Bose Videowave Subwoofer First Look - Testing Free Air, Enclosure and T/S Parameters

At long last, here is my first look at the incredible miniature woofers found inside the Bose Videowave II television! The video covers in-box testing, free-air excursion and a basic insight into the woofers' T/S and non-linear parameters. These are really interesting little drivers and it's taken me almost 10 years to find a set for testing. There wasn't much scope to use 'proper' music to test the system, since it produces only a very narrow bandwidth of frequencies. However, I may follow this up with another video if I get enough requests. I hope you enjoy the video!
Filmed with Oppo Find X2 Pro, edited with Davinci Resolve 16
For a clean and close up look at the drivers, please also check out Ciro's video at • Bose Videowave - Littl...
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[@josephfoster3819]

Wow , these things are truly incredible. And the enclosure is designed very well too . As to be expected from Bose

[@superjervis]

lol

[@Skarfar90]

Genuinely impressed by these tiny drivers.

[@sherrokinchen5253]

Small drivers with incredible sound. I like it.

[@Tmanstomp100]

That type of response from small drivers is kinda amazing... I've seen people in car audio get less low end out of much bigger drivers. kinda inspires me to build the "little woofer that could"

[@penttijakonen3817]

Those people were not trying to go lower most likely. (No, I don't understand trying to get 165 decibels at 50 hz either.)

[@IsaacsTech]

They're such nice drivers! Very nice enclosure as well! Almost makes the $5k original price worth it lol

[@wdbaudio]

Certainly not a cheap product, but I can tell some genuine engineering went into every aspect of the design

[@juststuff5216]

@@wdbaudio When it comes to engineering, Bose really know their stuff, and only a fool would argue otherwise! Unfortunately, when it comes to implementation of the engineering, that's where Bose falls down. At lest B&O have turned to Scanspeak and Tymphany drivers. It would be advantageous if Bose did the same. But all in all, they (Bose) simply makes very poor, cheap drivers (present company excepted ... to a certain degree), sound a bit less cheap, and there is only some much brilliant engineering can do to change that. As for the high price, people have obviously never heard the likes of Boenicke or Wilson Audio. That is money for old rope! Still loving the channel.

[@bonniebow245]

From what divice did he took them off?

[@fxgamer-11yt]

@@juststuff5216 they can not always most time they use equipment that has equalized singles to tweek sound and proform the way they want it to and use this to make cheep woofers sound amazing wich isn't always bad but to charge an arm and a leg for cheep speakers and when they could use better drivers to get the same sound and probably better not saying bose is bad just there way to expansive and thats why audio guys that know true audio and buy 10k-100k for for a single set of towers that would kill any bose out there

[@user-nx6ss6ht2t]

What is its market price?

[@tableseven8133]

The array of small woofers was an idea I had in mind around 1984 but never tried it. My thinking was since it is a smaller area it would be more effective then a large woofer, due to the smaller size it could move more quickly, however it would require a way to power each driver well.

[@ciro589m]

I'm so glad you're back with a BIG surprise. Finally, I've wanted this video for a veeery long time, It's like a dream happening! The drivers kinda remind me the Bose ND Richbass that I gave to Shado. Imagine if these had a translucent dustcap! That classic trick made me smile, hahaha. That spider is incredibly "bright" yellow lol, it's so cool to see a driver that small being so tall at the same time. They also have dimples. One question: are the foam surrounds easy fixable? Like, standard measurements and stuff like that? Because I'm so scared that one day they will eventually rot, such unique and rare drivers... Also I really wanna see the rest of the drivers tested, as you suggested. And maybe, if that's not too much, a video of the full system playing? I really enjoyed this video, I'm so amazed!!

[@ciro589m]

Btw they must work all together as the sensitivity is so low that just one driver in enclosure will require a big amp, and that's not really convenient. I was a bit surprised seeing such low sensitivity, but thinking it twice it makes a lot of sense

[@wdbaudio]

They aren't much like the Nd woofers in my opinion, but they probably share some similarities. There isn't anything to fix the surrounds, I won't be pushing them very hard to try and keep them healthy for as long as possible. It feels like they use a much more modern coated foam which should last a number of years.

[@ciro589m]

@@wdbaudio oh nice then! Anyway you could also use clear latex on the foams, they will last much longer. I did on my Atlas and it's still going

[@PA5cAl1]

Sadly sales for the Bose videowave never really took off, I saw it once in an electronics store and was not impressed by the thickness, huge bezels and mediocre picture quality. Combine that with the high price tag and not a lot of people will find it worth the trade off. That being said, it is a very nice feit of engineering. Thanks for showing off the little woofers, I have always been curious what they are about.

