teneisha

Hello,
We are a group of students from MassArt doing research young adults and the electronics they are buying and how they are using them because we are working on re-designing the “Wave Radio” by Bose. If you could fill out this quick survey and email it back to me we would greatly appreciate it!

thanks again!

teneisha.by.design@gmail.com

Age: Gender:

1. (If applicable) A student at _______________________

2. Employment: (fulltime, part time, none)

3. (optional) Average Yearly Income?

4. Please list what home sound equipment (stereo, speakers, mp3 player,
alarm radio, etc.) you own and where it is kept (living room, bedroom,
etc.)


5. Do you have parties… often____ sometimes____ never____

6. Do you move your sound equipment during parties? Yes____ No___

7. Do you prefer a (portable)_____ or (stationary)_____ sound system?
Why?

8. Do you listen to AM or FM radio? If so, where do you listen to it (car,
home, work)?

9. Where does most of your music come from?

Cd’s____ Radio____ mp3 player____Computer____Other______

10. Do you prefer a specific brand of electronics? Why?


11. How much are you willing to spend on…?

Speakers $
mp3 player $
Alarm Clock $
Complete home stereo system $

12. How important is the "style" or "aesthetics" of a product to you?
(Do your visual preferences often overrule the performance, quality or
price of a product?)

Very____ Somewhat____ Not At All____

13. If you own an mp3 player - what made you buy one player over another?


14. Do you use a traditional alarm clock? If not: what do you use?

15. Does $500 for a good home sound system which features an alarm, single
disc player and delivers amazing sound seem like a:
(cheap)_____ (reasonable)_____ or (outrageous)_____ price?

16. Would you feel the same way if someone else were buying it for you?


17. What do you think would be a reasonable price for such a system?

amdeutsch

IMHO

BOSE and good sound don't go hand in hand. I will admit that they have a good marketing department but otherwise its an oxymoron to equate BOSE with clean, accurate and full sound. More info on BOSE.

Moviela

The Bose speakers in my sauna sound wonderful, I get plenty of kudos from visitors. Can you name another speaker that can work in a 90 degree C room? Are they expensive? Yeah, so are Rolex watches and Mercedes Benz automobiles.

amdeutsch

Have you even tried other speakers in that environment? No flame, but that kind of attitude is what BOSE is trying to foster. Before making a statement like that you'll have to convince me that others will not survive. Lets just look at the on/off cycle, how long the sauna is active, how long have they been in that environment, etc.

carpersn

I have the Acoustimass 10 in my family room, and there is no other system out there to compare in the aesthetics/sound department. I do not listen to my system at blow-out levels, but it sounds pretty sweet to me.

Also, i have used but do not own the Bose wave radio, and while i think it is overpriced, it sounds pretty awesome too.

That link to the Bose bashing website looks dubious to me; like an anti-bose site on a mission.

Skylaw

I lost interest in the Bose-bashing site when one of the lead articles evaluated Bose Acoustimass speakers without a Bose audio deck - therefore missing the Bose active EQ. I like my Lifestyle 48 system.

I have noticed the lack of midrange response in Acoustimass systems used with non-Bose amps. Not with the Lifestyle 48, or the 38 system I upgraded from.

Many "Bose" car systems do not use a Bose amp or Bose speakers. Instead, Bose provided the best possible EQ for the car, and the manufacturer builds that into its system.

I like the system in my '05 S500 (though the Audi/Bose system in my 2.7T had two 8" subs that gave tighter response than the single large sub in the S500).

Sorry about the non-response to the pollsters. I'm 61, have money to spend, and every HD TV in my house (3 of them) uses either a Lifestyle 48 or Bose satellite speakers. But you were only interested in the younger folks' response. The main feature that the Wave radio needs redesigned is the price. It is a unique performer, but at that price I will go to something more expensive that sounds better (but is probably still designed by Bose).

Moviela

I have tried numerous speakers in the sauna over the years, AR, Boston, Polk, JBL, HK, Yamaha, and Jensen. They all had one of two failure modes except the Yamaha which sounded great, but the magnet died. The others either had the varnish melt around the voice coil, or the foam coupling the cone to the frame decomposed, or the glue let go. None survived more than a few months.

I typically run the sauna heater 2 hours a day, it is electric, 8 kW. It is a dry sauna, RH about 8%. When off, the room plunges to 8 degrees C on the coldest nights in OC. The speakers are mounted 1m from the floor, 2m apart. The amplifier is mounted in another building (in my screening room racks), and has a non-linear preamp adjusted to yield a flat response in the room which was interesting with only three 7cm drivers in each speaker.

The speakers are Bose 151se, and have been running 18 months flawlessly. Analysis with pink noise shows no change in the acoustic response since installation.

rgbyhkr

Here's the thing about Bose. They are a marketing machine. Objectively, they don't have the best products. You can get better quality with more features elsewhere for less money. Honestly, I don't see that as debatable. I own several Bose products but also own many other audio brands, many of which most people have never heard of (Revel, Lexicon, Mark Levinson, Simaudio, Dynaudio, Velodyne, Triad, etc). Over the years, I've also listened to many different brands so I have a good frame of reference. What you get from Bose is an attractive package that is well put together to offer increased usability for the novice user. They market heavily and do it well such that the non-audiophile thinks that Bose is the best out there. As an example do other companies make noise cancelling headphones and/or CD playing clock radios? Yes, but the Bose solutions are often more attractive and their marketing is better than the rest.

I don't shun or make fun of Bose and B&O (Bang and Olufsen) products like many folks do. They both have markets and if the customers are happy with the result, then there's no crime in what they're doing. I bought a Wave radio because I wanted a more attractive bedside alarm clock. I bought QC2 headphones because I liked their comfort and the fact that all the circuitry was built into the earcup. I bought a pair of BeoLab 4s because I wanted an attractive pair of desktop speakers that sounded better than most offerings. When I helped my dad pick out a surround HT system for his apartment, I got him a Lifestyle system because it was easy to use, the base unit was small and stylish and the speakers were tiny. Sometimes, form is equally or more important than function.

Now, for situations where function and sound output was crucial, I haven't gone with Bose. It's certainly not a price issue as I've spent way more on other equipment than on what I would have spent with the most expensive Bose components. To my ears, I just don't think the sound from Bose music or HT systems measure up to the solutions I did pick.

Jeff

Skylaw

rgbyhkr puts his finger on the whole issue. One can make measurements, seek objective ways to evaluate, study waveforms and curves - and argue about them endlessly.

Bottom line is, you should buy what sounds good to you. Much human hearing is subjective, not objective. All the physical measurements mean very little with respect to the way an indvidual hears things. If you like Bose, buy it. If your like less expensive components, buy them. If only the most expensive does it for you, save your spare cash and buy it.