Consumers seem to love audio manufacturer Bose, and we presume that affection comes from a combination of savvy marketing, innovative industrial design, product simplicity, and a focus which prefers to do a few things well rather than be all things to all people. Because, really, it’s often not tough to create higher-quality sound systems at a fraction of the cost of Bose gear. But it’s sure a lot more trouble.
In that vein, Bose has announced its Acoustic Wave Music System II, an update to its earlier Acoustic Wave Music System which retains the all-in-one design and $1,079 price tag, but is now built around an all-digital signal processing model, plays MP3 CDs in addition to standard audio CDs, and offers an optional $129 iPod dock so you can quickly connect (and charge) Apple’s portable music players. (If you want to hook up something else, an analog input can accommodate you.) The Acoustic Wave Music System design has been lauded for its excellent performance and fidelity—particularly for a one-piece system, and offers a standard AM/FM receiver. For the money, one could easily put together a superior system, but those not intimidated by the price tags offer nearly uniform praise for the systems. Could be wishful listening; maybe not.
The Acoustic Wave Music System II will be available in early September in either white or graphite casings; we’d offer a link to an announcement or product page from Bose itself, but they can’t seem to be bothered.
