Is your wife HOT? Will she close shop, will it matter? These are tough times, such decisions. Can you do without if you DON'T go BLOSE? BLOSE are a lotta money, there is other, for much less, that probably does much better. No highs, no lows, must be BLOSE.

What timing! Stephen wrote about this in his blog:

http://blog.stereophile.com/stephenmejias/

I'd take a Polk I-Sonic over a Bose Wave radio 8 days a week.

If your budget allows, there are even better options. For instance, the Arcam Solo ($2000, available in silver or black) and its new accompanying speakers ($300) would be an outstanding choice. The Linn Classik Music ($1875, in a range of colors) is another option.

But, if you want something just like the Bose that performs much better, go for the Polk.

If you can talk your wife into the Arcam or the Linn, you win big.

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Is your wife HOT? Will she close shop, will it matter? These are tough times, such decisions. Can you do without if you DON'T go BLOSE? BLOSE are a lotta money, there is other, for much less, that probably does much better. No highs, no lows, must be BLOSE.

did u read the post? i was asking if there were other options than bose. i know bose is kinda crappy i was asking IF there were other options what are they? and yes my wife is smoking hot!!!! at least she looks good in the magazines she has been in!!

Quote:
What timing! Stephen wrote about this in his blog:

http://blog.stereophile.com/stephenmejias/

I'd take a Polk I-Sonic over a Bose Wave radio 8 days a week.

If your budget allows, there are even better options. For instance, the Arcam Solo ($2000, available in silver or black) and its new accompanying speakers ($300) would be an outstanding choice. The Linn Classik Music ($1875, in a range of colors) is another option.

But, if you want something just like the Bose that performs much better, go for the Polk.

If you can talk your wife into the Arcam or the Linn, you win big.

well money isint much of an option she just wants small and powerful, so $2000 to $3000 isint that bad ill look into the others thanks!!

I think I'd ask why she likes it and whether she has heard of the other possibilites that do what she likes. If she likes the Bose for its clarity, then this other unit has even better clarity. If she likes the Bose because it plays CD's then the other unit plays CD's even better. If she likes the Bose because of the tiny remote, make certain the unit you choose has an equally tiny remote. If she likes the Bose because that's what her mom has and she doesn't want to turn this into another big deal about stereo stuff, buy the Bose and shut up. It's not your system. My God, man, how long have you been married?

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I think I'd ask why she likes it and whether she has heard of the other possibilites that do what she likes. If she likes the Bose for its clarity, then this other unit has even better clarity. If she likes the Bose because it plays CD's then the other unit plays CD's even better. If she likes the Bose because of the tiny remote, make certain the unit you choose has an equally tiny remote. If she likes the Bose because that's what her mom has and she doesn't want to turn this into another big deal about stereo stuff, buy the Bose and shut up. It's not your system. My God, man, how long have you been married?

AGAIN IM NOT HERE TO BE FREEKING JUDGED IM HERE TO FIND OTHER POSSIBILITIES TO THE BOSE WAVE SYSTEM DO YOU PEOPLE READ?? ONLY 2 PEOPLE HAVE GIVEM ME ANSWERS AND TO HOSES PEOPLE THANK YOU, TO THE OTHERS IF YOU CANT HELP ME AND GIVE ME OTHER POSSIBLE IDEAS THEN DONT SAY ANYTHING,IT DONT MATTER HOW LONG I BEEN MARRIED OR EVEN IF MY WIFE IS HOT OR HOW MUCH MONEY WE MAKE OK?? PLEASE ALL I WANT ARE SOME OTHER SOLUTIONS TO THE BOSE. DAMN OH AND YES IT IS MY SYSTEM BECAUSE WE PURCHASE TOGETHER AND SHARE OUR MONEY AND SHOP AROUND, THATS THE REASON FOR THE POST. THANK YOU

Sorry if some of the responses have treated you badly. If any consolation, one of the responders had been banned from the forum for one month and was allowed back at the end of August.

Sometimes the responses from others (responded here or not) are pointed, but not too unusual; they are aimed at whether your budget point will support the solutions offered by those familiar with the gear. In my opinion, responders should not make casual remarks about other people spouse, friends, etc. I hope you will return to these forums; these can be a great source, if you "separate the wheat from the chaff".

I was lucky. I was able to get whatever I wanted, in HiFi. If I really liked a particular gear, I can get it, even in a "community property" situation, because the spouse gets to enjoy it too. If we buy a lo-fi thing, it's fine, as long as it does what we want it to, for the reason we bought it. I think in your case, the Bose is what she wants, but if you think it should be better, see if she will agree. If not, see if you can live with what she picks. That's what I would do - your mileage may vary.

