Reply to post: Re: There’s a reason people say

Re: There’s a reason people say

I'll say upfront that I've never been a Bose fan, ever since I first met their 802 "PA" speakers back in the 1990s - you know, the ones with the eight small drivers and a massive bass labyrinth in an oddly-shaped box that didn't work properly unless you powered them from Bose's own amplifier which included some very tricky EQ.

The Bose home products I have heard certainly have an "engaging", "appealing" and "big" sound when you first hear them, but after a while they begin to grate on me, and there's no way I could justify the cost, personally.

I wonder if iFixit has ever taken a look at these headphones. If I'm going to pay that sort of money for a pair of headphones I'd hope that they were at least repairable, but then again I'm not the sort of person who shells out a grand for a totally unfixable phone either. As an example, Beko is not exactly a "premium" white goods brand, but I have to say I've found it a much more satisfying experience getting sensibly-priced replacement parts for Beko kit than for "better" brands over the years.

In a similar vein, I didn't think the Beyerdynamic DT100 (and siblings) headphones that were the "industry standard" in broadcasting for many years were particularly brilliant headphones but every single part was replaceable, from the cables (which plugged in) to the drivers, to the headband padding and foam inserts. Very useful in a studio context.

I'm fascinated that Bose was able to offer you a trade-in, but the very fact that they could, without question, does make you wonder what their margins are :-)

Most of my HiFi kit comes from Richer Sounds - who do now sell some "lifestyle" stuff, but still have the good quality basics - and most of my PA kit comes from Studiospares, who seem to have people on the end of the phone who actually know what they are talking about and don't turn up their noses when you buy a mix of Sennheiser and Behringer kit*.

M.

*Sennheiser radio microphones - because they're rather good, even in their cheaper forms, and Behringer X32 mixers because likewise. I even had one client send a tech spec. which forbade the use of Behringer kit, but encouraged the use of Midas kit, despite the fact that the small digital desks are, in fact, near identical other than the price (slightly different form factor, very minor pre-amp differences and a promised 96kHz "firmware update" that never seems to have materialised).