Is this the device that only has one speaker, i.e. only plays in mono? “The kids” were trying to sell me on one but I wasn’t buying.
Also, if you use an Ipod, you can adjust EQ settings on it. Granted, it’s a bit more tedious than just turning a knob. Don’t know if you can do the same on “smart phones” …
I have one that is maybe 15-20 years old now. It works great as a radio/CD player in my bedroom. I have my Vizio TV plugged into the aux input, and it greatly enhances the sound of the TV. (The TV speakers and the Bose both play at the same time, each complementing the other’s weaknesses.)
It is not intended to be your primary high-fidelity audio system. It is for a niche that it fills very, very well.
I first learned about it in 1987 when it was being rolled out and Bose actually sent a salesman to my house to do a demo. He had me turn my back and played the Wave then played the same music on my own stereo. My mid-priced stereo sounded better but I was surprised as how good the Wave sounded for its form factor. But it didn’t justify the price. Years later my wife gave me one as a gift.
It’s great at what it does. Don’t expect it to be an audiophile system.
it has two speakers, but I don’t know if it plays in mono or not. the speakers are only a few inches apart, so it’s not like stereo would get you anything anyway.
Cool - so you don’t like how it sounds, get something else.
We’ve got (I think) 4 of them - a tall one in the living room, and smaller ones in the kitchen and 2 bedrooms. I doubt I would ever have bought one, but my wife likes how they sound/look, and I am happy to go along. As many have said, they impress me as essentially nice clock/radio/CD players. The one we bought for the living room was a way to avoid having a tower of components and wired speakers in that room. We’ve had it for some time - since well before the time of wireless. Our days of blasting music were well past, we didn’t want a tower of components in the living room, and did not want to mount speakers or have large speakers in the LR.
Frame of reference - back in college in the late 70s, my roommate and i had 210 watts, both Cerwin Vegas and infiniti towers, etc in our dorm room. We were in a band together. He was the audiophile - I just liked to listen to a lot of loud music.
At this point in my life, music is on - if at all - as background noise while I’m doing something else.
If I were younger, committed to wireless/mp3s/etc, I doubt I would consider Bose. In fact, while at the mall the other day, we stopped into the Bose store. Turns out they no longer make a model with CD, or allow an external CD. We are of the group which is fine w/ CDs. So when our bigger Bose craps out, we’ll have to decide whether to get some other CD player, or change from CDs.
It does too.
You can’t listen to jazz, for one thing, on it. It sounds like an ad being blasted at you, where you know the content but it’s unfamiliar, by being so distorted. It turns everything into a "Modern Sound Product"™ where they forget the qualities of the music they are supposedly delivering.
And you can’t adjust the volume to emphasize what you like, because all you get is more bass. That’s what happens when you make a general music delivery system based on hip hop or house qualities, and no frackin tone control.
To everyone else: I’ll gripe all I want. I am the alpha and omega of this thread.
Moderator Note
No, you’re not, actually. This forum is for obtaining factual answers to specific questions. If you want to gripe or vent, IMHO or the Pit is the place for that. If you just want to complain, this isn’t the place for it.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
You can send it to me! I’ll gladly pay the shipping and packaging costs. 
Or, if it irks you so, just sell it on eBay or Craigslist. I’m sure you can still get a couple hundred bucks out of it.
Also interesting is on the older ones, it has a nice aerial outlet so you can get reception with your whole house TV aerial. New ones have a special phone jack for a dysfunctional rabbit ears that will not work in many buildings.
My building has an aerial and all of my systems have great radio reception. Especially my Panasonic radio plugged into the Bose bookshelf speakers.
I had thought my opining was fair response to info about the product for the factual benefit of all, and not griping at all. My statement had been largely ironic. Did you take it for griping?
There are voices that protest against others bad opinions. When a negative word is spoken they remind you that it doesn’t matter somehow. But it does here.
[Moderator Note]
You said you were griping and venting. By denying that you said what you clearly said you are coming dangerously close to trolling. You were also being jerkish with remarks like “I am the alpha and omega of this thread.”
At this point, I think it’s best to close the thread. If you want to post your opinions on it, you’re welcome to start a new thread in IMHO or the Pit.
Don’t do this again in this forum.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator