Interesting Bose Wave story. Way back in 1988, the olden days before the interwebs (at least the
civilian interwebs), I interviewed for an entry level job with Popular Science. Very nice people,
but the job was not viable in NYC for a person wanting to live on his own (too little money, too
mundane a job), so I opted for the newspaper business instead. Anyway, the editor who interviewed me
took me into a conference room and said, "you say you are interested in audio and video technology,
eh? I have to show you this most amazing radio we just got in for testing." It was the first
generation Bose Wave table radio. The thing really was amazing in that decent-sized conference room,
putting out a wide stereo spread and plenty of hyped and somewhat fake but air-moving bass. This was
one of the demo units from Bose, so it was plexiglass on one of the sides and the back and bottom.
Thus one could see that the whole body was a folded horn, with small speakers firing down into the
horn and out the sides. The whole horn was molded into the plastic body of the radio, which made
manufacturing relatively cheap and easily repeatable. I seem to recall rubber or foam damping points
here and there.
I think Bose still uses varients of that technology for their "sound bars" that mount under big
flat-screens. I've heard some of these "sound bar" units and, to my ears, the B&W blows the rest
away, but the Bose would be great for someone who watches a lot of sports and plays video games (ie
wants a lot of boomy bass).
-- Tom Fine
----- Original Message -----
From: "Dave Burnham" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, February 18, 2014 2:44 PM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Computer desktop power speakers recommendation
>I would have thought the same thing until I heard the Bose wave system. Somehow this little radio
>with what look like 3 or 4 inch speakers can fill a large room with high level bass. I didn't try
>any organ CDs but a solo double bass sounds very accurate as does full orchestra. I know this isn't
>what you're looking for but it's still impressive!
>
> db
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
>> On Feb 18, 2014, at 1:23 PM, Tom Fine <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>
>> Hi Arthur, Richard, Paul, etc.,
>>
>> I probably didn't make clear that these are in the office, not the studio. I don't need
>> mission-critical here, just good sounding.
>>
>> The 5" Mackies seem interesting but can 5" speakers put out enough bass? I know there are claims
>> but I think we're up against the limits of physics with these 5-6" "woofers" and moving enough
>> air to create bass energy.
>>
>> -- Tom Fine
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Arthur Gaer" <[log in to unmask]>
>> To: <[log in to unmask]>
>> Sent: Tuesday, February 18, 2014 11:52 AM
>> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Computer desktop power speakers recommendation
>>
>>
>>> My brother's a musician, so he has no money but he does know something about how music should
>>> sound.
>>>
>>> He recently listened to a lot of different speakers for his home studio and ended up settling on
>>> the Mackie MR5mk3 models as the most accurate speakers for the money (roughly $300 for a pair)
>>> and he knows a couple of other producers/musicians who've gone the same route for their home
>>> studios.
>>>
>>> So you might want to check the MR5 or their larger Mackie cousins out to see if they do it for
>>> you.
>>>
>>> http://www.mackie.com/products/studiomonitors/index.html
>>>
>>> Arthur Gaer
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>> On Feb 18, 2014, at 7:35 AM, Tom Fine <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Hi All:
>>>>
>>>> I'd appreciate recommendations for current-production nearly-full-range speakers for the
>>>> computer. The second amplifier module in my Blue Sky eXo speakers has blown up, and I'm not
>>>> going to throw more money into them. Note -- NOT a good product. This amp that just blew up
>>>> (after less than 2 years) is the "improved" amp module after known blowup problems with the
>>>> first generation amp. I will not be buying any of their products again. Not that they're great
>>>> speakers anyway. A ripoff at $500.
>>>>
>>>> This time, I'd like to keep the budget well south of $500. I'm considering just using passive
>>>> speakers with one of those little sub-$100 LiPing class D amplifiers. The thinking being that
>>>> cheap class D amps tend to self-destruct at some point and it's cheaper to just swap in a new
>>>> sub-$100 disposable amp every few years.
>>>>
>>>> Size-wise, it would be good to not need a subwoofer, although I'd do it if absolutely
>>>> necessary. I'm interested if anyone has tried this new generation of "full-range" speakers with
>>>> 5-6" woofers and front-ported cabinets? The speakers would sit in a triangle about 3 feet apart
>>>> and 3 feet each from my head. I don't listen at extreme levels but if it's amplified, I'd want
>>>> the speaker to "fart" before the amp gave out, especially the woofer.
>>>>
>>>> -- Tom Fine
>>>
>
>
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