September 15, 2006 Not long ago, filling a room full of sound meant half filling it with equipment. Then in 1984, the original Bose Wave Music System awoke an industry with great sound no-one expected from something so small. The Wave radio followed in 1993 and became the world’s most advanced, sweetest sounding clock radio, gaining a CD player in 1998. The secret to the wave radio’s incredibly rich sound was the length of the wave guide – an incredible 26 inches per channel, somehow squeezed inside the tiny form factor. Now there’s a new model and folded inside the briefcase-sized Acoustic Wave music system II is an 80 inch waveguide chamber precisely tuned to the speakers, so it amplifies sound just as a flute amplifies a small breath of air.
The new US$1079 system hasn't changed in size, still fits almost anywhere in your home, and is easily controlled from across the room by a credit card-sized remote. It accommodates your MP3 player, plays your home-burned CDs as well as regular discs, has an AM/FM radio and you can add an optional US$300 5-CD changer. As a bonus, it travels easily with its optional US$150 carry-bag and goes portable with the optional US$16 12V cigarette lighter cord and/or US$150 power pack.