On my system (Denon surround sound receiver, Definitive Pro 100 speakers) when listening to music in Pro Logic, it doesn't sound very good.  Switching the receiver to 5 channel stereo, it sounds great.
Can you change the surround mode on the Bose?
 

robotecho

dcumpian
Get some bass traps for your listening room. And move the speakers away from the walls. And move the sub away from the corners. And...well the list can get quite long.
 
Regards,
Dan
 

Thanks Dan, I've got some very basic treatment in my studio and it seems to work OK. But I have limited jurisdiction in the lounge room, if you get my drift!  

Ah, yes. Then you'll have to negotiate for a dedicated media room! Lol! Good luck!
 
Regards,
Dan
 

rumleymusic
Bose speakers are too small to provide a wide frequency response.  As a result the sub tends to do the majority of the heavy lifting in the lows and lower mids.  It is a media system, not a very good music system.  
 
Are you able to adjust the amount of bass coming from your sub? I have noticed that most people tend to leave them up way too high.  

 
You know, with all the ADAPTIQ equalisation hype, I've always just run through the setup like an idiot with the stupid microphone headset, and assumed it was the best possible sound, and never really dug into the options.
 
Turns out, of course you can turn down the bass! There's basic bass treble adjustment, I cut the bass by 50% and nudged the treble up a notch, and the sound is... fair. Not great, but about how I would expect it to sound on this sytem.
 
I'd just never thought about tweaking this system. What a completely obvious idea. Thanks so much.
 

bitflipper
There's a book called "Mastering Audio" by Bob Katz. Get a copy.

 
It keeps popping up in discussion, I'll definitely have a read.

wst3
Bose takes a lot of heat, especially in the professional audio space, for some of their designs.
 
What you need to keep in mind, as has already been pointed out, is that these systems are not designed for critical listening or any other professional application. They do make stuff that is, but most of their stuff is made to sound "cool". And if you like a hyped playback system then they hit the mark.

 
I bought the system 10 years ago with my eyes wide open to its limitations, but I was living in an inner city terrace house with very little space, and wanted an easy multi-zone solution. At the time Bose had the only real offering. I'm in a bigger place now and I'm considering my options, one thing is for sure, these systems hold their value very well.

57Gregy
On my system (Denon surround sound receiver, Definitive Pro 100 speakers) when listening to music in Pro Logic, it doesn't sound very good.  Switching the receiver to 5 channel stereo, it sounds great.
Can you change the surround mode on the Bose?
 

 
I'm going into it from my HTPC via optical, I had noticed previously that if I just ran analog stereo into it seemed to sound better. Both systems are probably trying to turn my music into a fully immersive 5.1 surround experience, and sucking at it.

dcumpian
 
Ah, yes. Then you'll have to negotiate for a dedicated media room! Lol! Good luck!

 
I would have to sell at least one of the children...

i would worry.
 
LOL
 
well, the whole point of mixing, is to have a mix that translates everywhere, no?
if a particular set of speakers does not translate in your room correctly, then change them.
 
if your room is not tuned, then tune it.
 
it's just that simple.
 

batsbrew
i would worry.
 

 
I'm going to worry a bit... I've changed the eq on the Bose system so it no longer murders a significant amount of music, but I do suspect the complete lack of stereo sound staging and blurry mid-bottom end is revealing something important about the mix. 

Stuff foam in the bass port.

That's actually not a bad suggestion, Jay. It might just dampen that artificial boost. It won't compensate for the total lack of content below the port frequency, but it could at least soften the unnatural bump at 120 Hz. I'd use a pair of heavy wool socks rather than foam, though.

Will give it a try and report back...

I have a set of Bose computer speakers that sound like absolute crap most of the time, always with the low frequencies. They are unbelievably boomy. The biggest problem it have with them is watching movies - they add so much bass to the dialog that I often end up just turning them off and reaching for my ATH-M50's. Most music sounds crap on them - the boomy low end is especially annoying on acoustic guitar & vocal tracks.

I would recommend getting a VRM box as an additional reference. You can check your mix in cans through loads of speaker and room simulations. They're especially good at warning you about potential bass translation issues.

Is there a way you could post the mix somewhere you are talking about.  It might be good to check it.  You could have too much bass in your mix and the bottom end might be out of control.  I don't think so but it might be good just to check it none the less.