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Speaker Asylum General speaker questions for audio and home theater. |
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Speaker Asylum General speaker questions for audio and home theater. |
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In Reply to: Re: Sorry.... posted by NateS on September 9, 2002 at 12:17:55:
Nate,
In an effort to give the 701 a fair hearing, I auditioned it at the BOSE store-complete with the BOSE EXPERIENCE 15 minute home theatre film in which they demonstrate the Lifestyle sound system. I needed two aspirin after that one! Snap, Crackle, Pop, but in all a reasonable home theatre sound considering the size and convenience. The sound from the front was actually rather two dimensional with no depth whatsoever. Must be due to the speakers being mounted on the wall. $3,000 seems a bit steep to me however.The 701:
The 701's were indeed set up along a wall with the 901's and some smaller models. They were only about six inches from the wall. All speakers were controlled by a touchscreen unit in front which also controlled the music selections (MP3?).
Amplfication was via an Onkyo receiver. I don't know what kind of cable hooked it all together. I was troubled by the cheap spring terminals on the speakers; not convenient for any decent wire. The L-pad controls for Bass and Low Bass were interesting in helping to tailor the speaker to the room, but it is impossible to know how to set them for flat response. I don't believe BOSE publishes frequency response specs. They appear to be a small monitor atop a subwoofer in a TL type enclosure. The sales rep was not fully able to help me understand how the sub works with the built in amp (he assured me the amp was turned off), so I just set the Low Bass to minimum, and Bass about half way up.My first reaction to the speakers was positive considering the setup conditions. The Bass was full and reasonably tight, the midrange was OK, and the high end was there. On pop music, they did a reasonable job in getting me into the music. On classical, however they were unlistenable. The 901's had a much better midrange. There was NO high end extention on the 901's however, so they failed the test.
I think the 701's, properly set up, with decent electronics ahead of them could do a good job on most types of music. With the poor setup and electronics, it was impossible to discern the degree to which the grain and hash came from the speakers, or the electronics. Garbage in, garbage out....
Are they the best way to spend $1000? I still would think you could do better with B&W, EPOS, or another good monitor in the all-important midrange for even less money-especially if considering used speakers. I'm a big fan of smaller speakers for the way they get the music right from about 50hz up, but it's all about compromise. The BOSE, however gives you more Bass extension.
To anyone who has a BOSE store in their area, I would encourage you to visit it. The sales reps have a very well rehearsed, word for word methodical presentation. During the BOSE EXPERIENCE, the lighting highlights the sources to lead you to the speaker producing the sound. One of the guys came in and did a good imitation of a flight attendant when he showed that all the big sounds CAN come from such small speakers. You gotta admire their dedication!
BTW, the $1,000 table radio is overpriced by about $900. I actually liked the $500 one better.
In the end, everything in life is about making compromises. Buy what you like, keep an open mind and enjoy!
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Follow Ups
- BOSE 701 review - Clink 14:54:56 09/09/02 (1)
- Re: BOSE 701 review - NateS 16:38:53 09/09/02 (0)
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