When I was a kid, before I knew much about the physics of speakers, I thought Bose were cool.
The more I learned, and the more Bose speakers I heard, the more that opinion changed.
Bose acoustic wave cannon: a tuned pipe, like this, will give high efficiency at some frequencies, because it resonates. However, the resonance introduces some nasty group delays (generally, in audio, the more resonance, the worse). So, a "raw" resonant pipe speaker tends to have very uneven response and "ring" at the resonant frequencies. This system probably comes with an equalizer to smooth the response (though this means the power requirements will be very dependent on frequency), but I don't think there's much they can do about the phase problems.
The Acoustic Wave radios are of a similar design, just scaled down and folded.
Bose Acoustimass subwoofers: a special band-pass design (patented) with *three* resonant chambers, the third in series with the other two. Used to "squeeze" the bandwidth and increase efficiency over a narrow range: 60-100Hz or so typically. Again, efficiency comes at the expense of phase distortion (group delay / ringing).
Every AM system I've heard, up to the latest Lifestyles, has had very boomy bass with a frequency "gap" between the subs and the satellites.
I think Bose finally started using dome tweeters in some of their models? Only about 30 years after their invention, and 20 after just about everybody agreed they were far superior to paper cones. I don't have any hard evidence, but the mid- and high-frequency drivers I've seen in Bose speakers scream "$0.99" to me.
Anyway, here are some interesting things to think about:
1. For a company as scientific as Bose make themselves to be, and that bases their advertising on such technical innovation, why is it that they don't publish a single spec for their speakers?
2. Why have I never seen a magazine review of any Bose speakers that included any technical measurements (at least beyond a low-frequency cutoff for an AM sub once in Stereo Review)?
More reading (a bit out of date, though):
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