a regular speaker system and their claim about a stereo like setup is true as they use directional speakers to mimic left and right channel in a small room. It may not sound the best or have distinct left and right channels, but again, it's a clock radio.

2nd of all, it's a Bose... of course they are overpriced. You are buying a name brand, it's called marketing. I wouldn't mind having a bose system, but I'm not paying for it.

5/2/2008 8:40:09 PM

I really really hate trying to argue with ignorant people about Bose shit... I still don't get how so many people think they're high end audio equipment

5/2/2008 8:41:35 PM

Quote :

"2nd of all, it's a Bose... of course they are overpriced. You are buying a name brand, it's called marketing. I wouldn't mind having a bose system, but I'm not paying for it."

But many other "name brands" produce products FAR superior in quality at less cost. That's what I'm getting at.

5/2/2008 8:43:36 PM

no highs, no lows, just blose


but, for what they are, they sound pretty good. The engineers do a good job of taking a $0.50 one way driver and tuning some injection molded plastic baffles and ports to make it sound good to the bottom 50%.

5/2/2008 8:44:12 PM

lol audio nerds

5/2/2008 10:06:55 PM

Quote :

"half the cost of the clock radio? how much does that thing cost???"

so i'll take your lack or response as you were just making shit up

5/2/2008 11:54:16 PM

that exact same Bose commercial has been coming on the TV since I was a kid in the 80s. Your thread is about a regurgitated old commercial, much like those Shake an Bake commercials and Ovaltine ones.

5/3/2008 12:05:32 AM

^^ I think he means more in the home theater application instead of clock radios. All the companies he mentioned are known for high-quality component audio products and speakers.

All I know is I'm happy to go and deal with all those "complicated wires" and have a setup that blows the walls off of this apartment complex while not costing me that much or worrying me about somebody wanting to steal it. Doesn't sound half bad either.

I suppose you COULD say that their commercials are criminal, but if you just take them at face value they're making some extreme claims that they could back up in court by saying "oh but we were comparing it to *insert shittier brand here, like COBY* when talking about audio performance". It wouldn't stand up in court unless a bunch of their customers sued them on it, and even then they'd have to do something like get them on sketchy sales practices that violate certain laws or something. As-is it's just a bunch of lousy marketing tactics.

5/3/2008 1:04:05 AM

Welcome to marketing. Bose just happens to be a marketing machine and not much else.

5/3/2008 1:09:03 AM

I like the part in the commercial where Im supposed to be excited because I can hook a VCR up to the Bose system.

5/3/2008 1:43:14 AM

Quote :

"But many other "name brands" produce products FAR superior in quality at less cost. That's what I'm getting at."

Please note 2nd statement... It's marketing. If you don't understand, please take a business or marketing class. Consumers who buy Bose are buying into the brand equity and the lifestyle, just like Apple.

And take this shit to chit chat. It's a clock radio. /thread

5/3/2008 1:44:07 AM

im with bigman
this is a fagthread

5/3/2008 2:47:12 AM

you can hook a VCR to a bose system?

5/3/2008 9:32:47 AM

OK really one of the most important things for a business is strictly brand recognition. They certainly have it. Is it a bad product? No. Could you do better for less $? Absolutely. But then again people will buy Lexus when a fully loaded Camry is the exact same car. Like I said before, their target market is baby boomers with $$, and that is the BEST market out there. Teeny-boper girls are the second most important market in the US, but that is their parents' money.

5/3/2008 9:39:14 AM

Quote :

"I still don't get how so many people think they're high end audio equipment"

name some better clock radios, what do you consider a high end clock radio

5/3/2008 9:40:10 AM

Quote :

""You can get ten times the performance for 1/2 the cost if you go with an actual audio brand such as Denon or Klipsch or Pioneer.""

Quote :

"half the cost of the clock radio? how much does that thing cost???"

Sorry if you misinterpretted that statement as applicable to the clock radio. The clock radio was a very specific example that prompted a larger question. I made the original statement with regard to actual hi-fi equipment, not the clock radio market.

Quote :

"so i'll take your lack or response as you were just making shit up"

See above.

