Is it just me, or does the assembled system look like a model of one of those weird faceless hotel complexes in Las Vegas or LA? The scooped front, the weird angles. Adding the cd changer makes it look like it has an enclosed lobby area, and the DAB unit looks like an annex building. It's attractive in a way, but looks like a prop from Total Recall, and definitely looks like something Patrick Bateman would have in his apartment, playing Huey Lewis or Phil Collins. If Bose decide to go into the hotel chain business, it would be a crime if they didn't basically make a giant version of this.
That! I first couldn't pinpoint it, but that is it, it has an overall hotel feeling as well. But somehow als the unit looks like someone has on a dorm of a college as his all-in-one player despite the price.
Like the colour-changing light I got from Daiso (Japan's Poundland, only actually good) that broke after 3 days. Well, the light broke, the remote might still be good, for all I know.
A friend had an older one.. Aluminum ergonomic remote that was wireless and worked from any room.. It just shoes how all theChin3se rebage construction has made things much worse.. Now its all just random parts put together rather than a full custom design made in Japan or Europe..
I produced the demo CD that came with this product. I only worked with the prototype that came in pieces. It was similar to the Bose Wave Music System III and IV demo CD. If I find a copy of it, I'll send you one. Hopefully, that still sounds good through this product. BTW, I agree with your assessment of the sound and features. At least you didn't have to assemble yours, like I did. HAHA!!!
leave it to Bose to give the rich Boomers who bought this a demo CD in the mid 2000s - knowing that they bought it to listen to AM radio on a product their friends think is classy. Most of them probably hung the CD on a string in the window thinking it was a rainbow reflector.
I'm from Boston MA, where the Advent loudspeaker originated, along with the Bose headquarters here in Framingham MA. Henry Kloss, who created the Advent, started a speaker company in the late 1980s called Cambridge Soundworks to directly compete with Bose products at a fraction of the price. Not only were they competitive, but they actually sounded quite a bit better! Their competition to the "wave" systems was the model 88 radio, which actually sounded like a full stereo. They also made some of the best computer speakers I'd ever heard!
In germany, these were always advertised in "old people magazines", next to stuff like heating blankets or way too expensive CD collections of music from the 50s. Always gave it a bit of a "snake oil" aura for me.
You'd typically get them in the Sunday newspapers here in England, along with adverts for lethal looking mechanical hair trimmers. "Save yourself £££££s in going to the barbers!" The pound signs would be massive and take up most of the ad, along with a small black and white drawing of the implement in question.
Like the awful walkman knockoffs available today; they can't reproduce the brilliant miniaturization of the peak of the Sony tech, so we get tape players that look like the original Walkman from 1979 or whatever it was.
I think that is an over priced pile of plastic its audio performance is boxy and mechanically rather cheap I have seen better remote controls on a garden light. "Bose" over priced junk with digitally processed sound to accommodate the deficiency in cabinet construction. Bose used to do good Club audio systems but that does not translate to domestic kit which is just pants but usually bought by those who also have a SMUG fridge and tone deaf.
It seemed to be the go-to device for independent bookstore owners in the 1990s. Somewhere in the back of the stacks or behind the counter there was usually one of these pumping out Windham Hill music all day.
considering who the company catered to, it’s apt: pretentious people with money bought these over actual decent systems that cost a fraction of the price
The problem Bose has always had is they are essentially an R&D company which had one good idea 50 years ago trying to play at being a current manufacturer. I sold their Lifestyle and 3-2-1 Bose systems in the mid-late 00s and whilst the sound technology actually was impressive, nothing else about their systems was. They had moved into the AV space with products which were premium priced but cost reduced, cheaply built, under featured, and lagging years behind everyone else. They never made substantially different SKUs for different markets, so no SCART on European models. For years after HDMI became a standard input, Bose could only deliver this through a breakout box fed by the component ports. Not only did they carry on solely supplying DVD during the Blu-Ray/HD-DVD format war, but even after it was settled they didn't have a single product in their range with a Blu-Ray drive. And that's before you get into their mess of proprietary connections requring proprietary cables. Totally not worth the money, once you got past the talking point of big sound from small speakers, there was nothing else left.
I love how you test the FM reception of a device, its still very relevant to most people, and it sounds like you are in a fringe area so a good location to test
It's great to test, but FM is certainly no relevant to most people anymore. Ratings prove that is not the case. Still, it should always be checked out, and in the US almost no one ever tests HD radio, even though it's vastly superior to plain old FM.
@@rodmunch69 It still amazes me that new cars don't have HD radio. It's fantastic, but I had to buy a small portable unit. I guess it's all about streaming these days, for better or for worse. Personally I prefer to listen to real local radio.
@rodmunch69 Fm is extremely relevant here. Our digital radio (tho extremely underutilized) is back compatible with analog FM (different fom DAB). For some reason, we never fully switched to Digital Radio, i guess we have just too many radio stations, and with the insane regulation of everything comms related, by ANVISA it never got the push it needed. Brasil btw.
@@Roalethiago Well regular FM is radio is still probably 1,000x more popular than HD radio in the US, if not more like 10,000x. But in general, the number of people listening to radio has plummeted since everyone just does everything on their phones. If you want music, you got a million free apps for that, if you want talk, you have basically an unlimited number of podcasts. For me, personally, I can't even think of the last time I listened to regular radio - and when I have heard it, it's so hacky and so low budget sounding (when not playing music) I just cringe.
@@Roalethiago I think you misunderstand in that radio for music, period, isn't relevant to most people anymore. I know I'd never listen to crappy broadcast radio when there's easy high quality streaming options without commercials.
You should take a look at the Cambridge Soundworks unit that was a direct competitor to the Bose Wave radio. Sounded much better and was less expensive.
I think the reason why the CD changer is only capable of playing regular music CD’s is because it probably came out a decade before this MP3-compatible revision of the system was made (possibly made for the version that came before), when MP3 was still a new piece of technology. It even looks like it belongs to that era, judging by the controls engraved in italics.
Also mp3 discs weren’t a “standard” so much as they were just regular orange book CDs with mp3 files on it. Just about any cheap tat had that compatibility. It was probably beneath such a high end audiophile device to defile the room with lossy compressed music.
I found that manufacturers were really slow, to outright resistant to adopt technologies that were consumer oriented/desired. The underbelly of the manufacturer 'agreements' with the music industry, where support for anything beyond broadcast & disc, was steadfastly thought to encourage/condone piracy (and/or loss of control of their already captive marketshare chain). It took forever (4+ years) to integrate any kind of mp3 support, and likely that was only through the pressure of their own hardware manufacturing marketshare being in entropy. The only reason WMA was ever included; was due to a subsidy from Microsoft to push their own proprietary audio format in competition with early iTunes (iPod era). If you wanted anything else; Ogg/Flac, etc, even basic WAV.... Never happening, not even via a firmware update. I found myself Not buying hardware more than not, due to lack of formats support. They did it to themselves
@@emprsnm9903 It was actually unclear whether or not it was legal to ship an MP3 player at all in the US. After Congress's whole "let's ban DAT" kerfuffle, they passed the Audio Home Recording Act (AHRA) which mandated a specific form of DRM be put on *all* digital recorders (except "professional" models, which were never defined in the law). In fact, that's what the music industry sued Creative over when Creative started shipping dedicated MP3 players. Of course, the judge in RIAA v. Creative decided to just let Creative run a truck through a loophole in the law. Technically, the player does not record, it's just opening files copied to it from a computer, which isn't controlled by the AHRA. Hence why computers could do whatever with audio CDs while dedicated music players were basically forbidden from format-shifting digital audio without handcuffing it. And to make matters worse, other countries have even worse laws. The AHRA's one positive attribute was that it explicitly legalized format-shifting CDs to other digital media (at least within the AHRA's stupid DRM mandate). In the UK, that's *still* explicitly illegal, and Parliamentary efforts to legalize it have been shot down by the courts because the law would mean less people *rebuying the same music on new formats*. In other words, UK law considers musicians to have a constitutional right to sell you the same music twice. So naturally you can imagine why manufacturers aren't chucking the latest royalty-free Xiph codecs on their players. Or at least that was the case with music. For some reason lots of DVD players proudly supported VCD and DivX, formats that (at least in the US) had ZERO market penetration and were used exclusively by movie and TV pirates using their DVD players to play pirated video on their TV.
I never imagined that a Bose system would have the remote control from a set of ebay rgb lights. Also that multichanger is so slow. I had a car with a multichanger back in the day which was so much faster, you can really tell this is 1980s technology that just kept hanging on past its time.
It's a weird thing... in my experience for some time luxury/lifestyle kit had weird, cheap and/or very limited remotes, while the lower-end stuff actually had proper remotes. My mid-nineties Panasonic boombox (RX-DS20) has a proper normal-sized rubber-button remote, while my parents' feather-touch Sony thing had something more like the Bose. One exception to the luxury/lifestyle remote trend was where they'd have a "master" remote to control all the devices, that'd either be manufacturer-specific, or so inexplicable it was useless and you'd end up getting one of those cheap(er) learning remotes from Dixons. I ended up with a Philips "Pronto" RU890: a hefty touch-screen learning remote brick that I spent hours customising. Come to think of it, that'd be a good one for TechMoan.
@@tomgidden I remember 1990s Sony remotes being good but then again they had a huge range so maybe at some price points they had less good remotes. My parents' panasonic TV had the best remote but even my terrible Amstrad VCR had a better remote than that bose one. The only brand I have seen other than bose to use those cheap remotes is a Goodmans soundbar.
@@misterthegeoff9767 Hilariously, Bose sold a Premium Backlit Remote for this (woo-hoo!). Which would literally backlight the buttons for seven seconds. Did the "Premium" have an LCD screen like the one on top of the main unit? Nope. Would it operate the CD changer? The DAB radio? The other bits and bobs? Nope.
Funnily enough, from the review I don't think it was particularly decent in it's day either, and shouldn't have held on for even a couple of years. It's basically junk, old school eWaste.
Same here kind of! Except it was the cheaper Bose Wave Music System, either I or II. Color me shocked when I recently got a new old stock Bose Wave Music System III with a matching Multi-CD Changer in Titanium Silver for Christmas.
In the 90s, I worked at a radio station in college, and the station owner loved Bose. He used Acoustimass systems throughout the station. In the main office, in his office, in the studios, in the control rooms, etc. And we had a 4 of the Acoustic Waves we used when doing remote broadcasts. They worked well for that because they were portable, loud and more convenient than bringing a receiver and speakers out to a remote. Of course, they were heavier and more bulky than our microwave transmitter. Try one in a large room, and it will sound much better.
Got a white Acoustic Wave at a yard sale for $25. It was badly yellowed, smokers house. Cleaned it i up, sounds a bit boomy. But when we have outdoor movie night it’s more than adequate sitting under the projector screen. I turn down the bass on the laptop that’s hooked to the projector. Can’t say it’s Dolby Surround but good enough for my purposes.
I just bought one of these original cassette systems from the 1980s. It has bass and treble control. It is the clearest cassette player I have ever used. No hiss, no clicking, just a fantastic option for mixtapes.
