Overfly the sonic barrier

GIZMO REVIEW: Bose's latest Wave Music System sounds every bit as good as its other Wave products, and offers much more.

When parents start to drop in for a sample of "your kind of music", you can safely conclude that the music system has been a hit with the family. If it's a Wave series product from Bose, a brand labelled by many as a "sonic marvel", then your chances are that much higher.

This product sure delivers all that it promises. First off, the most amazing bit is the sound quality that seems to emanate almost magically from so small a compact unit. One simply has to hear it to believe it. To anyone brought up to equate quality with size, Bose's Wave Music System is a stunner.

The Wave sub-brand grew famous with the original Wave Radio some years ago, which was a resounding success. Bose Corp has turned its attention since to the other products that uses it proprietary waveguide technology: its Wave Acoustic System, and now its Wave Music System (WMS).

Well, they all look much the same. Available in either platinum white or slate grey, the WMS looks almost identical to the Wave Radio, though if you look closely, you'll notice the subtlety with which the basic design includes the new features: the waveguide chambers and slot-loading CD player, for example.

It all adds to the aesthetics of the product "" the shape and look of which has become a living room classic that Bose is keen to preserve the integrity of. There are no ungainly buttons to be seen on the product's body. Instead one has to rely entirely on a sleek remote handset that looks like a credit card.

Bose is a sonic brand, for the audio sophisticate, and this is all about auditory sensations rather than visual. And those are sublime, to say the least.

Other technical innovations include routing the bass port of the speakers over the amplifier as a cooling element. But it's a neat product, designed for plug-and-play usage "" no extra sockets and cords to mess anything up. Yet, it does come with a 28-page Owners Guide. The instructions are clear and nicely illustrated.

Some of the buttons on the remote perform multiple functions. To the audiophile who is not used to an iPod-like navigation wheel, this might just be a little annoying.

The most painful bit is the risk of misplacing the remote. Imagine waking up to the very sound you most needed to hear, but then discovering you can't switch the alarm off "" at 7 am in the morning. Ouch!

What's more, the unit has no volume, no disc eject, no snooze buttons "" nada, nada, nada, folks. It's just you thrown to the music. This could be disconcerting to anyone unfamiliar with the system.

At the risk of compromising its design integrity, Bose Corp may want to consider a small volume knob on the main unit "" for the benefit of an alarmed visitor, for example. Or rather, for the benefit of the audiophile too lost to locate the remote quickly enough to save a visitor from getting alarmed.

You may, of course, argue that if it's music versus an intruder, it's a no contest: the music wins. The tech-specs mentioned in the manual claim that the WMS reproduces "one-half octave lower musical notes", which may be part of the innate secret. The deeper tones and lifelike sound are evident to the discerning ear.

Testing with classical music is always a good way to try a system because it uses real acoustic instruments, but it also needs to be checked with music that you are already familiar with.

Macy Gray's When I See You has a solid bass line, and output can sound thin and harsh on many small speaker systems. WMS lives up to all expectations. The bass, while never overpowering, is impressive. Plug on external speakers, and the entire experience could easily overwhelm any music lover.

It would have been nice, though, to have user adjustable options like bass midrange and good old treble. No CD plays the same kind of music, and each needs some tweaking.

At Rs 29,900 (inclusive of taxes), the Bose WMS is priced higher than other systems available, but for the very experience, it's quite a steal.