Customer Reviews

Bose Wave Music System - Titanium Silver

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I have enjoyed my Bose Wave music system for just over a month and I am very pleased with its performance. This is the second or third generation of the iconic Bose one-piece tabletop sound system that is intended to make you think you are listening to a much more complicated and professional component system. And, to a great extent, it does just that--or at least, it is closer to a stereo component sound than to a stand-alone run-of-the-mill radio sound. It certainly features a deeper range of bass sounds than any other one-piece radio I have ever encountered.

Bose has pioneered its spectacular sound machines which seem highly defined by their innovative speaker systems which they refer to as "waveguide speaker technology". This one-piece system produces a clear, natural, room-filling sound without the need of external speakers. It has a very innovative physical design with a small unintrusive footprint that sits well on a night stand or in the kitchen. I particulrly appreciate the Titanium Silver color which seems appropriate for any area of the home. It is simple to install right out of the box and has the FM/AM radio, CD player, and clock/alarm built in. There is an auxiliary input for an MP3 player or other alternate sound source.

I especially appreciate the alarm system that opens softly and gently rises in volume as you awake. It comes with a credit card size remote control; however, I purchased the larger backlit remote with a dedicated cradle that I use instead. All in all, this is an effective and very impressive one-piece tabletop sound system that I enjoy daily. It is a bit pricy, but ultimately, you get what you pay for.

I had the Bose Wave Music System (one disk changer and remote) for a week or so now. Never thought I would pop the $$ for this but when I found it at a good price, I said "go for it". I'll admit, I'm surprised and impressed. I did expect it to be different, better and so forth - just because of the reputation - but I was not prepared for the details of that difference. The sound is remarkable. It not only sounds great when you're in the room with it but also because of how well it produces music throughout several adjoining rooms . For example, when I am in my living room, two rooms away from where I placed the Bose (in the kitchen at the rear of the house and facing the back) the music sounds almost even better - its rich and full and more rounded than any of my other music systems with the possible exception of the one that takes up a great deal more space. I like listening to it from my reading chair in the living room....great full powered sound without being overpowered by it... I hear details of CD music I've not heard before from such a distance. I think the distance listening factor of this unit is the most remarkable feature of all that are mentioned.

Some reviewers have been critical of the unit being controlled only by the remote with no on board buttons. I can see that as a problem if you have kids and pets (who like to eat remotes - and yes, both the kids AND the pets might do that).... but for me, a single guy living alone, it is no problem. Actually, the unit looks sleek without all those buttons on top and you don't have to worry about dust accumulation. Just the same, I do recommend getting a backup remote - easily available on the eBay market (just Google it). If you've got an extra $500 for a new unit, go for it...or, if your funds are more limited, look around. It can be found for less. In my case and considering what I paid, it was more than worth it.

I was hoping for a good music player and a alarm clock. It makes a decent music player and alarm clock. It is supposed to have really good sound. The sound is muttled and there are no adjustments to make it any better.

I didn't like the fact that there were no buttons but I've found that it doesn't really cause to much of a problem as long as the batteries are good. It does however have a couple annoying features.

It has an auto dim feature for low light which I would rather disable but it won't let you. It will let you turn it up some with makes it tolerable. When you set the alarm it comes on low but it automatically goes up to 30 which I wanted louder but again no adjustment.

Now the good features. It seems very well built and sturdy. The design is attractive and fits in most places with no problem. It does have a Cd player which works well as long as you don't what to preset tracks (It will only shuffle).

With all this said, I still have to give it a three. I would give it a four if the price tag wasn't so high. For the money, I expect a few more adjustments. It is very easy to use however and serves it purpose well. It does need to have more options. It works well and seems like it will last a good long time. I'm fairly happy with it.

I originally ordered the Boston Acoustics Trio because of better features but due to a couple of issues (details below) decided to switch to the Wave. While I had both units, I did a side by side comparison, and here is a summary:

Sound Quality: Both the Trio and the Wave sound great. Listening to the same radio station and CD in both, the sound is different and IMHO the Bose sounds better. Especially in higher frequencies and lighter tones. Some may like the Trio better. But the difference is not likely to be a deal breaker for either.

Sleep feature: Both units allow a programmable sleep time (up to 90 min). When it is time to turn off, the Wave gradually lowers the volume and turns off. The Trio suddenly turns off at whatever volume it was, which can be jarring. Bose wins.

