A History of Bose

Bose Corporation was founded in 1964 by Dr. Amar G. Bose, then professor of electrical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. As an MIT grad student in the 1950s, Dr. Bose decided to purchase a new stereo system. He was disappointed to find that speakers with impressive technical specifications failed to reproduce the realism of a live performance.

The quest for better sound was on.

Extensive research in the fields of speaker design and psychoacoustics—the human perception of sound—led to the groundbreaking 901® Direct/Reflecting® speaker system in 1968. Its unprecedented approach to sound reproduction came much closer to the essence and emotional impact of live music, and won immediate acclaim.

The list of major Bose innovations continues to grow. Fourteen years of research led to the development of acoustic waveguide speaker technology, found in our award-winning Wave® radio, Wave® music system and Acoustic Wave® music systems. Acoustimass® speaker technology reshaped conventional thinking about the relationship between speaker size and sound, enabling palm-sized speakers to produce audio quality previously thought impossible from speakers so small.

Auditioner® audio demonstrator technology removed the guesswork from sound system design for arenas and other large venues. It allows builders, architects and facility managers to hear precisely what a Bose® system will sound like in their building, before any equipment is installed, even if the building only exists as a blueprint.

Bose Lifestyle® systems provided a welcome alternative to conventional component-based systems by offering fully integrated home entertainment solutions. Lifestyle® systems deliver award-winning performance and elegance from elements specifically engineered to work together.

The systems approach has paved the way for numerous Bose solutions, audio and beyond. Integrated systems account for the acclaimed performance of Bose automotive sound systems and Acoustic Noise Cancelling® headsets. The revolutionary Bose suspension system and ElectroForce® linear motion system rely on proprietary Bose software and hardware working together in harmony. All feature technologies available only from Bose.

Today, you can find Bose wherever quality sound is important. From the Olympic games to the Sistine Chapel. From NASA space shuttles to the Japan National Theatre. In the home and on the road, from large outdoor arenas to intimate neighborhood stores, restaurants and clubs, you can hear the realism of the most respected name in sound—Bose.