High School

My High School now has a website. Finally!!!!!

Bose D के Speakers

Two negative articles (out of the tons available online) about those tiny Bose speaker systems. I havent been able to find any equivalently scientific positive articles/reviews/blog-posts about them anywhere yet... although there are a lot of short positive reviews by happy and satisfied Bose customers found everywhere.

Clearly a case of "Ignorance is bliss" vs. "music/audio perception subjectivity" ?
OR is this a massive conspiracy supported by everyone who is pissed off at Bose because of all the amazing research that they put into their products ?

Well now you get to decide.


Review of one specific Acoustimass system

Excerpts:

The $1300 Bose Acoustimass system implements five dual-cubed, 2.5-inch, paper-cone satellite speakers. Incidentally, you can buy these exact same drivers for $35 a pair here. The material that is used to build these speakers may seem adequate to the unassuming novice; However, upon closer inspection, it is clear that they are built with little regard for performance. To start off, the cubed satellites are made of what Bose once claimed to be "revolutionary new space-aged paper", when in fact my own observations lead me to believe that they are nothing more than dyed Manila hemp. Paper grade is besides the point here, as any type of large paper driver has poor resonant properties in upper octave frequencies (2 KHz to 20+ KHz). When designing satellite speakers where size is the primary consideration, a conventional dome tweeter is ideal. In a cube speaker the size of the Acoustimass, a dome tweeter would perform much better than a cone tweeter. However, Bose disregards this fact because making paper cone tweeters is a much cheaper manufacturing process. You find this practice abundant in $200 Aiwa boom boxes and mini-systems.
...
To reiterate the above, the Acoustimass's bass module responds to 46 Hz to 202 Hz at ±2.3 dB, while the satellites respond to 280 Hz to 13.3 KHz at ±10.5 dB. This is, by the way, the only speaker that I have ever seen tested with a ±10.5 db allowance. Still, this leaves a frequency gap between the satellites and bass module of about 80 Hz! That is 80 hertz of sound that is completely erased within the system's internal crossovers! I wonder how Bose figured out which 80 hertz matters least in the audible spectrum? I will tell you though that that gap accounts for a HUGE loss in midrange sound, which is responsible for the majority contralto, baritone, and tenor vocals in music, and many sound effects in home theater. And let us not forget that the Acoustimass system also ignores audible signal from 20Hz to 45Hz on the low end (deep bass), and 13KHz to 20KHz on the high end (high treble). Do the math folks, this Bose system only produces 13,176 of the 19,980 Hertz in the audible sound spectrum. That's only ~66% of the actual recording being played back to you! Is this the kind of performance you'd expect from a $1300 product? Most speakers in the same price range are able to respond from 15 Hz to 25 Khz and all modern media formats, from vinyls to DVD, record these frequencies as well. Though these are peak frequencies that most humans can not hear, the pressure produced from 15 Hz and 25 KHz frequencies can be detected physiologically, and will in fact have an effect on the harmonics of the music you listen to. So why does this "industry-leading" Bose company only produce about 52% of the sound of it's equal-priced market competitors? Good question...
...
The MSRP is the Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price, and is quoted in United States dollars; however, many of these systems are sold below MSRP. Bose speakers on the other hand is price fixed at all authorized dealers. This, by the way, has nothing to do with customer concern or fair market pricing. Bose fixes prices because in any given town there are probably three of four, and in my town there are eight different Bose dealers. Without price fixing, Bose speakers would ignite a massive price war that would liquidate the "prestige" and "acclaim" of the Bose name brand. Especially since there is over 65% profit margin from the retail price for retailers to work with. This page is not complete and yes there are many other great systems out there that I will add.

Blog post about Bose by someone who claims to have experience with selling speakers.

Excerpts:

Ah, let’s not forget about the diminutive cube speakers. Modern technology is a wonderful thing. We’ve solved so many day to day problems in our lives with technological advances. Many would assume the tiny speakers that handle the high and middle frequencies in a Bose system are just another example of this. Unfortunately, the laws of physics didn’t get the memo that a 2.5” driver can accurately reproduce high frequencies and down to lower-mid range frequencies. As it turns out, those lower mid range frequencies are one area where the Bose Cube-Satellite system falls short.

