Bose Wave music system III

Bose's long-lived Wave finally gets DAB+ digital radio

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In one way or another, Bose’s Wave music system has been around for almost thirty years. The original Acoustic Wave was released in 1984 with a stereo AM/FM radio tuner and cassette player. Over a dozen improvements later, the Wave music system III is the current premier mini hi-fi in the company’s arsenal.

  • Expert Rating

    3.00 / 5

  • User Rating

    3.50 / 5 (of 1 Review)

Pros

  • Rich sound
  • Slim profile
  • Now has DAB+

Cons

  • Excessive price tag
  • iPod dock is an expensive extra

Bottom Line

The addition of DAB+ digital radio to the Bose Wave music system is a small breath of life for the aging system. Apart from its lack of iPod connectivity, it’s the perfect all-in-one mini hi-fi... until you look at the price tag.

Would you buy this?

  • Price

    $ 799.00 (AUD)

Bose Wave music system III: Design

The design of the Bose Wave hasn’t changed a great deal since the Wave Radio in 1993. The original Wave ‘music system’ in 2004 adjusted a few elements, but the design remained the same. Things haven’t changed since then: the Wave III has a low profile, sitting exactly 10 centimetres tall. It’s 37 centimetres wide at the front and 25 at the back, tapering gently to an almost-trapezoidal shape.

Two speaker grills dominate the front panel of the Wave, broken up by a long LCD panel and slot-loading CD player. The Bose logo and light grey surround for the CD player look great against the dark grey of the rest of the Wave; the design may be twenty years old but it’s stood the test of time.

In addition to the two speaker grills at the front of the Wave, there are two small vents at the top rear of the mini hi-fi that handle bass duties. Internal guides and baffling within the shell of the Wave III make sure that bass is reflected, channeled and boosted appropriately.

Bose Wave music system III

There are no buttons on the body of the Bose Wave III, but you can brush a hand along the system’s top to toggle the power on and off. Beyond that, you’ll have to use the credit card-style remote control, which has clearly labelled buttons arranged in a six-by-four grid, with additional power and sleep buttons up the top.

Bose Wave music system III: Features

This iteration of the Bose Wave music system III has a DAB+ digital radio built in, as well as the pre-existing AM/FM radio and CD player. This is a $100 premium over the standard Wave music system III without DAB+.

Beyond that, you can plug in an auxiliary device through the 3.5mm audio input — like a smartphone, MP3 player, or Bose’s $169 iPod dock. There’s also a port to plug in a $219 Bluetooth adapter or $219 PC adapter. These are extremely expensive adapters to add functionality that exists as standard in much cheaper mini hi-fi systems — to get a Bose Wave that can handle DAB+, CDs and iDevices in the same way as a $400 Panasonic mini hi-fi, you’ll have to spend almost $1000.

The CD player of the Wave III works quickly and quietly, although we could hear the disc spinning if we listened carefully with the system’s volume turned down.

Bose Wave music system III: Sound quality

Given the Bose Wave’s small size, it produces good sound that’s rich, appropriately bassy and room-filling — along the same lines as the Sonos Play:5 or B&W Zeppelin. The internal bass baffling means that comparatively small speakers can produce big sound.

Treble is reasonably clear at low and moderate volumes — the kind of volume that you’d use if you had the Wave III in a bedroom, small study or home office — but louder volume levels do cause treble to be overpowered by mid-range and bass booming.

Bose Wave music system III

Mid-range is generally a little boomy at low and moderate volume levels; the system has a rich and brassy vibe to it but this comes at the cost of some detail in acoustic instruments and male vocals.

Bass is, as we’ve come to expect from Bose products, strong for a mini hi-fi unit. At louder volumes it’s a table-shaking, floor-thumping little speaker system, so if you’re listening to anything with strong bass kicks — house, drum ‘n’ bass, dubstep — it’s one of the best small speaker setups we’ve heard for this purpose.

The Bose Wave music system III is distortion-free at any volume level, and apart from a slight loss of treble clarity at higher volumes, the system maintains its character consistently whatever volume it’s operating at.

Bose Wave music system III: Conclusion

Bose’s Wave music system III keeps up with the times (mostly) with the addition of DAB+ digital radio. We do take issue with the fact that it’s a $100 premium over the standard Wave music System III though, and the lack of integrated iPod dock is another serious flaw. It’s a mini hi-fi that sounds great for its size at most volume levels, but it’s extremely expensive for what it is.

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Trouble

1

Rolex not cheap either and all watches tell the time , great unit ,fantastic sound and the idock Bose new that Apple would keep changing connectors to make a buck

Base too high

2

The base is so overpowering that you can't hear the mid tones. I love rich base but without the midtones many songs are incomplete. There are many other systems in this price range with better quality sound.

Daniel J. Borfitz

3

I just purchased the Wave III and love it. I live in the boondocks and with a $10 antenna can pick up many more stations than was able with my older system. Granted it's expensive, but, I believe, well worth it.
Dan B.

John C

4

We own one of these.... I'm not impressed with the unit at all. To my ears, the sound quality is poor: too much bass and not enough treble. And not having controls on the unit has to be the most idiotic design decision ever made. You can't even eject the disc without the remote. And if your batteries die or you misplace the remote , then the unit is as useful as a brick. It's a bad control scheme, the sound is poor, and I strongly recommend that you avoid this sound system.

Felicity Smart

5

An amazing depth of sound for such a small unit. I haven't been able to test out the bass/treble relationship beyond 60 on the 100 point volume scale because the sound is simply so big. Up to that point it's absolutely fine and doesn't have the overly trebled teaspoon scraping on a metal sink sound that many systems expect me to believe is real treble. Remote a problem? Most people use their TV remote so infrequently that if they ever did lose it they can't remember how to operate it manually anyway. Get organised if you lose things so much.

Say what you like, it's at the very least good value for money.

Clare

6

I think that those that said they wouldn't buy it simply can't afford it!

Matt

7

Clare please don't be so naive! Bose is nothing more than a clever marketing strategy to sell mediocre quality products at high end prices.
I can afford a Wave 3, but I choose to spend my money wisely, which is why I instead bought the Ruark R4i which Clare, retails for a similar price. The Ruark has the iPod/iPhone connector built in, looks beautiful, has a far better remote, and in terms of sound quality quite literally blows the Bose away.
To anyone considering the purchase of a Wave 3, PLEASE listen to a Ruark R4i first, it WILL change your mind. And Clare, get over yourself!

Carol

8

Matt
Have read your review with great interest as I am contemplating the purchaseof a Bose Wave 3.
Your comments have been noted and I will now consider the Ruark R4i as an option. Thank you for your honesty.

Jeff

9

I think the Ruark R4i is one butt ugly piece of hardware. Those round speakers on that antiquated frame are not cool. I'd rather have the Bose Wave styling and longstanding reputation for outstanding quality sound for the same money. If you don't like the stellar BOSE sound, you need to visit your local audiologist post haste and get your hearing checked.

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tarzan

3.5

1

Pros
the sound
Cons
the price
• • •

hi,
Is it worth, if BOSE gives the ipod doc for free ..?
it is doing so in india (festive offer)

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