MYER is having another sale on these ANC headphones. While not at the all-time low, it's still a decent deal. Amazon is also price matching. Note that you can price match this deal at the Bose Store as well. Although these are the latest models, the frequency of these sales leads me to believe this is closer to the real RRP.
Been following this for a while. Surprised that the sale and RRP aren't lower. Haven't been tempted to bite just yet.
Why bother? Can buy a pair of bowers and wilkins for less.
Can you please share a link to the models you recommended?
I tried the Bose Ultra and they fit best compared to previous model and competitors, so in this case I'm hesitant to try alternative brands (unlike, say, for a portable speaker)
https://www.amazon.com.au/Bowers-Wilkins-Over-Ear-Cancelling…
Sub $400 when on sale.
Not as comfortable as the Sonys that i have tried. The sound profile is very defined, and a very wide sound stage.
No idea why the earlier Aonic 40 link got negged big time too. Tested the AONIC, great sound from a company that actually make decent sound equipment. But, wears heavy.
For those interested, here is a direct comparison of both the B&Ws and QC Ultras.
I wouldnt say the B&Ws win outright. Both have very similar sound performance and the QC Ultras pull away in noise cancelling features. So it depends on what is important for you.
Suggest try them on and decide. Each persons perception of sound are different.
They are targeting the top of the market which is why I think the RRP and sale prices will not drop until Q4 this year, even then you are looking in the $400 range
Sounds about right. I think many companies raised prices excessively due to inflation and lockdown demand. They may need to rebalance their portfolio soon according to the new demand paradigm
Even then Bose made $3.9bn in FY2019 and $4bn in FY2020 (3 months of COVID affects)
Ever since its been on a constant decline to $3.6bn in FY2021, $3.2bn in FY2022 and $3bn in FY2023 - I think they are still targeting the top end of their business with a higher MSRP and just the title of having the best ANC ect, a better example are the A30s which retails for $2k AUD where competitors are in the $500-$700 range (granted the A30s have zero competition at that level)
Better value offerings, used/discounted QC45s and the SE lineup have probably been the target of Bose (the mid level of consumer ANC headphones). These Ultras serve as being the penultimate of the best, in addition to International Duty Free stores, JB Hi Fi's store at the Qantas Domestic Terminal in Melbourne have these plastered around the store and to be frank its their target demographic, hell I fell victim to it haha
@AircraftFreight: I can't speak for the A30s or QC Ultras, but the QC45s are most definitely not class leading ANC. They're great headphones in other ways, but given that they're probably the largest seller for Bose, they are soundly (pun intended) beaten by the competition when it comes to ANC.
The other problem is that the QC45s, again assuming they're the biggest seller in Bose's lineup, are 3.5 years old and are really showing their age. I'm guessing they must have something in the works, but they needed to get it out sometime last year IMHO.
@noisymime: Bose have already replaced the QC45s with the Bose Quietcomfort Headphones - https://www.bose.com.au/en_au/products/headphones/noise_canc…
I recently tried them, (Amazon sale) and they are by no means anywhere worth the price that they are asking for - returned them
@AircraftFreight: Wow, I must admit I hadn't looked at those closely, I thought they were literally just a rebranding of the QC45s.
Even looking at the reviews, the 2 of them seem to be basically identical except for a few software features. 3 years between models only to release something that's almost indistinguishable from the old model🤣
@AircraftFreight: Agree, they are worse than my QC35's (that still work perfectly fine, just battery is getting weaker)
If anyone's interested, Bose's website doesn't mention any codec support, but RTing's review mentions ATPX, APTX adaptive in two flavours and AAC.
Also the same price at Amazon AU