Newsgroup: it.hobby.motociclismo
Titolo: English speaking about Bose

The Dark Side of Successful Product Marketing: Bose
Question: I'm considering a Bose speaker system, and ran the idea by a
friend of mine who's really into audio. The reaction I got was
completely unexpected - he told me I was an idiot, that Bose sucks,
that their slogan should be "Better Sound Through Marketing," and,
well, you get the picture. I always thought Bose products were really
good. What's going on?
AskAvi responds: (September, 2001)
Bose has an almost fanatical opposition in the audio community. Bose
products are everywhere, they're popular, and dollar-for-dollar they
often don't sound as good as lesser known alternatives. That’s not to
say a Bose system isn’t a good value – if your needs match Bose’s
design goals. 
You're paying for three things when you buy a Bose sat/sub system:
The Bose name 
Superb unobtrusive design 
"Good enough" sound 
1) The Bose name - We pay extra for brand names all the time. For the
life of me, I don't understand why someone would pay $500 for a
handbag, but women do it all the time if the bag is a Gucci. You might
say, come on, it’s a bag. But even I always buy name brand sneakers
(Nike), paper towels (Bounty), and computer processors (Intel). And
even in identical products, brands matter. The Toyota Camry XLE V6 and
the Lexus ES300 are fundamentally the same car – but a Camry in your
driveway won’t make the neighbor jealous, and the Lexus dealer treats
you better. 
Sometimes a brand represents luxury. Sometimes it represents quality.
And sometimes it's just a known quantity. Getting back to speakers,
you're really asking a leap of faith for someone to walk into a
retailer and pay money for speakers from nOrh. Or PSB. Or Energy. Who
are these people? Is their stuff good? To find out for yourself, you
need to really invest time and effort in auditioning systems - and
overcoming some awfully pretentious salesmen in specialty audio
stores, or simply awful salespeople at most electronics superstores.
But if you go with Bose, you might assume that all your friends will
be impressed. Which is why Bose buyers are always shocked at the
negative reaction they get from the audio/home theater community.
2) Superb unobtrusive design - The mass market LOVES Bose design.
Market research has proven that large boxy speakers do not appeal to
women, and women make or veto most home purchases. Yes, today there
are alternatives to Bose such as Gallo speakers that look like
grapefruits, and maybe they sound better than Bose. But, maybe they
don’t. (And Gallo who? Where do you buy them?) In any case, Bose
started the trend, and continues to offer teeny tiny speakers with
"big" sound. And Bose offers them in optional white enclosures that
don’t call attention to themselves. It's also worth noting that
complete Bose systems are a lot simpler to buy, set up, and operate
than systems based on a receiver from a Japanese company (with a
manual written in subtitles), speakers from a Canadian company, and a
subwoofer from Washington (state, but assembled in China). 
You pay extra for this, but Bose pays, too - they pay a lot more
attention to ergonomics than many other manufacturers (particularly in
their Lifestyle systems). However, there can be a downside here as
well – the Bose integrated systems are designed to be easy to use, not
for flexibility. It is often impossible to upgrade any single part of
the system.
3) "Good enough" sound - OK, let's get to the sound. Bose sub/sat
systems (for example, their “Acoustimass” speakers) sound pretty good
for what they are - it's always a surprise that something that small
makes any sound at all. And the bandpass sub design can play a lot
louder than you'd expect. Plus, I strongly suspect that the Bose R&D
folks have tweaked the sound to appeal to the widest range of people -
it's very bright, and "live."  Even people over 50 who have lost a bit
of their high frequency hearing can hear the music "pop" from a Bose
system. 
Is this sound accurate? Is it as good as comparably priced systems
with larger enclosures? No, not always - there’s no way to get tight,
deep low bass out of the bandpass sub, the cubes tend to be bright
instead of accurate, and there can be a hole in the midrange where the
sub leaves off and the cubes pick up (this – big – problem is not
unique to Bose, but occurs in many systems using tiny satellites). But
does sound quality really matter? Not to most folks, because they
can't tell the difference. In my experience, most people simply don’t
know what good sound sounds like. Most people are happy with "good
enough" instead of "educate me first, and then give me great." That’s
OK, and isn't unique to audio - wine aficionados get upset when
someone chooses a brand name wine from California over an obscure,
nuanced wine from the upper region of the lower plains of the
Chardonnay region of France. Then they go absolutely nuts when the
California winery adds raspberry flavor to the wine - how dare they
ruin a chardonnay?! On the other hand, if you want a sweet wine from
someone you've heard of, why is that a bad thing?
I should note that I typically don’t recommend Bose speaker systems. I
find that most people can be shown the difference between “really good
sound” vs. “good enough sound” in a matter of minutes - a worthwhile
investment. I personally prioritize sound quality above looks, system
flexibility over ease of purchase, and audio value over audio brand.
So for my needs, most Bose systems are overpriced, inaccurate, and
inflexible. Of course, I have a Philips Pronto remote to handle the
ease of use issues, my system is in a dedicated home theater room, and
my wife doesn't care what goes down there. If your priority is not the
best sound for the money, but rather the best sound you can get given
an overriding priority for unobtrusive looks and ease of use,
definitely consider Bose. However, in that case you should also
consider in-wall speakers, Gallo speakers, and complete systems from
Polk, Boston Acoustics, and Onkyo.
-avi
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 sub leaves off and the cubes pick up (this - big - problem is not
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The Dark Side of Successful Product Marketing: Bose
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