Back in the 90s here in the US, there was a very popular radio personality named Paul Harvey. He had a syndicated radio show for years and years and years where he would just tell stories. His closing was always “I’m Paul Harvey. Good day!” Anyways, his show was sponsored by Bose. That’s how I learned about Bose Acoustic Wave back in the day.
Yes, this is where my grandmother got the notion to buy the compact one back in the day. It was ridiculously expensive and she and my aunt got into a fight over spending that much money on what amounted to a CD player.
Like he points out in the video, when these first came out, they were pretty ground breaking, and the standard for quality for many years (in terms of all-in-one small systems). The issue is they lived on their rep with this unit and didn't really improve it. Then again, people buying this unit, wanted THIS unit. But like with most brands that market to non-poor people, they spend a lot of advertising. The only company I've ever seen not do this, that was selling a quality product to people in this income range is Tesla.
I got given a smaller Awrcc6 recently from circa 2006. I got it recapped (solved the prolonged 'please wait' error) and plugged in a cheap alexa to stream amazon music and it's a great addition to our summerhouse. A decent sound from a small cabinet. I think with an alexa echo dot added, it has another lease of life. Recapping was not expensive.
That pseudo-compatibility with the external «docked» CD player sending the turn-on signal to the main unit via lined up infrared is hilarious. It’s something I’d expect from the early 1980’s.
It's kind of ingenious. A lesser company would've just given you two remotes and said "deal with it." I have to applaud Bose for giving modular integration a shot. I do miss having upgradeable equipment...
I used to sell Bose equipment in the late 80s and these devices were slow to catch on but ultimately a big hit. I’ve always enjoyed Bose products for the most part even though they were usually very expensive. A few years ago I picked up one of these Acoustic Wave compact systems for $5 at a garage sale as it was supposedly not working, but with a little cleaning and tweaking it sprang to life. It’s a model CD-2000 with AM/FM tuner, CD player and several auxiliary inputs when paired with the pedestal PD-2. Mine has a minimalistic “treble/bass” control for minor adjustments. I wonder why they abandoned that feature. Mine was manufactured in January of 1994 and in my opinion it still sounds great after 30 years. I will admit that I don’t listen to radio with it, just the CD and other inputs. Thank you for this deep dive into this version.
@craigcousins6718 I didn't think of that. I used to work for a company, and we received various parcels. Some had chips in, and I had to spend time chasing them. Other timed it was shredded paper. That was just as bad.
I remember going to a Bose store with my Dad as a kid and hearing one of these things and being wowed only because of the demo tracks they played through it. Once they played the radio or certain tracks, I immediately felt like it was a waste of money. Dad ended up with a 3-2-1 GS 2.1 DVD system in the early 2000s that I thought was a waste of money but what was I to say as a kid
“It appears the previous owner was last listening to *PANJAB RADIO, which isn’t much use to me.” It's 6 in the morning and that made me laugh so hard 😂😂 his deadpan delivery is perfect. lmao
I do agree that Tech has caught up and even exceeded what ever edge Bose wave systems may have once had back in the day. That said they were always just too expensive for me to even consider purchasing.
The first time I heard one of these was in a Sears right after Terminator 2 came out on video. It was being played on a TV with a Wave as the sound output, as I walked by I paused when I heard Arnold snatch the shotgun from the biker bar guy because the bass was phenomenal, then the drum kicked in from Bad to the Bone and I was a bit floored. I was looking for the subwoofer and couldn't find one and then realized it was all coming from this little box.
I remember seeing something like this at a cinema but it was massive and was high up near the ceiling and pointing towards the screen, the shape of this unit that is. Not sure if it was bose or whoever?
@@freepress8451 Its not about Hate. Its about Honesty. Bose sells way Over-Priced products, while trying to POSE their equipment as being Audiophile Quality. Nothing could be further from the Truth. They use the cheapest $2 Chinese drivers.. and some Gimmicky Trickery, to get that over-exaggerated + artificial sounding Bass response. People whom actually know the technology inside of speakers.. are not Hateful. We laugh at the general mass Lemming Ignorance. See respectable looking commercial = must be great Product = Buy at any Price! Suddenly, there is no such thing as Dishonesty in the World. And if YOU like that low level sound quality... you defend their Trickery and over-pricing scamming... via Ego based Brand Fan-Girl'ing. You dont want to know the actual Truth. You dont really want to hear, and learn... that you could get 50 times better sound, at 50 times less the cost. Your mind is Brainwashed into an Ego Feedback Loop, of Self Delusion. You dont want to live in actual Reality... because that could hurt your Feelings (which is actually why you posted, in the first Place).
The boselink on the back of the DAB is there because the DAB has used up the acoustic wave boselink connection. So you would use the boselink connection on the DAB to connect into a Lifestyle 48 home theater system which has a hardrive to store over 300 cd's in lossless quality.
But it clearly says not to use it. What are you possibly going to use it for if not to connect to another Boselink device? Do they mean "don't use it to make coffee"?
The last part of this video you're talking about of the feature hype and everything under menu's and button combinations. I think we can agree on the fact it's not anything different than these days. Everything you want to do other than volume and skipping tracks, is under button cominations or menu's. It's all getting more features and more difficult to operate. Everything is touch screen and manu driven.
I spent 30 plus years repairing consumer electronics and was never overly impressed with the Bose music systems, whilst I wasn't alone in my view there are other people who think they were the best things ever - a triumph of marketing perhaps. The sound is often too bass heavy and boomy; the lack of any EQ controls, I think, was a mistake. The whole point of EQ controls is to tailor the output to suit your room acoustics, your ear or just your preference! There is actually an official Bose modification for some of the Wave Radios to reduce the bass level, which greatly improves listenability. Those CD changers are horrid. Firstly, they're clearly an afterthought with a weird aesthetic and limited interaction with the main unit; secondly, they are too slow in operation; and thirdly, they have plastic bits inside that have a tendency to crack and fall apart now they're aging - rendering them completely useless. Over the years I've had a couple of different Bose CD Players at home but ended up getting rid of them as they were somehow 'unpleasant' things to listen to.
If you've ever been inside a Bose product you know the components are as cheap as possible. All marketing no substance. For the premium price you could have way better stuff.
My guess is that *maybe* the lack of EQ is because the design is hard-engineered to alter the sound (and particularly the bass) a certain way and it's not as easy to adjust that via EQ controls the way it would be with a more traditional design....?
26:15 Radio X is DAB+ only. I had the same issue with an old Denon system I had that didn’t support DAB+. It shows the DAB+ station just nothing plays (as I guess it cannot decode it)
A guitar player/solo singer had a set of the 901's for performance in small intimate clubs. As a Bassist I thought they sounded great playing through his mixing board. It was only when I sat some 18" speaker cabinets next to them did I realize the sub frequencies missing from the 901's. I used the concept of 'bass reflex' in the 70's by turning my cabinet around in a corner. Still there's no substitute for a speaker large enough to move air the way a dedicated subcabinet will.
The 901s were marketed in a time (70s) when louder without distortion was considered the benchmark. Bose tried to "get around" the bass-reflex craze by extensive equalization. Many people back then were impressed by just how loud the 901s played for their size. I agree about moving air for bass; that's why I'm a Klipschorn fan.
There was a TV ad (in the '80s?) showing the Bose Acoustic Wave fooling people in a concert hall into thinking it was a full compliment of professional PA equipment. That sums up the overselling of Bose to me. As a music lover and musician, I was psyched when I got a chance to listen to it for the first time, and I remember the feeling of disappointment when I did. Then the absence of an equalizer sealed it for me. No thanks. (To be fair, I have heard other Bose equipment that sounded good.)
A friend of mine who worked for Bose gave me one these. I use it in a small room with a turntable connected to it. It sounds amazing! I believe the acoustics of the room itself plays a part in the sound of these. I also have a full audio file setup in a big room, but the Bose gives it run for its money with its clarity.
there is a local BBQ chain that has used Bose Wave radios up on a shelf for their sound system for years. Sounds good but I always wondered what they will do when they eventually break down (being on for good 12-16 hours / day, everyday). Although some are well over a decade old and still sounding good.
Spot on concussion Mat. Always thought the bass was overblown and somewhat out of control and where everything is piled up on itself made it difficult to use Better Off with Something Else
They were never affordable for me. I also never had an opportunity to hear one. Very interesting, though! Edit: I find a lot of "hi-fi" systems have too much bass. I like bass, but not when it seems to drown out the treble and midrange. EQ presets are no good. Give me the 5+ band graphic equalizers we used to have!
Some equipment has the bass cranked up to make some listeners think the quality is better. Accuracy is more important. The trouble with Bose bass is that it's not very even or clear but a muddy mess instead.
I wanted these so bad as a kid in the mid-late 90’s… their ad campaigns were top notch back then showing off how ‘complex’ the sound guides were to the speakers, and the simplicity of the design and nice black color made me want it even more. But same thing as you, these were NEVER affordable… plus they never evolved (cheap LCD screens, no ability to tune, just basic functionality). But I went looking for old ones on ebay about a year ago to get something I dreamed of as a kid as an adult- and they’re STILL just as freaking expensive. Now that I know they’re not even that good on sound to begin with, I really don’t have much desire to grab one anymore
My grandfather had the original bose wave system with the cd player in it. If I recall correctly he got it back in the early 90s. We inherited it from him but it's pretty much worn out. The CD player doesn't work and the AUX inputs have a short in them making it cut out unless you keep pressure on the cables.
@@hifijohn Yes, but designing a transmission line for one driver means you've designed a transmission line _for one driver._ Prototyping something at this scale was probably quite costly, since you're not just going to build it out of plywood....
Maybe 2-3 years ago I had the opportunity to try and repair one where the optional 5 disc changer malfunctioned due to a cracked gear. My opinion is it's real good sounding for AM audio and ok on FM, aux and CD. The issue for me is the bass does not go down much below 50Hz. Now when compared to similarly sized radios it is easily the better sounding radio. If I only had the space for a small radio, this is likely what I'd have.
In the mid 1990s i took a 2 year electronics course. A local audio/electronics shop(The Pied Piper) would donate broken items that were returns or warranty items so that our class could fix/auction-off some stuff or strip components from them and learn what we could. While there picking up a load of donations one day i heard a Bose Wave radio and it was playing classical music and i could feel the cello and the floor was vibrating. i was amazed! after we loaded the stuff my instructor had some paperwork to do so i was playing around with that radio and the guy said play whatever you wanna play so i put it on a rock station and then an R&B station and i know a CD is gonna sound better than an FM broadcast but WOW!!!!! the classical music sounded amazing from the bose radio but the rock did not sound that great and the R&B was kinda too bass-y for the amount of mids/highs. I have always wanted one of those radios though! I bet it would make an AWESOME set of desktop PC speakers!!! Bose made another set back then too. It was 4 smaller front/rear left/right 4inch speakers and a small sub that had a HUGE sound. I've always wanted a set of those too. Watching this video brought back a lot of old memories. Can't wait to see the next one!!
I was fortunate enough to find one of these with the mentioned carrying case for 40 bucks at a resale shop. Minus the cd changer. It's been my camping radio mainly using the aux input. Despite not having the changer, it did come with the remote for one. I ended up listing the remote on ebay for 20. Took about a year to sell, and funnily enough the week it sold, same resale shop had the cd changer for sale for 20 bucks. Bad timing for the sale, I did end up buying the changer too.
Bass below like 100hz is omnidirectional so the lack of audible difference when you moved it away from the wall kind of proves the bass speaker in the units not a very good sub at all. I think they’re just very resonant in the mid bass between 200-400hz, which most people perceive as more bassy, but as you said,really it just sounds kind of wooly.
Thanks for posting this. I'm old enough to remember that many friends of mine (and myself) considered buying one of these throughout most of the 1990s, and onwards. In America, they were advertised EVERYWHERE!! It wasn't until your last Bose related video, that I wondered where all that "hype" went. While this system is far advanced, I'm glad you've actually explained the unit to all of us. Unfortunately, 30 years later, I still couldn't afford one.
I have an Acoustic Wave Music System II. Got it for 15 bucks at a garage sale in an affluent neighborhood. It is my favorite piece of audio equipment. Not so much that it is the best sounding thing ever (it isnt), but with some "help" with some external speakers it is just a joy to still use, and I love to see it on my fireplace when I walk through the front door. Edit: You are correct about the display. Mine is too high up to see, so I had to rig a prism on top of it so it reflected the display towards me.
The only time I'd see a unit like this, it was in an old person's room in the pensioner's home. BTW, for two videos in a row, when you were testing the radio, ELO was playing. Cool.
I bought my first one in April 1993 , I sent them a check for a 1026.00 dollars it still works fine, and my second in 2004 but I also bought the 5 disk changer with it and it was 1399.00 dollars it had a remote except for the slide control for the volume on the first it was almost the same , and the 3rd I bought in 2017 and paid 1199.00 I bought all 3 straight from Bose
That finger wobble when Grandmaster Flash came on! I can see you thinking, "Screw the content, I should just listen to this track and get back to making content later"🤣
I stayed with my uncle in 2003 for a little while. he had one of these and swore it was the best stereo ever. I think he was just trying to justify his purchase. I preferred listening to music on my Sony can headphones.
I just inherited a first version from my grandma. It needed some repairs to get back up and running, but I was also kind of disappointed in the sound. However, it at least had tone control via bass and treble sliders. I can't believe that they got rid of those adjustments.
The 90’s RX-7 I have had an optional BOSE installation with a waveguide system that took up literally a third of the already tiny boot space. It also looked very much “form follows function”. I don’t think the function offered is worth the form on that either.
I work with the guy that designed that system (Hes still with the company) and he absolutely knew what he was doing. Its hard to get good bass response in a small sedan like that off the back deck and door woofers sound absolutely abysmal compared to a properly enclosed woofer like in the rx7 waveguide
@@Goopa-Troopa that's pretty cool! Yeah without a rear deck / trunk to have woofers in you don't get good bass. Most all cars such as hatchbacks and wagons with a decent stereo have a woofer somewhere, and back when the RX-7 was new OEM's were not doing that yet.
In the mid 90s my parents got 2 of the smaller wave radios with the top loading CD player. Both no longer play CDs but all other functions work. They still use one in lieu of a modern soundbar.
I legitimately love the look of this thing. Reminds me of the 90s in its aesthetic I have one sitting on my shelf and it’s such an eye sore…. But I love it.
I worked at a big electronics store back in 2008 and they had Bose systems set up, with claims that they sounded "just as good as a surround setup, using just two satellite speakers and a subwoofer". As expected from Bose, they sounded cheap and plasticy, with boomy, undefined bass, boxy mids and muffled highs. Overpriced, overdesigned and disappointing. Bang & Olufsen are slightly better, but still fit the "overpriced and overdesigned" description.
I think Klipsch has probably sustained the best quality over the years. I'm partial to JBL as well, grew up listening to JBL 4312s through a sansui Au-707. Use Klipsch speakers and a pioneer receiver now.
You were like 20 years too late. In the late 80s, this setup was incredible. Getting that much sound and bass from tiny satellite speakers and a subwoofer was insane - in part because people used woofers, minus the sub part - and to get sound like that you needed big tower speakers with 15" woofers, 6" mids and tweeters. I know when I went to a friends house and he had a Bose setup, it was mind blowing. Also Bose had some incredible spacial audio for that era - again from a 2.1 setup, it filled up a room. Now in 2008, that system was literally 21-years old already, and in a big empty warehouse store, with nothing to bounce off of, it wasn't going to sound good - but in a house, the sound was quite good, even in 2008, even thought by that point they had obviously been passed by for many years.
At least B&O put some design into their products. They may have been underwhelming in almost every technical sense, but at least they looked good, unlike Dr. Bose's uninspired awkward plastic boxes.
@@MRblazedBEANS I prefer ear headphones. I find I can't hear much through my nose. Seriously, though, Bose noise-cancelling headphones are very good, only slightly overpriced, and you can often find them on sale. Also, when they initially came out, the noise-cancelling was far superior to anything else on the market. Other manufacturers have caught up now, though.
One thing that looks like it would annoy me about this system is all those indents on the front of it, looks like they would pick up dust all the way from Alpha Centauri! XD Gud vid as always! :)
My parents have had a smaller Bose radio for probably 30 years in a spot under the TV and it sounds pretty good, certainly much better than other radios they have around the house.
I get the impression that Bose products probably would have been considered quite good-sounding compared to most low-to-midrange consumer electronics and the main problem was that they were overhyped and massively overpriced for what they were- i.e. nowhere near the high-end "audiophile" systems the marketing claimed or implied they were.
This thing was revolutionary for its' day. I remember seeing the commercials for it all the time on tv advertising how good it sounded for being in such a small package. But it has been limped along throughout the generations to make it more relevant. Making it go from being clean and practical to being just as clumsy or more clumsy than a normal stereo unit. When our local Best Buy was still in business my friend and I would test out all of the bluetooth speakers they had on the shelves. Some on offer were BOSE' own bluetooth speakers which sounded far better than this thing and they were a quarter of the size. So it goes to show how far big sound from small packages have come since this thing came to the market. They sounded good and came in fun colors but I didn't need one. I already had a nice SONY bluetooth speaker which I still have. Its' format is more practical for my needs because it can sit in the cup holder of a vehicle. :)
The saying that went around was “no highs no lows, must be Bose”. Installed my fair share. Always old folks. 1/2 installs added on a proper subwoofer for home theatre. 1989-1997.
That trope is because of the original 901s. They had to be installed in a specific manner, because they used the walls as part of the system. Installed correctly, they sounded fantastic. However, MANY people treated them like bookshelf speakers... and then they sound like crap.
The “no highs no lows, must be Bose” mantra is applicable today in many automotive sound systems. You can have 60 separate drivers, but if they can't reach the frequencies (they can't), it doesn't matter how many you have. We have a Bose "premium" system in our Cadillac ATS. It's just not very "premium". Bose was good at creating clever innovations years past, but they really don't have anything outstanding to offer anymore.
@@broeheemed32 Agreed, the new Bose car systems are garbage. GM is dumping them, they got Harman, who makes the infotainment system anyway, to stick their AKG brand on the premium models.
Missus bought me one. Perfect kitchen sound system, lounge not so much. Got divorced. Had to sell it, couldn't believe how much used ones were going for (this is years ago mind), ker chingg thank you very much, years 'n' years later, one came up for peanuts on market place and I realised I kinda missed it, so got another one. One cheapo blue tooth adaptor later and my kitchen rocks once more. 6.5/10 is about right. A fair review.
I have one of these with exactly the same accessories you tested. I inherited it from my late father in law. As I hadn't had a hi fi for so long (my last one died in 2009 when I was moving house) and have just had a Pioneer ipod/bluetooth dock for a few years, the Bose system was a welcome change. I must admit I was carried along by the hype that 'Bose' was a good brand and I would visit the Bose shop in Liverpool to look over their kit. It's not the best system but it does the job. thanks for an honest review.
As someone who lives in a country full of brutalist architecture...it doesn't have enough light grey on it, just that middle bit...the shape is pretty on-point though.
I think Bose were still considered real hifi speakers during their heyday in the 70's when their direct/reflecting designs like the 901, 601, 501, and bookshelf 301 were made. I heard both the 301 and 601 at a friends house frequently, and I thought they had a nice wide n warm sound. Seemed well-made mid-fi speakers for the price. They sold a bunch through military PX/BX posts and AAFES catalogs. Never got into these compact systems or their Acoustimass cubes and subs systems. Some liked them.
In 1994 I was with a woman that had one of these. She told me that she had spent $1,400 USD on the thing. She had a record player connected it that both were sitting on a dresser in her bedroom. Remember this was well before the age of CD's. And no, she couldn't see the display unless she was on tippy toes. She only used it for the record player, but it sounded amazing. I believe back then it had an alarm clock feature that would turn the radio on in the morning and I think she used that as well. Would I have spent that much money in 1994 just for an amplifier? Probably not. But it did sound absolutely amazing.... well, for playing records.
We had the original version with the tape player. The tape player quit working awhile ago and we just used the radio. When they still had service centers I found that you could turn it in and upgrade to the newest version for $500 which i did. Unfortunately mine doesn’t work anymore.
Traditional DAB tuners will "see" DAB+ stations, but will go silent as they won't be able to decode the stream, hence why some of the stations on your unit were silent. 😊
I loved visiting the Bose stores in the mall back in the day. They always did a great job of presenting their speakers as the most amazing futuristic speakers ever created. I was never in any danger of buying anything as I did not have thousands of dollars laying around for a sound system. But their marketing presentation was a sight to behold. When they came into the listening room about 1/2 way through the presentation and removed the false-fronts of the big speakers you thought you were listening to, and revealed the tiny little things actually making the room full of noise, it was shocking and impressive.
I have that exact unit. CD changer and all. Only mine was the older liquid crystal display. Found it at Goodwill in perfect shape for 10 bucks. For that price, it stays in my room. Decent sound.
Growing up with an audiophile for a dad, my impression of Bose speakers was always, "Wow, sounds impressive for the size." But I was never impressed by the sound itself.
I demoed a pair of Bose roommate speakers. Told the engineer it sounded like a three inch speaker in a plastic box. Safe to say I did not make his day.
I love your videos, everything we need to know and you're funny as well. I used to see adverts for this system over the years, and back in the eighties, yes it did look good, but you're right, it doesn't look good now, no flashing lights or funky display either- well that you can see without standing over it! Excellent review and thanks for the laughs!😄
I bought an Acoustic Wave II over the summer for $150 on Craigslist. Sold the disc changer underneath it on eBay for $200 and practically got it for free. I can't believe people actually paid $1100 (864 pounds) ($300 for the 5 disc extension) for these radios. They're not bad sounding if they were $200. But at $1100!? I can see why they didn't sell well, especially when you could've gotten better Hi-Fi systems, or even built a very decent home theater system for the same price of this Acoustic Wave.
