Bose Speakers

[Devilz]

Just wondering if anyone can shed some light on Bose speakers for computer?

I use to have Creative Inspire 5.1 system and was quite happy with the sound quality but after listening to bose speakers, I was completely blown away. I've never heard anything like that. Does the computer speakers are equally good but they seem pretty steep, the lowest range is £99 and they go upto £299

so are they really worth the price or can you lot suggest something else which is eqaully matched?

thanks

 

[pparks1]

Hate to break the news to you, but most people who know quite a bit about audio stay away from bose speakers because for the money, they generally are crap.

Here are some references;
Just A Couple Reasons Why Bose Sucks | Obnoxious Listeners
intellexual net · m k i v
Why does Bose blow? Suck? hated by audiophiles? | Media-Center.ca

And this comes from a person who make the mistake and went with some Bose speakers once before. Never again. These days, I go for Polk, Paradigm, Klipsch, KEF, Axiom, Definitive, etc.

Bose is more of a marketing company than a speaker company. More often than not, those who own BOSE and swear by them are unable to name more than 2 other speaker mfgs. People "aspire" to own BOSE because marketing has said they are the best...but they are not.

Here is a great example. Look up speakers from any other reputable company like those listed above. Look at specs...they tell you thinks like crossover frequencies, sensitivity, resistence, frequency response, etc. Look at the specs on the BOSE site...they list weight and dimensions...but not a single thing from any audio standpoint. Why would you not list your specifications when every other company on the planet does?

For computer speakers, check out Swan, or Klipsch.

Here are some suggestions;
http://reviews.cnet.com/best-pc-speakers/
http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/best-pc-speakers/
http://www.testfreaks.com/pc-speakers/

 

[linnemeyerhere]

If you want to look at tight mini speakers look to Focal or B & W's.
Focal JMlab enceintes acoustiques haute fidélité haut-parleurs voiture audiomobile Car audio tuning
Computer and laptop speakers - Bowers & Wilkins | B&W Speakers
Except no substitute for quality !

 

[Devilz]

If you want to look at tight mini speakers look to Focal or B & W's.
Focal JMlab enceintes acoustiques haute fidélité haut-parleurs voiture audiomobile Car audio tuning
Computer and laptop speakers - Bowers & Wilkins | B&W Speakers
Except no substitute for quality !

£400 for set of 2 speakers :shock::shock::shock:

i don't think so i'll be spending that much. I'm very happy with my Zalman 5.1 headphones

Amazon.co.uk: bowers and wilkins mm-1

 

[mickey megabyte]

have to agree (again) with pparks1 here. the people who buy bose are the same type of people who buy apple, it makes them feel smug and superior, because they've paid more than us lesser mortals, but unjustifiably so.

you say you were blown away by bose speakers - what was the rest of the system?

i also notice that you're using an 'hd' sound chip rather than a dedicated sound card? if you want the best audio experience, all parts of the chain must be good...

i always bring this picture out when discussing speakers...

 

[Devilz]

when I mentioned BOSE speakers, it was in music shop playing some CD on audio system. I think it was technic system but I'm not sure

 

[noobvious]

Couldn't agree more on the Bose gear. Their headphones sound OK but are wildly overpriced....I tried a pair at a store and they sounded remarkably similar to a set I owned that cast me $30....and the Bose were $189!:shock:

And when they came out with their home surround sound kits a while back, with the little cube speakers and separate "subwoofer", my buddy bought it....and I had to ask him, "where's the bass?", because the "subwoofer" was a small enclosure with two 5" drivers in it....lol.

 

[Devilz]

what about Altec Lansing? are they any good?

they are like reasonably priced on amazon

 

[mickey megabyte]

i would recommend getting a dedicated sound-card before speakers.

what do others think?

 

[linnemeyerhere]

Everything has it's place. Bose has a place just not in mine. Like a lot of things we purchase I hate planned obsolescence and detest poor quality. I would rather have to save and research longer to even purchase used a high quality item that will last for years beyond a lesser device and way out perform same. Sound reproduction is critical to me and it may not be so important to someone else and that's totally cool. I find that a lot of Bose installations are for the WAF......man it's a powerful thing and one reason we sometimes need to build our caves !

 

[Devilz]

i would recommend getting a dedicated sound-card before speakers.

what do others think?

alright so what sound card will you recommend?

 

[linnemeyerhere]

Right in the sweet zone. There are less expensive and much more costly.
Asus Xonar DX PCIe 7.1 Sound Card XONAR-DX at TigerDirect

 

[Devilz]

i searched for reviews on asus xonar d2x, and found its not good for gaming? is that true?

 

[linnemeyerhere]

Maybe this would be better?
Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer PCI Sound Card 70SB073A00000 at TigerDirect

 

[Lebon14]

i would recommend getting a dedicated sound-card before speakers.

what do others think?

This. Get a sound card like mine : the HT|Omega Claro. It's maybe 169$, but it's worth it. If you use headphones, get the Claro+ that has enhanced features for headphones + all the things from normal Claro. Avoid Crapative (read : Creative) products because simply, the drivers support is horrible and sound qualité is inferior. The only thing about HT|Omega is that it uses a PCI port compared for a PCI-Express x1 for Crapative.

Speakers, I really can't say... never had 5.1 or 7.1 sets... only Stereos (2 speakers; 2.1 speakers). But Stereo-wise, the current set of Eagle Arion I have is pretty good except that... they have a high failure rate within' the warranty period. In other words, I'm pretty sure you'll have to send them in at least once for exchange during the 1 year warranty.

@pparks1 Thanks for those great links about Bose. Reputation +1.

 

[Devilz]

Maybe this would be better?
Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer PCI Sound Card 70SB073A00000 at TigerDirect

thanks but no thanks, no creative, they are sh!t

 

[linnemeyerhere]

Not so! But to each their own, I run mine optical out into a separate DAC and it's quite nice. Sound quality is paramount for me and gaming noise is not so much. Your mileage may vary!

 

[noobvious]

Not so! But to each their own, I run mine optical out into a separate DAC and it's quite nice. Sound quality is paramount for me and gaming noise is not so much. Your mileage may vary!

If you do that, is it accurate to say that you are bypassing the sound card, since the output you hear comes from that outboard DAC?

 

[stormy13]

Not so! But to each their own, I run mine optical out into a separate DAC and it's quite nice. Sound quality is paramount for me and gaming noise is not so much. Your mileage may vary!

If you do that, is it accurate to say that you are bypassing the sound card, since the output you hear comes from that outboard DAC?

Very much so. Basically unless there is a feature that a sound card provides over onboard when using the digital connection, you might as well just use onboard.

 

[linnemeyerhere]

There was no on board optical. And I still run my monitor speakers with it and some 900 mhz wireless speakers.