Back in 2000, I bought a Kloss Model 88 from Ebay at a much reduced price, but comparable to the Wave. I have since blown the speakers on the Kloss and haven’t been able to find anything comparable to replace it.
Any of you audio-gurus have a suggestion, or should I spring for the Wave?
Thanks
Quasi
Do we need to remind you that Bose sucks?
Have you thought about maybe getting one of those small Denon systems with the Mission speakers? They seemed to fall into the not-too-bad category. (Disclaimer: I haven’t actually looked at them in a few years, so YMMV.)
If you have some more money and room, you could perhaps think about getting a used Linn Klassik and a pair of bookshelf speakers.
I’d say go with the Bose. I’ve heard a couple of those, cranked. It really is amazing that that sound could come from that little radio (/cd).
A few years ago, I was planning to get a Bose Wave Radio for my wife, as a small but rich music system. After a bit of research, however, I ended up getting the Cambridge Soundworks Radio CD instead. Similar design, same functionality, really nice sound, and (last I checked, anyway) significantly cheaper than the Bose. YMMV, but I love mine.
We’ve got at least a couple in our house - 3 I think. Bought by my wife. One in the living room, one in the kitchen, and one in her office.
Yes, plenty of folks will tell you that everything Bose makes sucks. And they are certainly entitled to that opinion. I’m sure they are no match for a good component system, but they do produce pretty good sound in a well-designed package. You will have to decide for yourself whether they are worth the $ - they certainly aren’t cheap.
We’ve probably got 15 years’ use between the 3 of them with no problems. But I’m generally listening to music as background while I’m doing something else - cooking, housecleaning, entertaining, etc. When I’m in the house alone, I’ve cranked the living room one up pretty loud (it is a larger model than the other 2) and it sounds pretty good to me.
If you like Henry Kloss’s stuff his latest stuff is the TIVOLI line. You can get some of it at Target.
I wouldn’t say that Bose sucks - it’s just that they are way, way, way overpriced, and you can get the same, or much better sound for less. They are selling the name, more than the technology these days.
I’ve got a Tivoli at work, love it. I like the simplicity of the wood-grain cabinets, actual knobs, no LCD displays, no buttons. I listen to FM radio on it, and it has an AUX-in that I pipe my computer output to.
Only trouble with the Tivolis is the price, and they went UP $50 after I bought mine a few years ago.
I tried a Tivoli Two and it’s sorta really good and really bad ad the same time. It certainly sounds huge for its size. There’s something startling about the realism of the midrange if you play something acoustic. The problems are the bass is boomy, there’s a little bit of harshness in the highs (especially with violins), and the plastic front and back are flimsy. The wood sides are solid, but those plastic panels give it a somewhat boxy sound. It’s fun to listen to, but you can get tired of it. Also, it’s smaller than it might look in pictures.
Incidentally I just started a big thread on table radios in the General forum at audiokarma.org. I was wondering what else to look at, in table radios, or a minisystem someone recommended.
Bose is overhyped & overpriced.
The same is available for less under another label.
You’re talking about Cambridge Soundworks, right? They made the Kloss Model 88 and the newer 730/740 (now 735/745) as well as cube systems and whatnot. (Collectors note that according to a Gordon Cook on Usenet, he designed the tuner section and the 88CD version doesn’t have that same, good tuner. Not sure about the new ones.)
I worked at Bose 15 years ago when the original Acoustic Wave Radio was being marketed for the first time.
I got a demo of it in its intended environment: a small-to-medium sized enclosed space. In that environment, you could stand anywhere in the room and still get almost perfect stereo imaging, crisp sound, and fantastic bass. It was quite amazing.
Unfortunately, the market for such an item was not the market the money side wanted. So it was marketed first as a boombox (it’s NOT an outdoor sound technology) and later I saw one in a movie where it was a tabletop radio for giant hotel suite, where it wouldn’t have worked well either.
Whether it would be good for you depends on where and how you plan to use it.
I once saw a demo model of one of those radios that had been cut open and covered with plexiglas so that you could see their “wave guides”. I’m not sure that this was the ideal sales manuver, because it emphasized that the larger part of the radio/speaker system was nothing but empty space. I’m sure it’s * exquisitely designed * empty space, but by now they must have long ago amortized all the original design costs. So I’m sure it sounds very fine, but it’s amazingly overpriced, and unlike just about every other electronic component I can think of, it’s price hasn’t dropped appreciably over the years.
I’ve had one since 2000. I wish I had waited for the later models (ejectable tray, by remote). Other than that, it sounds as awesome as the day I bought it. But, do remember, it’s for small to medium size rooms (think largest room in your house).
Bose stuff works great as long as it’s in the environment it was designed for. It’s cheap componentry with expensive engineering and tuning behind it - heavily optimized towards what it’s supposed to do, but less effective than a less-specialized piece of equipment.
… outside of the design parameters.
I have the lowest end Tivoli iPal and I think the sound is awesome. (I also have Bose multimedia speakers that I use for my living room stereo, and the sound on them is awesome too. I’m no soundy expert, so take what I say with that in mind.) If you want a portable, I agree with the Tivoli recommendation - my parents have a Bose Wave and I’m pushed to tell the difference between that and my iPal, despite a several hundred dollar difference in price.
I’m not trying to pick on you, but this reminded me some piece of writing I saw once where the writer was perplexed by people who demanded an eject button on the remote: “Are they planning on changing discs from across the room?”
The only logic I can gather is that most systems take a few beats to eject the disc after you walk up and press the button. DVD players sometimes take a annoyingly long time, presumably to disengage the reader and spinner components, and the ability to eject it from the couch so that it’s ready to swap when you get up close is an advantage.
I find it hard to reason this being such a major peeve for buyers, but it seems a silly thing to leave out from a design perspective.
To the OP, my folks have a Wave that they like. They aren’t sound snobs and it puts out a pretty impressive amount of sound for it’s size, it suits their needs. Still, it’s hard to ague that they didn’t over pay. My issue was always the embarrassingly clunky and inadequate LED display for a $300 item.
I could argue the same thing about my B&W speakers. They sound great–and cost a mint–but in a side-by-side test, I doubt they vastly outperform an excellent pair of $700 speakers. I doubt the technology is that cutting edge, but that doesn’t stop audiophiles from snapping them up.