Go back to 1985, get your receiver/amp, a couple of 15" tower speakers, and have it take up half your living room - then compare it to one of these. I remember that comparison from the time, in that setup, that's why in large part these were popular despite the price. That and people buying these weren't on welfare, so they were fine paying more of a quality product - and they were quality at that time. Now 20-years late? No, technology passed them by, but when they came out it was a big deal.
I remember back in the 90s, a friend took his AW system with them while they floated the Colorado river through the Grand Canyon. He was pleased that he brought multiple battery packs.
I listened to one of these around 1996. The bass was "not right" and it was expensive so I passed. I ended up buying an Aiwa unit that looked obnoxious with too many lights but sounded absolutely great!
I find that I discover the problem with a lot of plastic chassis sounds systems just by knocking on it with a knuckle. That tone you hear can severely color the music. Ideally you should hear a dull thud, which is why MDF boxes work really well.
The sound reminds me very much of old tube radios from the early 1960s. The bass can't apparently outsmart physics and essentially resonates at a single frequency.
There's a guy on UA-cam who 3D prints small speaker enclosures - and he knows his stuff - uses software to predict the response with the drivers he's chosen and the finished item measures pretty close. But when he wanted a decent subwoofer for his house, he didn't mess around with ports and tubes and multiple enclosures - he basically put a single big driver in a big sealed box !
The problem with using resonate frequency to enhance bass, it takes a split second for the resonance to build up. Not noticeable with a bass guitar or synthetic bass line, but a bass drum hit will be drawn out, and hit slightly late.
I bought one in 2015. I’m not hard on my stuff, but I’ve moved across the country like r times for work. It has lasted and nothing is broke and it still looks new.
If this thing was sold today, it'd have Raycon branding and be shilled by UA-camrs. There's a reason this was principallu marketed to seniors on daytime television.
An enigma of FM radio is that usually the stronger the reception aka strong front end, the lower the quality of sound. So, the Akai which is not very high quality sound-wise can afford a stronger front end, but a wave radio (and I'm not espousing them, I have never paid any attention to them), should sacrifice signal strength for quality sound.
I was never much attracted to these things. If you want something like a clock-radio-cd player in your bedroom get any one box micro system. Having two speakers in the bedroom is not that inconvenient. i used to have mine hooked up to a Tannoy Subwoofer but really not needed.
You should take it apart. I’d like to see it in pieces. I remember the advertising for it back in the day and they would show a computerized image of a multi piece hi fi system with VU meters and it would morph into the Bose system. I joked that I like the flashy bits. The Bose sounded good when I first heard them. But I always liked the flashy bits and separate components. Still do.
😂 @technoman YOU'RE USING IT WRONG! This Bose system was never intended to be listened to at close range. It is litterally designed to FILL THE ROOM OR EVEN THE HOUSE WITH SOUND. That's why the instructions said to place it near a wall because this system is designed to replace a giant home sound system by using **direct reflect** accoutics. What that means is you're supposed to place you Bose system on the OTHER side of the room and listen to the music from no less than five feet away and preferably from the other side of the entire room. This is also the reason why they specifically don't design the system to draw attention to itself visually (including the screen placement) because you're meant to focus on the music and get wrapped up in the sound and not the gimmick of the visuals of most systems. Try this system again from ACROSS THE ROOM, where you aren't afraid of a little volume and you'll notice the music sounds better than just about anything at any price, at that distance.
My first exposure to this unit was as a kid in middle school in the early 90s. Ill never forget it as it filled up an auditorium with full range sound to this (then) young kid. Ive since heard it in several different locations. Sound wise it is still impressive for what it delivers / size. And OMG in the 80s-90s it was VERY impressive sound wise for its size. Nothing else like it. The sad thing is BOSE for what ever the reason clearly didnt care about putting meaningful effort into modernizing it. It features look like they plateaued in the mid to late 90s and thats all folks. For a 2018 model that looks down right pathetic. Real shame too as with added design changes / features I bet BOSE could have squeezed another 10+ years out of it for the right price. And no tone controls on a $1k+ system like that is nuts. I get they wanted to keep things simple. But not even adding sound presets is insane. That system was king in the 80s-90s for its size. It will always have that claim to fame.
I have a Bose wave cd radio that my Grandma bought over a decade ago as the speaker for my computer, I really like it, but it's not for everyone. I love the design of them and it fits in well with my thinkstation desktop that I have, they almost look like they were made for one another
@@ottonormalverbrauch3794I was young and didn't know any better. Weren't you also of a generation that spent their first ever payday on a new "stereo"? 😅
We had one of those sets when i was a kid, in the den. (Around the same time) IIRC it was very sensitive to speaker placement (for all three components), buI thought it sounded great--though more for the bass, as you said. We also had a Sansui AU-9500 (that the Bose speakers were also connected to) with ESS AMT-1 speakers (in a different room). My father had bought both of those when they came out in 1973. He gave me both a couple years ago. IMHO those were markedly better than the Bose speakers, but that's not surprising. Probably not anything to write home about compared to audiophile quality stuff today (not that i even get to listen to anything like that today very often) but certainly still better than most stuff today generally. For 1973 i think that was more or less as good as it got, though. The tweeters absolutely trounced the Bose speakers. All of it still sounds better than anything I could afford to buy, and is definitely worth the $0 price tag lol.
people dont like flat EQ's. Even people who work in audio often use a .6dB/oct. tilt on their frequency response. The most popular headphone response curve as of right now is probably the soundguys curve, which is a little more scooped than the harman curve
This came out during the early versions of "Hyper-bass" systems, where bass was added by adding another internal speaker. They were everywhere. Earlier yet, in the early 70's, they "invented" the "Craig Powerplay" for cars, trying to get louder sound from the typically cheap car audio. 8-Tracks were around and cassettes were emerging. Things were moving fast. Home audio was changing from the monster Receivers to more compact designs and "boom-boxes" with that same "Hyper-bass" option. Personally, I liked what JVC came out with. Had 4 versions of those, all great! Bose just couldn't find a place, mainly because of price. Their original home speakers were in another dimension. They were famous for a reason. I cannot remember if it was their 501 or 901 models that I first heard that were impressive. (This is back in 1973) Their marketing of >these< units didn't match the real item. Currently, I DO have their noise cancelling headphones. They work. ($4.00 in thrift store; complete with battery and charger and case) Also have computer speakers which sound noticeably good! ($6.00) Bose was in the driving lane and everyone was passing them. Other than "sound", which others could duplicate, all others were burying them with similar or same sound and many other added features. Bose was being outgunned. They really fell when they removed all the top buttons and you had to rely ONLY on the non-replaceable remote. As to used, I've only ever found 1 in a thrift store and again, 1, in an audio store with THAT one going for a fortune, both obviously used. Once the cat was out of the bag in getting bass out of a small cabinet, Bose lost the war. I bought the one in the thrift store, the early, white tabletop unit, for $7.00 (U.S.) with no remote. The top buttons were very fragile and no replacements available. It worked, but the sound was very ordinary, although clean. I gave it to my Nephew. He's happy. I'm glad for this review. I've been hoping a long time this would come up. These units aren't bad, they're just not special. If I could get one, like here, complete, cheap, I'd do it, but "cheap" is the key word here, $50.00 max. I have other items that work great that don't fight back and have more options. This is a really nice video. Very glad it came out.
8:17 This is a track by yours truly called ‘A Moment Of Joy.
Always a good time when Techmoan plays your stuff.
Moament of Joy 😃
Nice tune, mate!
Great tune mate, also enjoying your podcast!
Don't have to worry about shopping bags for a few years after that unboxing
The number of bags never goes down without an effort.
Use them for trash bags I guess. Used to do that years back before shops and markets stopped using them.
Not a good packing job, exactly the reason I don't like stuff posted. People either overdo or underdo it.
@@jameslaidler2152perfect for office and bathroom trash cans
Must have been a US midwesterner who shipped the unit. They used some of their "bag of bags" 😂
Is it just me, or does the assembled system look like a model of one of those weird faceless hotel complexes in Las Vegas or LA? The scooped front, the weird angles. Adding the cd changer makes it look like it has an enclosed lobby area, and the DAB unit looks like an annex building. It's attractive in a way, but looks like a prop from Total Recall, and definitely looks like something Patrick Bateman would have in his apartment, playing Huey Lewis or Phil Collins. If Bose decide to go into the hotel chain business, it would be a crime if they didn't basically make a giant version of this.
This comment is gold. As someone who has been to Vegas a lot, I know EXACTLY what you're talking about, haha. I guess it looks the most like Wynn.
That!
I first couldn't pinpoint it, but that is it, it has an overall hotel feeling as well.
But somehow als the unit looks like someone has on a dorm of a college as his all-in-one player despite the price.
@@smvwees lol yeh like some snotty kid know it all and gets on everyones nerves lmao :)
My first thought it looked like something that could be used on thunderbirds lol :)
Bateman had impeccable taste.
I love that what was once Bose's premium remote option looks like the shovelware remotes you get today for anything that plays media or has RGB.
Like the colour-changing light I got from Daiso (Japan's Poundland, only actually good) that broke after 3 days.
Well, the light broke, the remote might still be good, for all I know.
A friend had an older one.. Aluminum ergonomic remote that was wireless and worked from any room..
It just shoes how all theChin3se rebage construction has made things much worse.. Now its all just random parts put together rather than a full custom design made in Japan or Europe..
I produced the demo CD that came with this product. I only worked with the prototype that came in pieces. It was similar to the Bose Wave Music System III and IV demo CD. If I find a copy of it, I'll send you one. Hopefully, that still sounds good through this product. BTW, I agree with your assessment of the sound and features. At least you didn't have to assemble yours, like I did. HAHA!!!
Small world
leave it to Bose to give the rich Boomers who bought this a demo CD in the mid 2000s - knowing that they bought it to listen to AM radio on a product their friends think is classy. Most of them probably hung the CD on a string in the window thinking it was a rainbow reflector.
I'm from Boston MA, where the Advent loudspeaker originated, along with the Bose headquarters here in Framingham MA. Henry Kloss, who created the Advent, started a speaker company in the late 1980s called Cambridge Soundworks to directly compete with Bose products at a fraction of the price. Not only were they competitive, but they actually sounded quite a bit better! Their competition to the "wave" systems was the model 88 radio, which actually sounded like a full stereo. They also made some of the best computer speakers I'd ever heard!
Not difficult to sound better than bose. Truly a product for suckers.
Yup Henry Kloss was a legend. Advent, KLH, Cambridge Soundworks AND Tivoli
In germany, these were always advertised in "old people magazines", next to stuff like heating blankets or way too expensive CD collections of music from the 50s. Always gave it a bit of a "snake oil" aura for me.
Velcro Slippers and Dinner Trays
@@tomspotley5733 exactly!
Not to mention the stairlift and hearing aid adverts.
And those easy to get up from a seat seats with brand names that sounded luxurious in the 1890s.
You'd typically get them in the Sunday newspapers here in England, along with adverts for lethal looking mechanical hair trimmers. "Save yourself £££££s in going to the barbers!" The pound signs would be massive and take up most of the ad, along with a small black and white drawing of the implement in question.