5/3/2008 10:05:22 AM

Quote :

"but, for what they are, they sound pretty good. The engineers do a good job of taking a $0.50 one way driver and tuning some injection molded plastic baffles and ports to make it sound good to the bottom 50%. "

I dont own any of their products.

I do think there is merit in taking a cheap driver and placing it in a well tuned full range horn enclosure.

Yeah its overpriced but it isn't like the worst product on the planet.

5/3/2008 11:42:16 AM

Quote :

"it isn't like the worst product on the planet."

?

5/3/2008 11:50:06 AM

Bose can find a full blown stereo that sounds a lot shittier then their clock radio.

You're an idiot for giving their advertisements even the most momentary of thought.

5/3/2008 4:27:58 PM

Quote :

"You can get ten times the performance for 1/2 the cost if you go with an actual audio brand such as Denon or Klipsch or Pioneer. "

lol?

5/3/2008 6:25:29 PM

.... this thread is stupid...

yes bose uses cheap drivers in bandpass enclosures and the sound is mediocre.

5/3/2008 7:54:56 PM

^^ http://www.bensbargains.net

You can usually find "on the way out" models on clearance there. Sure as hell make sure you don't pay full MSRP on any of that shit.

5/3/2008 9:13:59 PM

adire audio are the underdogs. Just love their drivers and the low low prices. Can't get OEM shit like that for cheaper. And if I had to chose between Bose and JL, I'd go with JL. Their drivers and amps are great.

5/4/2008 8:27:59 AM

this thread was made over a reused 1980's commercial...


why the fuck did i just post in it

5/4/2008 4:27:16 PM

haha i don't know why

i remember this commercial...would usually be an advertisement on a VHS tape.

5/4/2008 5:43:49 PM

The wave radio is 350 bucks regular priced on amazon and other online retailers. Are you saying you'll find a component system for 175 that's far superior? Keep in mind that that's regular priced, so comparing clearance priced old models or open box items would be as disingenuous as you claim Bose is being. Also try to remember how intimidating wiring can be for someone who has no idea what they're doing. Hell, a lot of people I've seen who say they know what they're doing do shit like set flip the +/- leads on one set of speakers and wonder why their $1200 component systems sound like shit.

Yes Bose shit is overpriced. It's also easy to set up, has brand appeal, and sounds really good for something its size. It's kind of like an ipod in that sense. The idea that subjective claims like those in the bose commercial could be considered criminal is laughable. Have you ever seen an infomercial for anything let alone those 12 am colon cleanse ones?

5/5/2008 9:59:44 AM

are you serious? 350 for a clock radio? Shit, I was thinking it was no more than $100.

5/5/2008 10:05:33 AM

Then he'd be arguing that he can get a "far superior" shelf system for 50 bucks. I mean sure he's an idiot, but did you really think he was that far gone?

5/5/2008 10:09:14 AM

I don't rank Klipsch with pioneer and I'm one who doesn't believe in commercials... In this day of age, consumers are much more well informed about products.

5/5/2008 10:13:49 AM

I'm surprised he didn't list Coby in there too.

5/5/2008 10:18:26 AM

My friend's mom bought one of those clock radios. It sounds good as shit for a clock radio. She was rocking out to the Metallica album with the symphony orchestra while she cooked the last time I heard it.

5/5/2008 2:19:49 PM

I really don't get why audiophiles, so-called or otherwise, get so worked up about Bose. No audiophile on the planet will buy it, and 99.5% of those buying it is going to have to be educated on the spot with a Bose system versus any other other comparable system before they might be able to tell the differences.

Just chill out with the nerd rage, go back to your silver cambre cables, tube amps, and turn tables, and let the rest of care about something that really matters.

5/5/2008 4:11:49 PM

^ Fair enough.

5/5/2008 4:24:08 PM

^^ everyone has a silly hobby but yes you are right let the buyer beware.

5/5/2008 4:41:18 PM

but its already been said that the buyer not really need be wary, as it still is a decent product. it isnt dogg digital.

5/5/2008 4:59:22 PM