Summary

This review is actually for the Bose radio without CD. I think the threads got merged. Well, when my mother took to listening to her talk radio shows on el cheap-0 trasister radios in the middle of the living room the static and noise from the semi-tuned channels and such became a bit of a problem. My Dad decided to get her a "good" radio for her to use. Bose was in the midst of one of thier seemingly perpetual ad blitzes and the Bose radio somehow became the specified part. It was ordered and given on Christmas circa late 1990's. The Bose radio worked when it was plugged in and still works to this day without incident. It sounds good for talk radio shows and handles the deep resonant "radio voices" nicely. My mom has all the presets set to KGO NEWSTALK 81 and that is the way she likes it. I told her that it defeats the whole purpose of presets to have them set to the same station and she replied, "Whose radio is this?" So there the Bose radio sits spewing news, weather, sports and Paul Harvey. I have listened to music with it on occation and it sounds okay. An external FM antenna would likely help but since it isn't needed for KGO, none is attached. I hooked up a CD player to the AUX in RCA connections once and was surprised how low and muffled it sounded. Either Bose expected a higher input signal (voltage) than this CD player provided or something because it had a very low output for any volume setting vis-a-vis the internal tuner. I also have one of the Cambridge Soundworks radios that was created and marketed to compete with the Bose radio. It sounds a little better on music but the built in "subwoofer" is a bit overpowering, even turned down, for talk radio. Also it lack the style and clock of the Bose.

Strength

-Great test case for Marketing 101 students. -Stylish exterior and thoughtful design touches. Such as auto dimmer for clock display and detachable cord. -Sounds pretty darn good for having two 3-inch speakers in a plastic case. Must be that Wave technology. -Still works over five years after purchase.

Weakness

-Price. Three hundred and fifty bucks for a clock radio is a lot. -AUX input in not sensitive enough. Output sound should be consistant between internal tuner and external source at the same volume setting. -No AM antenna input means the whole unit must be turned for tuning out AM noise.

Summary

I bought the Wave Radio Cd in 2002 and I remember the day I first got it. The first thing my mom asked was why it cost 500 dollars. My dad wanted to know if it came w/ cd changer. My younger brother just wanted to experienced all the hype. So anyway I popped in a U2 cd The Best Of 1980-1990. So we all just sat there and listenend, I expected sound to start taking off but what I heard was clear, no bass and just plain clear sound. From what I understood at the time, was that it was suppossed to reproduce sound like a true system,at least. Nonetheless it didn't perform like a 499 dollar unit. I played all my cd collection for the rest of the night. I kept cranking up and down, played different cd's and still could not get the desired result. listen to rock and roll quite a bit. The problem I had with it was the tiny sound since the speakers are so small you can't expect big sound. Even though it's loud it can't compare to a real system or a compact system. The sound even though is tiny is kind of a full sound for the size of the thing. But if you turn it up loud you probably get annoyed by it. So even though it can get high and loud it wasn't intended for those volume levels its best at 70-77. But my real problem with this was that I was really looking for a music system, this wasn't cutting it so I bought the Acoustic Wave Music system and it's doing the job for now. Problably later i'll have to buy the Lifestyle to get that fuller sound since the Acoustic Wave is lacking that.But it does the job that wave radio couldn't.

Strength

Rich sound,excellent detail sound, crystal clear

Weakness

Tiny sound from tiny speakers even though its loud. It doesnt sound nothing close to a minisystem.

Summary

While the speaker system itself sounds great, the radio tuner is absolutely junk. If you want to listen to AM radio, the only way to "tune" the radio antenna is to spin the radio around in circles until you can get a signal. Everthing you do interferes with reception: lights, microwaves, a TV, anything. If you want the news, weather or sports or information from your local AM stations, get another radio, pronto. I use the auxiliary channel for connection to the satellite dish and play music through it, although the amplification for the aouxiliary mode is poor. I play some of the music at 70-80 on the volume setting, while 40-50 works fine on most radio stations...go figure. I happen to own more than one Bose Radio and i would not recommend them to anyone, unless they listen just to CD's and don't listen to the AM radio. I really is a very poor tuner. I have spent far less money for much better radios. Bose, for some reason, though the radio does not matter. I called them about this and talked about it with a guy at Bose. He told me that the Bose Wave Radio and the Bose Wave CD were "Old technology" and that the tunders were better on the newer sytems. Do you think I would spend more money on a Bose system to find out if that were true? Forget about it! As an enthusiastic owner of a Bose Acoustimass system with a Denon surround system, take my advice. When it comes to Bose, stick to the speakers. End of Story.

Strength

Speaker Sound

Weakness

Worst Radio Tuner I ever owned, poor amplification on Auxiliary mode