Bose Wave Radio II

Additional Resources:

I can't provide you with a direct sonic comparison between the Bose Wave Radio CD, but I can at least show you exactly what you will get if you decide to purchase one of your own:

http://homepage.mac.com/aric/epinions/PhotoAlbum69.html

If you are still hungry for more information after reading some of the reviews here on Epinions, you can go here:

http://www.bose.com/home_audio/wave_systems/radio_cd/


Ask yourself why you want the BOSE Wave Radio CD…

That's an important question to ask, because it costs $499. You have to be clear about just what you want to get from the Wave Radio CD to make sure that it really is going to fill a need for you.

Over the years that this product has been available, there have been many reviews, some very negative, some glowingly positive. You can see that from the reviews of this unit here on Epinions. Based on my own research, the positive reviews outweigh the negative ones, but one thing is clear, many people are passionate about this product.

Let me make this clear right now:

The Wave Radio CD is not the best-in-class radio, alarm clock (although it comes close here) or mini-shelf system. You can easily spend a lot less and get more features. So why the heck would you pay $500 for it? One word: SOUND. It truly sounds good. Does this mean that you can't get better sound anywhere? Hardly. You could pay for full-sized stereo components and a really good set of speakers and you could get better sound (though it would almost certainly cost you more in the long run.

So why the heck am I so happy with the product despite it not being perfect? I knew exactly what I needed before making the purchase, and the Wave Radio CD fits the bill perfectly.

Before laying out the cash for this system, ask yourself:

* Do I need an alarm clock?
* Do I need a CD player?
* Do I not have a lot of room for a large stereo system?
* Am I not happy with the sound from the current audio products I have in the place where I will use the Wave Radio CD? (Or do you not have any audio products at all in that area and want some?)
* Is there another item near where you will keep the Wave Radio CD that could benefit from better sound (such as a TV, DVD player, or the like)?

Ideally, you should answer YES to all of the questions above. If you don't need a CD but need everything else, then save yourself $100 and get the Wave Radio.

In addition, you should answer NO to all of the following questions if the Wave Radio CD is really going to be a good fit for you:

* Do you just want to buy this because it looks cool or because the BOSE name is something of a status symbol? (Be honest!)
* Is there something you need a lot more for $500? (This is a VERY important question, because if you could really use this money for something else, then ANY flaws in this product are going to make you very upset thinking about what you should have bought instead or about the interest payments you'll have to make on your credit card. Thankfully, however, Bose has a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you're not completely stuck.)

The next important thing to do is to really give some thought to where you will place your Wave Radio CD. Placement is critical to make sure you are getting the best sound possible. Putting it on a table in the middle of the room with nothing else around it is probably not the best choice. The Wave Radio CD is designed to produce the best sound if you sit across the room from it (more or less in a straight line) and it is near a wall. I found that putting the unit into a part of my entertainment center (that has a solid back on it) works really well. The cave-like enclosure helps to naturally enhance bass response. Also, if you plan on using it with your TV or DVD player, you will need to make sure that wherever you put the Wave Radio CD is within "cabling distance" of those items. Also keep in mind you'll need an electrical outlet within about 6 feet of the unit.

Still with me? OK. Let's take a look at the product from ordering to end game. :)


Ordering, Payment and Shipping:

Of course, you can buy any of Bose products directly from their web site, and that is where I personally ordered my Wave Radio CD. If you prefer to see and hear the product before you buy it, then head to a AV shop that stocks Bose products, or go to Bose web site and find a Bose Showcase store near you:

http://clients.mapquest.com/bose/mqlocator?link=us_find_retail

Ordering from the web site is simple, however, so once you've decided that you need the Wave Radio CD, you won't have a problem ordering it. If you prefer a more human touch, then you can call Bose directly and order over the phone. Bose web site lists the number and also will tell you if the call center is currently open to take your calls. In either case, you will have a choice of 2 colors, graphite (dark gray, not black) and white. I personally chose the white.

The first hint that you will get that Bose products are expensive (in case you somehow missed that point) is that it is hard to find the price for a given product on their web site. You'll have to navigate several pages to find one that will 'fess up to the price. ;-) Once you add the product(s) and/or accessories you want to your on-line shopping cart, you can start the checkout process.

