Honest review of Bose 535 system

[shkumar4963]

The net is full of experts who say the bose speakers are of poor quality and with high prices.

But we all know Bose is the biggest most successful speaker comany in the world. And selling a poor product at high price is not a way to succeed over 50 years.

Now they say that it is because consumers are uneducated and Bose marketing is unethical.

At the face of it, they sound like politicians who lose elections and then blame the voters and their campaign techniques.

So I want to hear from people who actually either have a bose system or have tested them extensively.

 

[shibashis]

If you look through the forum you will find there are threads that discuss this topic quite extensively and plenty with honest opinions. The consensus mostly is that Bose products are average (that is not to say some of their products are not good, in fact quite good), and overpriced. With some research one can get better value for the money spent on a Bose, that is what most agree on.

 

[arj]

The net is full of experts who say the bose speakers are of poor quality and with high prices.

But we all know Bose is the biggest most successful speaker comany in the world. And selling a poor product at high price is not a way to succeed over 50 years.

Now they say that it is because consumers are uneducated and Bose marketing is unethical.

At the face of it, they sound like politicians who lose elections and then blame the voters and their campaign techniques.

So I want to hear from people who actually either have a bose system or have tested them extensively.

Maybe this is the wrong forum for this Q..we represent 5% of the population who will only give -ve views as Bose is a lifestyle system and not meant for audiophiles so not really targeted at this group.

I do have a old bose system for my HT and for my use find nothing wrong with it

 

[RajithKumar]

As far as ,I have auditioned this at Mumbai Airport once and in one KFC shop at Bangalore..
Honestly i will say the Bose sounds good..but lacks bass ..
But coming to the price point it will kill you..for what they offer ..
Another advantage it is compact enough ...the people who is having space contraint will love it (especially if u r married ..ur wife may love its speaker design)
My point is for the same price tag you can get a better system than Bose

 

[theironhorse]

i am now rich.. i can afford anything.. now suddenly i have develop this idea of having a audio system but then i realize it needs to match my standards.. make a statement in my community.. and it should not be those huge boxes.. why do people buy those huge boxes..

ok lets go to this big shop with a big board.. the saleman blew me away with all the tech jargons and that surround processed sound... i pay a cheque of 100k INR and come back home with those tiny speakers that not thos huge boxes and still make big sound... wow.. this is technology.. my friends came and they see a shiny new gadget with the tag on it with silver imprint...

they gossip bout it and envy and discuss in private... my motive is done.. who will search on forum, who needs that clarity.. i will play mp3 and crappy movies anyways.. and omg.. how do people bear those old wood finish boxes.. they look so not me...


i love bose.. this is the best.....pun intended....

 

[vgrove]

Well....ideally, to each his own.

But then if Bose was that good - for the money they charge - they would have been selling at high-end audio stores and not pitted against Sony's and Philips' at Cromas and Best Buys.

They are always in a corner at a store that sell audio systems from consumer electronics manufacturers. You get to compare it against those brands. Of course it sounds better than all of those. It is at the most 'The Best HTiB', which could be quite an exaggeration in itself.

Ever got an opportunity to audition them along side Polks, Wharfedales, Dalis and so on?

 

[theironhorse]

Ever got an opportunity to audition them along side Polks, Wharfedales, Dalis and so on?

it will never happen and they wont let it happen they dont want even to run along sides crappy lg/sammy speakers.. rather they want a brand store where i person can listen to only bose and nothing to compare.. with all acoustic treated room it certainly will sound better.

and i was at bose store one day.. tried a headphone and saw the tag : 22k hyeah: and then i wondered wtf is this... 22k for this average sound quality...

nothing is better be is midrange/highs or lows.. not even a single place i can appreciate it. source was my sansa running rockbox with flacs...

 

[sameuun]

err.
i wud have gone with lifystye series from BOSE before buying so called big wooden boxDali Zensor Series.
but my frnd, if technology for u means only compactness but with great great sounds/surrounds then i wonder how u missed MartinLogan, their speakers comes in different sizes and cud literally denote their breadth in MM.

and once u audition them, u will throw away ur bose series. ofcourse u rich, u can do that

and like someone said, to each his own,
for poor ppl like us, we really want some serious size and sound, compactness is gud but the quality I refer, i tell u it wont cover in compact speakers, even if i match the present quality to compact speakers, they will cost triple of what I have right now.


nough said

 

[doors666]

as they say there is no replacement for displacement, applicable to cars as well as speakers.

 

[theironhorse]

err.
i wud have gone with lifystye series from BOSE before buying so called big wooden boxDali Zensor Series.
but my frnd, if technology for u means only compactness but with great great sounds/surrounds then i wonder how u missed MartinLogan, their speakers comes in different sizes and cud literally denote their breadth in MM.

and once u audition them, u will throw away ur bose series. ofcourse u rich, u can do that

and like someone said, to each his own,
for poor ppl like us, we really want some serious size and sound, compactness is gud but the quality I refer, i tell u it wont cover in compact speakers, even if i match the present quality to compact speakers, they will cost triple of what I have right now.


nough said

sir.. please check the last 2 words of my statement.. it was a sarcasm on bose

 

[shkumar4963]

Thanks for all the comments. If that is all true, how come its Revenues are 30 times that is KEF or any other speaker company. Obviously it is selling a lot more than all the other audiophile speaker brands combined. And we just said that Bose are not cheap. So how do they manage to convince more people to buy their speakers at higher prices than all the other audiophile speakers combined. I may not have my numbers very accurate but you I hope you get my point. I know Bose annual revenues are about $3 billion.