Controls on Unit: Trio controls are nice to use, and most people will not need the manual for common tasks. The Wave has no buttons on the unit itself, every control is through the remote. If you buy the iPod dock, you get an additional remote for the Wave and then one can leave one remote near the unit. But still, the lack of a Snooze button and CD eject button on the Wave is annoying. And one has to worry about not loosing the remote or having a dead battery one day. The Trio definitely wins.

Remote control: Comparable features on both. Bose does offer an optional bigger premium remote with back-lit buttons.

Radio: The Trio shows radio station names and the name of the currently playing song. The Wave only shows the station frequency. Wave does have one more pre-set memory location. Boston Acoustics wins.

iPod: The iPod dock was free with the Wave at the time of this writing (through Bose) and deeply discounted with the Trio (through Boston Acoustics). The docks work on both, but are only mediocre in terms of the amount of control over playback one gets from the remote. The Trio dock does allow for the alarm to be set to wake to iPod. The Wave dock needs a separate bulky power adapter while the Trio dock gets its power from the same wire that connects it to the Trio. Both do charge the iPod. Trio wins.

Alarm: The Wave has one alarm, which cannot be programmed for days of the week. The Trio has two alarms each of which can be set for all 7 days, weekdays, or weekends. Trio wins. (BUT, the Trio seems to have a bug, also noted by some reviewers for Trio. I set both alarm 1 and alarm 2 on the Trio. Alarm 1 was set for an earlier time and it did go off at the set time. The Snooze worked. But when I turned off the alarm using the correct method, two bad things happened: Alarm 1 automatically reset to 12am, Alarm 2 turned off and did not sound at the set time.)

Wake to: The Wave allows the alarm to be set to CD or Radio. The Trio allows CD, Radio, iPod, or a tone alarm. Trio wins.

Battery backup: Both the Trio and Wave remember the time, alarm, and radio presets in case of power failure. Neither will sound the alarm if there is no power at the time the alarm is supposed to sound. Its worthwile to note that many cheap radio alarms have a backup alarm on batteries that sounds even if there is no power.

Clock: Neither adjusts for daylight savings. The time display IMHO is better on the Bose and easier to read, though the screen on the Trio is higher resolution. Both allow for changing the display brightness. The automatic brightness change on the Trio is jerky and not pleasant to look at when its changing. The Bose brightness change seems imperceptible.

Looks: This is very subjective. I liked Bose better. More importantly, my wife liked Bose better and she has a good aesthetic sense. Maybe that's why she married me :-)

FM Antenna: The Wave's FM antenna is part of the power chord, so no need to extend and hide an additional wire. The Trio has a separate wire for the FM antenna. Bose wins.

AM Antenna: Hidden for the Wave. Exposed as a twisted wire for the Trio, which for me was damaged on delivery. Bose wins.

Price: Bose spends more on marketing and customer service. They have local stores where one can experience the products in person. As expected, Bose is more expensive.

I have had my Bose Wave Music System for just under a year and am still impressed with it. The sound quality is amazing, everything comes through crystal clear (even when played very loud). I have hooked my Bose up so that the television plays through the AUX as well, making watching movies so much nicer.

The biggest pro for me is how easy it is to use. Just slide your cd in and it's ready to go. There aren't a million buttons to fiddle with like on other stereo units (I am sure there are people who like all those buttons, but that's all a bit much for me). The Bose remote only has a few buttons (there are no controls on the unit itself) making it very self explanatory (play/pause, stop/eject, seek/track and volume are your options for playing a cd).

The alarm feature is also something I use all the time. Set the time you want to wake up and to what you want to wake up to (radio or cd). It's great!

Several of my friends thought I was crazy to spend this amount of money on a stereo unit. I say it is worth every penny. I use it every day and I love it.

Just completed a major kitchen remodel and when all was done, we realized the one thing we hadn't considered was MUSIC. Previously, we had an undercabinet Sony unit which was fine, but with the new kitchen, we had built-in undercabinet lighting and no where to mount a similar unit. Ended up picking up a refurbished Bose Wave in Titanium Silver at a Bose Store for 20% off...while still pricey @ $400, the clean look, excellent sound and radio reception made it worth every penny. Its a nice, clean look that blends in nicely with our blue/white granite and stainless appliances, and really fills the kitchen/dining area with sound...all our friends have commented on the great sound. It's also nice to be able to plug in our Ipods with a standard head-phone-like connector...although Bose offers an Ipod dock (w/ charging capability) for $100, the one review on Amazon was not so great so we passed on that. Definitely recommend this unit.