Ah, 1980s technology with 1990s build quality manufactured in 2000s
Yes they were end of an era
Like the awful walkman knockoffs available today; they can't reproduce the brilliant miniaturization of the peak of the Sony tech, so we get tape players that look like the original Walkman from 1979 or whatever it was.
you mean 1900s?
Sad to see
I think that is an over priced pile of plastic its audio performance is boxy and mechanically rather cheap I have seen better remote controls on a garden light. "Bose" over priced junk with digitally processed sound to accommodate the deficiency in cabinet construction. Bose used to do good Club audio systems but that does not translate to domestic kit which is just pants but usually bought by those who also have a SMUG fridge and tone deaf.
It seemed to be the go-to device for independent bookstore owners in the 1990s. Somewhere in the back of the stacks or behind the counter there was usually one of these pumping out Windham Hill music all day.
Windham Hill. 😂😂 So spot on.
Suddenly I can smell aromatic candles lol
considering who the company catered to, it’s apt: pretentious people with money bought these over actual decent systems that cost a fraction of the price
@@777jones
Those darn things give me a massive headache!!
The problem Bose has always had is they are essentially an R&D company which had one good idea 50 years ago trying to play at being a current manufacturer. I sold their Lifestyle and 3-2-1 Bose systems in the mid-late 00s and whilst the sound technology actually was impressive, nothing else about their systems was. They had moved into the AV space with products which were premium priced but cost reduced, cheaply built, under featured, and lagging years behind everyone else. They never made substantially different SKUs for different markets, so no SCART on European models. For years after HDMI became a standard input, Bose could only deliver this through a breakout box fed by the component ports. Not only did they carry on solely supplying DVD during the Blu-Ray/HD-DVD format war, but even after it was settled they didn't have a single product in their range with a Blu-Ray drive. And that's before you get into their mess of proprietary connections requring proprietary cables. Totally not worth the money, once you got past the talking point of big sound from small speakers, there was nothing else left.
This is Vargos from the Aachnirod Space Penal Colony, I can confirm that I have a Bose Acoustic Wave Music System and it indeed does look at home
I love how you test the FM reception of a device, its still very relevant to most people, and it sounds like you are in a fringe area so a good location to test
It's great to test, but FM is certainly no relevant to most people anymore. Ratings prove that is not the case. Still, it should always be checked out, and in the US almost no one ever tests HD radio, even though it's vastly superior to plain old FM.
@@rodmunch69 It still amazes me that new cars don't have HD radio. It's fantastic, but I had to buy a small portable unit. I guess it's all about streaming these days, for better or for worse. Personally I prefer to listen to real local radio.
@rodmunch69
Fm is extremely relevant here. Our digital radio (tho extremely underutilized) is back compatible with analog FM (different fom DAB). For some reason, we never fully switched to Digital Radio, i guess we have just too many radio stations, and with the insane regulation of everything comms related, by ANVISA it never got the push it needed.
Brasil btw.
@@Roalethiago Well regular FM is radio is still probably 1,000x more popular than HD radio in the US, if not more like 10,000x. But in general, the number of people listening to radio has plummeted since everyone just does everything on their phones. If you want music, you got a million free apps for that, if you want talk, you have basically an unlimited number of podcasts. For me, personally, I can't even think of the last time I listened to regular radio - and when I have heard it, it's so hacky and so low budget sounding (when not playing music) I just cringe.
@@Roalethiago I think you misunderstand in that radio for music, period, isn't relevant to most people anymore. I know I'd never listen to crappy broadcast radio when there's easy high quality streaming options without commercials.
You should take a look at the Cambridge Soundworks unit that was a direct competitor to the Bose Wave radio. Sounded much better and was less expensive.
Indeed. The Cambridge is much more accurate and detailed sound- wise.
Cambridge Soundworks, founded by Henry L Kloss of KLH fame.
@@SamWesting And Advent speakers and Tivoli Audio. What a guy!
I think the reason why the CD changer is only capable of playing regular music CD’s is because it probably came out a decade before this MP3-compatible revision of the system was made (possibly made for the version that came before), when MP3 was still a new piece of technology. It even looks like it belongs to that era, judging by the controls engraved in italics.
Also mp3 discs weren’t a “standard” so much as they were just regular orange book CDs with mp3 files on it. Just about any cheap tat had that compatibility. It was probably beneath such a high end audiophile device to defile the room with lossy compressed music.
I found that manufacturers were really slow, to outright resistant to adopt technologies that were consumer oriented/desired. The underbelly of the manufacturer 'agreements' with the music industry, where support for anything beyond broadcast & disc, was steadfastly thought to encourage/condone piracy (and/or loss of control of their already captive marketshare chain).
It took forever (4+ years) to integrate any kind of mp3 support, and likely that was only through the pressure of their own hardware manufacturing marketshare being in entropy. The only reason WMA was ever included; was due to a subsidy from Microsoft to push their own proprietary audio format in competition with early iTunes (iPod era).
If you wanted anything else; Ogg/Flac, etc, even basic WAV.... Never happening, not even via a firmware update.
I found myself Not buying hardware more than not, due to lack of formats support. They did it to themselves
@@emprsnm9903 It was actually unclear whether or not it was legal to ship an MP3 player at all in the US. After Congress's whole "let's ban DAT" kerfuffle, they passed the Audio Home Recording Act (AHRA) which mandated a specific form of DRM be put on *all* digital recorders (except "professional" models, which were never defined in the law). In fact, that's what the music industry sued Creative over when Creative started shipping dedicated MP3 players.
Of course, the judge in RIAA v. Creative decided to just let Creative run a truck through a loophole in the law. Technically, the player does not record, it's just opening files copied to it from a computer, which isn't controlled by the AHRA. Hence why computers could do whatever with audio CDs while dedicated music players were basically forbidden from format-shifting digital audio without handcuffing it.
And to make matters worse, other countries have even worse laws. The AHRA's one positive attribute was that it explicitly legalized format-shifting CDs to other digital media (at least within the AHRA's stupid DRM mandate). In the UK, that's *still* explicitly illegal, and Parliamentary efforts to legalize it have been shot down by the courts because the law would mean less people *rebuying the same music on new formats*. In other words, UK law considers musicians to have a constitutional right to sell you the same music twice.
So naturally you can imagine why manufacturers aren't chucking the latest royalty-free Xiph codecs on their players. Or at least that was the case with music. For some reason lots of DVD players proudly supported VCD and DivX, formats that (at least in the US) had ZERO market penetration and were used exclusively by movie and TV pirates using their DVD players to play pirated video on their TV.
I never imagined that a Bose system would have the remote control from a set of ebay rgb lights. Also that multichanger is so slow. I had a car with a multichanger back in the day which was so much faster, you can really tell this is 1980s technology that just kept hanging on past its time.
I'd say, a set of e-bay RGB lights has a remote from Bose system, chronologically. :)
It's a weird thing... in my experience for some time luxury/lifestyle kit had weird, cheap and/or very limited remotes, while the lower-end stuff actually had proper remotes. My mid-nineties Panasonic boombox (RX-DS20) has a proper normal-sized rubber-button remote, while my parents' feather-touch Sony thing had something more like the Bose.
One exception to the luxury/lifestyle remote trend was where they'd have a "master" remote to control all the devices, that'd either be manufacturer-specific, or so inexplicable it was useless and you'd end up getting one of those cheap(er) learning remotes from Dixons.
I ended up with a Philips "Pronto" RU890: a hefty touch-screen learning remote brick that I spent hours customising. Come to think of it, that'd be a good one for TechMoan.
@@tomgidden I remember 1990s Sony remotes being good but then again they had a huge range so maybe at some price points they had less good remotes. My parents' panasonic TV had the best remote but even my terrible Amstrad VCR had a better remote than that bose one. The only brand I have seen other than bose to use those cheap remotes is a Goodmans soundbar.
@@misterthegeoff9767 Hilariously, Bose sold a Premium Backlit Remote for this (woo-hoo!). Which would literally backlight the buttons for seven seconds. Did the "Premium" have an LCD screen like the one on top of the main unit? Nope. Would it operate the CD changer? The DAB radio? The other bits and bobs? Nope.
Funnily enough, from the review I don't think it was particularly decent in it's day either, and shouldn't have held on for even a couple of years. It's basically junk, old school eWaste.
What a blast from the past. I remember these being advertised on late night television and really wanting one as a kid.
Same here kind of! Except it was the cheaper Bose Wave Music System, either I or II. Color me shocked when I recently got a new old stock Bose Wave Music System III with a matching Multi-CD Changer in Titanium Silver for Christmas.
In the 90s, I worked at a radio station in college, and the station owner loved Bose. He used Acoustimass systems throughout the station. In the main office, in his office, in the studios, in the control rooms, etc. And we had a 4 of the Acoustic Waves we used when doing remote broadcasts. They worked well for that because they were portable, loud and more convenient than bringing a receiver and speakers out to a remote. Of course, they were heavier and more bulky than our microwave transmitter.
Try one in a large room, and it will sound much better.
Yeah, I don't doubt that this sounds best in a large room.
Got a white Acoustic Wave at a yard sale for $25. It was badly yellowed, smokers house. Cleaned it i up, sounds a bit boomy. But when we have outdoor movie night it’s more than adequate sitting under the projector screen. I turn down the bass on the laptop that’s hooked to the projector. Can’t say it’s Dolby Surround but good enough for my purposes.
I just bought one of these original cassette systems from the 1980s. It has bass and treble control. It is the clearest cassette player I have ever used. No hiss, no clicking, just a fantastic option for mixtapes.
The cassette version is the one I'd be interested in
The 80’s version probably had better speakers and analog controls. I had and old Bose from that time and it sounded quite good.
Yeah I think a lot of cheapening happened to this unit over the decades, and resting on laurels. He should check out older units.
this just makes me assume you'd never used a high end cassette player before.
@ blah blah blah snob
Back in the 90s here in the US, there was a very popular radio personality named Paul Harvey. He had a syndicated radio show for years and years and years where he would just tell stories.
His closing was always “I’m Paul Harvey. Good day!”
Anyways, his show was sponsored by Bose. That’s how I learned about Bose Acoustic Wave back in the day.
Loved listening to Paul Harvey. I couldn't have given less of a fuck about what he was talking about. I just liked his voice.
I can hear his voice while reading that 😂
Hello Americans!
Yes, this is where my grandmother got the notion to buy the compact one back in the day. It was ridiculously expensive and she and my aunt got into a fight over spending that much money on what amounted to a CD player.
Good day!
It looks like most of the budget went on all those advertisements in The Guardian and The Times Sunday supplements.
That's because you're right. I own one of these, and it's a $200 USD (157 pound) system at best.
Aspirational marketing is often used to pump the prices of stuff that isn’t justifying the cost on quality alone. Supreme is the best example of this.
Like he points out in the video, when these first came out, they were pretty ground breaking, and the standard for quality for many years (in terms of all-in-one small systems). The issue is they lived on their rep with this unit and didn't really improve it. Then again, people buying this unit, wanted THIS unit. But like with most brands that market to non-poor people, they spend a lot of advertising. The only company I've ever seen not do this, that was selling a quality product to people in this income range is Tesla.
