Bose Acoustimass 16 Series II Home Entertainment Speaker System (Black)
by BOSE
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Photo Product Details
Manufacturer: BOSEBrand: Bose
Edition: Electronics
Model: 40366
Color: Black
Publisher: BOSE
Studio: BOSE
Music Label: BOSE
Product features:
- Our 6.1-channel home theater speaker system for large rooms
- Designed for use with your 6.1 surround sound receiver
- Five Direct/Reflecting® cube speakers-one for rear center channel-and a horizontal center speaker
- Powered Acoustimass module with three high-performing drivers
- Bose Mobile In-Ear Headset
- Etymotic ER-4P Portable In-Ear Earphones
- Etymotic Research ER6i Isolator In-Ear Earphones (Black)
- Bose® Around-Ear Headphones for Personal and Portable Listening
- Belkin 12-Outlet Home/Office Surge Protector with Phone/Ethernet/Coaxial Protection and Extended Cord
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Bose Acoustimass 16 Series II Home Entertainment Speaker System (Black)
Customer Review: Inferior Quality
Summary: 1 Stars
As a general rule, most serious audio publications won't review Bose products for two reasons, one: they don't want to get sued by Bose if Bose doesn't approve their review, and two: Bose won't be likely to approve most reviews. You see, Bose is more of a marketing company than an audio company. They put a lot of money into both their marketing departments and their legal departments. They have created and propagated a myth that Bose products possess magical properties. That's really their brand identity; Bose has magical sound, their is nothing better, come on, drink the Kool Aid and repeat the mantra.
There are thousands of zombie like people walking around thinking that Bose must be good because they heard it somewhere. Where did they hear that? Certainly not from professional reviews; people who buy Bose don't read serious and professional reviews. A common user review of any given Bose product goes like this: "I'm no audiophile, but these sound awesome to me". So what's wrong with this type of mentality? First of all, it implies that a so-called audiophile is a snob. Second of all, it's an opinion created without the benefit of any qualification. I mean, if you were in the market for a new car for example, and you were the type of person who did research first, you might read expert reviews. I'm not talking about reviews from people who bough the car or rented it for the weekend, but of journalists who do this sort of thing for a living. You might read Road and Track, or Motor Trend, or even Consumer Reports. Now suppose that you are reading an article in any of these publications about a new car from Brand X. Would you take the publication seriously if the reviewer wrote the following: "I'm no expert, and I certainly don't know anything about cars, and I'm not familiar with many different brands of cars, but I can tell you this; this car that I just drove is the best in the world."
So Bose is very innovative and brilliant in their marketing. They create ads that seem to indicate that their product uses some special secret technology and that magic happens when you use them. I'm not exaggerating. That's is basically what one of their television ads says, 'this product uses Bose technology' and you hear a testimonial from a couple in their fifties or sixties that when they turn their Bose product on and hear the music they just start dancing and that it's magic. I don't know if they are actors or not. I don't know who they are. They don't look like actors to me, but they also don't seem to be anyone I would go to for advise on purchasing audio equipment. And really, what is Bose technology anyway? Any manufacture of any product could use their brand name and the word technology and it sounds like it is something unique. This is all very subversive and effective. I don't blame Bose for using these kind of tactics. After all, they have been working for a long time. It seems that Bose is preying on the ignorant, and quite possibly those with early stages of hearing loss.
But it is another matter to bully people around. And that's what Bose does anytime anybody says something negative about their products.
I have a question for you Bose faithful out there; did you audition any products from Jamo? How about Bowers and Wilkins? Did you take the time to go to an authorized Martin Logan dealer? Why did you purchase a Bose product after listening to something from Linn, or Magnapan, or nOrh, or Legacy Audio? Is it because you have never heard of these brands? I'm not just dropping names here, I'm making a point. Anybody with properly working ears and an unlimited budget would choose any of these brands or one-hundred other brands that your or I have never heard if over Bose simply because Bose is not all that it pretends to be. Really, their are many brands much more in reach for the rest of us that are of better build and sound quality than Bose; brands like Klipsch, or Polk, or a half dozen others, (it's true that there are many more high-end exotic brands than middle of the road brands like Klipsch or Bose). Whether I like the way Bose speakers sound or not is completely beside the fact that Bose uses really, really inexpensive materials. I'm not making this up. It is a fact. Have you ever noticed that Bose never publishes specifications on frequency response? It is true that specs aren't everything, but they are something. Why do you suppose Bose omits this? They claim that the sound of their products speak for themselves, but remember, this is their marketing department talking. The fact is that Bose speakers cover much less of the range of sound that humans are capable of hearing than other brands do. It is simply impossible for most Bose speakers to recreate very high and very low frequency sounds. Not even their subwoofers can reproduce very low frequencies.
So, I'm not endorsing any of the brands I mentioned, but I am encouraging you to really educate yourself if you are serious about buying a good sounding speaker system. Don't believe everything you read, certainly don't believe everything you hear. Don't but something you only heard in a big box store. The acoustics at Target or Sam's Club are nothing like the acoustics in your home. Do some research, go to smaller audio stores and bring your favorite CD's; this is very important because you will know what they should sound like, so you already have a standard to compare other systems to. Just like a car, don't buy the first one you see. Test drive it, and many others before buying anything. And ask yourself, "do I really want to support a company that bullies magazines around simply because they fear bad press?"
Description of Bose Acoustimass 16 Series II Home Entertainment Speaker System (Black)
The Acoustimass 16 Series II home entertainment speaker system, our best home theater speaker system, provides the cinematic depth of six speaker surround sound for your home entertainment. It works with your 6.1-channel receiver and your home theater components to bring Bose® quality sound to movies, TV, sports and music. A horizontal center-channel speaker complements flat-panel TVs and blends nicely into your décor. The Acoustimass 16 surround sound speaker system increases the impact of home theater listening with a rear center speaker for even greater drama and realism. This heightened experience in music and motion picture listening is largely aided by a powered Acoustimass module for exceptional sound that appears to come only from the small speaker arrays. Imagine your favorite movie with Bose 6.1 surround sound. Footsteps on the sidewalk behind you. A flute playing to your left. Voices, front and center. The Direct/Reflecting® cube speaker arrays-barely over 6" high-deliver sound you'd expect from speakers many times their size. And the horizontal center-channel speaker keeps dialogue focused on the screen and complements flat-panel TVs.Digital Cameras & Photo Categories
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