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Bose has flooded the market with their TV ads and several friends bought the Wave system. They all complained that the bass was excessive. When I was at their respective homes, I noticed that their Bose was sitting in a corner of the room, either on a shelf or on a piece of furniture . Because of its shape, the Bose lends itself to that sort of installation. When I relocated the unit away from a corner, the bass went down 6 dBs which is to be expected due to the laws of physics and acoustics. Suddendly, the unit sounded fine like it was meant to be. Perharps Bose should include a guide for dummies warning them about corner installations. Louis 2014-02-20 6:46 GMT-05:00 Tom Fine <[log in to unmask]>: > I agree that describing sounds is an inexact thing. Say what you will > about audiophile writers like J. Gordon Holt, Harry Pearson and some of the > current bunch at Stereophile mag, they have come up with a language (mainly > invented by Holt and enhanced/evolved by Pearson) that describes sounds > heard and the behavior of audio equipment in transmitting sound. > > Regarding bass, "boomy" is a very common term, and what it seems to mean > is "too much upper bass (around the 150-200hz region) for the liking of the > person calling it boomy." Bose seems to get this reaction from a lot of > people, both those not used to much bass with their music (due to > tiny-speaker computer listening, or just consuming music via a laptop or > tablet, or being accustomed to TV speakers) and those who want deep bass > but hear too much higher bass with the Bose speakers. > > David, what do you think of the bass drum on the Fennell Telarc recording > of the Holst Suites? That's usually a strong "acid test". Also, do you have > that album made in Washington DC in the 80s by, I think, the US Air Force > Band? It's famous among audiophiles, in fact I just had it played for me by > one of the better-known LP advocates on a system that costs more than my > house and cars combined. I thought, lots of bass drum but I'm not sure the > music calls for that much bass drum. So is it musical or is it a woofer > reality test by design? If I recall correctly, the record was cut by Stan > Ricker, who knows his bass. > > One thing I do hear with modern recordings, especially those using > no-transformer recording chains, is that deep bass is sharper, more precise > and more focused if it's recorded well. I assume the reason is no phase > shifts from transformers. Some people really don't like that because it > definitely sounds different. LP fans often lodge a complaint about digital > bass that I think points to a similar situation -- all LP cutters have to > sum some portion of strong bass energy to the center in order to make > records trackable. A system with strong bass response and really > quick-reacting speakers in a decent room won't be "bass is non-directional" > to careful listeners. So someone who grew up with an LP and was accustomed > to its sound may not have had the double basses as clearly deliniated to > the right, or the electric bass in a Beatles recording actually panned > off-center like it often was in the later years (and in fact if they grew > up on the Capitol USA records, they didn't hear the bass as it sounded on > the approved UK masters). In some rooms, bass that is centered and slightly > high-passed, as is the case with many LPs, may work better because it > creates fewer frequency bumps around the sides of the speakers. Something > precisely placed and of the frequencies and balances of the master tape may > create a boom around or behind a speaker, or might sit wrong in the room, > or in some other way not sound "right", and the LP fan tends to blame this > on "digital" without looking at the differences in the media and the > playback systems. > > -- Tom Fine > > ----- Original Message ----- From: "DAVID BURNHAM" <[log in to unmask]> > To: <[log in to unmask]> > Sent: Thursday, February 20, 2014 3:52 AM > Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Computer desktop power speakers recommendation > > > There is often a problem communicating with listeners who try to describe >> what they're hearing in non-audio subjective terms - warm, cold, dry, wet, >> tight, wooly, wooden, etc. and terms which are more appropriate like boomy, >> resonant, sizzly, thin, etc. >> >> >> When I use the term "boomy", it usually means a strong bass of a specific >> frequency - like the sound you hear when a car pulls up beside you with >> strong sub-woofers. Perhaps when the Bose Wave was introduced they still >> had some work to do to perfect the concept. After listening to the demo CD >> which is included with the Bose Wave, and which includes the double bass >> solo I mentioned previously which sounded convincingly like there was a >> double bass in the room, we listened to the entire "Nutcracker Ballet" by >> Tchaikovsky. If you know the music of Tchaikovsky, you know that he makes a >> lot of use of descending scales; the Pathétique Symphony is full of them >> and the tune of one of the waltzes towards the end of Nutcracker is nothing >> but a descending scale. I listened particularly to these passages to see if >> the bass range was even and it was very much so. >> >> A number of years ago, I purchased a CD on the Reference label of >> military band music and was really disturbed by the bass drum. This >> instrument should have no definite pitch at all but on this recording there >> was a very strong specific pitch and it made it sound like you had your >> head in the bass drum. I wrote a letter to the company pointing this out >> and comparing it to some of the fine Mercury recordings, (no pun intended), >> where the bass drum sounds as it should. I got a letter back from the >> company telling me that I could not communicate directly with the recording >> producer/engineer but that she had passed my message on to him, (a Doctor >> something or another, I've forgotten his name), who explained that I >> obviously am an inexperienced listener with inferior equipment. There was >> no point in pursuing the conversation any further. >> >> db >> >> >> >> On Tuesday, February 18, 2014 10:58:16 PM, Paul Stamler < >> [log in to unmask]> wrote: >> >> Back when the Bose was introduced, my late mother bought one. After two >> >>> days she sent it back; she said the bass sounded too boomy. >>> >>> Peace, >>> >>> Paul >>> >>> >>> >>> >> >>