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| - Want a pair of noise cancelling headphones?
Well, I do admit Bose make effective ones, they are good at the block out the jet engine noise kinda thing. Sonic quality though, does take a hit compared to the likes of Sennheiser etc.
Even the bass heavy Dr. Dre beats are better. Sonically somewhat more accurate, however the beats range is also overpriced, like the bose headphones. Anyway, the salesmen at this shop have no clue what they are talking about. Difference between one set of spkrs and another? "crispier sound". Crispier?!? Thats it?
I've had a pair of bose noise cancelling for plane trips, and yes, they do the job, I got them for the express purpose of masking the engine sounds, but not really listening to music. I won't buy another set though, as they are poorly made and break easily. The price is also ambitious. Better noise cancelling, and even noise isolating phones have come to market since then. Even Sony make a pair with better build quality.
So, I looked at the Bose TV. The panel itself is made by Samsung, a very competent panel manufacturer. However, after visiting the bose shop, just to see if this TV could live up to the hype and, no, it couldnt.
Firstly, the TV is an eye-watering $5,400, plus 5% sales tax and another 20 or so bucks recycling levy. Over $5,500 for a undersized 46 TV? Seriously bose?
I figured the picture accuracy would be incredible owing to it being a Samsung panel at least, to make up for the immediately impressive 'surround' sound. (more on the ultimately inaccurate sound later)
Nope. Despite me twiddling with the picture controls, as the sales guy looked on (who wasnt aware you could adjust the video controls) the picture accuracy is simply painfully awful. I will explain.
Ive been in the electronics retail industry a while. Ive learned how to calibrate a TV and get it looking as best as possible. Sure, you can twiddle with a normal TV and get it looking non awful, but you need test cards, filters and colourmeters to get it way closer.
The bose TV has a pitifully limited control interface. It has contrast, brightness, colour, sharpness, and display mode, (cinema, sports etc) The sliders only go down a MAX of -7 on each and a max of +7, if you want it to look more awful than it is already.
No tint/hue, no advanced greyscale, no obvious way to disable frame interpolation, the retina frying dynamic contrast etc. I dialed down each of the limited controls on the TV, and it still looked like crap.
Way to go bose, put a Samsung panel in your TV, but use your own weird display algorithms set it at 'mega bright shop mode' and prevent the user from making much different.
You heard it here first folks, the Bose videowave TV is *impossible* to calibrate. Maybe entering the service menu used by TV repairmen might tone it down, but good luck finding that code out from Bose.
I emailed Bose to ask why the controls were so limited, and why I couldnt get it lower than -7. Bose's answer essentially was "were a private company and we dont have to tell anyone anything." So instead of helping, Bose werent at liberty to say. Charming.
Now, onto the sound. There are 16 speakers in the TV, according to the salesman. Looking at the thickness of the unit it had to be a whopping 10 inches. Looking into the grilles surrounding the tv, the most of the speakers looked to be the same as the ones used in the wave radio. The cheap paper cones. Yep. Those ones. Also used in the Bose companion 2 computer speakers, and at least one of the lifestyle system satellites.
The sound, as I mentioned, is initially impressive on a scale and bravado basis but after listening to it a while, using lossless music playing some contralto vocalists, like Maria Callas, the audio was tiring and I wanted to turn it down. Good hifi you dont need to turn down. Lowfi irritates quickly and has one reaching for the volume.
In conclusion, this TV is staggeringly poor value for money for a 46", horribly hobbled by short-sighted controls, leviathan heavy and audio like being on the receiving end of a baseball throwing machine.
For $5000 one can buy a Sharp Quattron 80" and have a few hundred left to buy a well regarded Panasonic HTIB. Sure, quattrons arent the last word in colour accuracy, but at least one can disable the yellow pixel and adjust the damn things. if this TV is a joke on bose customers, it isnt funny. Bose, I hope you are ashamed of yourselves. Just cos Bose stuff is priced at stupid amounts, doesnt mean it's any good. You can get better for WAY less.
Bose has to walk the talk before they are taken seriously. They say they are the best? Prove it. It's no good replying to the question, "why do you say you are good?" with, "because we said so.".
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