Site Meter Home Theaters » Blog Archive » It’s Not Nice to Fool Mother Nature

It’s Not Nice to Fool Mother Nature

by marc klink

    I am constantly amazed by the number of people who think, or are fooled into thinking, that the speaker systems from Bose are capable of reproducing anything close to the sound of real music.

    Yes, I am a snob about my sound. I don’t like mp3’s for that very reason. If I can tell on a $3 pair of Radio Shack headphones that something sounds lousy, what chance is there that using a multi-thousand dollar sound system will do anything other than point out the egregious flaws in the sound?

    Back to Bose, Dr. Amar Bose is a man I have nothing but respect for. He has sought and quantified more about the

ways humans hear, and interpret, sound than possibly anyone else. Beginning back in the 1970’s with the 901 series, he took a set of small, inferior drivers, designed a novel enclosure, and added an electronic equalizer to compensate for the limitations of both. The results were amazing. Many people of that era, never having heard live music, reacted with astonishment when first listening. The sound was dramatic.  

    Note that I said dramatic. I did not say excellent, accurate, or musical. When selling audio in the 1980’s, I heard more people wanting to sell Bose speakers after owning them for 6 to 9 months, than any others.

    As a lover of music then, not yet taken with most classical music, I only heard rock and pop music on the 901’s at first. They were bright, punchy, and slightly heavy in the mid-bass. all the things that make rock and pop music what it is. I knew that there was something I did not like, but couldn’t put a finger on it.

    I have also always liked folk music, so I also auditioned the speakers with that type of music, with the results that I heard all of the mistakes that the speakers were making with the reproduction. It was easy, with music containing guitar, small drum kit, and bass, along with vocals, to see what the problem was.

    Then, as now, Bose concentrates on the very low middle range of music - and mostly gets it right. If only listening to the middle 3 octaves of music, then Bose might be fine as a speaker of choice.

    Since we are in the age of home theater, I am not certain where Bose speakers could fit in. The ‘acoustimass’ module, which always gets mentioned in the company’s commercials, is something incapable of reproducing any substantial low bass, and when pushed fails miserably at reproducing anything the least bit bombastic in nature.

    But - it does sound impressive - doesn’t it? In a small bedroom, where volume will never move above that where conversation could comfortably take place, Bose systems could work as a home theater - stereo audio solution. The diminutive size of the boxes will make wives happy, and no one will have to walk around anything on those late night runs to the bathroom.  

    On the other hand, some Celestion, Wharfdale, or any other small, reasonably neutral speaker, paired with a 2 to 3 cubic foot subwoofer, would probably yield superior results, with much less listening fatigue, and less cringing from others when the urge to ‘turn it up’ occurs.


3 Responses to “It’s Not Nice to Fool Mother Nature”

  1. Robert Morein Says:

    Typical “Bose Bashing” commentary, devoid of real facts.

    You claim that with folk music you heard “all the mistakes” the 901’s make - and yet you don’t identify one!

    You criticize the acoustimass bass module for not reproducing “substantial low bass”. However Bose doesn’t market it or call it a subwoofer, and clearly indicate that it isn’t a subwoofer. Why? Because few consumers really want a subwoofer, and in many cases (like apartments) real subbass just causes trouble for the owners and their neighbours.

    The fact is that Bose is a $2B/year company and got that way by understanding what REAL people want from audio. And meeting some phantom “spec” isn’t it.

  2. Home Theaters » Blog Archive » Go Do Something Crazy! Says:

    […] know I have stated that one must go out and listen to real music, not reproduced, but produced, from non-electronic […]

  3. Home Theaters » Blog Archive » From Time Window to Time Portal Says:

    […] a very wrong choice of wording) relaxed, accurate sound, that will be natural and give none of the listening fatigue of inferior speakers. These are keepers, whether listening as a stereo pair, or a 5.1 system for theater. The total […]

Leave a Reply


About Home Theaters

With the new and intermediate home theatrician in mind, Talking Home Theaters takes you on a tour of what's hot, what's affordable and what's not. If you've ever been envious of the endless home entertainment options available or are looking to build your first home theater without eliminating your children's education funds, you've come to the right place. We focus on scouring the internet for excellent entry-level ideas, incredible deals for newbies and home theater tips and tricks, so you don't have to.

