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View Full Version : Bose & Microsoft Ink Deal



xboxtito
08-19-2002, 09:23 PM
Bose and Microsoft announced today that they’ve inked a deal that will have the two companies teaming up to promote Xbox and Bose’s upcoming FreeStyle speaker system. The promotion will being in September, and have Xbox and the FreeStyle speaker system (a 2 speaker surround sound system) displayed in all Bose, Best Buy and Circuit City stores across the United States. The Bose FreeStyle speaker system will be available during the latter-half of September for $499.

Zion
08-19-2002, 09:31 PM
Could they have picked a CRAPPIER speaker company to ink a deal with? Sheesh. Bose is absolutely the WORST.

ShannonX
08-19-2002, 09:46 PM
Originally posted by Zion
Could they have picked a CRAPPIER speaker company to ink a deal with? Sheesh. Bose is absolutely the WORST.


eh? Actually bose makes some of the best speakers. They have incredible sound coming from small speakers that dont take up much room. If i had the money, i would definately have a top of the line setup from bose. Of course, that would set me back 2 or 3 thousand bucks...

xboxtito
08-19-2002, 09:47 PM
Bose r excellent speaker i got the Lifestyle 50 system and it been just great.
but for Xbox and Bose’s FreeStyle speaker system. I will not pay $499 for 2 speaker.

MidniteArrow
08-19-2002, 09:52 PM
Bose is, quite affectionately, known as the trailer trash of high fidelity audio. They are not top of the line. They are so no where near bottom of the line. They are definitely in the "high fidelity" audio class. If the only place you shop is Circuit City and Best Buy then they are likely the best speakers you have ever heard.

Basically, I'm saying this is a good thing. Microsoft is pairing themselves with a good speaker company. If they'd gone with less they'd be under-selling themselves. If they'd gone with more they would have been elitist. I'm not sure how I feel about the whole "2 speaker system" theory. Less than 6 for Xbox is wasteful. But that's just my opinion, I'm sure you all have one as well.

ShannonX
08-19-2002, 10:29 PM
never said the xbox/bose speaker system would be any good... and i dont shop at bestbuy or circuit city.... after i saw the markup on the crap there, i figured i'd just buy off the net and get it cheaper. To bad i didn't go buy a 50"+ HDTV widescreen(retail for 2000 i could get for about 900 - 1100 or so when i worked there).....


of course, if they aren't top of the line, i'd hate to see how much a "top of the line" would cost. I cant even afford the trailer trash audio system. Guess i would never afford the "good" stuff.

LynxFX
08-20-2002, 01:01 AM
"Afford the Good Stuff". Isn't that an oxymoron when used with Bose?

I swear this is the worst marketing idea that Microsoft has done yet. Not only are they using one of the worst (not the worst but as close as you can get without being sold from the back of a white van) but they are doing demos with 2 speakers?!?! Ummm sorry Bose, but 2 speakers does not a surround sound make. You are better off playing with your tv's speakers since you will get ZERO improvement with the Bose system. Besides for the outrageous pricetag of $499 you could buy a cheap HTIB(home theater in a box with 5 speakers, a subwoofer and a receiver) along with 5 more full priced xbox games and you would have a much much better system than what Bose is showing with their FreeStyle system.

Like I said, this is just going to hurt Microsoft, not help it.


Shannon, save your money. $2-$3,000 for a Bose system doesn't mean it is good or top of the line. Don't make the same mistake that the US Government made with Bose because they had a good marketing department but no actual product to back it up.

No offense to anyone that does own Bose systems. I used to think they were the be all speakers too. A little research will show you otherwise and how devious Bose will go to protect 'the truth'.

No Highs, No Lows, Buy Bose

MidniteArrow
08-20-2002, 05:28 AM
Lynxfx: I usually agree with you 100%. I must differ on this point however. Bose are not anywhere near the "worst" speakers out there. I could understand a "what you get for your money" arguement, but to say it's the worst thing you can get without buying speakers off the back of a van is a bit harsh. Have you evern been to Wal-Mart? (No, I don't own Bose - I got a good deal on some NHT speakers though)

ShannonX
08-20-2002, 07:14 AM
hahah, i would never pay 3 grand for speakers, its just not that important to me. i'd rather buy a cheap decent surround system from some retail store than blow that amount on 5 tiny speakers that i dont need anyways.

Zion
08-20-2002, 07:20 AM
Originally posted by Shannon-XBA



eh? Actually bose makes some of the best speakers. They have incredible sound coming from small speakers that dont take up much room. If i had the money, i would definately have a top of the line setup from bose. Of course, that would set me back 2 or 3 thousand bucks...

Dude, not to be rude here, but GET A CLUE!!

Get out and listen to some real speakers, not just what you can find at the flea market and Best Buy. Go listen to some Paradigm, B&W, Definitive, PSB, Atlantic, NHT, M&K...the list goes on and on.....you'll wonder why you ever thought Bose sounded good.