Because they did
Don't forget Focus, now the BBC's, but once an independent, pop-science magazine.
I had issue 1 somewhere once. Might be worth nearly a fiver on Ebay!
I got given a smaller Awrcc6 recently from circa 2006. I got it recapped (solved the prolonged 'please wait' error) and plugged in a cheap alexa to stream amazon music and it's a great addition to our summerhouse. A decent sound from a small cabinet. I think with an alexa echo dot added, it has another lease of life. Recapping was not expensive.
From the era when "Fifty Shades of Grey" was a buying guide for household goods. Apart from the bathroom, which was of course, avocado-coloured.
I feel personally attacked lol.
That pseudo-compatibility with the external «docked» CD player sending the turn-on signal to the main unit via lined up infrared is hilarious. It’s something I’d expect from the early 1980’s.
It's kind of ingenious. A lesser company would've just given you two remotes and said "deal with it." I have to applaud Bose for giving modular integration a shot. I do miss having upgradeable equipment...
Was that shown in the video?
@@Neil_down_south Yes it was
@@ancltube do you have the time stamp please
@@Neil_down_south 20:20
I used to sell Bose equipment in the late 80s and these devices were slow to catch on but ultimately a big hit. I’ve always enjoyed Bose products for the most part even though they were usually very expensive. A few years ago I picked up one of these Acoustic Wave compact systems for $5 at a garage sale as it was supposedly not working, but with a little cleaning and tweaking it sprang to life. It’s a model CD-2000 with AM/FM tuner, CD player and several auxiliary inputs when paired with the pedestal PD-2. Mine has a minimalistic “treble/bass” control for minor adjustments. I wonder why they abandoned that feature. Mine was manufactured in January of 1994 and in my opinion it still sounds great after 30 years. I will admit that I don’t listen to radio with it, just the CD and other inputs. Thank you for this deep dive into this version.
One thing that winds me up is when eBay sellers empty there recycling bin into the box for packaging!!!
if my item arrives unscathed im ok with it. certainly better than nothing
@craigcousins6718 It could have been polystyrene Chips that get everywhere, but where you want them.
@bobby666666 yes I know what you mean I but mixing desks and they get into the faders!!
@craigcousins6718 I didn't think of that. I used to work for a company, and we received various parcels. Some had chips in, and I had to spend time chasing them. Other timed it was shredded paper. That was just as bad.
Yhe Walmart of the onternet
I remember going to a Bose store with my Dad as a kid and hearing one of these things and being wowed only because of the demo tracks they played through it. Once they played the radio or certain tracks, I immediately felt like it was a waste of money. Dad ended up with a 3-2-1 GS 2.1 DVD system in the early 2000s that I thought was a waste of money but what was I to say as a kid
All the style and grace of an office printer....and barely sounds better than one!
“It appears the previous owner was last listening to *PANJAB RADIO, which isn’t much use to me.”
It's 6 in the morning and that made me laugh so hard 😂😂 his deadpan delivery is perfect. lmao
I do agree that Tech has caught up and even exceeded what ever edge Bose wave systems may have once had back in the day. That said they were always just too expensive for me to even consider purchasing.
I have one of these and discovered for my model, the power cord also acts as the FM radio antenna.
The first time I heard one of these was in a Sears right after Terminator 2 came out on video. It was being played on a TV with a Wave as the sound output, as I walked by I paused when I heard Arnold snatch the shotgun from the biker bar guy because the bass was phenomenal, then the drum kicked in from Bad to the Bone and I was a bit floored. I was looking for the subwoofer and couldn't find one and then realized it was all coming from this little box.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Suspect this review was to boost channel views, the very mention of Bose and all the haters come out
@@freepress8451lol???
I remember seeing something like this at a cinema but it was massive and was high up near the ceiling and pointing towards the screen, the shape of this unit that is. Not sure if it was bose or whoever?
@@freepress8451 Its not about Hate. Its about Honesty. Bose sells way Over-Priced products, while trying to POSE their equipment as being Audiophile Quality. Nothing could be further from the Truth. They use the cheapest $2 Chinese drivers.. and some Gimmicky Trickery, to get that over-exaggerated + artificial sounding Bass response.
People whom actually know the technology inside of speakers.. are not Hateful. We laugh at the general mass Lemming Ignorance. See respectable looking commercial = must be great Product = Buy at any Price! Suddenly, there is no such thing as Dishonesty in the World.
And if YOU like that low level sound quality... you defend their Trickery and over-pricing scamming... via Ego based Brand Fan-Girl'ing. You dont want to know the actual Truth. You dont really want to hear, and learn... that you could get 50 times better sound, at 50 times less the cost. Your mind is Brainwashed into an Ego Feedback Loop, of Self Delusion. You dont want to live in actual Reality... because that could hurt your Feelings (which is actually why you posted, in the first Place).
New glasses Matt? Suit you, sir!
Ohhhhh!
The boselink on the back of the DAB is there because the DAB has used up the acoustic wave boselink connection. So you would use the boselink connection on the DAB to connect into a Lifestyle 48 home theater system which has a hardrive to store over 300 cd's in lossless quality.
That's pretty cool, the hard drive unit
But it clearly says not to use it. What are you possibly going to use it for if not to connect to another Boselink device? Do they mean "don't use it to make coffee"?
The last part of this video you're talking about of the feature hype and everything under menu's and button combinations. I think we can agree on the fact it's not anything different than these days. Everything you want to do other than volume and skipping tracks, is under button cominations or menu's. It's all getting more features and more difficult to operate. Everything is touch screen and manu driven.
I spent 30 plus years repairing consumer electronics and was never overly impressed with the Bose music systems, whilst I wasn't alone in my view there are other people who think they were the best things ever - a triumph of marketing perhaps.
The sound is often too bass heavy and boomy; the lack of any EQ controls, I think, was a mistake. The whole point of EQ controls is to tailor the output to suit your room acoustics, your ear or just your preference!
There is actually an official Bose modification for some of the Wave Radios to reduce the bass level, which greatly improves listenability.
Those CD changers are horrid. Firstly, they're clearly an afterthought with a weird aesthetic and limited interaction with the main unit; secondly, they are too slow in operation; and thirdly, they have plastic bits inside that have a tendency to crack and fall apart now they're aging - rendering them completely useless.
Over the years I've had a couple of different Bose CD Players at home but ended up getting rid of them as they were somehow 'unpleasant' things to listen to.
If you've ever been inside a Bose product you know the components are as cheap as possible. All marketing no substance. For the premium price you could have way better stuff.
@@carbonstar9091 Absolutely! Like with many 'premium products' the only premium thing is the price tag.
My guess is that *maybe* the lack of EQ is because the design is hard-engineered to alter the sound (and particularly the bass) a certain way and it's not as easy to adjust that via EQ controls the way it would be with a more traditional design....?
26:15 Radio X is DAB+ only. I had the same issue with an old Denon system I had that didn’t support DAB+. It shows the DAB+ station just nothing plays (as I guess it cannot decode it)
A guitar player/solo singer had a set of the 901's for performance in small intimate clubs. As a Bassist I thought they sounded great playing through his mixing board. It was only when I sat some 18" speaker cabinets next to them did I realize the sub frequencies missing from the 901's. I used the concept of 'bass reflex' in the 70's by turning my cabinet around in a corner. Still there's no substitute for a speaker large enough to move air the way a dedicated subcabinet will.
The 901s were marketed in a time (70s) when louder without distortion was considered the benchmark. Bose tried to "get around" the bass-reflex craze by extensive equalization. Many people back then were impressed by just how loud the 901s played for their size. I agree about moving air for bass; that's why I'm a Klipschorn fan.
@@themagus5906better sound through equalization.
There was a TV ad (in the '80s?) showing the Bose Acoustic Wave fooling people in a concert hall into thinking it was a full compliment of professional PA equipment. That sums up the overselling of Bose to me. As a music lover and musician, I was psyched when I got a chance to listen to it for the first time, and I remember the feeling of disappointment when I did. Then the absence of an equalizer sealed it for me. No thanks. (To be fair, I have heard other Bose equipment that sounded good.)
Was that the commercial with Herbie Hancock ? I always felt it was sad that he was the pitch man Bose , better sound through marketing.
@@Billsoundmaster I know he did a few bose commercials, but I don't think he was in the one I'm thinking of. I couldn't find it on UA-cam.
A friend of mine who worked for Bose gave me one these. I use it in a small room with a turntable connected to it. It sounds amazing! I believe the acoustics of the room itself plays a part in the sound of these. I also have a full audio file setup in a big room, but the Bose gives it run for its money with its clarity.
there is a local BBQ chain that has used Bose Wave radios up on a shelf for their sound system for years. Sounds good but I always wondered what they will do when they eventually break down (being on for good 12-16 hours / day, everyday). Although some are well over a decade old and still sounding good.
Spot on concussion Mat.
Always thought the bass was overblown and somewhat out of control and where everything is piled up on itself made it difficult to use Better Off with Something Else
They were never affordable for me. I also never had an opportunity to hear one. Very interesting, though!
Edit: I find a lot of "hi-fi" systems have too much bass. I like bass, but not when it seems to drown out the treble and midrange. EQ presets are no good. Give me the 5+ band graphic equalizers we used to have!
Some equipment has the bass cranked up to make some listeners think the quality is better. Accuracy is more important. The trouble with Bose bass is that it's not very even or clear but a muddy mess instead.
I wanted these so bad as a kid in the mid-late 90’s… their ad campaigns were top notch back then showing off how ‘complex’ the sound guides were to the speakers, and the simplicity of the design and nice black color made me want it even more.
But same thing as you, these were NEVER affordable… plus they never evolved (cheap LCD screens, no ability to tune, just basic functionality).
But I went looking for old ones on ebay about a year ago to get something I dreamed of as a kid as an adult- and they’re STILL just as freaking expensive. Now that I know they’re not even that good on sound to begin with, I really don’t have much desire to grab one anymore
My grandfather had the original bose wave system with the cd player in it. If I recall correctly he got it back in the early 90s. We inherited it from him but it's pretty much worn out. The CD player doesn't work and the AUX inputs have a short in them making it cut out unless you keep pressure on the cables.
So they spent 1.5 million on the port design. Then 27p on the rest of the so-called design.
What's there to design ??, the transmission line has been around since the 1940's.
1.5M of which 1.4M went to marketing the port design.
@@zorktxandnand3774 Why make something better when you can just convince people it's better? #ThinkDifferent
@@hifijohn Yes, but designing a transmission line for one driver means you've designed a transmission line _for one driver._ Prototyping something at this scale was probably quite costly, since you're not just going to build it out of plywood....
Most components were off the shelf. The unit cost Bose $150 in 1990 when I worked there. I did QA for the series I and early series II.
Maybe 2-3 years ago I had the opportunity to try and repair one where the optional 5 disc changer malfunctioned due to a cracked gear.
My opinion is it's real good sounding for AM audio and ok on FM, aux and CD.
The issue for me is the bass does not go down much below 50Hz.
Now when compared to similarly sized radios it is easily the better sounding radio.
If I only had the space for a small radio, this is likely what I'd have.