I purchased my Bose Wave Music System directly from Bose about a year ago. I was shocked to say the least when it arrived, it's very small, like a larger clock radio, but also very heavy for its size. Setup was very easy, I put it on a small table and .... well, there are no wires to connect, no knobs or buttons to tweak, just plug it in and set the clock using the credit card size remote. By this time I was sure nothing good could be this easy. I was wrong.

The first CD I played was a Mannheim Steamroller Christmas CD and I was in awe. The stellar highs, the deep bass, and of course the mids were all there. There is enough power to fill a room with sound to the point of making it uncomfortable in my 20'x24' furniture filled living room. Since then I've changed the location and now it has become a mini home theater music system in the same room instead of using the built-in tv speakers. It was much easier than running and hiding wires to 8 speakers as I did in the family room.

Ok, I love the sound and it's so small as to be practically invisible compared to a traditional system. Why isn't it perfect you may ask?
* Being that it is so small, there isn't as much stereo seperation as I would like. You always know what part of the room the sound emanates from.
* There are no buttons or controls on the thing. To do anything other than inserting a cd you must use the remote. It seems kind of silly to be close enough to read the display and still need to use the remote to make any changes. If you should use it as an alarm clock, which I have not, you must use the remote to both set and silence it.
* Everything you play is played "as is", no adjustments to tonal qualities. Everyone has preferences but no tweaking of the bass or treble on the Wave Music System. Admittedly, 99% of the time no adjustment is needed, I just miss being able to do it on that 1%.
* You are very limited to what other equipment you can use with it. You're pretty much limited to the optional CD changer and one input device, in my case, the tv.
* Cost. It isn't cheap. Could I find something that would sound as good or better for the price? Yes. But, could I do it in the same small footprint? No. Even if I found a good receiver and speakers for the same price, they wouldn't fit as easily on a table or a bookshelf. I'd also be back to the same problem of running and hiding wires to the speakers. I don't know about you but I hate to see wires dangling from speakers or behind a receiver.

If it wasn't for the cost, the Bose Wave Music System would truely be something everyone could use. It can't replace a traditional sound system, but it wasn't meant to. There's always "that" room in someone's house where you'd like to have music but it isn't practical for a traditional system. Do I regret my purchase? No way. Would I do it again? Definately. I'm thinking about a 2nd one for my bedroom and I'd be in heaven with one out in my workshop, and...and...and...

I was shocked at the price when I first looked at the Bose Wave system - but my wife wanted it, so I ordered it. The product is very impressive right out of the box - the sound is almost startling. I have had no problems with it, so it scores high in reliability so far. But the truly impressive parameter is the sound quality. We entertained with it, and all of our guests were impressed. Darned pricey, but if you can afford it - money well spent.

This is the 2nd Wave Music System I've ordered within a month. It seems people either love or hate Bose equipment. Let me start by saying that I am a Bose lover. I have several Bose systems in my home and in my '07 TrailBlazer. I was going to get a Bose Acoustic Wave System but instead bought 2 WMS units. I felt that the Acoustic Wave may be too much for my Computer Room (I have a pair of Bose Companion speakers on my main system), and with 2 WMS units I could put one in another room. Are Bose systems pricey? Yes, I feel they are. But the more important question is; do Bose system put out good sound. I feel they do. I think for the cost of a WMS they should INCLUDE the premium remote because like others have said without the remote the unit is pretty useless. That being said without any buttons and stuff on the top like the Wave Radio (which we also have), it does make for a very clean layout and possibly another small device could be put on top such as the iPod accessory. For the kind of music I listen to, smooth jazz and contemporary instrumental, I feel the WMS sounds great from a very quiet background level to a room filling relatively high volume situation. I'm not talking concert hall but a more or less "normal" size room in a typical home. Some complain about the lack of tone controls which is essentially true other than the "talk" mode for talk radio. I think what Bose tries to do is recreate the music as if you were in a concert with that group/artist. A few artists that I typically listen to, I have attended their concerts and based on that I feel that Bose does indeed recreate the sound accurately. Is it perfect? Probably not. Is it realistic? I think so. So in closing while I agree that Bose is a bit pricey and they should include the Premium Remote, I am VERY PLEASED with these 2 WMS units I bought.

I bought this for my dad, who's certainly not into the latest music technology. It's hard to find decent CD players these days. While this was pricey, it is worth every penny. The sound is incredible! I'd never heard a Bose before. Every day when we go to my dad's house, the Bose is playing. I'm now a Bose Believer. If you can afford it, it's worth it!