New Generations Bose, a true dissapointment
Written: Jul 29 '02
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Pros: Fairly compact, look current, not much else
Cons: overpriced, under-achievers, terrible imaging, muddy, dissapointing
The Bottom Line: Substandard and overpriced just ring through the air. Don't waste your time, the days when Bose had peaked are long gone.
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| nick1326's Full Review: Bose 601 Main / Stereo Speaker |
Expect nothing and you will never be dissapointed...Sadly this is the tune I whistled in the back of my mind as I walked away from the listening room at one of my favorite -pro-audio shops recently, and I'm still taken back at how bad the Bose product has become.
The days of the hay-day Bose 901 reflective has come and gone. Now replaced by the 601 and 701, sadly, the triumphant Bose 901s are replaced by truly unworthy predecessors, boasting nothing but muddy, cloudy sound and non-perceptible soundstaging...have things really gotten this bad? YES.
The first bit of proof you can see for yourself (yes, I DID mean to write SEE for yourself...thins are so bad that you can VISUALLY see how bad things are before you even HEAR it) that the 601s employ a set of cheap looking paper woofers. Now I won't try to argue that some of the best speakers in the past have been built with paper woofs - however it has also been proven that synthetics are more durable, more consistent and more accurate - and THAT equates to better sound. I can't help but compare these to B&W's DM series 602 S3's - the new series 3 speakers are remarkable - and the price is not much different! Obviously Bose has chosen to align itself with lower quality retailing and marketing and shy away from competing with audiophile grade equipment (thus the BestBuy presence and the Bose "lifestyle store" locations and no more "Harvey electronics." The odd thing is however, that in choosing to make this move, Bose hasn't really priced itself at an appropriate level. At just under 550/pair, you can literally do better spending half the money on a totally low-line set of JBL's or Sony speakers - and lets call a spade a spade - THOSE are extremely ar away from "audiophile" grade so you can imagine how appalled I was when I heard these Bose in action!
SOund quality is where you really lose any remaing respect for Bose. If you haven't lost it all by now, you certainly will after hearing the product: The 601s offer a weak bass response will no punch and no transient brilliance whatsoever. The overall sound is completely muddy, regardless of the recording - OH, and feel free to reposition around the room as you will - no matter what, there is a complete aire of "muddy" no matter what you do to these speakers, no matter how you power them and regardless of what recording you use. I myself take a minimum of 12 discs to really try and experience the overall shape and character of speakers in general.. They range from old miles davis to Joe Sample (in the jazzier arena) all the way to female vocalists (Nikka Costa is awesome - deep female vocals really put the mids to the test) all the way to some trance and techno just to see how the bass response is, plus more. With the Bose I barely made it through the key spots of 3 discs before I packed it in. Dissapointed is the word. No bass extension, no transients and FORGET about any kind of soundstage - depth is just inaudible and clouded up with mud... Try having a go with a pair of B&W 302s and listen to Joe Sample on "nightflight" -- you'll feel as if a second piano simply appeared in your mind because with the Bose you couldn't even hear half of the nuances! I was truly surprised at how bad these speakers are!
Lastly the price... 550 per pair? This must be a joke or a misprint... Sadly it turns out it is neither. Bose really believes it can sell this bad a product at prices which warrant darn solid performance - or at least compared to other competitors! I promise you do not get it with the Bose. You can easily best the Bose with half this sum of money- but since you're in the mood to spend around 6 bills anyway (if you're shopping for these) I cordially invite you to visit your local B&W showroom OR check at the Energy Connoiseur line - comparably priced). I have a strong liking for the B&Ws myself, but no matter what you choose, it would be hard to find something worse, this is for sure! The lack of quality componentry, drivers or overall quality and halfway decent sound are unacceptible and inexplicable -- Bose has truly insulted any audio enthusiast by attempting to price these mediocre (at best) speakers based on its prior reputation which absolutely is NOT reflected in the quality of the new product line. Shame on Bose, boo hiss...Do yourself a favor and don't waste your time even looking at these speakers, you'll only be dissapointed.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 550.00
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nick1326
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Location: Long Island, NY
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