[@wdbaudio]

I knew it wasn't a high sales volume item, it's a very niche product for people who already have and like other Bose products, a bit like the Apple ecosystem. I knew I had to get a faulty one to share the woofers!

[@Mr_New_Orleans]

I've wanted this video for years. My idea is to take the 6 drivers in their housing and make a custom center console woofer box for my vehicle.

[@wdbaudio]

I'm thinking of doing exactly that! I only have a small car so this should fit the bill for a bit of extra bass

[@chinyanyie]

With TL design should be very nice as bose design them for The wave

[@karthikeyay2988]

BOSE are too creative

[@Acoustic_Theory]

There is an updated version of these; four of them are used in the "PowerProfile" under-floor bass enclosures in the Cadillac CT6. They have very long stroke.

[@wdbaudio]

I'm aware of those versions too! It's a serious system in that car, 34 drivers in total if I remember correctly

[@colinduv1644]

34 driver😍🤩!!

[@Acoustic_Theory]

@@wdbaudio And now I have one of the in-floor bass modules: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bnmqaIWmnp58mqc

[@invendelirium]

8:51 "the motor isn't particularly powerful at beta of around 5.9... " yet it blows all drivers

[@spedracer55]

i heard a demo in the store of the tv when it was new it was actually nuts

[@ciupik8571]

Thank you so much for sharing this experience with us! Absolutly gorgeous!

[@hacxer8424]

Wow they are amazing speakers

[@KravchenkoAudioPerth]

Nice video. I was thinking the excursion was near 8mm travel one way. Thanks for making and sharing your video!

[@wdbaudio]

Thanks for the feedback! Yeah they certainly get moving when they need to. They do bottom out with Pink noise peaks, but that's to be expected I suppose

[@ZAProjects]

High excursion in such a low volume 😯 cool 😍👍👍

[@carwashgaming3727]

My brain at first sight of the drivers: wait thats illegal

[@PretzelGangx]

WE BREAKIN THE SOUND BARRIER WITH THIS ONE💯💯🗣🗣🗣🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@theloudspeakernerd-tlsn9322]

Noo.. we are not..

[@Acoustic_Theory]

BL-limit of excursion is at 70% of BL for woofers - corresponding to about 10% THD, and BL-limited Xmax for subwoofers tends to be around 50% BL. This is based upon audibility of harmonic distortion in a system context; bass distortion is a little bit less objectionable at lower frequencies. These woofers reach 70% BL at around 7mm, and 50% BL around 8.25mm. (For midrange and full-range speakers, BL limit is 82%.)

[@wdbaudio]

Interesting! Thank you for the clarification, it did seem a bit odd that Klippel only specified the 82% value for BL non-linearity (10% THD AES). Especially when this woofer is so quiet right up to the suspension limits and hard bottoming.

[@samuelsalins8309]

This is the sound I wanted it to be' great speaker's 🕪🔊👍...

[@UnburdenedByWhatHasBeen]

Bose loves these tiny little speakers

[@speakertester.1861]

The enclosure looks like a flat-six engine, it dimples, yey, it has no mechanical noises, a nice little driver.

[@wdbaudio]

Yes! I always thought it looks like a flat-six or boxer engine!

[@michaelmillamiranda3454]

911911

[@sonybasstesterpro2270]

Hey brother

[@goobisoft4873]

Dont care what audiophiles say but bose does make some interesting stuff

[@parthasarathimanna8790]

Exactly!

[@goobisoft4873]

@@parthasarathimanna8790 i actually like bose very much a very innovating company likes to take risks and do new experiments which i am all about

[@manueltorres661]

Bad ass little Bose speakers

[@wdbaudio]

Not bad!

[@AdminDEU]

Nice! 6 Subs in a row. but one important thing is missing : What does the horn look like from the inside?

[@MrPolaris800crew]

Insane little woofers

[@wdbaudio]

Pretty meaty little guys 😎

[@harbyx]

Welcome back!!

[@wdbaudio]

Thank you!

[@CedricFlavien-bd8vc]

Best subwoofer for music 50hz verry good building

[@wisconsingoldprospecting1716]

Definitely deserves a plexi glass top LEDs and shoved into a RC truck would be absolutely sick

[@randomtube8226]

Have you not uploaded in awhile? Welcome back! Not a big fan of Bose. But those drivers look insane for their size!

[@wdbaudio]

Over a year since the last public upload! I hope you're saying that with genuine reason, there are a lot of people who bash on Bose just to follow the trend. They tend to put a lot of thoughtful engineering into their speakers

[@randomtube8226]

@@wdbaudio Definitely not bashing Bose. Ive owned several Bose stuff over the years. Not bad for what they offer. Just not my first choice.

