Customer Reviews

Bose Acoustic Wave Music System II - Graphite Gray

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

This is a great unit. I am a R&B lover. A lot of the times R&B is very bass heavy. This unit handles R&B quite well. I was under the assumption that Bose called it the "acoustic wave" due to this unit being perfect for more acoustically driven music. The BOSE rep said no, they named it that because of the type of technology. The technology is set up like an acoustic instrument. (i.e. a flute)
Bose's trick is a third speaker inside the unit connected to 2 separate amps for the highs and lows.
The key to getting the best sound out of this unit is placement
Don't place the unit too close to where you will be sitting. Place it farther from you - that way you will experience the TRUE sound of this unit.

For the size of the unit, it performs really well! It is a great investment and it is portable. Don't listen or go by the negative reviews! Especially the gentleman or lady who went to the pawn shop to hear one...LOL

Cons: Pricey - but worth it - great for movies too!!!!!

I bought this for my study. I wanted a simple all in one, plug and play. I got SO much more! It is rich and room filling at all sound levels! It is expensive.....yes, you get what you pay for! This is a great item don't hesitate if you want a one piece masterpiece! Pax.

A couple years ago I was wandering around Philipsburg, on the Dutch side of St. Martin, just out enjoying a hot Caribbean day, when I spied a stereo shop. I wandered in and saw an American tourist bartering with a sales clerk, trying to get him to come down on the price for this funny looking, all in one stereo system.

Who'd want that? I thought. I watched fascinated while they haggled. The salesman didn't come down and in the end the tourist bought the stereo that looked more like a model for a hotel. The salesman took his name and made arrangement to have it delivered to the cruise ship the tourist had arrived on.

"You interested?" the clerk told me.

"Nah, not really," I said, but I was interested and the clerk knew it. He turned it on, not loud, and it sounded oh so sweet. He was playing Linda Ronstadt's "Heart Like a Wheel" and I've always been a sucker for Linda.

He told me he could have it delivered to my cruise ship duty free. I asked him how it sounded played loud. He cranked it up and I opened my wallet.

Now I find myself writing a review about this odd looking stereo. First off, I have to say I love the sound for the most part and have since purchased a wave radio and a couple wave radios with CD players, both the latter for work.

The good: This machine will fill your room with gorgeous sound and if you're playing a CD that was professionally produced or if you have ripped one and are playing it back from your iPod thorough the unit's aux in jacks, you'll probably be very satisfied, more than satisfied with the sound you get.

The bad: What if you're not playing a professionally produced CD? What if you have some of those early, almost illegal Beatle tapes, which have almost no bass on them? Or a tape of a Springsteen concert, which has too much bass? What if you've ripped these to iTunes? What if you want to play them through your Bose Acoustic Wave Music System II? You're SOL if you want to do that.

I have stereos in every room and they all have bass and treble controls. Still, regarding the Bose, I can equalize the sound coming out of my iPod Touch, but I shouldn't have too. At the very least Bose should have included a bass and treble control. Heck, my dad had those in the fifteen dollar radio in his Fifty-Two Chevy.

In conclusion, if you are going to use this as your main stereo and you have a hours and hours of concert tapes as I do, then this might not be the stereo for you, but if, on the other hand, you have only professionally recorded CDs from the major record companies or if you want to run your television sound though this machine via the auxiliary inputs, you'll probably be very happy with this unit.

I have read online from websites like Cnet some reviews of the Bose Acoustic Wave II music system and it is clear to me that many of the reviews are made by people who are not audio-aficionados. The point is that this acoustic wave music guide accurately reproduces life like sound. In short, when I read a criticism like, "there are no bass are treble controls", then it is clear that some people do not understand this audio technology. On the other hand, other manufactures utilize technologies that bolster unnaturally the bass, treble and mid range settings. Furthermore, if one would acquire a CD from say Pat Metheny or the Pat Metheny Group (it should be noted that Pat and his team are most likely at the top the music industry in terms of Audio Producing as the sound quality of all his is work is outstanding) and play it in a Bose Acoustic Wave II Music Guide system, in a large room with reasonable to good acoustics and at a high volume, then I am very confident that many people would be incredibly impressed.

