Wednesday, December 06, 2006

How do you measure "good?"

I had a buddy e-mail me the other day with an audio question: "How good are the Bose systems?"

Turns out that he and his wife were looking at the Bose Wave Music System with the add-on multi-CD changer for their great room. Basically a glorified boom box for $700.

Now, I have my own opinions on audio. While I'm not an audiophile by any means, the idea of this Bose piece as my primary audio system doesn't appeal to me. Even a modest investment in a good-quality receiver, CD changer, and bookshelf speakers would give me better sound and better capabilities for expansion in the future. Bose equipment does a pretty good job, but most people in the know will agree that marketing, not audio quality, is their real genius.

But that's not the only thing to consider sometimes. "Good," in this case meant how well it would suit their needs, not mine. I dug a little deeper into why they were considering the Bose. Here's what I found out:

The wife had seen it advertised in her favorite magazine -- this gave it legitimacy in her eyes.

A 0% financing offer meant they could pay for it over a year -- it fit their budget.

They both wanted something that wouldn't take up much space and could be moved easily -- that's certainly true of the Bose.

The wife "didn't want wires all over the place" -- yup, no wires here.

I then considered what I knew about this couple. They aren't really active music listeners -- music is a background part of their lifestyle. The audio performance of the Wave Music System is up to that task.

In the end, I thought, it's all about what'll make them happy.

"Go ahead and get it, buddy. You'll like it just fine."

---

Ken

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