Just curious and trying to make some sense between quality and financial success.

 

[arj]

Thanks for all the comments. If that is all true, how come its Revenues are 30 times that is KEF or any other speaker company. Obviously it is selling a lot more than all the other audiophile speaker brands combined. And we just said that Bose are not cheap. So how do they manage to convince more people to buy their speakers at higher prices than all the other audiophile speakers combined. I may not have my numbers very accurate but you I hope you get my point. I know Bose annual revenues are about $3 billion.

Just curious and trying to make some sense between quality and financial success.

I think by quality you mean is Sound Quality which can be translated to Usefulness. If that is so try to explain the entire fast food industry..especially coke/pepsi/Fries !!
People are idiots and will buy what is sold and this is has always been ever since we discovered "Marketing"

Bose makes money because it is not even targeted at audiophiles..all of us are Not their target market
..it is a higher end HTiB in a box and convenience is what is important over SQ and they do a great job at that.

 

[vgrove]

Thanks for all the comments. If that is all true, how come its Revenues are 30 times that is KEF or any other speaker company. Obviously it is selling a lot more than all the other audiophile speaker brands combined. And we just said that Bose are not cheap. So how do they manage to convince more people to buy their speakers at higher prices than all the other audiophile speakers combined. I may not have my numbers very accurate but you I hope you get my point. I know Bose annual revenues are about $3 billion.

Just curious and trying to make some sense between quality and financial success.

Simply put, Marketing.

This is by the company itself by promotions, TV Commercials, selling alongside consumer electronics. The number of people visiting these stores is huge. The brand is exposed to all of these people. It just targets a different set of consumers.

Then, the word of mouth by people who go about telling their families, friends, neighbors, pets, pets' families and so on, that BOSE is the best.

You'll find truckloads of people out on the street, who would have never owned or heard a BOSE, but will tell you confidently that BOSE makes the best sound system. Lot of people I know haven't even heard of companies that sell audiophile sound systems. Because they are not available like potatoes and onions. Bose is.

Revenues - The Harman group has comparable revenues (3.7 b in 2011) but that doesn't make it the best in its class. Some of its products may be leaders in the segment. But I won't call them the best audio manufacturer.

 

[grunthos]

I think we are ganging up a little on the original poster

It is uninformed people who claim Bose makes the best speakers. The same people roll their eyes when they find the price we have paid for our speakers. Why does their opinion matter ? People who are more clued into the world of audio never make those claims. So then why the hate ?

For me the best analogy has always been Apple. Its a great product, no doubt. But it is worth 80k, when you can get top of the line Android systems for half the price ?

The reasons Bose is the most successful speaker company
- it caters to a much wider audience (Wharfedales and Quads arent even trying to reach the common man).
- it is comparatively uncomplicated (vs components matching, speaker placement and other headaches). They are also compact, which appeals to most Indians as we have comparatively compact rooms (compared to first world say).
- it has a warm pleasing sound (which appeals to the majority, but maybe not to the audio purists). That wider audience, as someone pointed out, is not that fanatic about using good quality source etc. FM radio is favorite source for a lot of them. So they dont really find a fault in Bose's sound quality

So Bose represents a nice sounding system (a good upgrade over other HTIBs) at 80k and there are just no competing systems on the horizon (Onkyos & Yamaha HTIBs are available, but not that widely in tier IIs, plus no branding)

And as for global revenue, well Bose systems might seem expensive here. But what we are buying are entry level systems. Bose is not more expensive than mid or high level speakers - which are bought in more affluent countries

 

[Fillmore]

I think we are ganging up a little on the original poster...

Ya.. don't mean to prove you wrong, just my 2cents.

But try this, visit a Bose demo store and ask them to disconnect their bass module and play only via the satellites. They will refuse to do it.

Why ? Any other speaker seller will oblige to turn off the sub and play only a select speaker set.

For the price, they also don't have any certification like THX etc, no statistical graphs of the accuracy of frequency reproduction etc..

Given the amount of ridicule they get from audiophile groups, if they had quality speakers just to prove a point they could have got a THX certification.

That way anyone started off against them , they could have just said shut up , we are THX certified. But they didnt , why ?

 

[koushik]

Then, the word of mouth by people who go about telling their families, friends, neighbors, pets, pets' families and so on, that BOSE is the best.

You'll find truckloads of people out on the street, who would have never owned or heard a BOSE, but will tell you confidently that BOSE makes the best sound system.

Can't be more true.

I would like to ask OP if he had heard any of Bose systems?

 

[arj]

Ya.. don't mean to prove you wrong, just my 2cents.

But try this, visit a Bose demo store and ask them to disconnect their bass module and play only via the satellites. They will refuse to do it.

Why ? Any other speaker seller will oblige to turn off the sub and play only a select speaker set.

Not really the right thing to ask !. In a Bose Sub sat the satellite cubes play 200Hz and above and the bass module below 200 unlike other sub sats...so it would make no sense to disconnect the Bass system.

 

[koushik]

Not really the right thing to ask !. In a Bose Sub sat the satellite cubes play 200Hz and above and the bass module below 200 unlike other sub sats...so it would make no sense to disconnect the Bass system.

How did you know that?

I didn't find any such info here

 

[arj]

bose are not very famous for publishing specs..i had measured mine some years back. Dont remember the exact freq but it was north of 200

 

[koushik]

bose are not very famous for publishing specs..i had measured mine some years back. Dont remember the exact freq but it was north of 200

Yes they never publish specs, I doubt if they measure anything! Great that you measured it yourself.