This morning, at a tony little press briefing at Manhattan's poshest dining spot, Thomas Keller's Per Se at the Time Warner Center, Bose introduced its latest iPod speaker system, the SoundDock10.
Why roll out the short ribs with Bordelaise and heirloom tomato salad for just another consumer electronics introduction?
Because unlike many tech companies, whose newest gizmos are often driven more by marketing considerations than engineering innovations, Bose only rolls out a new product when it's legitimately got something to say.
The last time Bose introduced a docking station was in 2004 (hard to guess how many dozens of iPod iterations we've seen in the interim.) It's still the gold standard for many audiophiles. The new SoundDock 10 was three years in the making, and boasts 11 new patents, as well as a slew of Bose proprietary technology advances too secret to reveal even in patents. This is, Bose execs say, not just a superficial upgrade to satisfy the gadget gurus who flock to CES.
I'm no audiophile, but from what I heard in that sizable (roughly 25 feet wide, 40 feet long) satin-draped room, the sound quality was pretty remarkable. Starting with the dramatic acoustics of a raging thunderstorm, Bose executives ran through a variety of musical pieces, ranging from a fluttery soprano singing Lakme's "Bell Song," to Strauss's "Polka Opus 43" with its crashing explosive ending, to Wynton Marsalis's rumbling "Ghost in the House," to demonstrate the system's three new primary new features: clarity of notes across the musical spectrum, concert hall volume, and the ability to produce deep low notes.
Among the breakthroughs: the proprietary Bose wave guide technology, reduced from 75 inches to 52 inches, folded snake-like in a case that's not much bigger (17 inches wide, 9 inches high, 10 inches deep) than the previous system, that delivers the same sound quality. It's matched with a newly designed woofer, that reportedly delivers four times the efficiency of a conventional woofer.
The wave guide and the woofer are connected by a metal cap that provides magnetic shielding, directs air through the enclosure, and withstands high internal pressure created when the system is played. It was fun to watch the curtains behind the system flutter as volume increased. To keep the system cool, the SoundDock 10's innards are configured to create a "chimney effect," sucking in cool air at the bottom, blowing it out the top.
As might be expected (note posh precincts for launch, above), this system is not for the budget-minded. It goes on sale on Sept. 21 for $599. For an extra $149, buyers who prefer to manage their music while sitting on the sofa using their iPhone or Ipod Touch, can upgrade to a Bluetooth dock, and stream music wirelessly. That interchangeable dock will allow Bose to "future-proof" the system.
At 83, Bose CEO Amar Bose, is still thinking ahead.
[Photos Courtesy of Bose]
Related Stories: | Topics:Design, Technology, bose, SoundDock10, audio systems, Ipod docking station, Amar Bose, Apple iPod, Science and Technology, Audio and Video Devices, Electronics |
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Recent Comments | 9 Total
September 15, 2009 at 10:48pm by no no
Linda,
Great piece of compensated journalism, although perhaps this should be disclosed.
PS: it's audiophile, not audiofile.
September 15, 2009 at 11:10pm by Sam Imnot
Thank you, no no.
As an audiophile I'm reluctant to consider anything Bose as being audiophile-worthy.
However, as an audiofile (.flac, if you're interested) I am waiting with baited breath for support from Apple.
September 16, 2009 at 5:31am by Claire Jennings
Sounds like Bose have made a good step in the development of a product for Ipod. The question is, do people who have Ipods care more about the aesthetic appeal of the product than the technology behind it.
Well, i do have an ipod, but my life would not necessarily be lost without it! I love the sleek design and userbility, but the sound quality is also important.
Sounds like Bose have made a good step in the development of a product for Ipod. The question is, do people who have Ipods care more about the aesthetic appeal of the product than the technology behind it.?
Well, I own an ipod, but my life would not necessarily be lost without it! I love the sleek design and userbility, but the sound quality is also important.
I don't tend to purchase fashionable items on the market, I tend to go for a combination of good looks and beefy technology. Something like the Bose Soundock probaby would not appeal to me usually, but knowing that they have spent their efforts in the technology department, I might give it a chance.
I am impressed by the amount of time they have spent developing an improved version. But it seems that Bowers and Wilkins created an equivalent product called the Zepellin, which I think looks damn sexy – and a lot better looking than the sound dock. I wonder how the sound quality of these two products compare?
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Web Design - Search Engine Optimisation
September 16, 2009 at 7:29am by Ed Mont
Bose build serious audio products... no updates for the sake of them.. they don't need to!
Ed
email marketing software guru
September 16, 2009 at 10:47am by Linda Tischler
No-no: FYI, this was not "compensated journalism" unless you count the 1 inch square piece of beef I consumed before dashing out the door to file this story. Fast Company has a strict ethics policy with regard to our accepting merchandise or junkets, so our opinions arrive untainted by graft. I thought the Bose speaker's sound quality was terrific. The thunderstorm was as close as I've ever heard outside of nature's own acoustic bombast. And the "Bell Song" rendition might have inspired me to give up my tickets to the Philharmonic, if I had them.
Thanks for the copyediting tips, however.
September 16, 2009 at 7:53pm by no no
Linda, thank you for responding to my post. My post was too brief. It's not your appreciation for the product which raised my eyebrow; it's the tone in which this account was written, particularly evident the third paragraph. In addition, claiming a product is a "gold standard for many audiophiles" sounds more like sales copy than objective journalism. I'm new to Fast Company and I appreciate your comment on the ethics policy. I wouldn't expect a magazine writeup of a PR event to necessarily be critical, but I would expect it to have more of a neutral stance.
September 17, 2009 at 9:00am by Linda Tischler
No-no: This post was clearly identified as coming from a press event, and not meant to be a critical review, apart from my initial impression of the product. I was not given a demo model to test, so I couldn't speak to ease of use, how it sounded in a small apartment, or how it played songs from my own playlist, although, to its credit, Bose did have some models in a back room where journalists were invited to dock their own ipods and try it out. Unfortunately, I had left mine at home.
However, I must respond to your criticism of my comments in the third paragraph. I don't cover consumer electronics as a beat, but I do cover design and one of my major complaints with manufacturers is their insistence on unveiling "upgrades" that are simply reskins of a product for marketing purposes. This happens all the time; I saw dozens of these things at CES last January, where I hosted a panel on women and consumer electronics. So I was sincerely flabbergasted to discover that Bose had not introduced a docking station since 2004. In the electronics world, that's a pretty novel business plan.
As for the 'gold standard' reference: I own no Bose products, although I've often lusted after some, and agree the characterization may have rankled some fans of other manufacturers. But many of my acquaintances, whose knowledge of audio equipment far surpasses mine, are enthusiastic about Bose's products and reviews on cnet are mostly positive -- although many complain about their prices, which I also noted in the post.