Nice one WTL!

I have two BOSE's - bedroom and a dining room. Bedroom has the best alarm clock I have ever owned - dining room has a nice interestingly shaped black box that just sits there quietly and which every single visitor (bar none) has asked about and wanted to try with everything from iPods through to me having to wire in some headphones (old ones never had any socket to enable closed phones, new versions have sockets apparently, but do not know if they shut down the speakers or not)...my visitor list in the last year or so is around maybe fifty folks and not one single person has commented upon how bad the sound was...and I can say with certainty that at least three of them have hifi gear to die for...maybe they were being polite but I doubt that because one of them compared my latest home made speakers in the study I was playing around with, to listening to music in the toilet...which was more or less true...

BOSE are very expensive and you will often find that those who take the mickey have not lived with one for a while...they kinda tend just to 'fit in' with any mixed company...you wanna fight, then of any ten folks visiting you will find at least one...you no wanna fight, then you will find yourself participating in great conversation about the choice of music...

Alternatives bryman? Yes, probably dozens...but none will provoke interest or debate the same as a BOSE...my first one was a pressie, but the second one was down to me...and it was an no brainer...why waste time...

I have and used 2 BLOSE units. They work, they do what they are meant to. They also seem to have a very good after sale service, since they fixed the wave radio well past it's printed warranty time, for free. Pretty cool. But then you did pay for that up front with teh higher price. Bose is priced higher than what one would expect for the level of performance one receives. With things improving rapidly in CE, there are units that are merely a few hundred dollars from Philips, Panasonic, and other mass names, that will do the same thing, or even better. My Acoustic Wave is now over 20 years old, Cassette model, it keeps going and going. It was well made. All i did was replace teh belts in teh cassete, once they stretched, like any other one would. The wavve radio tuner went out, they fixed it for free, since it's probably just a ckt board swap. I'd say get teh BLOSE, but hthen, no highs no lows, must be BLOSE. But they do what they do, and keep doing it. Philips has some amazing micro units, that put out some incredible sound for tiny components, for much less too. Judge ye' not as other's judge upon thee, and thereforth. Did you know that we are all judged everyday we exist? Someone somewhere is judging you, in one way or another. you've been judged by others here, by the mere mention of BLOSE. It's human nature...and the nature of humans. Otherwise we'd all be lifeless drones, with no opions, or thoughts.

bryman,

Welcome!

ErikB had some good recommendations. There are some good mini/micro systems out there: Yamaha, Denon, Marantz are just a few. A unit similar to the Arcam is the Music Hall Trio. (I've heard the Trio, connected to a set of bookshelf speakers and it is quite nice.)

Good Luck.

Mike

Thanks for the compliment. Been too busy to view the forum until today. Don't see the original poster respond to this thread; maybe he's P.O.'d at some of the responses.

this article has some alternatives to the BOSE, generally that unit is probably over priced and you can get the same form/function with a little better sound for less money with one of the alternatives.

If your looking to recreate the sound of your old paradigms a fancy table-radio (read expensive boom-box) is probably never going to cut it.

I read your first post, and am unsure of exactly how many parts you want your system to have, but If going with separate speakers/amplifier is an option than you there are lots of good choices. One that isn't far from an all-inclusive table radio would be the NAD C715 and a pair of epos/wharfedale/paradigm/polk etcetera bookshelf speakers. this might be the size/value ticket your looking for, the little all-in-wonder can sit on a table top and the speakers could be placed based on fidelity or aesthetics.

cheers!

I got a bit confused trying to figure out why you are asking me what I was looking for. I guess you are responding to the original poster of this thread.

It's amazing how many people hate Bose. Back in 89 I chose Klipsch Forte over the Bose, but always wondered what I was missing. Apparantly not too much, but Just the other day, I came across a bargain with a beautiful condition pair of 901-5s , So I set them up. Yep, they do need the EQ, no doubt about that, but what I found was that in a room (My billiards room) where you do not sit in the sweet spot and stare at the speakers, the music fills the room briliantly. For the prices you can pick up a used 901 pair right now, it is absolutely a bargain. The whole room is filled with good (not perfect) but good sound. They also look cool to boot. The $1500 that they ask for a new set boggles my mind, but I guess for some that's a pocket full of change,. So... No highs, and no lows, but also no distortion which makes it easy to provide a sub and some tweeters to top it off. Just my opinion, but I'm just an ordinary guy who loves music, and not the music perfectionist. I still do enjoy my Klipsch Forte sound in my family room though.