Bose SoundDock 10

Bose, the audio brand that can be used as a case study for marketing students, has very recently released their latest music system offering, the Sound Dock 10. The press release demo we attended was quite chic, but now finally we have got our hands on SoundDock 10, which is a multipurpose music system that accepts iPods on its dock as well as normal line in players.

Design and features
Bose has always diligently added features into their products each and every time, which is always a result of serious R&D. Firstly the look of the system, is very futuristic and modern with slightly curved edges top and bottom side. The Dock sits smugly on the center of a lip like jutting out arc, while the entire exterior chassis is aluminum. The top flat surface is black matte, thus black and metallic being the aesthetic theme. Bose logo is embossed in the front, bottom strip.  

This product is bloody heavy. There are some heavy duty electronics under the hood, all of which are there for a specialized reason; their combined task is simply, to give out great sound. The main weight comes from the woofer, a proprietary Bose driver with a “larger magnet”, encapsulated in between the Waveguide, another researched design. There are two Twiddlers, the name given to Bose’s mid and high frequency drivers.

There's no radio, no clock, and the device is not portable—no battery slot. The weight too is nowhere near a portable device's - for that they have another product called the Sound Dock Portable. There is a composite-video output for showing iPod/iPhone images or videos when connected to a TV, also a mini USB slot input for updating firmware. An optional Bluetooth dock is available, but it’s not free. With Bose everything comes at a price, regardless the model itself costs a hefty price (see conclusion). They also don’t give out specs like max power output and other audio specifications.

Performance
The first thing we noticed was the loudness of the sound, which is beyond impressive. It goes really loud, and moreover, it’s very clean at the top levels of amplitude. We played Debussy, and then Prodigy (that’s a wide jump we know) and both contrasting genre’s of music were handled well, with the beats pounding out.

The lows of the system go till about 40 Hz, on checking with our sine sweeps, while the high frequencies are definitely there right upto the point our ears could take. The bass is not too tight though, it’s just low reaching and warm. Transients could be better.

The highs have this sharp clarity, though it’s a bit forward, it’s still very good and very much in control. There's no issue of piercing and uncomfortable treble. But we have another slight issue. The sound is not too open and wide, it’s quite planar lacking good depth. This is mainly the case with docking audio systems.

Conclusion
The Bose SoundDock 10 Digital Music System is available for Rs. 40,388, and that’s not cheap by any stretch of anything. For this price ther are Home theaters available that have better sound. What the Bose does have, is a very classy looking, seriously well built product with more than respectable sound output. The flaws are quite minor compared to the good points, but the price, it’s just too much. Those who don’t care about price, might want to head on over to the Bose stores.