Business

Big sound from small device

Anand Parthasarathy

Bose's smallest, cheapest hi-fi system

The Bose Wave Music System

BANGALORE: Every decade or so India-born, U.S.-based inventor-entrepreneur Amar Bose, who has made his surname a global synonym for quality audio systems, sets his engineers a new challenge, then bides his time to launch yet another lifestyle product.

The Framingham (Massachusetts)-based company's latest product, unveiled in India this week, breaks the mould again delivering concert-quality acoustics from a tiny system that is also its cheapest-ever audio system offering.

Patented technology

The Bose Wave Music System — a direct descendant of the decade-old Bose Wave clock-radio — uses the same patented "tapered wave guide" technology to accommodate twin sound passages, over 60-cm long, for a pair of tiny speakers inside a box that is just 85-cm wide. A new digital signal processing chip and associated voice coil technology, on which 250 engineers have been working since 2002, helped create the new Wave Music System — an AM-FM radio-cum-CD/MP3 amplifier-player that fits in the palm of one's hand yet delivers the deep, rich sound of systems ten times bigger.

In another first, the system has no controls or buttons on board — everything works from a slim, credit card-sized remote since the unit is designed to be used in the drawing room rather than as a bedside set.

"I told my guys, we have to beat the Wave Radio sound quality by a mile, but it must be done in a box that is no bigger. I was stunned by the quality they delivered — at least a half-octave better," the former Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor said.

The unit also works with TV, DVD player, iPod-type music player or satellite radio system.

The Wave Music System will sell in India from this week for Rs. 29,900. The international price is $499.

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