Customer Reviews

Bose Wave - Audio system - radio / CD - graphite gray

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've seen the Wave Radio compared to products from Kloss,
Cambridge Sound Works, Sony, etc. Typical reviews put
the Wave Radio ahead in styling and behind in sound quality
and price. That matches up with our experience.

However, in the bedroom, styling is important. I look at
our clock radio every morning and night, and if it looks like a
transformer robot or a leftover from a karaoke bar, it isn't
worth the "good deal". The Bose is one of only a few I've seen
that is understated, with elegant lines and no chrome. Is styling
worth $500? No. But I won't buy an ugly box, even for $20.

In terms of sound quality, this is a Bose: no highs, no lows.
Well, it does have lows, but is quite boomy. This is reduced
by the "aux" stand that Bose is giving away with the radio.
The highs are muted. There are no tone controls. You can turn
it up loud enough to hear clearly down the hall, and the sound
is still OK (in fact, pretty good). Not quite what Bose would
have you believe, but good. Worth $500? No, but better than most
$200+ "executive" clock radios, few of which are nice looking,
or have the true clock-radio features. Nowhere near as good
as a $500 bookshelf stereo, but of course the stereo simply isn't
a clock radio at all.

Features are well-done compared to a $40 GE or Sony
clock radio: two alarms, radio/cd/alarm wakeup, ramped alarm
volume, auto-dimmer, battery backup, readable (but not
obnoxious) display, remote control. No TV sound or weather
radio. Controls are intuituve. Worth $500? No, but the sound
is fantastic compared to most clock radios.

Overall, it is a darn expensive clock radio. It is hard to
justify the price, but there's nothing exactly like it in
the market (the clone CSW 740 comes close, but, in my opinion, is
significantly uglier, and the older CSW 88 has a lot of harsh
reviews concerning reliability and support). If you're looking
for the combination of a good clock radio with very good sound
and understated lines, this is about all there is so far.

Great sound if you position it one foot from a bare wall, squarely. These speakers need to breathe. Crisp high notes, particularly any Classical music or vintage Rock N' Roll....

Amazing Radio. Crystal clear highs and lows in a compact unit that will leave any music lover satisfied. This radio fills a room up like units that costs hundreds of dollars more. I use the alarm clock every day and my favorite feature is plugging my ipod/dvd player/cpu into it and hearing this little radio really rock!

Simply amazing.

It's hard to find information on the power consumption of many products, even though the cost of energy can sometimes add up to be more than the purchase price. I found a report on the web from someone who had surveyed "stanby" power consumption of all the electronics in his house. This product had one of the highest standby power consumptions: about 6 W. That's when the radio and CD player are off. It's much higher than it needs to be just to run the clock--typical clock radios are 1 to 3 W. I ended up getting the Sony ICF-CD831 instead, which consumes around 1.5 W. Of course, the sound quality (and the price) are much lower so it isn't directly comparable.

I am really happy with my radio/cd player, it has great sound, and I am not having to go into my daughter's room to use our stereo, which is right below my neighbors' bedroom, the sound quality is perfect, and I definetely have liked everything that I have purchased from Amazon over the years.

I'm writing my review on the compact model wave radio/CD player because I couldn't find the "bigger" one I bought, and I wanted to save people by being SNOOKERED BY THE HYPE, LIKE I WAS!! I paid $1200 for something that was FAR FROM SUPERB! CD's sounded about like they did on my inexpensive AIWA system, and I couldn't get decent FM reception with the flimsy stick antenna that comes with the set! And, it doesn't have any front display, so you have to get up to see what's what. It does have a credit card size remote that I'm afraid to put down because it's so easy to lose! If I could do it over again, I would take that $1200 and shop for some really excellent compact componants! Oh, and did I mention that it was so poorly packed at the factory that it arrived with the CD lid sprung open! When I called the company to complain, they couldn't have cared less! I should have just put it back in the box and returned it! I can't imagine the littler version of the CD/Wave radio is any better quality! All I can say is BEWARE!!