Bose Wave® Music System

Not terrible, but not in the realm of quality available from companies like Boston and Tivoli. Specifically? The sound is "smooth", but, to quote the old cliche, "no highs, no lows, they must be Bose".

And these better competititive products cost a hundred, or two (or more) less. But someone has to pay for the saturation advertizing, and that someone is the oblivious Bose consumer.

The bass is very boomy, something akin to a teenager's aftermarket car stereo. There is no equaliser to adjust bass or treble which is a major omission for such an expensive system. My special offer included an Iphone dock which is OK but useless as a charging system as it only works when the unit is operational and not while on standby.

held of buying for years thinking expensive, wife bought one as presant,fantastic worth every penny wish now i had bought years ago one of the best things ive ever had.

I've owned one of the original Wave Music Systems from about 10 year ago (when the CD try opened up on the top of the unit). Have always been impressed with the sound quality plus features like being able to set the volume of the alarm and CD track number. I've been waiting for them to introduce an integrated DAB version (Number III) but am disappointed by the price. Why no introductory offer price for the new model or at least a price promotion for the Bank Holiday (like most other retailers do). £599.95 is daylight robbery

didnt care paying 500$ for nothing, i got lot of money, but cd tray jam after 3 weeks,WOW serious ok the sound was good for the size of it, but dont even come close of a real system,i used it only in the morning when i was making my breakfeasts, an what u know cd tray jam after 3 weeks!!!try to call bose support, was so long before talkin to someone that i just threw it in the trash.so if I had to rate the quality/price,i would say that if you pay more tha 50$,DO NOT BUY THIS, an NEVER use the cd tray,actually, dont buy it,for 500$ u cant get a sooo much better system..Period, that a real junk.

I was very worried after reading the negative reviews on this site as I was awaiting delivery of my Bose Wave radio/CD. However, after unpacking and installing I think the system is excellent. It is compact and fills my large room with high quality sound. The DAB radio receives even more station than my pure radios I have in other locations around the house. If you want a mega loud system with bulky speakers, etc. then don't buy. If you want an elegant technical space saving solution that sounds great for most users then go ahead. I was surprised how good the quality of the sound output was for a mixture of clasical and rock output. It plays my Pink Floyd CD's brilliantly. If you like very heavy thrash metal type music than maybe go for another system. I have placed the unit on my bookshelf and it looks great and is unobtrusive. I would recommend this system.

The first Bose Product that I do not like!

This radio has more bass than I need, almost a Sub Woofer. The audio quality is poor and Mono natural like, with no tone control.

Do not make the mistake that all Bose products sound good, try it before you buy.

I bought this to connect to a TV, set it on an open shelf under the TV. Bose says moving the radio to another area is recommended to lower the Bass!

This radio was purchased under a replacement program through Bose, send in a broken radio and some $$ then they send you a new unit. Beware that this program has a non-refund clause, now I am stuck with an expensive radio that I do not like and they will not take it back!!! Bogus umm Bose, sorry!

Good luck!

Dont beleive the hype! Total waste of money, anyone that knows the slightest thing about sound quality will tell you the same. A friend gave me his wave after having owned it for about 6 months. It came with a cd jammed in it. No problem as a handy local electronics store sorted that out for £15. The sound quality is typical Bose, USELESS in every respect. I have an old Sony micro system that cost about £90 and it knocks Bose into a cocked hat. Skipped it.

Bought one of these Bose CD Wave Systems in December 2010. Single CD, FM radio version. No point in having DAB here, near Sevenoaks; I can't receive any BBC stations, only 120 Rap-n-Crock oommercial ones!

It's disappointing after the advert blurbs, but not enough to return. Even with the "talk radio off" selected, it is very boomy on the bass of speech and music. It plays CDs well, but is not a mini replacement for separate decent sized speakers, tuner/amplifier and CD player.

Worse still, it consumes 16watts whether "off" or "on" is selected on the remote. My 5 channel, 450watt Hi-Fi FM tuner/amplifier of 10 years age consumes less than 1watt in the remote off position. 16watts times 24 times 365 equals 140Kwatts.At 9p each, that is £26 just to have it plugged in. I know, switch it off. But it consumes more power on standby than my TV, VHS, CD player, DVD player, and tuner/amplifier combined.

I must first declare an interest. I own a Bose centre of Excellence in Leicester called Around Sound but I am also a Wave CD player (Bose name, WMS) owner. From a personal point of view, I use it as a bedside / bed room device and it's on all the time I am in the room. I concede it would be better with DAB built in but the world we live in means you need more boxes what ever you start with so I now have an Revo internet radio plugged in and that's great too!.

I am so perplexed by how much bad press the Bose gets. Let me tell you about a true experience that happen last week. A chap came in for a Vita R4 Radio / CD / DAB / Dock. We sell Vita and from a business point of view I do better selling a Vita R4 than a Bose WMS. However we have the two side by side and always do a complete and unbiased demonstration using either the customers CD or their choice from our extensive collection.

One in five people buy a Vita R4. They are the people who usually have listened to 'proper hi-fi' and appreciate the detailed enthralling sound of the Vita. The other 4 people buy a Bose because it gives them amazing power and involving performance from a small box (even with the DAB adapter).

We don't force either item on people, we don't express a preference, we let our customers decide and 4 out of 5 buy a Bose.

I can only assume all the people who criticise Bose resent other peoples freedom of expression to buy what they think is good or feel that Bose buyers are not capable of making an informed choice them selves. Maybe the Bose haters will turn on Marmite next. Many people don't like Marmite which is fare enough but they certainly don't put so much effort into telling others they should not eat it. After all, Bose give a 30 day money back with no quibble and in 6 years we have only taken part in 2 refunds following our sales.

Back to my experience. A chap who played Piano and Organ and who has a huge collection of music came in to buy a Vita but after listening bought Bose. He was amazed by the sound and size of the Bose and for him the Bose was the right choice.

If you are ever passing, please pop in, with your music and see what you think. Stoneygate shops in Leicester has many shops so if your partner is not into music there will be something else for them to look at.