It’s been almost 13 years since I bought my Series II Bose Wave Music System, after I had the porch remodeled for year-round use. As I wrote at the time the CD player in the first unit had a problem. At least the problem appeared right away, unlike one of you out there, whose Bose Wave CD player failed after years of use.
Fortunately, my CD player continues to behave, and the older I get the more I appreciate the Wave. It’s what I’d keep if forced into extreme downsizing, because I was moving into — AIEE! — a retirement home.
From its introduction, the Bose Wave has been called overpriced, but the $500 price hasn’t budged for many years. The fact is nothing else does what the Wave does for its size, regardless of price.
The product name was taken from a speaker design term, quarter-wave, referring to using a cabinet baffle to extend the bass output of a speaker. Typically a full-range driver with no woofer/tweeter combination, and no crossover circuit. The waveguide design, combined with an active loudness control and a heavy-duty power supply, make the Wave’s bass response very satisfying.
The notorious CD player problems aside, Bose is confronting the reality that few people in their teens to 40 are listening to FM or CD’s. Rather than squeeze a Bluetooth receiver into the Wave, Bose offers a more expensive wireless edition with a base that attaches to its proprietary expansion port. The good news is the regular Wave is currently on sale for only $300, and for another $20 a Bluetooth receiver can be plugged into the auxiliary jack.