The Best of Both Phone, and Tablet
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stars
"Absolute waste of money at 300 dollars!!!!!" on by remotia
Pros: It can be returned
Cons: Where do I start?
Summary: Let me just say, for those know think Bose is high quality and fine audio, I will tell you that I don’t and most audiophiles (people who know a lot about speaker) don’t either. But let’s not lay on assumptions about before giving this product a real evaluation. By itself, it’s not half bad. It makes adequate sound to fill a mid sized room (provided people are not yelling as in a party situation) It’s easy to use, simple, and elegant. It even comes with its own remote and a Bose logo slapped on the front, but that’s about where it ends because the way I review products is how they compare to other products in either their same respective class or appropriate price range. The fact is you would not have a hard time finding a $50 pair of PC multimedia speakers that would not outperform this system in SPL (loudness) frequency range, distortion, bass, midrange and treble. In fact, basically what I saying is, for 50 bucks you can have a superior audio system. Well then, what about comparing a 300 dollar product? I propose this: I give anyone a chance to find a 300 dollar product that is inferior in sound to the SoundDock in any possible way! I claim it can NOT be done! For 300 bucks you can have a multimedia system that will blast sound in your room with far more clarity and far less distortion than this little SoundDock. There is nothing magical about the "Bose" name. The only difference with other audio products is you don’t have to pay for name brand markup. Furthermore, most any other audio brand relates to far higher quality standards than Bose. I’m not saying a multimedia system is high quality, but for 300 dollars, there is not one that I know of that can’t blow this Bose clean out of the water. Sure there is not much to choose from if you want an iPod exclusive speaker system with a dock, but you can still spend your money on a better speaker system and have more then enough left over for an iDock.
There are many shortcomings to the SoundDock. For starters it doest even offer stereo soundstage. For a system that claims to be a “stereo,” this is borderline fraudulent. The left and right speakers are stuck together, so how can this be true stereo imaging? The fact is, the SoundDock is mono. You can buy yourself an inexpensive pair of Klispch 2.0s’s ($100) which give you stereo soundstage, four midrange drivers that provide far more accurate sound midrange and deeper bass, and two 1” tweeters than actually give you frequency response up to 20,000 Hz. The Bose speakers only go up to 10,000Hz. That’s literally 1/2 the actual sound that is stripped out of your recordings by the Bose SoundDock. It’s unacceptable for a 300 dollar product to represent only 1/2 the human hearing frequency range! This is why the Bose soudndock is dull and lifeless next any other speaker for its price, and even ones 1/3 of its price as I just demonstrated.
If you have an urge to spend a lot of money on an ipod system (ie such as 300 bucks), go with the Klipsch iFi, its so far superior to the Bose, I can’t even begin compare them. Just go ask or a side by side demo in your local apple or shaper image store. Other that that, you can find 150 dollar solution from Altec, Cambridge Soundworks or Swans that could all make the SoundDock sound like a pair of tin cans getting kicked around.
The SoundDock is a fine system by itself. Take it home in your own bedroom and it will sound even better due to room acoustics. There is really nothing wrong with it other than the fact, that everyone else makes a superior system for less money! If you can live with that fact, and you really must have the Bose, then I’m sure you’ll love this system. Just don’t ever listen to anything else or else you’ll regret wasting your money. If the SoundDock was less than 100 dollars, I would say it’s a good product, but for 300, it’s a bloody rip-off and don’t let any armature who owns it convince you otherwise. Would you pay $75,000 for a Honda Accord? If you bought the SoundDock, you already did. (metaphorically speaking)
For most inside about Bose, please read this thorough article.
http://www.intellexual.net/bose.html
- 10 replies to this review
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your an idiot who knows nothing! bose has great sound! i got one and it works great! sure its expensive but it works great!
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Hey TORONTO_GUY you work for BOSE right?... And TKANDME3 I have NEVER, NEVER heard of any real audiophiles say they like or respect BOSE.. I have been to a lot of Hi End audiophile stores and never did I see any BOSE product.. Just think about this Bose speakers are made in CHINA to the LOWEST BIDDER.. each of those small cube speaker cost 25cent to make.. when it comes to sound quality in speakers "SIZES" matters, there is NO-WAY you can get great QUALITY sound from a 3 inch speaker.. those are like headphone speakers, Bose however makes pretty good headphones so I'll give them that.. I don't want to sound like a BOSE hater, that's why I never review bose product that I don't own or had owned.. I just don't like how they trick people into buying there product.. I think if they would just spend even half of there cost on advertisement to go to actual research and development, then they might have a chance of saving there company!..
