Bose Wave Radio: worth the $$$?

[naturedude11]

Every week in the Sunday paper, I see the add for the Bose Wave Radio. I think it sells for about $500, give or take a few. Anybody got one? Is it really that amazing? Is it worth the money?

[cadillacdude1975]

they sound good, but 500 bucks good? save your money. buy an Ipod.

[Bob]

It is very very good. The sound is awesome. Would I pay that much for a portable radio? No. I know people who have them that say they are worth the money but the people that have them drive cars that cost several times what mine cost and live in houses that cost several times what mine cost.

[mikeydokey]

What is an item worth, it is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. If you are willing to pay $500.00 for a radio then that radio is worth $500.00. If you'll only pay $250.00 for the same radio, then the radio is only worth $250.00. No matter what someone else is willing to pay for the same radio, it's only worth what you are willing to pay.

[LimitedRecourse]

Then it's worth about $25.

[okz]

With Bose, you really are paying for their advertising.

This is half the price and gets very good reviews by audiophiles. The company has made boutique high end audio equipment for years. I'm sure that there are others but I have heard one of these and it's really amazing.

www.cambridgesoundworks.com/store/category.cgi?category=aud_radio&item=53CW0320AA000

[gridbug]

The Bose Wave has incredible sound. I won one off the radio once and really liked it. If you are not adverse to spending that much money then I would say it is worth the money.

I sold mine one month I needed some extra $$. If you are interested in one of these I would recommend getting a gently used one off of eBay for half the price and it's definitely worth that.

[Jay]

Bose = Way overpriced.

You can find much better quality at much lower price points.

[Bob]

Jan 11, 2010 16:45:34 GMT -5 Jay said:

Bose = Way overpriced.

You can find much better quality at much lower price points.

Got proof? Bose is high priced, but high quality.

[ohwell]

Kinda like HD TV. Don't really care. I am happy with my 32". Don't want wide screen, don't want HD. I don't even want blue ray. I am happy with what I have and am tired of new fangled stuff that just cost more.

My home stereo system is great. My car CD player is adequate. Don't need more. Really like my DVDs player /recorder. I even like the little 9" TV in the bedroom of our camper. Perfect for what I want.

[Tsavodiner]

Got two. Handles the whole 'trailer'; worth every penny.

[Conservator]

I know someone who owns one... it is nice. Yes, overpriced... but sounds pretty damn good for the size. If you're looking for good sound and you have no room for anything else, then yeah, it's good for the money b/c of it's size. Otherwise you can spend less for a large sized system and get better sound.

Not sure whether Cambridge has improved or not over the last 10 years, but they used to be a piece.

[Jay]

Jan 11, 2010 19:40:24 GMT -5 Bob said:

Jan 11, 2010 16:45:34 GMT -5 Jay said:

Bose = Way overpriced.

You can find much better quality at much lower price points.

Got proof? Bose is high priced, but high quality.

Personal experience, and the reviews of other people. Like Conservator said, you can spend less money on a bigger and better system, and get much better sound.

Bose = High priced (Due to all their marketing)

And since many people figure that since it's really expensive, it must be really good, they buy into their business model.

[printemps]

Check out the Squeezebox by Logitech. Runs $149, picks up 10,000+ internet stations and plays *all* your iTune library from the broadband signal in your house. Buy two of them and control the entire system with one remote. There's even an iPhone-iPod Touch app that serves as a Squeezebox remote.

[gridbug]

Personal experience, and the reviews of other people.

Just because you are cheap only makes it overpriced for you. Those that won't miss the $$$ could be very happy with the system.

I think it's worth the $$$, I just would not pay that much myself.

[Jay]

Did ya miss the part where I noted that you can get better sound by spending less?

[Bob]

Jan 12, 2010 14:26:39 GMT -5 Jay said:

Did ya miss the part where I noted that you can get better sound by spending less?

Better sound yeah, but with the same footprint? Lots of less expensive units but for the sound quality and footprint too I'm not sure there is another choice.

Personally an iPod with good ($100+) ear phones would be my choice.

[Jay]

It comes down to priorities.... I'd *much* rather have a cheaper system that has better sound than a smaller, more expensive system that sounds worse...

[Justin Thyme]

I have a friend who owns 900 sq ft house for which he paid $450,000. He is extremely space conscious because of the amount of money he's paying per square foot. The house is in a suburb of San Francisco. People living in apartments in New York have the same concern. If you are sitting in a 2,500 sq ft house that you paid $150,000 for you might not have the same concern.

[Jay]

If I had enough money to buy a $450,000 house, I'd buy a much bigger and better stereo system. I wouldn't care about how much space is being taken up. I'd have the money to get an extremely decent home theater setup which would have amazing sound.

Besides, if you get an audio rack, you wouldn't be taking up a lot of horizontal space. A good system could still take up as much horizontal space as the Bose Wave system, it'd just be a bit taller, and a heck of a lot better.

[Bob]

Hey Jay, have you ever listened to a wave???

[Jay]

Yes, sir

[Bob]

Then you know they sound damn good.

so what have you heard that is comparable and better??

[daworm]

Polk Audio, but they cost more. Tiny speakers, but not built in, so you can get proper stereo separation (think Led Zeppelin's Whole Lotta Love, as good as the Wave may sound, it still won't sound right).


The only criteria that matters: Does it sound good to you and if so are you willing to pay the price.

[Jay]

Personally, I'd go w/ a stereo receiver and some decent (Not midget-sized) speakers.

[daworm]

You need to hear the Polk's first. Sound as good as my huge Cerwin Vega's (actually better, now, since my Vega's are blown).

[Conservator]

I used to love how the Cerwin Vegas sounded... very crisp, and tight bass - but they blew faster than any other brand I had experience with. I agree, Polk makes some nice stuff... If I had the extra money to buy a new system now, it would probably include Klipsch speakers. They rock. Not to completely steer away from Bose though... I always wanted the Bose 301s. They're bookshelf sized speakers, so they don't take up much room... and they are only around $300 for the pair and work efficiently with your tuner/amp.

[Jay]

For 300 bucks, I'd prefer some nice tower speakers.

[Justin Thyme]

For $300 I'd prefer the damn things were a lot less obtrusive.

[Bob]

Jan 14, 2010 11:20:28 GMT -5 Justin Thyme said:

For $300 I'd prefer the damn things were a lot less obtrusive.

I'm still using a couple of old pioneer CS-811a speakers (each one sitting on a 10" powered sub)

My sister bought them new in 1972 [grin] I've replaced the grills twice but everything else is original and still works perfectly.