--- --- ---

I own a pair of Bose triport headphones which I find to be the most comfortable circumaural cans I have ever tried on (disclaimer: small sample space AND I have large ears) and they dont sound bad either. But I think its fair for me to expect to be blown off my feet with their audio performance especially when they sell for $130 (its another story that I sorta got them for free). My Shure E2c's in ear plugs are about a third that price and sound just as nice if not much better.

Conspiracy Theory ?

Huggies designs better diapers ooooo> Kids can stay comfortable for longer times even after soiling themselves ooooo> As a result they dont get potty trained till they are much older ooooo> Kids stay dependent on diapers longer ooooo> Huggies sells more diapers ooooo> Profits

I'm an official foghead now !
Heard.

Wanna break on through (to the other side) ?



Read all about the Google Gmail flash mp3 player.

UPDATE: Dammit, it seems to be broken now. Meanwhile try the following:

Thank God for Compiler Optimization.

[vdhar2@localhost proj]$
[vdhar2@localhost proj]$ ./achtung -i inputs/biomed.txt
The Achtung Tool
START: Fri Apr 20 03:50:56 2007
Begin parsing...
Parsing Ended. Lexographic stats: wc 35907 lc 6755
END: Fri Apr 20 03:51:13 2007
[vdhar2@localhost proj]$
[vdhar2@localhost proj]$ vi Makefile
[vdhar2@localhost proj]$
[vdhar2@localhost proj]$ make clean
rm main.o parseInput.o circuit_blocks.o
[vdhar2@localhost proj]$ make
make depend
make[1]: Entering directory `/home/vdhar2/courses/ece582/proj'
make[1]: warning: jobserver unavailable: using -j1. Add `+' to parent make rule.
cc -MM -I. -I.. main.cc parseInput.cc circuit_blocks.cc > Makefile.dep
make[1]: Leaving directory `/home/vdhar2/courses/ece582/proj'
g++ -Wall -I. -O3 -c -o main.o main.cc
g++ -Wall -I. -O3 -c -o parseInput.o parseInput.cc
g++ -Wall -I. -O3 -c -o circuit_blocks.o circuit_blocks.cc
g++ -o achtung main.o parseInput.o circuit_blocks.o
[vdhar2@localhost proj]$
[vdhar2@localhost proj]$
[vdhar2@localhost proj]$ ./achtung -i inputs/biomed.txt
The Achtung Tool
START: Fri Apr 20 03:52:58 2007
Begin parsing...
Parsing Ended. Lexographic stats: wc 35907 lc 6755
END: Fri Apr 20 03:52:59

Down from 17 to 1 second. All experiments approximate, economics debatable and man-hours wasted.

Arghhhhh !!!!!! Why in the hell did I give up on the Phoenix Suns and stop watching their game against the Mavericks after the 3rd quarter. This mustve been the most AMAZING game of this season todate. With Steve Nash(ak) equalizing the scores in the last 2 seconds of the 4th quarter.
Details here: http://www.nba.com/games/20070314/PHXDAL/playbyplay.htm
I Hate Myself... and Kshitiz.

According to the fine blokes at accuweather:

The Weather Currently At 4:23AM
Temperature: -22°C
RealFeel: -28°C
Winds: NW at 12km/h
Clear
Humidity: 71%
Dew Point: -25° C
Pressure: 104 KPA
Visibility: 16 km

I guess, now would be a pretty bad time for the heating in our apartment to breakdown.

TheWho

New favorite song... Eminence Front by The Who.
Somehow reminds me of "The Shaft" and "Interstate 76" Soundtracks.. super groovy!! I love this Band.



Lyrics follow:

The sun shines
And people forget
The spray flies as the speedboat glides
And people forget
Forget they're hiding
The girls smile
And people forget
The snow packs as the skier tracks
And people forget
Forget they're hiding.

Behind an eminence front
Eminence front - It's a put on.

Come on join the party
Dress to kill
Won't you come and join the party
Dress to kill.

The drinks flow
People forget
That big wheel spins, the hair thins
People forget
Forget they're hiding
The news slows
People forget
The shares crash, hopes are dashed
People forget
Forget they're hiding.

Behind an eminence front
Eminence front - it's a put on
Come on join the party
Dress to
Come on join the party
Dress to
Come on join the party
Dress to
Come on join the party
Dress to kill
Dress yourself, dressed to kill.