New York — Bose Corp. took a nostalgic look back on the 50th anniversary of its founding in 1964. The company initially sold products to the military, but in 1966, Bose launched its first consumer product, the active Bose 2201 speaker. It was a commercial failure. The company, however, bounced back in 1968 with its next consumer product, the wildly successful direct/reflecting 901 active speakers.
For its golden anniversary, Bose came to New York with a museum-like display of its history, complete with samples of key products launched throughout its history.
Time travel with us through this photo gallery of Bose – and audio industry — history.
New York —For its golden anniversary, Bose came to New York with a museum-like display of its history, complete with samples of key products launched throughout its history. The company initially sold products to the military, but in 1966, Bose launched its first consumer product, the active Bose 2201 speaker. It was a commercial failure. Time travel with us through this photo gallery of Bose – and audio industry — history. Here, Bose president/CEO Bob Maresca stands by Bose’s first consumer product.
Bose’s first consumer product, the active Bose 2201 speaker, took the shape of a large one-eighth sphere that sat on the floor in the corners of a room. Each speaker had 22 drivers, a harbinger of the technology that would appear in the company’s second consumer speaker.
The active Bose 901 direct/reflecting floorstanding speaker, launched in 1968, was the company’s first commercially successful consumer product. That’s a Bose stereo receiver, by the way. The turntable is from United Audio. This demo was active.
In 1975 came Bose’s first direct/reflecting bookshelf speaker, the Bose 301.
Bose’s first aftermarket car stereo speakers, also amplified and equalized, came in 1980 as the Bose 1401. The company left the aftermarket in the fall of 1982 to focus on its launch of Delco-GM/Bose systems for General Motors.
The company’s first OEM car audio system appeared in the 1983 Cadillac Seville (pictured) and in the 1983 Cadillac Eldorado, Buick Riviera and Oldsmobile Toronado. The optional Delco-GM/Bose systems were the first aftermarket-branded OEM systems and the first OEM systems to be designed acoustically for each vehicle’s interior.
Bose’s first Acoustic Wave music system arrived in 1984 to offer an alternative to boom boxes, component-audio systems, and three-piece mini systems. A prototype is at left. The exterior design has changed little since then, but the internal technology has.
The first Lifestyle music system in 1990 shrank the size of speakers and put all electronics –- AM/FM, smp and CD player — into a slim chassis to replace bulky component-audio systems.
The company’s first QuietComfort noise-canceling headphones could be heard in 2000.