Summary

Engineering varies enormously from one CD to another, and more importantly, EARS vary from one person to another. I don't like too much bass, and much modern engineering over-emphasizes bass. As I get older I will be losing some of my ability to hear the higher frequencies, and the Bose wave audio system doesn't allow me to do what every cheap boombox on the market (and Bose's own car systems, which I have) would permit -- alter the "tone" characteristics. I can't imagine anyone who takes classical music seriously (I know there aren't many of us left!) not having a problem with it. The only way I can think of to account for the alleged lack of complaints is that they are using the product just as a clock radio, and for their "real listening" they use something else. I wanted to use this for "real" listening because it looks great, takes up little room, and has otherwise good sound.

Strength

looks great, small footprint, good sound if you are satisfied with the engineering of the original CD and are under 40

Weakness

It never occurred to me to ask the salesperson, and why should it? -- that while there are all kinds of options for time (which I don't need), clock radio functions (which I don't need) and random playing of tracks (which I may use twice a year)... there is no bass/treble control for CDs. What genius made this decision?

Summary

well, I bought one of these when I didn't know any better. When I was in 7th or 8th grade, I thought that Bose produced the best sound around. I will not get into what I currently think of Bose Corporation in this review. A guy at my church showed me his Wave Radio because I wanted something small that sounded good, and I was taken back by the sound, granted. This radio sounds much bigger than it looks. The booming, one notish bass and piercing highs grabbing you at first listen. Bose uses a well known smoke and mirrors trick that boosts the bass and highs to make their products sound more pleasing at first to the ear, but it gets fatiguing quickly. It never dawned on me why I would love the sound at first, but shut the radio off after about 15 minutes of sitting and listening to it because I had a headache. I admit my hearing it sensitive, but vocals aren't supposed to be spitty if cleanly recorded. Violins and Harps took on a hard, metallic quality that was not pleasing to listen to. Everything that had high frequency content to it became edgy and artificially compresed, causing the fatigue. It sounded like the response in the treble was like a roller coaster, and quite louder than the midrange. TYPICAL BOSE. The bass is just as bad, really tubby. It doesn't sound like there is any control. If you listen to a well recorded stand up bass, such as Diana Krall's Love Scenes, the bass lags behind everything else. To say the least, this is not at all how something of this price ($350) should perform. Bose tries to get a driver that is too small to produce bass by pumping up midbass level. This creates a booming effect, and makes the Wave Radio easily outperformed by its competitors. One of them being the Soundworks Radio. I now own the Soundworks Radio in grey. As far as using the radio, it really does not get any easier. Everything is right there and up on the top. I like the remote, and Bose sent me some velcro so I could attach the remote to something so I wouldn't lose it. However, at that price they better load up on features. It is funny that the Soundworks Radio has a very similar remote to the Wave, with less buttons. Soundworks wins again, offering even more features than Bose for a little more than half of the price. I loved the alarm ramp up feature on the volume, so it wouldnt blast you out in the morning, as well as the dual alarms. And truth be told, it really is beautiful. But, bottom like, the sound BLOSE!!!!!! ESPECIALLY given the fact that you paid $350 for nothing more than a clock radio! The Soundworks Radio simply sounds MUCH better, has tone adjustments, AN ACTUAL WOOFER, and is LOTS cheaper to boot!!! It still has the dual alarms as well, and they are easier to set. Soundworks Radio 730 is $199 740CD is $299 for $200, Onkyo has a shelf system that will beat the pants off of both of these systems, and even has a CD plaver built in, with 2 way speakers built out of real wood. I have heard this as well, and it is exquisite. You don't get the alarms, just a straight up music system. Onkyo CS-210 I wrote a review of the Wave Radio a few years ago on another website before I became educated on it. I have since prevented someone that has an Acoustimass home theater system from buying one, and has instead purchased a Paradigm Monitor 7 based home theatre system

Strength

beautiful design, striking in black, heavy, auto dimming clock, ramping alarm, bose name

Weakness

clipped highs, terrible bass, PRICE , you cant control anything about the sound, bose name

Summary

I am extreamly disapointed in the quality of the remote control of Bose Wave Radio/CD player.

Strength

Small in size , excelent sound quality, and simple to use. My wife loves it.

Weakness

The remote control is junk. The coating underneath of the overlay flakes off with heavy use and fouls the volume control contacts. This makes the remote control useless, leaving you with no ability to turn the unit up or down.

Summary

Here I am again reviewing something new I got. I am reviewing the newest Bose Wave Music System, with the infront loading cd player. All I can say is WOW for a little tiny thing like this it performs very very well. It will never beat my stereo or surroundsound system, but that is not why I got this Bose, I got it because of the easy to use features. One thing is for sure that this is the best clock radio on the planet as far as sound. Excellent audio performance and it only uses two 2 inch drivers, so it's amazing in every way.

Strength

Looks Power Sound Reliability

Weakness

Looks very simple

Summary

Purchased a Wave Radio with CD for our kitchen. This one is the Wave II and apparently the sound is much improved. Slot loading CD is slick and works flawlessly. Entire unit runs off remote control. People complain that the remote unit is too small and can be lost. I find that odd because it is not that flat and it's not that small. The remote is very user friendly and works well at all angles and distances. This radio does will not replace a full featured stereo system. Anybody that thinks this can be accomplished by ANYBODY is a fool. What it WILL do however is provide truly remarkable sound in an area where you simply do not want a large system. The last thing we wanted in our kitched was a large, imposing, grey or black stereo system. The tuner, particularly the FM is very strong. We live north of Toronto and all radio stations came in clear and in full stereo. The AM side is another matter. The tuner is very weak on AM and the sound is like...well..any tabletop radio. The AM side is VERY disappointing. Some songs on some FM stations sound spectacular, some don't sound that good. There are times where I look at the unit and say "wow!" and there are times where I say "doesn't sound that good". There appears to be no rhyme or reason as to why one sounds better than the other. Same with CD's - some sound terrific - others do not. The absence of bass/treble adjustments is baffling. I guess the sound would severely distort otherwise?

Strength

Beautiful styling and shape. The Cambridge unit sells for much less, but let's face it - it's ugly as hell. If you require a small, stylish unit and wish to have a quality sound then the Bose Wave is the way to go. It's gorgeous to look at, compact in every sense, and does product pretty darn good sound.

Weakness

I find the price to be high, however it is the design that you are paying for. Let's face another reality here: Bose is selling Wave Radios! My problem with this unit is the inconsistency of the quality of sound and nothing more.