Thankfully, you can buy the Wave products (if you use a credit or debit card) on an interest-free payment plan. This doesn't require a credit check, but you must pay via a credit or debit card. You have a choice of making 1, 3, 6 or 12 payments. Since Bose doesn't charge you more for the payment plan, even if you have the money, it makes sense to take advantage of the 12-month payment plan. Still, it's nice to have options. Regardless of which plan you choose, your first payment will include all taxes and shipping costs. Bose takes the first payment immediately before shipping your product (typically within a day or two of your order). When I ordered I was told that I would receive a separate e-mail with payment plan dates, which I have not received. I assume that payments are taken every month on the anniversary of the first payment you made.

Bose almost never offers a discount on their products, but they do occasionally offer freebies and/or free shipping. When I ordered, I got three free classical CDs and free ground shipping. In addition, if you are a savvy shopper, you can get a discount off the cost of your purchase. For example, Paypal offers its premier members a free Paypal debit Mastercard that earns 1.5% cash back (it's not a credit card, you have to fund your Paypal account with enough money to cover the purchase).

If you want to sign up for a Paypal account, go here:

https://www.paypal.com/refer/pal=DUERCYPYZDLLW

(Note, the above link will credit me with the referral. This will not affect you at all.)

I was also able to combine this with a cash rebate from Ebates.com of 1%. That was an extra $13 in my pocket. My point is, if you do some searching you'll probably be able to get at least something off the total cost of the product.

Want to find out more about Ebates? Go here:

http://www.ebates.com/


I live in New Jersey and my order from Bose shipped out of South Carolina, and it only took about 2 days to arrive via UPS ground. You can certainly choose to spend more on expedited shipping if you like, but I doubt most people would be waiting more than 3 or 4 days for delivery of their Bose order.


Packaging, Documentation and Setup:

So the moment finally arrives and you receive your new Bose Wave Radio CD. What is it that you get exactly? This is where it would be helpful to follow along with the pictures I took (see the link at the top of this review).

The outer packaging of the Wave Radio is fairly thick, high quality white cardboard. Opening the top of the package will reveal the following:

Documentation:

* A "Welcome to Bose" letter thanking you for buying a Bose product.
* A large single color sheet that serves as a quick setup guide.
* A sheet whose only purpose is to let you know that the battery now comes preinstalled in the remote control.
* A 30-page user's guide.
* The warrantee and registration card.

Under that is a clear molded plastic spacer that contains a free Bose "test/demo" audio CD. There are a number of tracks on this disc especially chosen to show off the dynamic range of the Wave Radio CD.

Next comes that actual Wave Radio CD unit, as well as the "extras":

* A 9-volt battery (this you have to install yourself)
* The credit card-sized remote control. The battery now comes preinstalled.
* Mounting strips. (I suspect that these are just two small strips of Velcro, but I might be wrong about that since they appear to have been missing from my package.) These would be used to attach your remote control to a spot where you might normally like to keep it.

Setup is fairly straightforward as long as you took some time to figure out where you want the unit prior to actually receiving it. ;-) Here's how you do it in a nutshell:

* Unpack the unit, leave the plastic on the display and the tape on the top of the unit for now.
* Flip the Wave Radio CD over, open the battery compartment and install the 9-volt battery that will serve as a backup power source if the electricity goes out.
* Remove the plastic protector from the display and remove the tape from the top of the unit.
* Plug the Wave Radio CD into an electrical outlet.
* Set the time, following the directions in the user's guide.
* That is basically it, unless you want to hook your Wave Radio CD up to a TV or DVD player or stereo.

If you decide that you do want to hook up your Wave Radio CD to a TV, DVD player, VCR or stereo, then you will need to go out to the store. This is why planning what you are going to do with the unit in advance comes in handy, since you can go out and get the cable(s) you need while you are waiting for it to arrive at your door. :)

The Wave Radio CD has two RCA-style female connectors on the back of the unit. One set of two is for the auxiliary line in and the other is a line out. The line in takes stereo audio from various sources (like your TV) and plays the sound through the Wave Radio CD, the line out sends the audio from the Wave Radio CD to your stereo or externally powered speakers or amplifier. PLEASE NOTE the line out connection does NOT shut off the Wave Radio CD's internal speakers. Audio will continue to play out of the Wave Radio CD even while it is coming out of your stereo.