This is a wonderfull system and worth every penny - and more! The gentleman from Washington tested a used one in the pawn shop. It was probably stolen and damaged by some miscreant. Do yourself a favour: listen to a new item and then review itBose Acoustic Wave Music System II - Graphite Gray]]

I bought the Bose AWMS2 when it first came out. The quality of sound reproduction, for all genres of music, is amazing. Rock, Soul, Funk, Jazz, Rap, HipHop, R&B, Classical, World Music: All sound great. The quality of sound at high volume levels seems impossible from such a small unit. It has always been my main stereo. I also bought the carrying case. As far as durability: To this day I have experienced no problems with either. I have moved countless times including multiple moves between CA/HI and it still sounds/looks as good as it did 10+ yrs ago. The only negative is that with hard-hitting gangsta rap/hip hop (life is... Born To Mack 2 of my favorite albums) the bass isn't felt, as intended. It still sounds great. Absolutely worth every cent!!

First, I like to think I take good care of my ears (you should too) and I have good hearing. If you are like blasting your mp3 player, almost any music system may sound good to you. Like all Bose products, its construction and build quality are top notch. It was easy to set up and to use. The sound quality is okay. there are better systems for less money. The future is WIFI radio. You are mainly buying the bose name and all that advertising you see in print and on tv.
Also, Bose seems very slow to keep up with basic technological updates. This radio should have HD capabilities.

I had owned a Wave Radio for 10 years and was ready for an upgrade. I'm a classical pianist with highly sensitive ears, so I wanted a system that sounded great. But I did NOT want a system that required a great deal of user setup and adjustment. On those two criteria, my Acoustic Wave Music System II functions flawlessly. Tested it with Saint-Saens Organ Symphony, then Van Halen's Diver Down. It's a beautiful rich sound, and extremely simple to set up. Additionally I use the Bose SoundLink to stream iTunes from my MacBook Pro. The SoundLink works exactly as advertised. It's simple, sounds great, and has no problem when my computer is in a different room from the Bose.

Nitpicks:
1) The power supply emits a barely audible 60Hz AC hum. I seem to be the only person that noticed it, I didn't see it in my quick perusal of the other reviews. It's completely inaudible when music is playing. But I can hear it between movements, and when the unit is off. My house isn't properly grounded, but I tried it at my neighbor's house which was recently rewired, and still got the hum. The local Bose store replaced the system. The hum on the replacement is quieter, but still there. It's a very minor annoyance, but for $1,099 I expected perfection.

2) The unit doesn't have a digital optical input. I'm going to be using it with my home theater; it's inconvenient that Bose doesn't include the most up-to-date inputs.

3) It would be nice if it had a front loading CD slot like the new Wave Radio does. The top loading CD is a little old-fashioned and potentially takes up more space since you have to allow for clearance for the CD lid to open.

4) More inputs would be nice. There is only one set of RCA inputs. When I bought this Bose offered the 5-disc changer for free. I don't actually need the changer, but I kept it because it provides one additional aux input, for a total of two.

I have the 1st AW1 with a tape player I bought around 1990. I have never had any reliability problems but I use it as a boom box. So 20 years is pretty good reliability. Beware Bose will not sell you any part if it goes bad. I wanted tape player belts and they refuse to sell it. This is so their repair centers can extort a labor charge for repair. So you are buying a $1000 almost disposable product. One time I called Mcintosh for a var diode and they sent it to me free of charge. Now that is service. Bose was more than willing to sell me a new discounted Wave rather than sell me $3 worth of rubber belts. Also, the 901 speaker surrounds rot out.

I have always heard great things about bose audio systems and what people say is true. The sound that this unit puts out is far superior to the sound of my 5.1 surround sound system (although it cost much less than this system). The sound easily fills the entire room, about 12'x8' and the volume of the 0sound does not significantly drop off the further you get from it. I have not purchased the ipod dock not the cd changer but i can imagine that they are excelent. It can get quite loud but loudness does not come at the price of bad quality as some other units do. I have not found any fault with the system over the 2 years i have owned it and believe it will last many more. The unit has some nice features such as remembering where you left off on a cd, the handles on the sides make it easy to move if necessary and the remote works perfectly from quite a distance, but there cant be anything between the unit and the remote for it to work. The system is very easy to use and even my 9 year old has no problem starting up her favorite radio station. I wish that by now they would offer a unit with hd radio as the quality is much better but I cant say that the quality is anywhere near being bad. I can play my ipod through it with a simple cable that turns the red and white rca jacks on the back into a normal headphone jack(these can be found easily online or in tech stores). Although it is quite expensive i have not seen a system that is as small and versatile that can beat the sound quality. I have loved this system ever since I got it and will be sure that you will be satisfied with it.