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Bose's iPod SoundDock Reviewed
LabRat007 writes "Playlist has a review of the Bose SoundDock, the desktop speaker system for the iPod that Bose has lately been promoting the holy hell out of. The long and the short is that it sounds great--better than any other iPod-specific speaker system--but for $300 is lacking in many features even cheaper setups have, like the ability to actually use the SoundDock as a syncing dock. Oh, and it has no line-in, so you can't use the SoundDock as output for anything else, like a PC or laptop, for instance." It's not quite as cute, but I like my Cambridge Soundworks Model 88 (now superseded by the Model 730) as a laptop loudspeaker system.
Most of what you are paying for when buying Bose is the marketing.
Not quite as bad as Monster Cable, but close.
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isn't it a bit of a waste to spend to much on a set of speakers almost in vain to reproduced already degraded music...? why not buy a simple stereo and play the original CD on it if you really needed good sound quality?
i guess there's the convenience factor... but for $300, i'd probably just buy a very large HD, rip music in lossless formats and use Airport Express to stream those to an existing nice set of speakers?
Get yourself a set of Roland MA-8 Powered Studio Monitors. They are small and simple, with a big sound for such a small speaker. They're meant to be reference monitors so they have a nice clean sound; I haven't heard the Bose but I can almost guarantee you'll like the Rolands at least as well if not better. Only slightly less portable than the Bose. And you can plug anything into them that has an RCA-style adapter.
I stopped by the Mac store to buy the Altec Lansing inMotion speakers after reading a good review of them. They had the the JBL OnStage and it has better bass and nicer controls. The donut shape seems to fill a room better than the flat inMotion speakers. It synchs and charges newer iPods and will accept output from a headphone jack. I'd rate it higher than my Harman Kardon soundsticks and it takes up way less room.
Looks like it's--let's say "inspired by"--the Bang & Olufsen BeoSound 1, which is itself no paragon of hifi value.
Cambridge also has a model 740
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(http://www.cambridgesoundworks.com/store/categ
for $300 that has a cd player that can also play mp3 cds.
This is the Constitution.This is the Constitution under the Bush administration. Any questions?
(I'll answer the question for home audio, not pro audio, because Bose makes home audio equipment.) There is no predominate brand, but here are a few that are generally highly-regarded and reasonably priced: Paradigm Magnepan Martan Logan NHT And two brands that audio snobs might look down on, but actually produce a few decent speakers: Polk Infinity In particular, the Polk RTi28/RTi38 is considered one of the best low-priced speaker sets around. I think you can get a pair for $200 or so, and a center channel (for home theater) for $150. Great sound and great construction. I have run the Polk RT series for about 5 years, and I've been happy with them (though I now have the itch for something in the $1000+ range...). Hope this helps.
Anyone who recommends Monster cables (or any other cables) over generic wires, has ears that are far better than the ordinary person.
I don't take exception to that but I do have a problem with super-audiophiles like yourself trying to give advice to regular people. You guys end up telling us to spend too much money on the wrong things.
10% on cables!! Ha! If you're only spending $500-1000 on a system, just use the cables that come with the speakers... I've never met anyone that can tell the difference between cables on a mid-range system.
For #300, you could buy an apple dock, some used entry level B&W speakers, and an amp. And it would sound good. Bose thrives on marketing and a catchy tagline, but inevitably their products underperform and are overpriced.
Asshat.
Signal to noise ratio? dBA? How does it compare with an amp hooked up to the line out on the iPod and a set of reasonable quality speakers? Etc. Etc.
I wouldn't buy a five cent piece of candy on the strengths of a review like this, let alone a $300 plus piece of audio equipment.
Bose is also well-known for suing anyone who gives them a bad review. Hence, no one reviews Bose without a kickback, and any review you find that is favorable is by either a shill or an ignoramus. But that's just what I hear.