Home Theaters Author(s)
    » marc-klink

Technology Channel Posts

  • What Has Happened to Audio?
    Part of the answer to that question is readily apparent to anyone who is reading this column on a regular basis. The population has become enamored of the ‘total experience’ of the home theater. [...]
  • And We’re Back!
    Hi everyone! Phew! We are back in action (as you can see). Did you miss me? I missed you! Group hug! Too much? Okay. I’ll behave. I am very glad to be back in action and posting here on [...]
  • Sometimes Old Is New (to You)
    While looking for something else, I came upon an older article about a copy of a well respected subwoofer by Hsu Research. The project is very straightforward, using sound building techniques, and [...]
  • Technical Difficulties
    Hello everyone. As you likely already know, many of the sites on the 451press network are down and have been down for some time (what seems like forever!). I would like to apologize on behalf [...]
  • ATi Brings Back A Winner
    For the last couple of years, there has been a huge hole in the video card market. It was 2006 when the last ATi All-in-Wonder was produced, and nVidia had discontinued their similar offering before [...]
  • The Search for Truth… (continued)
    On the other side are aligned a much smaller number of scientists, some dedicated amateurs, very little money (the grants get taken away as soon as it’s clear the research is leading away from AGW) [...]
  • Introduction to Forums – A Warning
    While getting on to a forum and posting (especially for the first time) can be a lot of fun and exhilarating, there is a sobering note that comes along with joining forums (and with communicating [...]
  • Home Theater On The Cheap Rides Again
    Now and then, a choice comes up which makes sense right away, yet allows expansion capability and growth potential. It is not often that a Home Theater in a Box will be acceptable to any serious [...]
  • The Search for Truth…
    In Using the Net and Finding the Truth I used the search for information about Anthropogenetic Global Warming (AGW – Human-caused Global Warming) to talk about Internet use. Here is an example [...]
  • From Time Window to Time Portal
    DCM Time Windows were one of the speakers that defined the ‘cheapskate’ high end of the late ‘70s. Looking at the speaker was anything but awe inspiring. It was a small two-way tower, with [...]

Hot Off The Press

  • Reaction Post: Doctor Who 4.13 - Journey's End
    The is the for the final episode of series four - . Before I finish this write up, I'll probably have to go watch it again. This may explain why this post was a bit delayed. Before you ask, [...]
  • Bones without Booth?
    Bones without Booth? What kind of show would that be? Well, that's the show we almost got, if it hadn't been for the chemistry between Emily Deschanel and David Boreanaz. Turns out that originally, [...]
  • Give Your Eyes This Do-It-Yourself Spa Treatment
    Your eyes work nonstop for you. They help you admire everything from movie trailers to Monet. Now it’s payback time. Thank your eyes for all they do by following the three peeper-protecting [...]
  • Love Question Ten
    Happy Sunday! Or something like that, right? It’s the end of a long weekend. I hope you all had fun. Here is the other Love Question from Short Sweet Love Poems that I missed while my site was [...]
  • The beginning of the end of Prohibition drink testing
    Today, I got drunk. The rest of the committee got more or less drunk, depending on how many were driving and whether they had to pick up children after the meeting. In fact, only two of us made [...]
  • Comments from the testing table
    Continuing from the last post.... These are not the carefully annotated thoughts on balances of flavour and etc: they're the funny stuff. They would have been even funnier if I had worked [...]
  • Name-calling and drinks menu
    At last, the end is near… We tasted twelve drinks. I have to remind myself of this because it all seems rather fuzzy now. After all, I have been home five hours. All of the drinks [...]
  • Garden Art Fair, more than 40 Midwest artists d...
    More than 40 Midwest artists displaying and selling garden- and nature-inspired art for home and garden, through 4 p.m., live music, food available for purchasefree for all guests 294-2710 [...]
  • Will someone call 911 for Mark Ronson?!
    With a blog like Celebrity Fashion Watch, posts that feature mostly women celebs are something that goes without saying. I guess it’s a given that women are more fashion freaks than men. [...]
  • Kim Kardashian makes a statement
    While her frienemy, Paris Hilton will grab every opportunity to be talked about and seen in public, it seems like Kim Kardashian has gotten herself too much exposure already. Yep, [...]