Sound comparison with Bose

Question

I just listened to the HiFi at the Apple store in Long Island. I brought my own iPod to listen to the music I already know (how to listen to). The HiFi was next to SoundDock, for easy comparison. (I'm neither a Bose fan, nor am I one of those who looks down the nose at Bose.)
The first thing to notice was the difference in size; the SoundDock is considerably smaller (though not necessarily better looking). I probably prefer the look of the Apple product -- cleaner, over all.
Then came the performance comparison. Overall, I was surprised to find that the Bose sounded better. I listened to cello suites, classical guitar pieces, and female voice, both jazz and pop (is Sarah McLachlan pop?) The SoundDock had considerably better requency separation; the cello was cleaner and crisper. On the HiFi, it was muddied. It also sounded like the intruments were in a hallway, whereas on the SoundDock it sounded like I was in a more intimate setting. I found similar effects listening to a couple different jazz pieces -- Winton Marsalis for trumpet and Joe Henderson for sax.
McLachlan's voice sounded pretty good on the HiFi, though perhaps not quite so clear as it did on the Bose; the real difference on that tune was the instrumentals. On the HiFi, I could barely make out the guitars and other instruments whereas they were prominent (though appropriately so) on the Bose.
The HiFi did a fine job on other, more aggressive sounding pop/rock tunes; it displayed serious volume and substantial base. In addition, the separation of the tweeters allowed for genuine stereo separation -- not plausible on the Bose.
Perhaps the midrange/base is being asked to represent too wide a frequency band on the HiFi. Perhaps it needs a crossover tweaking. I don't know. But if you listen to classical or jazz or voice, and value frequency separation and clarity at the upper frequency ranges, Apple's HiFi will perhaps suffice, but it certainly doesn't match the Bose, and at $50 more, it is, in my opinion, not a very good value.
SOS

Answer 1

I appreciate the comments compared to Bose. I actually ordered the Hi-Fi online and just received the unit and tested. Not being an expert audiophile, i did appreciate the robust feel of the unit with the sound feeling just as solid. It is well built and complies with Apple's philosophy of simplicity.
I am extremely disappointed with a couple of issues:
1. The remote control is just to basic. Does not allow you to access your menu on the iPod even though the remote control does have a menu button. After reading the manual, i discovered that the menu button only toggles between inputs from different devices. For eg., if you had the Hi-Fi connected to Airport Express and an iPod on the dock, the menu button (on remote) only allows you to toggle between the two. You would think that an Apple designed and built product would give you full functionality of the iPod's menu through the remote. Sad this is not the case.
2. For those of you who own the iPod Video, there is no Video Out capability. Again, i can't understand the logic behind this.
Overall, i would give Apple's first attempt a 3.5 star rating out of 5. They can do better than this!
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