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BOSE is the best speakers company in the world. Best sound, best product!
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Audiophiles understand Bose and they respect them if they know what they are talking about.<br><br>An audiophile like myself who respects Bose and enjoys them is the only person who knows what they are talking about.<br><br>No one else in the audio industry comes close to Bose. Period. Bose is the best in all fields. That's all there is to it.
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Bose does not claim to sell "Audiophile" (see Wikipedia) speakers and systems. There is also more factors than sound quality that relate to price. Factors such as looks, durability, service, and convenience all contribute to the price of a product. Any product. <br>I have owned low-end audiophile gear in the range of 2-3x the price of Bose Lifestyle system consisting of CD transport (w/var output) directly into a power amp and a pair of fairly expensive speakers. All peices were highly recommended at the time by "trusted" audiophile sources. I dedicated a room just for listening to the awesome sound produced by this combination. But, I had to have the 90lbs tower speakers exactly 18" from the back wall and 26" from the side walls. Sounded best when seated 36" away from back wall and centered in the room. <br>Couple of years later the sound quality degraded considerably. I beleive, the aluminum dome tweeters warped or degraded in some way. What does this have to do with the Bose Sounddoc?<br>Long term value and a company that stands behind it's products is a major buying consideration for me. How long should the products you buy provide satifaction? Ask people who have owned products you are considering for more than a year or so.<br><br>I had a Lifestyle 12 at the same time I owned the "audiophile" gear that I used for Home Theater( My wife did not like BIG speakers) and they still sound pretty good.<br>All I have left from the "audiophile" gear is a distant memory. <br> <br>Easy to operate, replacement parts should I need them, a company that is here to stay, and sounds like it did in the store. <br><br>Can you get better sound from other products? Sure. Will it sound that good in a couple of years? Let me know.
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Please remove the link from your review--it's considered to be a troll, and not only that it's a very outdated link as well. Bose has been improving, though they have a long way to go with the majority of their products, and I do admit that price points and operation splitting aren't Bose's strong points, so please do yourself a favor and at least remove the intellexual.net link from your review because not only it's outdated, but you'll get flamed by other people should they see that link.
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When I first read your review I was thinking you were full of it. Yes I was ready to buy a Bose Sounddock. But I read further in your review and started to wonder if you knew what you were talking about. Needless to say I discovered you did. I just got my Klipsch ifi 2 days ago. A buddy has the sounddock and I am so so glad I didn't buy this over priced piece of plastic.. The Klipsch is not even in the same league as the Bose or anything else I have looked at. Its a beautiful piece of equipment. The Bose is far inferior in everyway, I mean everyway. Oh and I picked mine up for 250.00. So anyone thinking about buying the Bose really needs to do further research. The Bose is a fine product but I do have to agree it is way over priced..I urge anyone to check out the Klipsch ifi. I wouldn't be wasting my time if it weren't true. Thanks for your review..
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I don't have a particular preference toward Bose or any other brand, but this review doesn't even make sense. <br><br>First, "It makes adequate sound to fill a mid sized room (provided people are not yelling as in a party situation)"... what kind of fool would use this as a primary system at a party?<br><br>Second, and more to my point, "Take it home in your own bedroom and it will sound even better due to room acoustics. There is really nothing wrong with it other than the fact..." Isn't that the point of this product? One would buy this system for a bedroom, an office, or some other place where deep, loud sound isn't always necessary. It's not designed to be a home theater system.<br><br>While I can't argue that the SoundDock is probably overpriced at $300, and it's as obvious as the nose on my face that far better sound systems can be obtained for the same price, the situations you present to show its shortcomings are ridiculous and unfair.
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I agree that the Bose reputation takes advantage of the general public who don't know any better unfortunately. It is nice on its own in a small room and it's also nice that it's a simple one-piece unit...you don't have to worry about all the different speaker components and wires. Hey let's not bring Hondas into this (ha ha). I wouldn't pay 75K for a Honda either even though they are invaluably reliable vehicles, but I see your point. I wouldn't pay for a 75K BMW or Mercedes either - they might be nice but cars shouldn't cost that much - that's a ripoff too! <img border="0" src="http://www.cnet.com/i/mb/emoticons/wink.gif" alt=";)">
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i agree really the only reason i bought it was because my parents were paying for it (rare) and it sounded better than the JBl and altec lansing systems but if it were my money i would have went with the JBL, but my mother insisted on getting the best (in terms of price)
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