In the mid 1990s i took a 2 year electronics course. A local audio/electronics shop(The Pied Piper) would donate broken items that were returns or warranty items so that our class could fix/auction-off some stuff or strip components from them and learn what we could. While there picking up a load of donations one day i heard a Bose Wave radio and it was playing classical music and i could feel the cello and the floor was vibrating. i was amazed! after we loaded the stuff my instructor had some paperwork to do so i was playing around with that radio and the guy said play whatever you wanna play so i put it on a rock station and then an R&B station and i know a CD is gonna sound better than an FM broadcast but WOW!!!!! the classical music sounded amazing from the bose radio but the rock did not sound that great and the R&B was kinda too bass-y for the amount of mids/highs. I have always wanted one of those radios though! I bet it would make an AWESOME set of desktop PC speakers!!! Bose made another set back then too. It was 4 smaller front/rear left/right 4inch speakers and a small sub that had a HUGE sound. I've always wanted a set of those too. Watching this video brought back a lot of old memories. Can't wait to see the next one!!
I was fortunate enough to find one of these with the mentioned carrying case for 40 bucks at a resale shop. Minus the cd changer. It's been my camping radio mainly using the aux input. Despite not having the changer, it did come with the remote for one. I ended up listing the remote on ebay for 20. Took about a year to sell, and funnily enough the week it sold, same resale shop had the cd changer for sale for 20 bucks. Bad timing for the sale, I did end up buying the changer too.
Bass below like 100hz is omnidirectional so the lack of audible difference when you moved it away from the wall kind of proves the bass speaker in the units not a very good sub at all. I think they’re just very resonant in the mid bass between 200-400hz, which most people perceive as more bassy, but as you said,really it just sounds kind of wooly.
Thanks for posting this. I'm old enough to remember that many friends of mine (and myself) considered buying one of these throughout most of the 1990s, and onwards. In America, they were advertised EVERYWHERE!! It wasn't until your last Bose related video, that I wondered where all that "hype" went. While this system is far advanced, I'm glad you've actually explained the unit to all of us. Unfortunately, 30 years later, I still couldn't afford one.
I have an Acoustic Wave Music System II. Got it for 15 bucks at a garage sale in an affluent neighborhood.
It is my favorite piece of audio equipment. Not so much that it is the best sounding thing ever (it isnt), but with some "help" with some external speakers it is just a joy to still use, and I love to see it on my fireplace when I walk through the front door.
Edit: You are correct about the display. Mine is too high up to see, so I had to rig a prism on top of it so it reflected the display towards me.
The only time I'd see a unit like this, it was in an old person's room in the pensioner's home. BTW, for two videos in a row, when you were testing the radio, ELO was playing. Cool.
Came to say the same thing about ELO! 😅
I bought my first one in April 1993 , I sent them a check for a 1026.00 dollars it still works fine, and my second in 2004 but I also bought the 5 disk changer with it and it was 1399.00 dollars it had a remote except for the slide control for the volume on the first it was almost the same , and the 3rd I bought in 2017 and paid 1199.00 I bought all 3 straight from Bose
That finger wobble when Grandmaster Flash came on! I can see you thinking, "Screw the content, I should just listen to this track and get back to making content later"🤣
Also love Techmoan's glasses! They remind me of Raymond Reddington (James Spader) from NBC's _The Blacklist._
James Spader is a criminally underrated actor. Nice to see him getting a mention.
@@garydiamondguitarist Agreed! Love him so much. ❤️
A common appearance on shopping channels didn’t instil much confidence of sound quality.
I stayed with my uncle in 2003 for a little while. he had one of these and swore it was the best stereo ever. I think he was just trying to justify his purchase. I preferred listening to music on my Sony can headphones.
I just inherited a first version from my grandma. It needed some repairs to get back up and running, but I was also kind of disappointed in the sound. However, it at least had tone control via bass and treble sliders. I can't believe that they got rid of those adjustments.
Of course Bose got rid of them! That way, they could easily save, uh, maybe $5 per unit! *Ker-ching!*
That's the version id like to get a hold of.
The 90’s RX-7 I have had an optional BOSE installation with a waveguide system that took up literally a third of the already tiny boot space.
It also looked very much “form follows function”. I don’t think the function offered is worth the form on that either.
Does it still work?
I saw a review of one of those cars but the factory radio was broken.
I work with the guy that designed that system (Hes still with the company) and he absolutely knew what he was doing. Its hard to get good bass response in a small sedan like that off the back deck and door woofers sound absolutely abysmal compared to a properly enclosed woofer like in the rx7 waveguide
@@Goopa-Troopa that's pretty cool!
Yeah without a rear deck / trunk to have woofers in you don't get good bass. Most all cars such as hatchbacks and wagons with a decent stereo have a woofer somewhere, and back when the RX-7 was new OEM's were not doing that yet.
In the mid 90s my parents got 2 of the smaller wave radios with the top loading CD player. Both no longer play CDs but all other functions work. They still use one in lieu of a modern soundbar.
That's how my father still uses his. It's honestly not terrible as a soundbar. Completely inferior to a real audio system for music though.
I legitimately love the look of this thing. Reminds me of the 90s in its aesthetic I have one sitting on my shelf and it’s such an eye sore…. But I love it.
I worked at a big electronics store back in 2008 and they had Bose systems set up, with claims that they sounded "just as good as a surround setup, using just two satellite speakers and a subwoofer". As expected from Bose, they sounded cheap and plasticy, with boomy, undefined bass, boxy mids and muffled highs. Overpriced, overdesigned and disappointing.
Bang & Olufsen are slightly better, but still fit the "overpriced and overdesigned" description.
I think Klipsch has probably sustained the best quality over the years. I'm partial to JBL as well, grew up listening to JBL 4312s through a sansui Au-707. Use Klipsch speakers and a pioneer receiver now.
You were like 20 years too late. In the late 80s, this setup was incredible. Getting that much sound and bass from tiny satellite speakers and a subwoofer was insane - in part because people used woofers, minus the sub part - and to get sound like that you needed big tower speakers with 15" woofers, 6" mids and tweeters. I know when I went to a friends house and he had a Bose setup, it was mind blowing. Also Bose had some incredible spacial audio for that era - again from a 2.1 setup, it filled up a room. Now in 2008, that system was literally 21-years old already, and in a big empty warehouse store, with nothing to bounce off of, it wasn't going to sound good - but in a house, the sound was quite good, even in 2008, even thought by that point they had obviously been passed by for many years.
At least B&O put some design into their products. They may have been underwhelming in almost every technical sense, but at least they looked good, unlike Dr. Bose's uninspired awkward plastic boxes.
Idk I love my nose headphones, best sounding I could find.
@@MRblazedBEANS I prefer ear headphones. I find I can't hear much through my nose.
Seriously, though, Bose noise-cancelling headphones are very good, only slightly overpriced, and you can often find them on sale. Also, when they initially came out, the noise-cancelling was far superior to anything else on the market. Other manufacturers have caught up now, though.
I had one of these, and yes, I totally agree that not being able to adjust the sound was a bit downside
One thing that looks like it would annoy me about this system is all those indents on the front of it, looks like they would pick up dust all the way from Alpha Centauri! XD Gud vid as always! :)
A paint brush does wonders to clean up grooves like that. Looks like the seller did exactly that, because I expected it to be dusty too.
I got the small one with radio and CD player at a thrift shop for $12. Sounds great and also has RCA inpur and output. Totally rad!
My parents have had a smaller Bose radio for probably 30 years in a spot under the TV and it sounds pretty good, certainly much better than other radios they have around the house.
I get the impression that Bose products probably would have been considered quite good-sounding compared to most low-to-midrange consumer electronics and the main problem was that they were overhyped and massively overpriced for what they were- i.e. nowhere near the high-end "audiophile" systems the marketing claimed or implied they were.
This thing was revolutionary for its' day. I remember seeing the commercials for it all the time on tv advertising how good it sounded for being in such a small package. But it has been limped along throughout the generations to make it more relevant. Making it go from being clean and practical to being just as clumsy or more clumsy than a normal stereo unit. When our local Best Buy was still in business my friend and I would test out all of the bluetooth speakers they had on the shelves.
Some on offer were BOSE' own bluetooth speakers which sounded far better than this thing and they were a quarter of the size. So it goes to show how far big sound from small packages have come since this thing came to the market. They sounded good and came in fun colors but I didn't need one. I already had a nice SONY bluetooth speaker which I still have. Its' format is more practical for my needs because it can sit in the cup holder of a vehicle. :)
This probably could have been cheaper if they hadn't spent all that money on nightly infomercials for the thing.
He did a review on one of those a couple of years ago, you shall check it out!
The saying that went around was “no highs no lows, must be Bose”. Installed my fair share. Always old folks. 1/2 installs added on a proper subwoofer for home theatre. 1989-1997.
That trope is because of the original 901s. They had to be installed in a specific manner, because they used the walls as part of the system. Installed correctly, they sounded fantastic. However, MANY people treated them like bookshelf speakers... and then they sound like crap.
Hahaha. That's so original.
The “no highs no lows, must be Bose” mantra is applicable today in many automotive sound systems. You can have 60 separate drivers, but if they can't reach the frequencies (they can't), it doesn't matter how many you have. We have a Bose "premium" system in our Cadillac ATS. It's just not very "premium". Bose was good at creating clever innovations years past, but they really don't have anything outstanding to offer anymore.
@@broeheemed32 Agreed, the new Bose car systems are garbage. GM is dumping them, they got Harman, who makes the infotainment system anyway, to stick their AKG brand on the premium models.
ha ha my old boss always said these systems are great for people with industrial hearing, which means hearing damage LOL
Missus bought me one. Perfect kitchen sound system, lounge not so much. Got divorced. Had to sell it, couldn't believe how much used ones were going for (this is years ago mind), ker chingg thank you very much, years 'n' years later, one came up for peanuts on market place and I realised I kinda missed it, so got another one. One cheapo blue tooth adaptor later and my kitchen rocks once more. 6.5/10 is about right. A fair review.
I’ve flipped a few of these. Always got them for peanuts at auction and sold them quickly on Facebook Marketplace for a nice mark-up.
I have one of these with exactly the same accessories you tested. I inherited it from my late father in law. As I hadn't had a hi fi for so long (my last one died in 2009 when I was moving house) and have just had a Pioneer ipod/bluetooth dock for a few years, the Bose system was a welcome change. I must admit I was carried along by the hype that 'Bose' was a good brand and I would visit the Bose shop in Liverpool to look over their kit. It's not the best system but it does the job. thanks for an honest review.
11:30 looks like a brutalist department building
.......or a table-top heater if ever there was one.
@@johnr6168 I have seen better looking photocopiers
As someone who lives in a country full of brutalist architecture...it doesn't have enough light grey on it, just that middle bit...the shape is pretty on-point though.
I think Bose were still considered real hifi speakers during their heyday in the 70's when their direct/reflecting designs like the 901, 601, 501, and bookshelf 301 were made. I heard both the 301 and 601 at a friends house frequently, and I thought they had a nice wide n warm sound. Seemed well-made mid-fi speakers for the price. They sold a bunch through military PX/BX posts and AAFES catalogs. Never got into these compact systems or their Acoustimass cubes and subs systems. Some liked them.