When you pay $2000 for a Bose system, you're paying $100 for the speakers (which is what they're actually worth) and $1900 for marketing. And marketing is why you think they sound good.

Zion
08-20-2002, 07:24 AM
Lynxfx is 100% correct. I couldn't have said it better myself.


If you want good speakers, do yourself a favor and stay away from Bose.









Originally posted by Lynxfx
"Afford the Good Stuff". Isn't that an oxymoron when used with Bose?

I swear this is the worst marketing idea that Microsoft has done yet. Not only are they using one of the worst (not the worst but as close as you can get without being sold from the back of a white van) but they are doing demos with 2 speakers?!?! Ummm sorry Bose, but 2 speakers does not a surround sound make. You are better off playing with your tv's speakers since you will get ZERO improvement with the Bose system. Besides for the outrageous pricetag of $499 you could buy a cheap HTIB(home theater in a box with 5 speakers, a subwoofer and a receiver) along with 5 more full priced xbox games and you would have a much much better system than what Bose is showing with their FreeStyle system.

Like I said, this is just going to hurt Microsoft, not help it.


Shannon, save your money. $2-$3,000 for a Bose system doesn't mean it is good or top of the line. Don't make the same mistake that the US Government made with Bose because they had a good marketing department but no actual product to back it up.

No offense to anyone that does own Bose systems. I used to think they were the be all speakers too. A little research will show you otherwise and how devious Bose will go to protect 'the truth'.

No Highs, No Lows, Buy Bose

LynxFX
08-20-2002, 11:43 AM
Originally posted by MidniteArrow
Lynxfx: I usually agree with you 100%. I must differ on this point however. Bose are not anywhere near the "worst" speakers out there. I could understand a "what you get for your money" arguement, but to say it's the worst thing you can get without buying speakers off the back of a van is a bit harsh. Have you evern been to Wal-Mart? (No, I don't own Bose - I got a good deal on some NHT speakers though)

Yes I am harsh on Bose, but in my opinion it is rightly deserved. They market themselves as an audiophile speaker for the average joe relying on the fact that they rarely research the topic. I would still take whatever is at WalMart over any of the Bose cubes and distortion-woofer.

But even if they turned around and did start making some of the best speakers around I still wouldn't buy them do to the way the company does business. They will resort to just about any method to make sure that people can't honestly benchmark their speakers rather than actually fixing the problem....their speakers.

Zion
08-20-2002, 12:05 PM
Originally posted by Lynxfx


Yes I am harsh on Bose, but in my opinion it is rightly deserved. They market themselves as an audiophile speaker for the average joe relying on the fact that they rarely research the topic. I would still take whatever is at WalMart over any of the Bose cubes and distortion-woofer.



I'm with you there, man! I worked at a stereo shop during college and I fell in love with the high end home audio side of it. That was 12 years ago and I still visit that store and many others just to see the new equipment. I've done lots of research on speakers (I designed and built a custom line of speakers for that store...very nice!) and acoustics in general. I've visited a few speaker plants. I know the ins and outs of speakers.

That's why I'm personally insulted when I see somebody talking about how good Bose speakers are. Whenever somebody says that Bose speakers sound great, my response is always "sound great compared to WHAT? How many brands of speakers did you A/B against Bose?" That's when the person realized that they merely read about Bose in a magazine ad or saw a TV ad for them and just assumed that they sounded good. If they did listen to them, it was at Circuit City where Bose will not allow any other speakers to be hooked up to compare against. They hear the 'sound' coming from the tiny cubes and think it's awesome. I just want to slap people like that, but it's not their fault :)

Also, physics has to take over here somewhere. You just cannot get good sound out of a 2" full range paper cone that costs less than $1 to make. Add to that plastic enclosures and proprietary circuitry inside, plus the lack of a subwoofer and there you have Bose...simply some of the worst sounding speakers ever made.

There was a website out there that exposed the truth about Bose, I'll have to find it. Heck, all you really have to do is read all the consumer reviews on Bose and you'll see how poor they actually are.

LynxFX
08-20-2002, 01:10 PM
Exactly Zion.

I know of the website you are talking about too. It is in direct contrast of another website that tried to say that Bose was the be all, end all speaker company. They are both pretty funny to read.

Here is a well done full technical breakdown of Bose speakers:
http://www.intellexual.net/boseframes.html

Please people, don't think that we are trying to be mean or belittle your purchase. Bose does have good deceitful marketing. All we are trying to do is inform you of why buying into Bose is a major mistake, and to help you save your money. It is all done as a public service, a way to give back to the community. :D

I must admit though, it is fun to go into a Bose store and get the whole spiel. All you have to do is ask "what are the frequency response..." and you will get a perfectly memorized speech starting with "When Dr. Bose first began his research in acoustics in 1956".

Zion
08-20-2002, 01:45 PM
Yep, that's the exact website I was talking about. Very interesting and very revealing!

And you are right...the Bose salesmen do not like to talk about things like frequency response, driver material, voice coil diameter, enclosure type....you know......the basic things that make a good speaker. I wonder why they don't like to talk about that stuff??