Has anyone tried any of the following:
Roland DM-20s
Roland DA-30s
Event TR8s
KRK RP5s, 6s or 8s
Behringer B2030As
I know the Mackie HRx24s are the "answer", but the question is do I have > $1000 to spend on a pair, or between $150-$300.
I really am looking hard at the DM-20s, if they sound a bit as good (even if quiet) compared to any others on that list, they'd be much better than the MA-8s for only twice as much... with digital inputs no less.
THIS THING CAN TURN ON A DIME, MACROSSZERO STYLE ALSO FUCK BETA, ~NYORON
as always, ipodlounge's review debunks the bose myth. http://www.ipodlounge.com/reviews.php?id=P5445
But yet, there is a surprisngly large amount of Bose sound equipment in theatres / performance spaces...because of the "Bose Theorum". People (typically executives who think they know best) order Bose equipment without consulting sound techs, because they percieve them "to be the best", because they advertise the hell out of their consumer line - and their actual consumer Hi-Fi's are alright, and produce a decent sound. So, an executive orders in some Bose 802 speakers, "because they're the best - if they're in the Sunday supplements they must be good!" Which leaves me with a theatre with a sh*t sound system, and I have to hire in a PA everytime we have a big show...
Apart from the significant difference that Apple products are often rather good in terms of underlying quality, I'd say that Bose is very much the Apple of the audio world, really. People buy them because they look really, really cool, are backed with good marketing and have a nicely simple front-end, despite the fact that they could buy another product (ref. an iRiver H-series) that does the core job better and has more features for the same price.
"I Know You Are But What Am I?"
I stopped by the Mac store to buy the Altec Lansing inMotion speakers after reading a good review of them. They had the the JBL OnStage and it has better bass and nicer controls. The donut shape seems to fill a room better than the flat inMotion speakers. It synchs and charges newer iPods and will accept output from a headphone jack. I'd rate it higher than my Harman Kardon soundsticks and it takes up way less room.
I'm pretty happy with the inMotion speakers that I got as a birthday present. While they are on the pricey side, the sound is impressive (especially) for such a small package. They don't take up much room, they charge/sync, and they accept line in and headphones out. However, their big advantage is portability - they collapse to a small size, come with a soft case and are battery-operated. I've taken them on canoe trips, to bbqs and on the road. The rest of the time they take up a small amount of room on my dresser.
If you're never going to move the speakers you might want something else, but in terms of sound quality/ruggedness/portability they are tough to beat.
When you have nothing left to burn you must set yourself on fire
Pardon me boys, but the nasty discourse about Bose brings to mind the excited comments about Burt & Dick Rutan's Spaceship One a few weeks ago.
/. boys would all agree that Burt & Dick are engineers' engineers. The real Rocket Scientists.
I think that the
When the Voyager around-the-world flight was planned it was determined that the pilots would lose all of their high-end hearing due to the constant sound drone from the engines. Amar Bose offered his latest noise-cancelling headset to the Rutans and they worked.
Whatever else, the rocket scientists found Bose technology worth incorporating into a world-record flight.
Seems to me that the Bose technology used to cancel constant SPL's high enough to deffen the pilots must have some expression at the consumer-speaker level. Frankly, IMHO the use of Bose in consumer application has raised the sound reproduction quality mark from the muddy speakers found on most consumer products.
Are there better? Yes. But, a "mid-range" audio system around here runs from $2,500.00 to $25,000.00 and up and in the consumer world the "mid" or "high" range begins and ends in the $0-$2,500.00 range.
As for monster cables v. Bose speakers - there is no question - Bose speakers sound much better than 14g wire. For just about every person who is not an audio snob or technician, Bose sound just fine, thank you.
Now, after the rest of the snobs finish beating this dead horse, please consider the quality of sound that we hear every day. In my world I'd be happy if the majority of sources were at least Bose quality. Unfortunately, they aren't. Listen to the next car stereo you come across (or, that drives down the street) and tell me that the speakers are better than the average Bose installation?