The Bose Solo TV sound system

I used to work for a Bose dealer many moons ago (however, as far as I can tell their design philosophy appears not to have changed since), and whilst the quality of their product is usually good to excellent, the audio quality can vary quite wildly from product to product.

For example, the likes of their Lifestyle Systems (no longer made) were absolutely stunning, they had another range (cannot remember the model for the life of me) that the sound quality was nothing short of dire.

More recently, I have experience of their in-car stuff - Audi offer Bose as an upgrade across their range; my car has the bog standard audio system, whereas a friend who has the same model car with Bose - my stereo knocks spots off his in almost every way (his will go louder, but its such a harsh sound that your ears would bleed); indeed, its a fairly commonly held opinion among Audi owners that the Bose isn't all its cracked up to be.

I would strongly advise that you listen to your chosen product, preferably compared to a similar unit from a competitor before you part with your cash; I'd also suggest that you give the likes of Yamaha a look, as they major on a very natural sound (and generally deliver it), whilst making stuff that has cast iron build quality.

Onkyo are another very impressive brand, however their reliability can be a little more patchy.

 

Here is one of the Yamaha models as an example; fantastic reviews, and not only is this a soundbar but it also takes care of all the HDMI switching also. I'd stake my personal reputation against a product like this.

Loli makes a good point too - Sonos are making some incredibly good kit at the moment, and they are particularly good at giving a full but clear soundstage that really belies the size of the product.

 

Won't the quality and characteristics of the sound vary in different rooms, the position of walls, furniture reflecting the sound??

 

It will, but it pays to get somewhere near the mark before buying, as the differences in individual rooms is a bit more subtle.

Most living rooms have lots of soft furnishings (carpets, suites, curtains etc), which absorb sound waves (generally this is a good thing as it avoids standing waves), however if the source has a bias (or a lack) toward a certain part of the frequency range this can be exacerbated. I've generally found that bass heavy sounds sound worse in a room with quite a bit of soft furnishings in it - the end result is a murky and muddled sound.

 

So really despite the well won quality of Bose speakers it's not the "magic bullet" that will really sound glorious in every room and there's a fair chance you won't achieve the level of sound quality that the marketing blurb says??

 

That is about it - however, in absolute fairness to Bose that applies to all manufacturers.

Sound quality is a massively subjective thing, and something that I spent a lot of time (and money) on over the years; the dealer I worked for was a hi-fi specialist (although we did other equipment also), and I was one of the chosen few that were allowed to work in the 'listening rooms' and to install the higher end kit - I was like a kid in a sweet shop to be fair, and there is still a part of me that misses that job. It was a family business that traded solely on reputation, and a customer buying a 13 amp plug was just as important as one spending thousands on a hi-fi - - we would much rather sell someone a cheaper system that they were happy with than try and "up sell" them to something more expensive that they did not need or appreciate.

The golden rule I would always ask my customers to apply was very simple - can you hear the difference, and if you can is it a difference for the better? I had some customers that were fanatical to the point that they could tell when we used different interconnect cables (blind testing), whereas we had others that struggled to tell the difference between a decent midi hi-fi (Technics/Sony etc) and the likes of Arcam, B&W etc. If you can't tell the difference, or don't like the sound quality, don't pay good money for it.

There are of course, some brands that deserve to be held in high regard if only due to their build quality - Bose being one of those. Others that I rate highly are Bowers & Wilkins (probably the one that has my utmost respect), Monitor Audio, ARCAM, Sonos, Yamaha, NAD, and Denon.

 

@Jenny namaste - should go without saying Jenny, but if you need help or an opinion, it is but a PM or email away.