[@wdbaudio]

@@randomtube8226 ah okay, that's a very honest reply! I've not heard too many finished systems but I'm familiar with several of their drivers. These ones I'm particularly fond of

[@suthtokcraew1227]

nice hahaha very cute size, first time I saw woofer like this

[@form109]

Almost suprising how low they manage to play.

[@davidadada753]

Would be very interested to see the rest of the system

[@TristanSpeno]

Those things are awesome!

[@wdbaudio]

They certainly are!

[@flebnard]

Ive only seen one set and it was at a bose store by me a while ago. Always wanted to see the drivers. Time is now!

[@wdbaudio]

Did you get a chance to listen to the whole system? I didn't get to since this came from a broken TV. Maybe one day I'll hear it

[@randomtube8226]

@@wdbaudio That was inside of a TV? 😱

[@wdbaudio]

@@randomtube8226 yeh! Have a good search of 'Bose Videowave TV' and there's a good cutaway diagram

[@flebnard]

@@wdbaudio Yeah they'd demo it with some concert / movie clips, along with sports recaps to demonstrate the overall response and surround sound effect. The panel was just the screen with its internal speakers along with the main hub unit to go on the shelf or whatever that all the ins and outs went to. Good find on the actual waveguide, but yes this is the only the subs or "acousamass/module" in bosese ha. There are mids and highs that project out the top of the screen. Definitely needed wall space for the best effect. Also yeah never seen a bose driver that isn't wire wrapped, excluding headphones that is... Neat little clean drivers indeed ^^

[@flebnard]

@@randomtube8226 Yeah that brief time there was a bose branded tv. It was... 4k sound before the 4k screen panel. That sums it up pretty much.

[@mykandrew]

I love this stuff

[@TheSara200424]

i would love to see this actualy upsized with 6 12" drivers now that would be amazing

[@justinfoster6135]

Your back!!!

[@loudspeakertestsmorebyaida3804]

Best TV speakers in the world.. has great subwoofers

[@arri275555]

I was given a demo of the tv/system when it was introduced and the audio was very impressive. However the price and picture quality were definitely not

[@fernandogonzalez-qh1kp]

baby subwoofers i love it

[@emmet7208]

The engineering is very interesting to me! However, because Bose always charges a big premium for their brand name, many are disappointed in the quality of the components (when they compare to other brands for similar money). This is no exception; Bose does not pride itself with using the highest quality components. But it does fulfill the requirements of the engineer's design. I'm sure a very well built 6.5" woofer with rubber surround, cast aluminum frame with an exotic cone material could be sourced for less than all six of those 3" woofers. And it would have a lower resonant frequency, better throw, and certainly higher efficiency. But it would not be as compact, which is what the designers wanted.

[@colinduv1644]

Amazing video for amazing drivers and an amazing Wdb return. I love bose speaker because of their big excursions for a small size, but where did you get all these information of the speaker. 👍

[@wdbaudio]

Yes, these are certainly really impressive! I got the information by measuring the drivers using a Klippel RnD system

[@colinduv1644]

I was thinking that the laser was just measuring the excursions but after I make a few recherches of what is this incredible measuring thing I see that it's a bit more complex. Thank you, you make me discover this incredible thing incredibly expensive even if I was thinking that it was more expensive but anyway thank you for your reply, not all youtubers take the time to do this. 👍👍

[@TheTechGuyYT]

Amazing little drivers. Interested to see what you do with them

[@wdbaudio]

Possibly designing a waveguide and installing it somewhere in my car!

[@chinyanyie]

@@wdbaudio I will wait for that

[@playerongaming]

Nice drivers must test songs

[@rubenromero2034]

hey are these drivers beefier than the sound dock 10 driver?

[@bryanleiporsado6845]

Oh how I want to make a boom box with those.

[@melaniaslatan1177]

Yayyy!!! Finally you!

[@91rickstar]

Nice

[@MOBAudioUSA]

Any chance you have a link to where I can find those drivers? I'm thinking ones that have been taken out of complete units or something.

[@SpringtrapWilliamAfton]

Good work

[@Purple431]

Looks like they can have a lot of flex :o

[@biffisgreat]

Isobaric interesting little space saver

[@robertradu7122]

hi, do you thing these under car seat as they are in aluminium case would produce enought bass?

[@justinhiggins2210]

I want one, now.

[@wtfngarage2082]

A custom box for those would be awesome

[@joseduranjr3152]

Can you please explain the woofer in the JAPAN ONLY BOSE VIA? Virtual imaging array system

[@pcorf]

4:54 engine shut down!

[@jason11wyatt]

What type of enclosure were those in? 6th order?

[@wdbaudio]

Transmission line!

[@sarahconner9433]

It's no design....it just woofers in a longer 3 foot tube..