What are RCA connectors, I hear you ask? It is the standard audio and video connectors found on most TVs, VCRs, DVD players and even stereos. The connectors on an RCA-style audio/video cable have a round metal collar with a metal pin that sticks out of the center. Most of these kinds of cables will have 3 different connectors, 1 red, 1 white and 1 yellow. The red and white connectors are typically used for audio (although all the connectors are the same, so long as you match up the colors on both ends properly) and the yellow gets used for video. Obviously, you don't need the third (video) connector, but if you can only find a 3-pronged cable, just don't use the yellow connector. The connectors on the Wave Radio CD are color-coded. The same should be true of any audio source you plug the other end of the cable into.

I bought a set of high quality gold series RCA cables from Radio Shack so I could hook my TV (which has lousy stereo speakers) and my DVD player up to my Wave Radio CD. Press the AUX button on the unit or on the remote control and make sure your sound source is on and is set to send audio through its line out and you should be good to go.


The Bose Experience: Using the Wave Radio CD:

You've managed to set up the unit now and need to figure out what all those buttons do. Well, if you want to see exactly what buttons to push and what order to push them in, the 30-page user's guide does a pretty good job. You can read the entire thing here:

http://mirror.bose.com/owners_support/owners_guides/og_wrcd.pdf

(It requires the free Adobe Acrobat Reader that you can get from Adobe.com.)

THE CD PLAYER: You'll find the CD player located on the top of the Wave Radio CD underneath the buttons. You just pull up on the edge of the front of the CD door and it swings up. There is NO lock or latch on this door to stop you from opening it (or causing it to open if you flip the unit over). This means that it could be very easy to accidentally open while a CD is being played. Not the most intelligent design I've ever seen, and frankly, I expected better.

The CD player included in the Wave Radio CD strikes me as being of average quality. One minor annoyance that I noticed was that if the unit is not on a flat surface, the CD will rub against the bottom of the CD unit while it is spinning and this will make it difficult if not impossible to read or play anything from the CD. Naturally, you are expected to keep the radio on a flat surface, which is reasonable to expect. However, I feel that they could have included a "locking" CD spindle that holds the CD more securely to help protect against the CD wobbling, much like you might find in an inexpensive portable CD player.

The CD player does offer all the basic functions that you would expect from a CD player (play, pause, track forward/reverse, fast forward, rewind, programming for up to 32 tracks. Random play and repeat modes are offered as well. In addition, there are a few features that you might not expect:

* If you switch to a different sound source while playing a CD, the CD will pause for up to 10 minutes, Switching back to CD before 10 minutes are up will cause the CD to automatically resume where it left off when you switched.

* If you press ALARM SETUP and a different sound source (RADIO or AUX) while the CD is playing, the unit will enter continuous music mode and when the CD stops playing, the Wave Radio CD will change the sound source to either the radio (to whatever station it was last tuned to) or to the auxiliary sound source (the external sound source needs to be on for this to work. This way, you'll never have to suffer through silence. ;-)

* If you set the CD to repeat a track or CD or program, it will only do so for 24 hours and then turn itself off. This is a nice feature if you accidentally leave it on while you go away on vacation.

NOTE: Unlike most other programming features of other CD players, once you program up to 32 tracks, they stay programmed unless you cancel the program. This means that you can put a different CD into the player and the program will still remain active. It also means that you can program more tracks than you have available on the current CD in case another CD you put into the player has more tracks. This takes some getting used to, but is no better or worse in my opinion than any other program function on another CD player.


