Why are Bose Soundbars so Expensive?

Bose Soundbars are some of the most popular home audio devices on the market.

Bose, the company has been around since the 1960s and has built tremendous trust and loyalty from consumers looking to invest in home audio.

However, Bose products, particularly Bose Soundbars are very expensive which leads customers to think twice before buying them.

So, why are Bose Soundbars so expensive?

Bose Soundbars are expensive because Bose is a luxury consumer brand and spends a lot of money on innovative audio engineering.

Because Bose is so well respected and is on top of the consumer’s mind they can charge more than their competitors can for similar products.

In this blog post, I will further explain in detail why Bose soundbars are so expensive as well as if they are worth it.

I will also look at some of their competitors and evaluate if they make better soundbars than Bose for a cheaper price.

Luxury Brand

Bose is a huge brand and are respected amongst average consumers because they have been on top of the consumer’s mind for decades.

Because of this, they can often charge a premium for their products even if there is better sound equipment out there for a lower price, they do not have the name recognition that Bose does.

They have built a respectable brand and are therefore respected by customers who have never bought a product from them before.

Continuous Marketing

To piggyback on the previous point, a big reason why Bose is so well known and respected is because they have invested heavily in marketing over the years, they spend upwards of 100 million per year on marketing.

Personally, I have never bought a Bose product but I remember seeing their advertisements about their noise-canceling headphones and how effective they are on airplanes.

Research and Development

In general, soundbars are expensive, they are considered a premium format and a lot of engineering goes into making them.

It is also not dealing with cheap parts, soundbars are great because you can fit a plethora of high-quality speakers into a small bar and get a surround sound experience.

No soundbar is cheap unless it’s a out of date model with not very good sound quality and the company is looking to thin out it’s inventory.

And more often than not if you are buying a soundbar for cheap you are getting what you pay for.

However, I will note that there is one soundbar that is very cheap that is an outlier and that is the Vizio V series.

Although Bose is not as well respected amongst audiophiles for their sound quality and lack of transparency on technical specifications they do have respect for their willingness to innovate and create their own style products with their own unique engineering.

Bose puts in a ton of time and money on research and development for their audio products by constantly trying to innovate and create new ways of making quality sound equipment.

Although sometimes they fail you have to respect them for not trying to copy anyone else.

They often invest their earnings into more research and development, more so than any of their competitors.

Availability

Bose sound products are popular and thus held in pretty much any large electronic store.

Recently I went to Best Buy and asked what soundbars they had in stock and they took me right over to the Bose and Sonos section.

The employee admitted that Sonos is their best seller but that Bose has been selling well for them for a very long time.

They continuously update their sound equipment and are pumping out new models so the masses can enhance their audio experience at home.

I was also shown soundbars from LG while at the store.

Are Bose Soundbars worth it?

Bose is a good introductory level product but I would argue Sonos or JBL is better.

I specifically wrote a separate article discussing why JBL speakers are so popular if you want to check that out.

Bose is known for its low level of bass and lack of high and low-end frequencies, a common saying amongst audiophiles is “no high’s no lows, it must be Bose”.

Although they have decent soundbars on the market you are probably better off with going with the latest soundbar from Sonos or JBL, maybe even Polk, they make good soundbars as well.

I personally recommend Sonos for beginners in Home Theater as you get decent audio quality and can have a surround sound system you can continuously upgrade.

I specifically recommend the Sonos Beam Gen 2 (paid link) with a Sonos sub mini (paid link) and two Sonos ones,(paid link) which are rear speakers for those just getting into home theater and want a good surround sound setup on a budget.

Sonos lets you add additional speakers to your existing audio setup and it is incredibly easy to install.

However, Bose has excellent customer support and typically gives generous warranties as well as other customer benefits.

Neither of these brands are serious audiophile equipment as they are more consumer products but like I said both are good for getting your foot in when it comes to Home Theater.

Should you buy a Bose soundbar?

Personally, I would not buy a Bose soundbar, Sonos makes better products and allows you to immerse yourself in their ecosystem by adding additional speakers to your current setup.

As of this writing, Sonos has superior soundbars in both the Sonos Arc and Sonos Beam Gen 2, these soundbars also allow you to add additional rear speakers such as the Sonos Ones or Sonos era 300’s along with a Sonos sub seamlessly.

I encourage you to check out my article about Sonos and their sound quality as I go more in depth about why I like the brand.

These products produce a better overall surround sound experience than Bose in my opinion.

Also, the fact that Bose does not include any technical specifications on their speakers or soundbars is a turn off, they claim humans determine audio quality but there is a science to audio and it is much easier to decide which equipment to buy when you have access to data.

Conclusion

Bose soundbars are a decent option for those looking to upgrade their sound experience from traditional TV speakers but there are better soundbar options out there for a similar price.

Bose is not transparent about the technical specifications of their audio devices and many audio lovers think their equipment muddles low and high frequencies sounds.

There are many other brands to choose from when looking to buy a soundbar, those include Sonos, JBL, Vizio, Sony, and Polk.