Why Bose Speakers Are So Costly?

Bose is one of the most popular audio devices company. The company has been in operation since 1966, and it continues to offer more audio devices, including Bluetooth speakers. Their products have a higher price tag compared to other products on the market today.

Even with the high price, there are so many people who trust the brand and their audio devices. The huge sales have put Bose at the top of the competition. So, what gives the speakers that high price tag?

Why Bose Speakers Are So Costly?

Bose speakers are expensive as the manufacturer designs them for human experience, they have advanced technology, and Bose invests a lot in research. Bose has also attracted a clientele that believes in the quality of their speakers. Being a brand name means they can sell at a high price and still get customers.

Besides investing in the research for new speakers, Bose also gives to research. The company doesn’t just sell as they do thorough marketing of their products to reach out to all customers.

Bose Speakers and Human Experience

There are some audiophiles who complain online that Bose doesn’t include technical specs on their speakers. You cannot tell how many watts a speaker is or any other features it may have. Instead of a features list, Bose focuses on human experience.

According to Dr. Amar Bose, human experience (and not features) determines how good speaker systems are. He notes that the electrical specifications and the size of a speaker might be impressive, but these may not offer the needed human experience.

You will never see technical specifications on Bose speakers. While other companies compete on features, Bose considers how satisfied customers are.

When setting the price, Bose doesn’t consider the technical specifications of the speaker. Instead, they consider how the customers will benefit from the product. If you pick a good speaker from Bose and another from a different company, both of which may have seemingly same features, the one from Bose will be way more expensive.

The company engineers the speakers, so they give an audio quality that impresses your mind. With Bose, beats will be beats and any other sounds will sound so natural.

Advanced Technology in Bose

Bose is at the forefront in adapting new audio device technologies. Dr. Amar Bose believes that the size of a speaker doesn’t matter as long as the speaker produces high quality sound.

It is not uncommon to see very small six-inch speakers with the same sound quality as 12-inch speakers from other manufacturers. The company believes that the output matters more than the size. According to Bose, it is easier to use high quality ingredients to improve user experience, than increase the size of the speakers.

Bose has patent rights on so many audio technologies and this partly informs the high price tags. Over the years, the company has produced so many new technologies to make their products better.

Research and Its Role in Bose Speakers

Research is among the main philosophies that Dr. Amar Bose stands with. The company re-invests earnings in research to enable them to create better products and breakthroughs instead of using the same old technologies.

Technologies such as noise cancellation have been around for a while. However, it is Bose that developed the tech in a way that it is available in most speakers today. It took the company many years to develop the technology the way it is today, and this is why the company would feel they have the right to charge more.

Bose also says that they pay their engineers well and that also goes to the price of their products. With each new technology, you can expect a high price tag as the company has to spend so much money on research.

Besides in-house research, the company also funds research in MIT. Dr. Amar Bose gives away his non-voting shares to MIT. The money goes towards funding research. Their motto is that research comes before the profits.

Marketing and Reputation

While Bose is a brand name that doesn’t need introduction, the company still invests in marketing. They have sophisticated showrooms, and they can take sections of other showrooms to showcase their products. The company also has a huge online presence where they create high quality ads to appeal to their clientele and beyond.

Because Bose is all about the listening experience, the company doesn’t just place their speakers anywhere. They create a listening environment that ensures the customers get the satisfaction from the audio quality.

To create an environment that enhances the listening experience, Bose has to spend a lot of money and this money ends up in the price tag.

Bose has a reputation to produce high quality speakers just as Apple produces high quality smartphones. Since the inception of Apple, the company has sold their products at a very high price. However, the company has a reputation for quality and improvement.

The same way people wait of the next iPhone release is the same way others wait for the release of Bose speakers. Granted, the company will always charge high as they already have a reputation for quality.

But Not Everyone Loves Bose – Why Do Some Audiophiles Hate Bose Speakers?

Some audiophiles hate Bose speakers because they cannot see the technical specs, and they are not willing to pay a higher price. Bose has a number of critics, but the number of happy customers continues to swell.

Research on Psychoacoustics

According to some of the audiophiles I have seen online, the company creates better sound quality artificially. However, this is the same sound quality that makes people fall in love with Bose speakers. The company studies how the brain perceives audio and they try and create an experience that feels as natural as possible.

To create such a speaker, the company seeks to understand what most people enjoy listening and then creates a sound that will appeal to the masses. Most people will know when the audio quality is good and impresses them, but they may not tell the difference between this sound and the original high quality recording.

Audiophiles can tell apart different sounds and perhaps this is why Bose doesn’t target them. Instead, they target the masses who need high quality sound.

Lack of Technical Specifications

This is one of the reasons Bose doesn’t augur well with audiophiles. These people cannot tell the wattage or the materials used to create a Bose speaker. As such, it gets challenging to compare Bose with other speakers based on specifications.

According to critics, Bose is not transparent and this causes distrust. Some people also wonder why they should buy a product they are not sure what it is made of.

Although Bose is in its own audio quality category, there are other audio device companies that produce high quality speakers at a lower price. The JBL Charge 4, for instance, offers high quality audio and costs way less than Bose speakers.

When critics compare such speakers, they will end up being against Bose.

Is Bose Designed for Audiophiles?

No. You will pay top dollar to get a Bose speaker. However, if music is part of your lifestyle, you will feel that every dollar is worth it. Thanks to the high quality audio, you will feel like you are now an audiophile, but in real sense, all you do is enjoy good music.

Bose uses celebrities to market its products. This way, when a consumer buys Bose, they feel like they have gone up a class, and they understand music better. This is one of the reasons why most audiophiles hate Bose.

Bose is popular for their noise-cancelling technology, and they care less what audiophiles have to say about their speakers. The number of their customers increase as the popularity of their speakers goes up.

Closing Thoughts

Bose offers more than Bluetooth speakers. They have a wide selection of other audio devices, and they observe the same high standards of production as in the speakers. You will find very small Bose speakers that have high quality and loud sound and large speakers from other brands with the same or poorer quality sound.

One of the earliest technologies from the company was direct reflecting. This technology sought to create an experience like the one in a concert hall. According to its proponents, most of the sound one hears in a concert hall is from reflection from walls.

They created the speakers to create that hall-like sound and the consumers loved them. The company then wanted to create a single driver size instead of several speakers, including woofers, tweeters, and midrange speakers.

Today, Bose is synonymous with noise cancelling technology. Their speakers produce high quality audio with no distortion even at maximum volume. They continue to innovate to bring more technologies.

Are the speakers worth the money? It depends on the quality of sound you want to listen to. If you are looking for a splendid listening experience, then Bose is the company you need to go for. However, if you do not realize the audio difference between Bose and other speakers, then avoid the high price tag.