Bose Television: Sounds Good

"A Bose TV? Sounds Good - Literally"
Robert S. Anthony, PCWorld (September 29, 2010)

"If Bose built TVs, you'd expect them to have exceptional bass and superb midrange sounds in keeping with its little Wave radios, right? Well Bose has done just that with the $5349 VideoWave entertainment system, which is a complete home-theater packed into a 46-inch LCD TV.

"A Bose TV? Sounds Good - Literally Using a proprietary internal design which includes 16 speakers and wide and narrow plastic audio-channeling conduits, the TV delivers impressive audio that's projected in such a way that it sounds as if it's emanating not from the TV, but from a wall of sound coming from multiple directions.

"During a theatrical press event in New York, members of the media got a chance to listen to the system in a room that seemed to have shrouded speakers mounted on the front and side walls. During a surround-sound demonstration which included audio of an approaching thunderstorm, the 'speakers' were covered with black cloths, leading attendees to assume that Bose was about to roll out a new series of tiny home theater speakers. Then, in a dramatic moment David Copperfield would have been proud of, the cloths were removed-revealing absolutely nothing. All of the sound that seemed to be firing from behind the cloths had actually come straight from the sole TV...."

There may be a fine line between good marketing and good showmanship, but it's mighty thin in spots.

The PCWorld article includes this video:

"Bose click pad remote control demo"

pcwnews, YouTube (September 29, 2010)

Which won't be displayed in Bose-level great sound - unless you've using a really good sound system with your computer.

The price tag ensures that my household won't be using one of those things - but the Lemming can see why folks with the disposable income might decide to buy the Bose television system.

The company sends a technician to set the TV up - and calibrate the sound system to the room its in. You'll need to be around for that, to so the tech sets it up for your preferences. Nice touch.

This paragraph in the review is particularly interesting to the Lemming:

"...Despite the high level of internal engineering, the 1080p HDTV supports a refresh rate of 120Hz, not 240Hz, which means that it's not capable of showing 3D content. At 97 pounds, the unit is not exactly light, but is still light enough to be wall mounted...."

Good heavens - a refresh rate of a mere 120 Hz? Back in my 'good old days,' which I don't miss all that much, television images came at a rate of about 30 Hertz: 30 frames a second. And "not capable of showing 3D content?" I remember when color television was new.

So: it's new, a tad on the pricey side, and apparently as good as a Bose television might be expected to be.