THE RADIO: The built-in radio in the Wave Radio CD offers the standard features:

* AM/FM reception (though NOT, apparently, AM stereo which is a relatively new and little used feature on some modern AM radio stations)
* 6 presets: You can have 6 presets each for FM and AM stations, for a total of 12 presets. Setting a preset is easy. Just tune to a radio station you want to make a preset and press and hold the preset number on the unit itself until that preset number appears in the display. You can select one of the presets just by pressing the corresponding numbered button on the remote or unit.
* Seek/.Manual tuning: Pressing the forward or backward track tune buttons on the Wave Radio CD causes the digital tuner to skip to the next strong radio station and stop. Press it again once to find the next strong station, Press the forward or backward track/tune button several times in a row to move up or down the frequencies manually, or hold down the forward or backward track/tune button to manually move up or down frequencies more quickly.


THE ALARM CLOCK: It seems to me that other than the sound of the unit, Bose spent the most time trying to design a useful alarm clock. It offers most of the features that most people could want from an alarm clock.

* Dual alarms: Great for two people who have different times that they need to be up or for a single person who has two different times he or she might need to get up (for example, 6 AM on the weekdays, 9 AM on the weekends, etc.).
* Soft Wake feature: The alarm sound from any source (tone, CD, radio or an auxiliary source) starts off very soft and gradually increases until it hits the maximum volume you set when originally setting the alarm.
* Auto adjusting LCD display light level: The Wave Radio CD has a light sensor in it. Depending on the light conditions it detects, it sets the LCD light level to one of 3 different settings (strong light conditions, medium, and low light conditions). Best of all, you can set 2 of the three levels (low light and strong light) yourself to any one of ten different levels from "off" to "use it as a night light" ;-) This is great if any light in your room at night makes it hard to sleep. You can't set the "medium" setting for some reason, but the unit is more likely to be in low or strong light mode than medium, so it shouldn't be a big deal. When the ambient light conditions change, the Wave Radio CD waits about 20 seconds and then fades the LCD display up or down to the appropriate level.
* Wake up to any sound source: You can set each of the 2 alarms to use any sound source that is available on the Wave Radio CD (alarm tone (beeping), CD, Radio (AM or FM), or an auxiliary source). If you want to wake up to a particular song on a CD, then just program that song to be played first and then set your alarm.
* Alarm is remote controllable: You can't set or turn on an alarm using the remote control, unfortunately, but you can turn the alarm off or "snooze" without getting out of bed. Please note that if you are notoriously hard to wake up in the morning, you might want to hide your remote control from yourself so you physically have to get up to turn the alarm off. ;-)
* User adjustable "snooze" timer: For the first time on any alarm clock I've ever personally owned, it is possible to set the "snooze" alarm delay time. The Wave Radio CD comes with the "snooze" button set to automatically delay your alarm for another 10 minutes, but if you prefer a longer or shorter time you can set anything between 1 and 99 minutes.
* Alarm works on battery backup: If the power goes out, your alarm will STILL work, so long as the 9-volt battery in the Wave Radio CD is fresh. The display will remain off, but as soon as the set alarm times(s) are reached, the alarm tone (not CD or radio) will sound to wake you up. Make sure you replace the 9-volt battery after a long power outage.

In my opinion, the only thing that is missing from the alarm clock on the Wave Radio CD is a time auto set feature utilizing an atomic clock signal. It would be really nice not to have to bother to set the time at all, ever. There are a few alarm clocks out there that offer this and I think it would really be a nice addition to the Wave Radio CD.


THE REMOTE: The remote is a nice touch and it works well almost anywhere within about 20 feet or so of the unit. It isn't your standard "line of sight" remote. I've been able to get it to work when it was facing away from the Wave Radio CD. This saves you from having to try to "aim" for the unit which, when you are sleepy, is a very nice luxury indeed. :)

In an effort to make the remote small, Bose chose to leave off a lot of the buttons you will find on the main unit. They also decided to not make the remote backlit so you could see the buttons at night. This is rather unfortunate, as all the buttons on the remote are the same size and shape and that makes the remote hard to use in low light conditions. It would also be nice to be able to set alarms, program the CD player or set radio presets from the remote. I would have put up with a slightly bulkier remote in order to get these features.


