Horrific Confession and Question

Danvetc is on to something. I have heard Bose in background situations and Pianos always sound pretty good. Right smack in the mids. Put on the Piano dentist office music and off you go.

I, too, have suffered from this disease in the Tower Records classical system, and felt deeply ashamed to look up and spot Bose mini speakers in the ceiling!! (Compare with Mark Levinson, Jadis and Martin Logans at home!) Can some of our more technically minded contributors suggest a solution to the different challenges of background music, entertaining guests over drinks and dinner etc. that won't betray everything we stand for or further enrich Dr. Bose?

I think one of the reasons you like the sound in the store is that it is from a multispeaker system. Its all around you no matter where you go.

I hate to admit it. Last year at an outdoor seafoodfest I wanted to hear where the live music was coming from. As i got closer I shrugged noticing a musician selling his CD's through a booth with Bose Omni directional speakers. I kept wondering what my Dunlavy 5's would sound like in these circumstances. I also wondered why I felt two inches tall

I would guess from some of the "True Confessions" above that for casual listening, which is what most people do, it isn't so important what you listen through so long as you are enjoying the music. So far as the Bose products go, I for one don't understand the animosity by Audiophiles against them. Maybe a little resentment that most people don’t acknowledge or care as much as we do at the well reproduced audio our systems make albeit at great expense? I would hope that other manufacturers of high-end gear might learn from their marketing methods. Funny thing is that I recently stopped in one of their retail "Showrooms" and they did a very credible presentation in a really well set-up small theater. They had blankets covering their jewel speakers and the subwoofer and the sound for home theater wasn't bad and would be satisfactory for my home theater listening which isn't near as critical as music to me. The presentation was quite theatrical itself. The young enthusiastic salesman (most high end dealers would benefit from having someone as good as he was) did a well choreographed point and gesture as the music was playing and finally, OLA, he swished the blankets off to reveal the tiny jewel speakers to the ooohs and ahhhhs by the 8 people listening to the demo with me. I was laughing inside and knew it was more the well set-up room than the system. Where the young salesman lost me (little did he know) was when he told me how Bose puts their profits back in R&D. I laughed out loud, couldn't help it. He asked me what was so funny but I didn't have the heart to burst his bubble so I told him how impressed I was but the price (3,700) for the system was a bit more than I was willing to pay right then. I would have to talk it over with my wife.