In 1994 I was with a woman that had one of these. She told me that she had spent $1,400 USD on the thing. She had a record player connected it that both were sitting on a dresser in her bedroom. Remember this was well before the age of CD's. And no, she couldn't see the display unless she was on tippy toes. She only used it for the record player, but it sounded amazing. I believe back then it had an alarm clock feature that would turn the radio on in the morning and I think she used that as well. Would I have spent that much money in 1994 just for an amplifier? Probably not. But it did sound absolutely amazing.... well, for playing records.
What do you mean, 1994 was peak time for CDs. CDs became mainstream in the late '80s.
We had the original version with the tape player. The tape player quit working awhile ago and we just used the radio. When they still had service centers I found that you could turn it in and upgrade to the newest version for $500 which i did. Unfortunately mine doesn’t work anymore.
Traditional DAB tuners will "see" DAB+ stations, but will go silent as they won't be able to decode the stream, hence why some of the stations on your unit were silent. 😊
I loved visiting the Bose stores in the mall back in the day. They always did a great job of presenting their speakers as the most amazing futuristic speakers ever created. I was never in any danger of buying anything as I did not have thousands of dollars laying around for a sound system. But their marketing presentation was a sight to behold. When they came into the listening room about 1/2 way through the presentation and removed the false-fronts of the big speakers you thought you were listening to, and revealed the tiny little things actually making the room full of noise, it was shocking and impressive.
Their best device was the Soundlink mini Bluetooth speaker although it still had problems with charging on its proprietary connection.
I was once camping as a kid with some friends and one of the dads had a Soundlink Mini.
Its absolutely incredible what this tiny thing can push out😮
This is very nostalgic, had one of these on a corner table in the living room growing up.
Format suggestion...
CD+G
A format for primitive video graphics on an optical disc.
I have that exact unit. CD changer and all. Only mine was the older liquid crystal display.
Found it at Goodwill in perfect shape for 10 bucks.
For that price, it stays in my room. Decent sound.
Growing up with an audiophile for a dad, my impression of Bose speakers was always, "Wow, sounds impressive for the size." But I was never impressed by the sound itself.
I demoed a pair of Bose roommate speakers. Told the engineer it sounded like a three inch speaker in a plastic box. Safe to say I did not make his day.
I love your videos, everything we need to know and you're funny as well. I used to see adverts for this system over the years, and back in the eighties, yes it did look good, but you're right, it doesn't look good now, no flashing lights or funky display either- well that you can see without standing over it! Excellent review and thanks for the laughs!😄
I bought an Acoustic Wave II over the summer for $150 on Craigslist. Sold the disc changer underneath it on eBay for $200 and practically got it for free. I can't believe people actually paid $1100 (864 pounds) ($300 for the 5 disc extension) for these radios. They're not bad sounding if they were $200. But at $1100!? I can see why they didn't sell well, especially when you could've gotten better Hi-Fi systems, or even built a very decent home theater system for the same price of this Acoustic Wave.
Go back to 1985, get your receiver/amp, a couple of 15" tower speakers, and have it take up half your living room - then compare it to one of these. I remember that comparison from the time, in that setup, that's why in large part these were popular despite the price. That and people buying these weren't on welfare, so they were fine paying more of a quality product - and they were quality at that time. Now 20-years late? No, technology passed them by, but when they came out it was a big deal.
i think compare it to an 'all in one' from that time and yes its 3x the price..... but better bass.... so if you got money to burn....
I guess you could class it as a fashion item much like many of the record players from that era.
I remember back in the 90s, a friend took his AW system with them while they floated the Colorado river through the Grand Canyon. He was pleased that he brought multiple battery packs.
I listened to one of these around 1996.
The bass was "not right" and it was expensive so I passed. I ended up buying an Aiwa unit that looked obnoxious with too many lights but sounded absolutely great!
I find that I discover the problem with a lot of plastic chassis sounds systems just by knocking on it with a knuckle. That tone you hear can severely color the music. Ideally you should hear a dull thud, which is why MDF boxes work really well.
The sound reminds me very much of old tube radios from the early 1960s. The bass can't apparently outsmart physics and essentially resonates at a single frequency.
There's a guy on UA-cam who 3D prints small speaker enclosures - and he knows his stuff - uses software to predict the response with the drivers he's chosen and the finished item measures pretty close.
But when he wanted a decent subwoofer for his house, he didn't mess around with ports and tubes and multiple enclosures - he basically put a single big driver in a big sealed box !
The problem with using resonate frequency to enhance bass, it takes a split second for the resonance to build up. Not noticeable with a bass guitar or synthetic bass line, but a bass drum hit will be drawn out, and hit slightly late.
Takes a split second for it to die down too ! I've never liked ported speakers for those very reasons !!
@@mrb.5610Hexibase, he has quite a take on the DIY genre.
@@paulb4661 That's the man !
I bought one in 2015. I’m not hard on my stuff, but I’ve moved across the country like r times for work. It has lasted and nothing is broke and it still looks new.
If this thing was sold today, it'd have Raycon branding and be shilled by UA-camrs. There's a reason this was principallu marketed to seniors on daytime television.
Or kids who were forced to listen to Paul Harvey on the radio when visiting their grandparents
An enigma of FM radio is that usually the stronger the reception aka strong front end, the lower the quality of sound. So, the Akai which is not very high quality sound-wise can afford a stronger front end, but a wave radio (and I'm not espousing them, I have never paid any attention to them), should sacrifice signal strength for quality sound.
I was never much attracted to these things. If you want something like a clock-radio-cd player in your bedroom get any one box micro system. Having two speakers in the bedroom is not that inconvenient. i used to have mine hooked up to a Tannoy Subwoofer but really not needed.
You should take it apart. I’d like to see it in pieces. I remember the advertising for it back in the day and they would show a computerized image of a multi piece hi fi system with VU meters and it would morph into the Bose system. I joked that I like the flashy bits. The Bose sounded good when I first heard them. But I always liked the flashy bits and separate components. Still do.
😂 @technoman YOU'RE USING IT WRONG!
This Bose system was never intended to be listened to at close range. It is litterally designed to FILL THE ROOM OR EVEN THE HOUSE WITH SOUND. That's why the instructions said to place it near a wall because this system is designed to replace a giant home sound system by using **direct reflect** accoutics.
What that means is you're supposed to place you Bose system on the OTHER side of the room and listen to the music from no less than five feet away and preferably from the other side of the entire room.
This is also the reason why they specifically don't design the system to draw attention to itself visually (including the screen placement) because you're meant to focus on the music and get wrapped up in the sound and not the gimmick of the visuals of most systems.
Try this system again from ACROSS THE ROOM, where you aren't afraid of a little volume and you'll notice the music sounds better than just about anything at any price, at that distance.
I wonder if there's a way to develop a little prism mirror system to see the display from the front
My first exposure to this unit was as a kid in middle school in the early 90s. Ill never forget it as it filled up an auditorium with full range sound to this (then) young kid. Ive since heard it in several different locations. Sound wise it is still impressive for what it delivers / size. And OMG in the 80s-90s it was VERY impressive sound wise for its size. Nothing else like it. The sad thing is BOSE for what ever the reason clearly didnt care about putting meaningful effort into modernizing it. It features look like they plateaued in the mid to late 90s and thats all folks. For a 2018 model that looks down right pathetic. Real shame too as with added design changes / features I bet BOSE could have squeezed another 10+ years out of it for the right price. And no tone controls on a $1k+ system like that is nuts. I get they wanted to keep things simple. But not even adding sound presets is insane. That system was king in the 80s-90s for its size. It will always have that claim to fame.
I have a Bose wave cd radio that my Grandma bought over a decade ago as the speaker for my computer, I really like it, but it's not for everyone. I love the design of them and it fits in well with my thinkstation desktop that I have, they almost look like they were made for one another
I had Bose Acoustimass speakers and sub woofer back in 1988. It was for bass heads. A great sound for its time, but "flat EQd" it was not 😂
Not even a great sound for it's time. Not even a great sound for a sub-sat system.
@@ottonormalverbrauch3794I was young and didn't know any better. Weren't you also of a generation that spent their first ever payday on a new "stereo"? 😅
We had one of those sets when i was a kid, in the den. (Around the same time)
IIRC it was very sensitive to speaker placement (for all three components), buI thought it sounded great--though more for the bass, as you said.
We also had a Sansui AU-9500 (that the Bose speakers were also connected to) with ESS AMT-1 speakers (in a different room). My father had bought both of those when they came out in 1973. He gave me both a couple years ago. IMHO those were markedly better than the Bose speakers, but that's not surprising. Probably not anything to write home about compared to audiophile quality stuff today (not that i even get to listen to anything like that today very often) but certainly still better than most stuff today generally. For 1973 i think that was more or less as good as it got, though. The tweeters absolutely trounced the Bose speakers. All of it still sounds better than anything I could afford to buy, and is definitely worth the $0 price tag lol.
people dont like flat EQ's. Even people who work in audio often use a .6dB/oct. tilt on their frequency response. The most popular headphone response curve as of right now is probably the soundguys curve, which is a little more scooped than the harman curve
This came out during the early versions of "Hyper-bass" systems, where bass was added by adding another internal speaker. They were everywhere. Earlier yet, in the early 70's, they "invented" the "Craig Powerplay" for cars, trying to get louder sound from the typically cheap car audio. 8-Tracks were around and cassettes were emerging. Things were moving fast. Home audio was changing from the monster Receivers to more compact designs and "boom-boxes" with that same "Hyper-bass" option. Personally, I liked what JVC came out with. Had 4 versions of those, all great! Bose just couldn't find a place, mainly because of price. Their original home speakers were in another dimension. They were famous for a reason. I cannot remember if it was their 501 or 901 models that I first heard that were impressive. (This is back in 1973) Their marketing of >these< units didn't match the real item. Currently, I DO have their noise cancelling headphones. They work. ($4.00 in thrift store; complete with battery and charger and case) Also have computer speakers which sound noticeably good! ($6.00) Bose was in the driving lane and everyone was passing them. Other than "sound", which others could duplicate, all others were burying them with similar or same sound and many other added features. Bose was being outgunned. They really fell when they removed all the top buttons and you had to rely ONLY on the non-replaceable remote. As to used, I've only ever found 1 in a thrift store and again, 1, in an audio store with THAT one going for a fortune, both obviously used. Once the cat was out of the bag in getting bass out of a small cabinet, Bose lost the war. I bought the one in the thrift store, the early, white tabletop unit, for $7.00 (U.S.) with no remote. The top buttons were very fragile and no replacements available. It worked, but the sound was very ordinary, although clean. I gave it to my Nephew. He's happy. I'm glad for this review. I've been hoping a long time this would come up. These units aren't bad, they're just not special. If I could get one, like here, complete, cheap, I'd do it, but "cheap" is the key word here, $50.00 max. I have other items that work great that don't fight back and have more options. This is a really nice video. Very glad it came out.
That's very cheap looking plastic for such a 'premium' device.
You think the outside looks cheap, wait until you see the inside!