THE CONTROL PANEL: This is Bose's name for the profusion of buttons on the top of the Wave Radio CD that are built into the door of the CD player. You use these buttons to set all the features of the unit. The buttons are soft and rubberized and big enough to be easy to press. The problem is that there isn't enough size/shape/texture difference on the buttons to be able to tell them apart by touch alone. This is especially a problem in low light conditions, since the control panel is not lighted. This makes the unit very difficult if not impossible to operate in the dark without a flashlight. This is unfortunate in a unit whose job it is to wake you up at an hour when it might just still be dark outside. To add to the confusion, some of the buttons on the control panel do more than you might think. For example the CD MODE and ALARM SETUP buttons both act as modifier keys that have nothing to do with the CD player mode or alarm setup, respectively. This almost insures you'll be referring to the user's guide fairly often until you get used to how the unit works.


THE SOUND: This is perhaps the most important "feature" of this product, and I think it delivers admirably. Sound is a very subjective thing and depends on a number of variables. What sounds perfect to one person might not sound as good to another. I find that the Wave Radio CD offers a richer sonic experience than any other shelf system that I have owned (from the likes of Sony, Philips, Aiwa and Sharp). If you take the time to place the Wave Radio CD in a good spot the sound really can fill the room nicely. With any audio system, there is a "sweet spot" where the audio will sound the best in the room. The Wave Radio CD seems to have a very large "sweet spot" but it generally sounds best if it is directly across the room from where you usually stand/sit/lie to listen to audio.

One thing to keep in mind is that this unit is clearly designed with audio purists in mind. Hence, it does not have some features that "mere mortals" might like. For example, there is no way to equalize the sound coming from the Wave Radio CD. You can't boost the treble or bass or midrange. Now, as several of my audio purist friends were quick to point out, standard consumer-grade equalizers and bass/treble controls are evil. Why? They wreck the sound. Often equalizers add noise (hiss) into the audio that can "ruin" the sound. Of course, most of us don't realize that in our quest for "more bass" we're actually killing off some of the full range of sounds. Bose apparently does, and so it offers up the sound undefiled by cheap sonic modifiers. This does mean that you will be able to hear things in your favorite music that you never even knew where there. In fact, it give the audio such good "presence" that it feels as if you've got surround sound coming out of the two speakers in the Wave Radio CD. Let me be clear, though… the unit does NOT process surround sound audio or "fake" it by using sonic trickery. If the audio from this unit sounds more three dimensional, it is because you are hearing more of your music than you are used to.

The lack of an equalizer is one reason that it is so important to make sure you put your Wave Radio CD in the best spot possible. Good placement will help to boost the bass response naturally without killing the high or mid-end of the sound. As I mentioned earlier, this is why it is a good idea to place the unit near a wall.


OTHER OBSERVATIONS: One nice touch to the unit is that it never does anything suddenly. When the unit turns on, the sound level is gradually (but quickly) turned up to the appropriately set volume. The display dims or brightens gradually. The alarm gradually gets louder when it goes off to help keep you from being startled. Even turning off the unit gradually turns down the volume on the unit before turning it off completely.

The physical Wave Radio CD unit itself looks nice, but it's not really a striking design. Keep in mind that the unit was designed to provide great sound; aesthetics come second. That being said, it is easy to tell the Wave Radio from other alarm clocks or similar units on the market, so I suppose the aesthetics are about as good as they need to be. The Wave Radio CD feels very solid and will probably give years of trouble-free service. Keep in mind however, that Bose only grants a 1-year limited warrantee on this product. Given the cost of the unit, I feel that they should offer at least a 3-year warrantee. After all, I don't particularly want to have to pay to get the unit repaired just after finally paying it off. I think the component that is most likely to go bad on the Wave Radio CD is the CD player. Clearly it is not top quality and repairs to fix an out of alignment laser can get expensive. I will say that I know several people who have one of these and they have all had them for several years without any trouble, so perhaps my concerns are unfounded.

Another thing worthy of note is the fact that every Wave Radio product is put together by hand in the USA and not mass-produced. This is at least part of the reason that the Wave Radio CD costs so much.


The Final Word:

The Bose Wave Radio CD sounds great, but it isn't for everyone. Good planning and placement will ensure rich, full sounding audio.