August 19,2024
#493
Gentle reader,
I've long known about BOSE and their legendary model 901 Direct-Reflecting speakers which have been praised in countless expert reviews since the first models came out in 1968. "1968? That's SO last millennium, dude!", you may be thinking.
Well, this article is not about BOSE speakers, but it is about the BOSE WAVE/PC Radio which I found yesterday at a local thrift store for just $14.99. I had heard about these compact plastic radios which were supposed to be able to "fill a room with outstanding sound!" but never had a desire to even listen to one. Why? The prices BOSE wanted for them! In fact, this model #AWRP1G, which came out in the year 2000, had retailed for $449! That's $837 in 2024 dollars. For a frigging radio? No way!
At the thrift store, I plugged the BOSE in and turned it on, tuned into the local classical (WETA) radio station and raised the volume. Whoa! "How can this little thing sound so good?", I thought. Into the cart it went.
Two official BOSE photographs of early WAVE RADIOS.
This particular radio, as I mentioned is much newer than the ones shown above. It still has a convoluted enclosure for the two tiny two and a half inch diameter speakers within the body of the radio.
I have found several articles on BOSE WAVE RADIOs and 901 speakers and will link them below if you are interested in reading more about either of them.
I do not know if previous models were a different size than this one. At the widest point, it is fourteen inches wide, just over four inches tall and eight and a half inches front to rear.
A quick quote from BOSE WIKIA:
"Bose Corporation's Wave Music Systems are table top audio systems which were first released in 1984. Various Wave systems comprise CD players, DAB tuners and inputs for computer sources, and in addition most models contain an AM/FM tuner.
Wave systems use a folded waveguide (a series of passages from the speaker driver to the speaker grill), in an attempt to replicate sound from larger systems in a compact design. Bose claims the waveguide "produces full, clear stereo sound from a small enclosure by guiding air through two 26” folded wave guides". In 1987, (Dr.) Amar G. Bose and William R. Short won the Intellectual Property Owners Education Foundation's Inventor of the Year award for the waveguide loudspeaker system.
The Wave systems use a folded waveguide (a series of passages from the speaker driver to the speaker grill). The waveguide is claimed to improve low-frequency sound "from a small enclosure by guiding air through two 26” folded wave guides".
After showing the radio to my wife, she said, "I saw other BOSE things over there." Off I went to the electronics section of the thrift store, and sure enough, the matching CD player was being looked at by someone else. "Did you get it to play?", I asked. "No, it's unresponsive."
As mentioned above, it's name is: BOSE WAVE/PC Radio. What that means is it is designed to attach, via an included twenty foot cable, to a Windows PC or Laptop computer. The program which came with it allows the radio to find and be able to play all music stored on your computer. It would only play MP3 files however, not WAV files.
Note the stereo inputs and outputs on the left. For the optional CD player and other external sources or to let it be a source component. The small hole on the right is not for headphones but for a 3mm or 1/8th inch adapter to an FM antenna.
It originally came with a remote control which I may or may not find one to buy. Getting back to the radio's performance: Once I got it home and plugged in, after a thorough cleaning, I tried listening to all kinds of stations and music and cranked it up! Again, I cannot emphasize JUST how good this little thing sounds!
The photo above is an official BOSE picture of a pair of BOSE's top-of-the-line 301 Series V speakers.
Since the 1970's I have lusted after BOSE 901 speakers. In fact, my brother-in-law has a pair. They need new foam surrounds for all EIGHTEEN drivers. The grille cloth is glued to the cabinet all the way around. He offered the speakers, stands and equalizer to me. For free. I declined for two reasons: 1: I have no room, I already have seven pairs of speakers(!) and B: I did not want to tackle refoaming all those speakers, once I could get to them, that is.
Nancy surprised me many years ago with a pair of them. She was hoping that I would use them and not the large (15" woofers) OPTIMUS PRO 4000 speakers I was using in the living room at the time.
Like all BOSE Zero* speakers, the 301 speakers are direct-reflecting and have to be set up equidistant from the room's side walls to sound their best. I did not use them there. Soon after, we converted one bedroom into a den, which later morphed into the listening room. For many years, they have been mounted near the ceiling in this room, directly above the Klipsch KG-4 speakers, which come to think of it, I found in the very same thrift store, and I always run both pairs at the same time.
I wrote an article about mounting them there, it has been quite successful. Audiophiles may poo-poo BOSE products, but, they sure sound great to me.
*BOSE's numbering system refers to how many drivers are in each speaker cabinet. For example, 201s have two, 401s have four, etc. Thus, the 301's have three drivers, one eight inch bass reflex woofer and two tweeters. Front tweeters can be seen above. The second pair are positioned at the rear corners opposite the front tweeter. The bass reflex ports are there as well, see below. The ports and rear tweeters point to the corners of the room, which allows their sound to reflect off the rear and side walls. The sounds they produce are tall and wide and very airy. Making the room seem larger than it physically is.
But, I have gotten off the topic of this article. Listening to the RADIO. I have owned many radios over the years. I was an early adopter of HD Radio. Our two newest cars have it built-in the factory sound systems. HD in this case means: Hybrid Digital not High Definition. While Steely Dan sang of FM radio having "no static at all..." but it still has hiss. HD Radio, being strictly digital, has no hiss at all. When the HD Radio tuner (of any HD Radio) locks onto the HD signal, it instantly sounds better.
The funny thing about buying this BOSE WAVE/PC Radio is that it sounds SO good, I can (almost) stop using the fancy HD tuner and my stack (and four loudspeakers) for listening to the radio. It sounds THAT good!
While Blogger (the host of The Robb Collections) has the capability to add videos to blog articles, and I did make a video of the BOSE and the radio below, playing Tchaikovsky's 4th Symphony on WETA today, when I played them back the sound my geezer smart phone recorded sounded awful. So, you'll just have to take my word for it that BOSE WAVE radios sound much better than I expected them to.
This is my previous thrift store find. In fact, it too was only $14.99. I have collected (it IS called The Robb Collections, after all) a number of genuine old tube radios and much more recent (and better sounding) "Retro Radios" and written about them in several articles which will be linked below.It is part of the THOMAS MUSEUM SERIES of radios. Of which I had not previously heard of. It is perched upon another THOMAS, a floor radio. The Robb Collections: I found a floor radio. What's a floor radio? They Were Called Console Radios Once. Take a look.Unlike every other retro radio, this one is designed to be attached to an antenna.
Like the floor radio and a couple of other radios, it has a cassette tape player built into it. I have not tried it yet. Below are all the articles I have written about radios:
And below, are articles about BOSE 901 speakers and WAVE RADIOS:
Thank you SO much for taking the time to read this rather long article! When I began blogging years ago, it was just something new to try. I had no inkling that people would be actually interested in reading what I had to say. But, almost a half million readers do just that! I am truly humbled by it. I'm closing in on my 500th article!
Feel free to comment below or on Facebook.
Scott Robb
August 19, 2024
#493
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