RE: Bose car stereos in Audis...

[JustaxPHX@aol.com]

>Not wanting to start a whole thread about it...I'm curious, why do so many
>people hate the bose system?  Email me privately...

As a reformed audiophile and the former editor/publisher of an audio magazine,
I probably have a bias about sound that's not shared by many other people.  Be
that as it may, I accept that you like your Bose system ... obviously, there
are at least one hundred thousand people (if not more!) who agree with you but
for various reasons, I'm not one of them.

In my experience, Bose products tend to sound like what people who don't know
what music sounds like *think* music should sound like ... they add a
dynamicism and sizzle to music that isn't supposed to be dynamic and sizzling.
They sound "hi-fi" in the worst sense of the phrase and not at all like music
as made by unamplified instruments in a natural acoustic environment.

Just as some people who own Mustangs and Camaros can't (or don't) appreciate
the subtle nuances that attract people like us to Audis, there are people who
simply want to listen to something that "sounds good" without worrying about
the nth degree of musical accuracy.  For them, there's Bose; for the rest of
us, however, the answer isn't that easy as most car stereos, both factory and
aftermarket, are pretty damn lousy in an absolute sense.  Over the years, I've
heard a few decent car stereo systems -- even owned one myself for a few years
-- but never anything that even begins to approach the quality of a bargain-
basement ($1,000 to $2000) home system.

Of course, as my accountant friend always reminds me, there's no accounting
for taste.  If you're really happy with your car stereo system, be it from
Bose or anybody else, then that's all that really matters ... just don't
expect someone like me to agree with you when you suggest it's anything more
than a reflection of your personal taste-and-preferences.

JG