[@antkoos]

How are they so quiet even though they have such a big excursion??

[@matty2x]

Impulsecompensation ! Nice

[@danielcorona6916]

Do you think that subwoofer can be connected to an onkyo amp?

[@loudspeakertestsmorebyaida3804]

First of all, are the way to go if you want good sound

[@muhammadali4154]

No one can beat bose bose is me girlfriend ☺😂

[@speakerbasstester1639]

Where did those woofers come from? A tv?

[@marciaabrahao3878]

Could you help me ??? I am Brazilian and the repair of this equipment here is very expensive. The subwoofer bose acoustimass 6 series III without bass with sound in the boxes. Sometimes the bass made a noise, with knowing which circuit reinforces the weld ??

[@redman4076]

Would love to see Hexibass do something with these

[@randomweirdyoutubechannel8955]

Wow they would be a pretty nice upgrade on one of those jbl Bluetooth speakers

[@THEMADPROFdj]

T`was thinkn' d`same tin!

[@davidperry4013]

Imagine if Bose makes balanced mode radiators. It would probably blow Cambridge audio out of the water.

[@omkarnadkarni1096]

Hi Can you please lete know the magnet dia and hight alongwith top plate thickness of possible ... Regards

[@mathiasraisl]

How much did you pay for the Videowave? It is just awesome what Bose put in a TV.

[@wdbaudio]

£55 GBP, basically nothing

[@mathiasraisl]

@@wdbaudio I could buy a defect one for 375€ but now I think it is to expensive. Thank you for the answer.

[@neibyjunioramaranteaquino710]

Saludos que equipo trae ese sistema de subwoofer

[@maciarebassed6552]

Nice tv sub

[@uninvestigated]

About the equivalent of a 12-in woofer

[@FXtremeElectronics]

Do you happen to know what the name of that tape on the cables is called at 5:13 ? I've been trying to get hold of that tape for ages now!

[@wdbaudio]

I think it's probably called something like 'EVA Tape' or self adhesive foam tape

[@FXtremeElectronics]

@@wdbaudio Thankyou!:)

[@jedithusnbixby2108]

Where'd you find it?

[@wdbaudio]

Good ol' eBay

[@jesusalbertoaraujo785]

Bass test song link?

[@dtube273]

good speakers

[@adampatterson3188]

Thats kinda fuckin cool

[@GulzarYousaf]

Bass without even enclosure 🤯

[@sarahconner9433]

Nice headphones.....

[@goobisoft4873]

What's the size of that single driver 2.5 inch?

[@ciro589m]

2.75", he's saying it in the vid

[@camelazo]

No highs just lows must be bose!

[@chinyanyie]

Too bad they don't do this anymore

[@918Kustomz]

What kind of tv does this come out of?

[@ciro589m]

Have you even watched the video or simply read the description? I guess not

[@user-nx6ss6ht2t]

What is its market price?

[@ciro589m]

They're very very rare to find and if you manage to find a working TV unit it costs around 1,5k€. Defective units are rare to find, but they still cost more than 200 euros. If you manage to find it for less, consider you very very lucky

[@Keego1Fitty]

What tv do they come out of?

[@wdbaudio]

It is in the title of the video

[@axelgg3936]

¿Where can i buy those subwoofers?

[@St5phan]

Ebay

[@10nm96]

Faresti un video test con musica?

[@ciro589m]

Se vuoi l'ho fatto io sul mio canale ma solo dei piccoli wooferini. E' l'ultimo da me caricato ieri

[@khunkyawhla385]

Wow ဝယ္ခ်င္တယ္ဘယ္မွာရႏိုင္မလဲး က်ေနာလက္ရိွထိုင္ႏိုင္ငံထဲ့မွာပါ

[@dead007br9]

Up video please ???

[@abelafonsoherrera3664]

Lo que noe gusta de esta marca eske todos los altavoces los asen con Foam vamos k en un par de años ahí k reemplazarlos cuando de goma Durán toda la vida

[@prash007dj]

u r using LED lights thats why its flickering. u need to set lower shutter speed to record. which is not flickered.

[@johndoe-yy7gr]

what microphone do u use?

[@wdbaudio]

This is just the microphone built into the phone I was using to take the video

[@johndoe-yy7gr]

@@wdbaudio iphone 11/12 :))

[@wdbaudio]

@@johndoe-yy7gr Oppo Find X2 Pro - better camera in my humble opinion

[@sachinsirav4554]

Khase se milenge ye

[@chisin914]

Model number or name ?

[@prashantsharma3787]

PRICE KITNA H

[@TOCHIKN]

スバルレガシイ 3.0R

[@milanmilanovic6999]

My bass have Strong fast excursion 😉